|
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), styled Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s. He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1925 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He is regarded as one of the architects of the policy of appeasement prior to the Second World War, during which he served as British Ambassador in Washington. == Early career == Halifax was born into a Yorkshire family, the fourth son of Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax. He and his siblings were all sickly; his three older brothers died young, leaving him as heir to his father's fortune and seat in the House of Lords. He was born with no left hand and a withered left arm, but still enjoyed riding, hunting and shooting. This and his religiosity as a devout Anglo-Catholic like his father prompted Winston Churchill to nickname him the "Holy Fox". In 2009, the family's roots were traced back to the Viking warrior, Magnus Irwinsson, who arrived in England in 1066, with the army of Harold Hardrada. Wood's childhood was divided mainly between two houses in Yorkshire, Hickleton Hall near Doncaster and Garrowby. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, then became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and in 1910 was elected as Member of Parliament for Ripon, holding the seat until his elevation to the Lords in 1925. He saw some active service in the First World War as an officer in the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, rising to the rank of Major, but remained mostly behind the lines after being moved to a desk job in 1917. In 1918, he and George Ambrose Lloyd (later Lord Lloyd) wrote "The Great Opportunity", a tract aiming to set an agenda for a revived Conservative and Unionist Party following the end of the Lloyd George coalition. Unwanted by the Union of South Africa for the post of Governor General (it was holding out for a cabinet minister or member of the royal family) and snubbed by Winston Churchill on his assumption of the post of Under-Secretary for the Colonieson one occasion he stormed into Churchill's office and told him that he "expected to be treated like a gentleman"the thwarted Wood voted for the downfall of Lloyd George's government and became President of the Board of Education under Andrew Bonar Law in 1922. He held this position (in which he was neither interested nor particularly effective) until 1924, when he was apparently equally undistinguished as Minister for Agriculture under Stanley Baldwin. Wood's career had seemingly become bogged down. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|