Lord Curzon at the Twilight of the British Empire

Jul 27, 2011
Michael Streich

Lord Curzon served his nation as Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary, but the prize of the premiership eluded him despite his successes and alliances.

George Nathaniel, Lord Curzon was born into an age defined by empire and ruled by the men whose social standing represented superb education, the patrician duties of serving the state, and bringing to the disparate peoples of the far-flung empire, in the words of Curzon, “…the greatest instrument for good the world has seen.” This was the British Empire that Curzon loved and cherished. A life-long imperialist, he ruled 300 millions of people in India in the name of his Queen Empress at the age of 39 and presided over the post-World War I new order years later as Foreign Secretary.

George Curzon’s Early Years as Viceroy of India

Throughout his long career in public service, his two marriages, and thousands of personal letters, Curzon worked toward the one prize he would never attain, the office of Prime Minister. It was an ambition he nurtured constantly. In the modern sense, Curzon was a micro-manager, not above decoding secret telegrams sent by men he perceived as enemies.

His appointment as Viceroy of India was a stepping stone toward the premiership but as England’s proconsul in Calcutta, he served his nation admirably, restoring ancient temples as well as the Taj Mahal. Although his reforms were popular, notably the lowering of taxes, Curzon’s harsh disciplinary actions regarding certain army units like the 9th Lancers backfired.

Far worse was his deteriorating relationship with the new Army Commander-in-Chief, Kitchener of Khartoum. Kitchener was one of two men who earned Curzon’s lifelong hatred; the other was Winston Churchill. Ironically, Curzon had requested Kitchener. In the end, Kitchener won the battle and Curzon’s resignation was accepted. His resignation, a bluff, would be repeated several times during his career.

Tory Politics and the World War I War Cabinet

Returning to politics in England was the natural remedy for a man who believed that the nation and the party owed him recognition. At the same time, Curzon busied himself restoring Tattershall and Bodiam castles as well as his leased estate at Hackwood. He got himself appointed chancellor of Oxford in 1907, one of several stepping-stone appointments.

When the war came, Curzon served in the War Cabinet as Acting Foreign Secretary, feuding with everyone including David Lloyd George who appeared to run a separate foreign office from 10 Downing Street, especially during the post-war peace conference and the deliberations dictating the new world order. Curzon missed his final opportunity when King George V elevated Stanley Baldwin to be his Prime Minister. Curzon retired and subsequently died in 1925, knowing that the elusive prize would never be his.

Curzon, however, well appreciated the changes not only in Europe but for the Empire after the Great War. Historian Peter Townsend writes that Curzon, "had long ago apprehended, kings and thrones had perished since Victoria's golden days."

Lord Curzon and the Greco-Turkish War

The post-war invasion of Turkey by Greece was supported by the leaders of the Paris Peace Conference, although France later supplied arms secretly to the Turks. Both Curzon, by now Foreign Secretary, and Churchill opposed British support of Greece, especially after the Greek army landed at Smyrna and slaughtered both Turkish troops and the local population.

The fortunes of Greece changed, however, as Turkey’s great hero Mustapha Kemal, with French support, expelled the Greeks. Few members of the British government recognized the weakness of Greece and the long-term impact upon the region of a resurgent Turkey. Biographers note, for example, that men like Lloyd George were romantically pro-Greek, unable to see beyond the poetry of Byron and the tradition of British paternalism. This is a lesson contemporary world leaders can learn in dealing with Greece and Turkey.

Curzon was not one of these men. When all was said and done, according to one biographer, “…he personally…saved Great Britain from a disastrous war with Turkey.” But there are various versions of what actually happened and the most credible one gives credit to Winston Churchill. Memories of the Turks in the Balkans as well as their fierce repression of Armenians forced the British to act. Diplomacy and ultimatum won over the prospect of another ruinous war.

The Legacy of Lord Curzon in British Imperial History

Curzon was no “jingo” but he believed in the Empire as much as his adversaries did. After losing his first election as a young man, he traveled the world, collecting bric-a-brac and writing long letters to Mary, the American heiress he would marry. Travel and politics prepared him for his first great appointment as viceroy.

Curzon’s passion of Empire may have been best demonstrated by the 1903 Grand Durbar in Delhi in honor of King Edward VII, an event of “pomp and dignity.” What was good for Britain, however, was not necessarily good for the teeming millions. This was a growing liberalism, identified in India with Gandhi and Nehru. Men like Curzon and Churchill would never fully understand or support such movements.

Serving the Empire during the Great War was another triumph, one that should have led to the grand prize. Instead, Curzon became embroiled with his colleagues, in some cases lesser men by his standards. His second wife Grace was often indifferent even during the periods of intense illness and pain Curzon suffered his entire life, stemming from an early back injury.

Despite these setbacks, Curzon left his mark on the twilight of empire, using his years of service in the Middle East to further British goals and preserve the imperial standard. He was 66 when illness finally took him. His memorial service at Westminster Abbey was attended by friend and foe and the press finally wrote positively of a man whose life represented the well-educated patrician class of imperial leadership.

Sources:

Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac, Kingmakers: The Invention Of The Modern Middle East (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008)
Leonard Mosley, The Glorious Fault: The Life of Lord Curzon (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1960)
Simon Schama, A History of Britain: The Fate Of Empire 1776-2000, Volume III (Hyperion, 2002)
Peter Townsend, The Last Emperor (Simon and Schuster, 1976)