Editing David Lloyd George (section)

=== Mansion House Speech, 1911 ===
Lloyd George was an opponent of warfare but he paid little attention to foreign affairs until the [[Agadir Crisis]] of 1911. After consulting Edward Grey (the foreign minister) and H.{{nbsp}}H. Asquith (the prime minister) he gave a stirring and patriotic speech at [[Mansion House, London|Mansion House]] on 21 July 1911, during that year's annual white tie dinner at the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, where the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers a speech known as the "Mansion House Speech".<ref>Timothy Boyle, "New Light on Lloyd George's Mansion House Speech." ''Historical Journal'' 23#2 (1980), pp. 431–33, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2638677 online].</ref> He stated:<blockquote> But if a situation were to be forced upon us in which peace could only be preserved by the surrender of the great and beneficent position Britain has won by centuries of heroism and achievement, by allowing Britain to be treated where her interests were vitally affected as if she were of no account in the Cabinet of nations, then I say emphatically that peace at that price would be a humiliation intolerable for a great country like ours to endure. National honour is no party question. The security of our great international trade is no party question.<ref>Kenneth Bourne, ''The Foreign Policy of Victorian England, 1830–1902'' (Clarendon Press, 1970) p. 496.</ref> </blockquote>

He was warning both France and Germany, but the public response cheered solidarity with France and hostility toward Germany.<ref>Keith Wilson, "The Agadir Crisis, the Mansion House Speech, and the Double-Edgedness of Agreements." ''Historical Journal'' 15.3 (1972): 513–532.</ref> Berlin was outraged, blaming Lloyd George for doing "untold harm both with regard to German public opinion and the negotiations." [[Paul Wolff Metternich|Count Metternich]], Germany's ambassador in London, said, "Mr Lloyd George's speech came upon us like a thunderbolt".{{sfn|Grey|1925|loc=i, pp. 236–237}}<ref>E. L. Woodward, ''Great Britain and the German Navy'' (1935) pp. 312–313.</ref>