Great Britain, British Jews, and the international protection of Romanian Jews, 1900-1914: a study of Jewish diplomacy and minority rights

 
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3) Newspapers: the Jewish Chronicle and non-Jewish papers 
 
4) Romanian official publications 
 
5) Contemporary pamphlets on the Romanian Jewish question. 
 
British Foreign Office documents are stored in the National Archives, which was 
until recently called the Public Record Office, at Kew, London. Documents on 
Romanian political affairs, including general correspondence, can mainly be 
found in Foreign Office classes FO 104 (prior to 1906) and FO 371 (after 1906). 
The general correspondence consists of despatches from the British 
representatives abroad, drafts of outgoing despatches, and Foreign Office 
minutes. It also includes correspondence with private individuals and 
organisations, messages to and from the other branches of government, and 
correspondence with foreign representatives in Britain.  
 
It is important to note that the Foreign Office papers also include the 
letters that the British Jewry wrote to the Foreign Office. To these 
communications are added the comments and memoranda made by FO officials 
on the Jewish activities, as well as the copies of replies sent to the Jewish 
leaders. These papers, together with the archives of the British Jewry, constitute 
an invaluable and essential source on Anglo-Jewish diplomacy.    
 
The Foreign Secretary
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 maintained diplomatic relations with other states 
on behalf of the British government. There were only three Foreign Secretaries 
during the period of this study. The Marquess of Salisbury acted both as Prime 
Minister and as Foreign Secretary for his Conservative Government from 1895 
to November 1900, when he gave up the latter post and The Marquess of 
Lansdowne stepped into his place. When the Conservatives had to cede 
governmental responsibility to the Liberals in late 1905, Sir Edward Grey 
became Foreign Secretary, thereafter occupying the position until 1916. These 
three foreign secretaries were all significant policy makers both in foreign 
policy and in dealings with the Anglo-Jewish leaders. The role of the other 
cabinet members, the Prime Minister, and the King in formulating foreign 
policy was negligible in relatively minor political matters such as the Romanian 
Jewish question. 
 
The Permanent Under Secretary was the head of the Foreign Office and 
the closest adviser of the Foreign Secretary. His influence could often be great, 
and he was responsible for a wide range of matters within the Office. Sir 
Thomas Sanderson was the permanent secretary from 1894 to 1906. He was 
succeeded by Sir Charles Hardinge, who was then succeeded by Sir Arthur 
Nicolson in 1910. Nicolson remained in his position until 1916. Of these three 
men, only Sanderson had much to say about the matters relating to Romanian 
Jews. The next in the Foreign Office hierarchy were the Assistant Under 
Secretaries who supervised the Foreign Office departments. Every department 
had its chief, senior clerk, and, in addition, assistant and junior clerks. The 
                                                           
47
  
The section on the Foreign Office structure and procedures is based on Gosses 1948 
and Steiner 1986 and, for the names and positions of individual officials, on the 
Foreign Office Lists 1899-1914.  

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department which handled Romanian affairs was called the Eastern 
Department.
48
 
 
The diplomatic service, positioned abroad, had only a relatively minor 
share in policymaking. Diplomats, as a rule, followed the orders sent to them 
from London. Paul W. Schroeder, for example, has argued that the British 
interests in the Balkans, including Romania, were so small that observations 
made by the British diplomats positioned there almost have the value of neutral 
observations.
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 This appears to hold true on many occasions, but not in every 
single case. The British Legation in the Romanian capital Bucharest was small, 
with only a handful of personnel. Sir John Gordon Kennedy was the British 
Minister in Bucharest from 1897 to his retirement in December 1905. Sir William 
Conyngham Greene, who followed Kennedy, was also positioned in Bucharest 
for a lengthy period, which ended in January 1911. The next minister, Sir Walter 
Townley, was appointed in May 1911 but stayed only until March 1912 — after 
which Sir George Barclay held the post until after the First World War, in 
1919.
50
  
 
The Foreign Office papers are not the only group of official British sources 
that include material on issues related to Romanian Jews and British policy on 
Romania. A number of official British parliamentary publications contain some 
information on British attitudes towards Romanian Jews. The Parliamentary 
Debates of the House of Commons are indispensable tools to trace any 
parliamentary discussion on the Romanian Jewish question. Information on 
foreign policy at the time could primarily be attained by presenting a question 
on a particular matter in the House of Commons, although the Foreign Office 
answers tended to be vague — as was also the case when Romanian Jewish 
matters came up. The Report of the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration (1903) 
of the Parliamentary Papers series gives insight into the immigration problem in 
Britain but does not offer much helpful material on Romanian Jewish 
immigrants especially. Census returns, in addition, provide indispensable 
information on the number of Romanian Jews who immigrated to Great Britain. 
 
Documents of Anglo-Jewish institutions and private individuals are the 
second major group of primary sources consulted for this study. It should be 
remembered that Anglo-Jewish sources always tell the story from the Anglo-
Jewish viewpoint, and they never attempt to present an ‘objective’ version of 
the situation. On the other hand, information on the opinions and attitudes of 
British Jews is easy to find in the documents, which makes this material an 
excellent source for studying Jewish diplomacy and Anglo-Jewish policy.  
                                                           
48
  
Some names come up repeatedly in the Foreign Office papers. Richard P. Maxwell 
was a long-time senior clerk (1902-1912) in the Eastern Department. Louis Mallet, 
Assistant Under Secretary from 1907 to 1913, supervised the Eastern Department. 
Charles Hubert Montgomery, a junior and assistant clerk, was also much involved in 
Romanian affairs.   
49
  
Schroeder 1976, 16. 
50
  
Kennedy received his baronetcy in 1901. Apart from ministers, several consuls and 
other legation personnel are mentioned in this work. 

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