William Strang, 1st Baron Strang

William Strang, 1st Baron Strang GCMG, KCB, MBE (2 January 1893—27 May, 1978) was a British diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1949 to 1953.

Strang was the eldest son of James Strang, a farmer, and his wife Margaret Steven, daughter of William Steven. He was educated at Palmer's School, University College, London and at the Sorbonne.

Strang was commissioned into the Worcestershire Regiment in 1915 and served in the First World War. He ended the war as a Captain and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1918. The following year he joined the Diplomatic Service and served at the British embassy in Belgrade from 1919 to 1922, at the Foreign Office from 1922 to 1930 and at the embassy in Moscow from 1930 to 1933. During his time in Moscow he played an important role in the Metro-Vickers engineers trial, in which six British engineers were accused of spying. He returned to the Foreign Office in 1933, and held office as head of the League of Nations section until 1937 and of the Central Department from 1937 to 1939. From 1939 to 1943 he was assistant under-secretary of state for Europe.

During the 1930s he was an adviser to the government at the major international meetings, and met Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. He was a tacit opponent of appeasement, but always stayed loyal to the government. He continued as an adviser during and after the Second World War and was present at the major conferences between the Allied leaders. In 1943 Strang was appointed the British representative on the European Advisory Commission, with the rank of ambassador. The commission was set up by the Allies to study the possible post-war political problems in Europe and make recommendations. In this role Strang was considered a great success. The commission was dissolved at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 and Strang was appointed political adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Germany, Bernard Montgomery.

Strang again returned to the Foreign Office in 1947 and served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the German section from 1947 to 1949 and as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1949 to 1953. The six years Strang served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State saw the gradual recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan, the establishment of the Western European Union and NATO and the breaking of the Berlin blockade. He retired from the Foreign Office in 1953.

Strang was made a CMG in 1932, a CB in 1939, a KCMG in 1943, a GCMG in 1950 and a KCB in 1953. In 1954 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Strang of Stonesfield in the County of Oxford. He later served as a Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords and was also Chairman of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and of the college committee of University College, London. He published "The Foreign Office" (1955), "Britain in World Affairs" (1961) and "Diplomatic Career" (1962) as well as his autobiography "Home and Abroad" (1956).

Lord Strang died at the age of 85. In 1920, he married Elsie Wynne Jones, daughter of Josias E. Jones. They had one daughter and one son, Colin, who succeeded him in the barony.

Because of standing up for Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn not becoming part of the Soviet occupation zone, as it was Stalin's wish, William Strang is very adored on the island, although he never got there in his lifetime.

References

*Blake, Lord and Nicholls, C. S (editors). "The Dictionary of National Biography, 1971-1980". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
*Kidd, Charles and Williamson, David (editors). "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.