Henry Wickham Steed (10 October 1871 – 13 January 1956) was an English journalist and historian. He was editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

'' from 1919 to 1922.

Early life

Born in

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour ...

, England, Steed was educated at Sudbury Grammar School and the universities of

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

, Berlin and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. While in Europe, he demonstrated an early interest in

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

and met with a range of left-wing figures, including

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist and one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).August Bebel Ferdinand August Bebel (22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist politician, writer, and orator. He is best remembered as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) in 1869, which in 1875 mer ...

, and

Alexandre Millerand Alexandre Millerand (; – ) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. His participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the st ...

. His encounters formed the basis of his first book, ''The Socialist and Labour Movement in England, Germany & France'' (1894).

Foreign correspondent

Appointed by

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...

as Paris correspondent for the New York ''World'', Steed joined ''

'' in 1896 as a

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

, working briefly out of Berlin before transferring successively to Rome (1897-1902) and then

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1902-1913). In 1914, he moved to London to take over as foreign editor of ''The Times''. During his time in Vienna he acquired a deep contempt for

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

.Margaret Macmillan, ''Paris 1919'', p. 114f. An

anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Anti ...

and a Germanophobe, in an editorial published in ''

'' on 31 July 1914, Steed labelled efforts to stop the impending war as "a dirty German-Jewish international financial attempt to bully us into advocating neutrality". From 22 July 1914, Steed, in close agreement with ''The Times proprietor,

Lord Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

, took a very bellicose line, and in editorials written on 29 and 31 July, Steed urged that the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

should enter the coming war. Seen as a leading expert on Eastern Europe, Steed's views had much influence with decision-makers such as high-level bureaucrats and Cabinet politicians in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighti ...

and its aftermath. During the war, Steed befriended anti- Habsburg émigrés such as

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 1945 ...

Ante Trumbić Ante Trumbić (17 May 1864 – 17 November 1938) was a Yugoslav and Croatian lawyer and politician in the early 20th century. Biography Trumbić was born in Split in the Austrian crownland of Dalmatia and studied law at Zagreb, Vienna and ...

Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist, and philosopher. Until 1914, he advocated restructuring the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federal state. With the help of ...

and

Roman Dmowski Roman Stanisław Dmowski (Polish: , 9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Poles, Polish politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (Poland), National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja ...

and advised the British government to seek the liquidation of

as a war aim. In particular, Steed was a very strong advocate of uniting all of the South Slavic peoples, such as the

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

, the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

and the

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their n ...

, into a federation, to be called

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. The British Ambassador to Italy claimed in a diplomatic dispatch that Steed's fondness for the Yugoslav concept derived from a relationship that he maintained for a number of years "filially I believe rather maritally" with a Slavic woman from the Balkans. In October 1918, Steed met with Serbian Prime Minister

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical ...

to gain his support for the Yugoslav concept but was deeply angered when he learned that Pašić saw the new state as merely as extension of

Greater Serbia The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia ( sr, Велика Србија, Velika Srbija) describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to S ...

and had no intention of sharing power with the Croats or the Slovenes. Steed charged Pašić with being a new "sultan" and severed his friendship with him.

Editor of ''The Times''

When the editor of ''The Times'',

Geoffrey Dawson George Geoffrey Dawson (25 October 1874 – 7 November 1944) was editor of ''The Times'' from 1912 to 1919 and again from 1923 until 1941. His original last name was Robinson, but he changed it in 1917. He married Hon. Margaret Cecilia Lawley, ...

, resigned from his post in February 1919, Steed was Northcliffe's first choice to succeed him. Steed had worked closely with Northcliffe during the war, becoming an adviser to him on foreign affairs. Steed was forced to contend with Northcliffe throughout most of his tenure as editor, as the press baron retained considerable control over the affairs of the newspaper. After the war, Steed strongly disapproved of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

regime in Russia. In an editorial written in another Northcliffe paper, the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publis ...

'' on 28 March 1919, Steed accused the British Prime Minister

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

, whom Steed detested, of betraying the White Russians because of a plot by "international Jewish financiers" and the Germans to help the Bolsheviks stay in power. In 1920, Steed endorsed as genuine a notorious anti-Semitic forgery, ''

The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...

'', writing in an editorial in ''The Times'' in which he blamed the Jews for World War I and the Bolshevik regime and called them the greatest threat to the British Empire. However, he retracted his view on the ''Protocols'' in 1921, when his paper's Constantinople correspondent proved them to be a forgery. Steed was Northcliffe's personal choice for the editorship, but by 1922, the press baron was increasingly frustrated by Steed's failure to return ''The Times'' to profitability. After Northcliffe's death in August 1922, the new owners,

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and ...

and John Walter, dismissed Steed on 24 October and brought back Dawson as editor.

Final years

In 1923, Steed became editor of ''

Review of Reviews The ''Review of Reviews'' was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890–1893 by British reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912). Established across three continents in London (1891), New York (1892) and Melbourne (1893), ...

'' (1923–30), the journal established by

William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst ...

in 1890. In the early 1930s, he was one of the first English speakers to express alarm about the new German dictatorial chancellor,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

. In 1934, he caused sensation with an article claiming to have evidence of secret German experiments in airborne

biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. B ...

. The British government was sufficiently alarmed to start stockpiling vaccines although a retrospective analysis by the epidemiologist Martin Hugh-Jones has suggested that Steed's evidence could not have amounted to much.Martin Hugh-Jones, 'Wickham Steed and German biological warfare research', ''Intelligence and National Security'' 7 (1992), 379–402. On the title page of his 1934 work, ''Hitler Whence and Whither?'', Steed is described as a lecturer in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ar ...

an History at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...

. He died in Wootton, West Oxfordshire.

In popular culture

Steed, played by actor

Andrew Keir Andrew Keir ( né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career ...

, appears in the 1974 miniseries ''

Fall of Eagles ''Fall of Eagles'' is a 13-part British television drama aired by the BBC in 1974. The series was created by John Elliot and produced by Stuart Burge. The series portrays historical events from 1848 to 1918, dealing with the ruling dynasties of ...

'', bringing a rumour of the impending Bosnian crisis to the attention of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

, and Alexander Izvolsky.

Works

* ''The Habsburg Monarchy'' (1913) * ''A Short History of Austria-Hungary and Poland'' (1914) * ''Through Thirty Years, 1892-1922: A personal narrative'' (1924) * ''Journalism'' (1928) * ''The Real Stanley Baldwin'' (1930) * ''The Antecedents of Post-war Europe'' (1932) * ''A Way to Social Peace'' (1934) * ''Hitler Whence and Whither?'' (1934) * ''The Meaning of Hitlerism'' (1934) * ''Vital Peace: A study of risks'' (1936) * ''The Doom of the Habsburgs'' (1937) * ''The Press'' (1938) * ''Our War Aims'' (1939)

References

Notes Bibliography * Ferguson, Niall ''The Pity of War'', London: Basic Books, 1999. * Macmillan, Margaret ''Paris 1919'' New York: Random House, 2002.

External links

*
''The Habsburg Monarchy'' (1913)
eLibrary Austria Project (eLib Projekt) full text
''A Short History of Austria-Hungary and Poland'' (1914)
Historical Text Archive full text
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steed, Wickham 1871 births 1956 deaths Academics of King's College London Antisemitism in the United Kingdom English male journalists 20th-century English historians People educated at Sudbury Grammar School People from Long Melford The Times people