[W]e should be prepared to say that we were prepared to fight to the death for our independence, but that, provided this could be secured, there were… - Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

About Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician. He is usually considered as one of the architects of appeasement before World War II. During the period, he held several ministerial posts in the cabinet, including Foreign Secretary at the time of the Munich crisis in 1938. He later was dismissed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1940 when he expressed support for a negotiated settlement with Nazi Germany, although he was then appointed British Ambassador to the United States. He succeeded Lord Reading as Viceroy of India in April 1926, a post he held until 1931. In this role he held negotiations on constitutional reforms to the British Raj with the Indian National Congress under Mohandas Gandhi.

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