Eric Phipps

Sir Eric Clare Edmund Phipps GCB GCMG GCVO PC (27 October 1875 – 13 August 1945) was a British diplomat.

[2] In January 1905 he was posted to Constantinople, was promoted Second Secretary in April and returned to London to work at the Foreign Office in September.

In September 1906, he was posted to Rome and in February 1909, he returned to Paris as private secretary to Sir Francis Bertie, British Ambassador to France.

He was on the staff of the British delegation to the Versailles Conference until September 1919, when he was promoted to counsellor and posted back to London.

The mere fact that he is making himself unpopular abroad will not deter him, for, as he said in a recent speech, it is better to be respected and feared than to be weak and liked.

[4]Phipps gave a further warning on 1 April 1935 of Germany's growing military strength: Let us hope our pacifists at home may at length realise that the rapidly-growing monster of German militarism will not be placated by mere cooings, but will only be restrained from recourse to its ultima ratio by the knowledge that the Powers who desire peace are also strong enough to enforce it.

[7] In May 1936, Phipps presented to Hitler the famous "questionnaire", largely written by his brother-in-law, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Robert Vansittart, that asked point-blank if Germany intended "to respect the existing territorial and political status of Europe" and was willing to sign "genuine treaties".

In October 1938, Bonnet carried out a purge of the Quai d'Orsay, sidelining a number of officials opposed to his policy.