Talk:Leo Amery

I found this page an interesting read, but after further reading, it seems significantly incomplete. Joseph N Hall 20:42, 18 May 2006 (UTC) Um, nevermind. Joseph N Hall 20:47, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Untitled

 * I agree. Does anybody know the occasion upon which Amery was said to have devlared that the "British government was selling the Empire for the price of a packet of fags"?Jatrius 22:51, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
 * That was Robert Boothby, not Amery, who said "...there is one mandate which his Majesty's Government never got from the people of this country, and that was to sell the British Empire for a packet of cigarettes" on 12 December, 1945 in the House of Commons.--Johnbull 23:09, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Rubinstein on the Israel connection
I'd much prefer not to discuss people's ethnic background, but it may be necessary in this case, since it's clearly a matter of interest already and might have important political consequences.

William D. Rubinstein is Professor of Modern History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (author of The Myth of Rescue: Why the Democracies Could Not Have Saved More Jews from the Nazis, Routledge, 1997). (A brief web-search indicates he is extremely supportive of Israel and a creationist). He wrote an article claiming (amongst other things) that he was first to reveal Amery's ethnicity:

"Leopold Amery was also a man with an extraordinary secret, probably the most remarkable example of concealment of identity in twentieth-century British political history. In his autobiography (My Political Life, 1953-55) he stated that his mother, Elisabeth Leitner Amery, was part of a ‘stream of Hungarian exiles’ who emigrated after the 1848 revolution, fleeing to Constantinople, and eventually to England. That his mother was a ‘Hungarian’ is repeated in every biographical entry on him. This, however, was not the whole truth. She was in fact Jewish. I have been unable to discover a shred of evidence that Amery had any Magyar Hungarian ancestors or relatives. It seems virtually certain that Amery invented this out of the whole cloth to conceal his Jewish origins and that these have remained unknown until now. His real name, given in every source as Leopold Charles Maurice Stennet Amery, was actually Leopold Charles Moritz Stennett Amery."

And ''"Amery's first and most significant contribution to the Zionist movement came in October 1917 when, as political secretary to the War Cabinet (a post he had been appointed to by Lord Milner the previous year), he redrafted the Balfour Declaration. Milner had given Amery several unsatisfactory early versions of the Declaration out of which he 'quickly produced' the celebrated letter sent by Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild. This momentous document was, in effect, the founding charter of the state of Israel, which was established thirty-one years later. The full Cabinet, of which Amery was not at that stage a member, made only two minor amendments to his draft.

''"Amery's next contribution to the origins of Israel came with his key role in establishing the Jewish Legion, battalions of Jewish soldiers who served under British supervision in Palestine during the First World War. As Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Derby, the Secretary of State for War, Amery acted as a crucial and sympathetic negotiator between British Zionists like Sir Simon Marks and the War Office. Marks, 'an old friend from South African War days ... turned to me ... and enlisted my help in conducting the negotiations', Amery wrote. As a result, three battalions of the Jewish Legion were formed and served in Palestine. The Legion was probably the first explicitly Jewish fighting force since Roman times, and was the forerunner of what later became the Israel Defence Force. Amery took great pride in this, claiming: "I seem to have had my finger in the pie, not only of the Balfour Declaration, but of the genesis of the present Israeli nation."

''"Amery's time as Dominions Secretary in the Baldwin government (June 1925-29) saw him in charge of the Palestine Mandate. During this period an amazingly wide range of the infrastructure and characteristic institutions of the future Jewish state came into existence: Palestine was electrified, tens of thousands of wasteland were reclaimed or purchased from the Arabs, roads and railways were extended. Relations between Jews and Arabs were also relatively harmonious, and only became violent shortly after Amery left office in 1929. He became a friend and associate of most of the key Zionist leaders of the time, especially Chaim Weizmann, leader of the international Zionist movement, who paid tribute to Amery is his autobiography Trial and Error (1952) for his 'unstinted encouragment and support'.

"Another long-time friend was Vladimir Jabotinsky, the controversial right-wing Zionist leader who founded what is now Israel's Likud party. Jabotinsky was regarded as an extremist by most mainstream Zionists, let alone by the British authorities. Amery was among his few friends in British government circles to whom he frequently turned for support and advice. In February 1937, Amery was one of the organisers of a dinner in honour of the wartime Jewish Legion at which Jabotinsky was the guest of honour, just a few days after Jabotinsky presented evidence to the Peel Royal Commission on the future of Palestine. according to Jacob B. Schectman, Jabotinsky's associate and biographer, the dinner was boycotted by the entire mainstream Zionist movement, with Weizmann sending a letter 'stating that he was 'compelled to leave for Paris' just that very day'". PRtalk 09:19, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Your contribution on Amery is excellent, and I suggest, with a few alterations, it should go into the main text. Amery is one of 20th century Britain's most underrated political figures. Well done! Polycarp


 * The idea that it was a secret seems dubious. Deborah Lavin in the ODNB writes: "His Jewish connections were known, but unremarked, by his contemporaries." john k (talk) 22:19, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

David Faber in his book on the Amerys (p118) cites occasions when Amery's Jewish ancestry was referred to publically. It should be noted that Amery's mother was born Jewish but raised as a Christian, so Amery himself was not a Jew under Jewish law - although has he chosen to practise Judaism he would not have been required formally to convert. Intelligent Mr Toad (talk) 13:13, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

There is a photo of Amery taken in Australia in 1927 here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an22418724. Since it was published more than 50 years ago this photo is in the public domain under Australian law. Intelligent Mr Toad (talk) 13:13, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

Stance on John Amery
This is a case where I'm just too ill-informed to make useful changes myself, and where changes are perhaps not so important anyway. But:

I'm wondering if more ought to be said about his feelings toward his older son. I'm coming at this as a complete layperson, who's read the Leo Amery and John Amery entries and wound up a little unsure on that point. Here we just say that he had his Who's Who entry changed to "one s[on]" (i.e., just Julian) after John Amery was executed--in context, that seems to suggest that he was at least somewhat damnatio memoriae-minded.''

But, in the John Amery article, we mention this (creepily favorable) epitaph that Leo Amery wrote for his son:


 * "At end of wayward days he found a cause
 * 'Twas not his Country’s' – Only time can tell
 * If that defiance of our ancient laws
 * Was treason or foreknowledge. He sleeps well."
 * If that defiance of our ancient laws
 * Was treason or foreknowledge. He sleeps well."
 * Was treason or foreknowledge. He sleeps well."

--which would suggest that Leo Amery's right-wing anti-Communism, or his fondness for his son, or something, was a powerful driver indeed. Having read that epitaph, and not having ever read anything about Leo Amery, I came to this page assuming he was some Mosleyesque figure.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm proposing here; this being a Wikipedia article talkpage, I'm not saying "explain this to me." I suppose I'm asking whether folks who (a) edit this page and (b) know a lot about its subject feel that the average reader would benefit from some exposition on this. Iralith (talk) 22:54, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

I would question whether Leo wrote that for his son, and if he did, I wouldn't worry about it. I would say that Rudyard Kipling wrote it, except that Kipling died in '36. Amery's position as a Unionist and on issues is no secret, he was a diehard empire man. Take this comment with good humour and sarcasm. I would recommend reading "My Political Life". It's dull title hides Leo's great writing skills. Lord Milner (talk) 17:54, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 06:53, 17 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Leo Amery 1917.jpg

Deleted Sources
I added 33 Primary Source books written by Leo Amery, and links to access most of them, and someone deleted them all. I would like to know why. They represent everything of significance written by Amery, and they belong on the page.

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:26, 22 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Captain Leo Stennett Amery.jpg