Talk:Eric Phipps

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Improvements needed[edit]

The following I have posted when I graded this article, but I felt it best to move it for the benefit of all. There is absolutely nothing here about about his time as Ambassador to France during a very critical period in Anglo-French relations, let alone any mention of the fact that Phipps was a close ally of Georges Bonnet. On September 24, 1938 at the height of the great crisis over Czechoslovakia that was to culminate in the Munich Agreement, Phipps reported back to London "all that is best in France is against war, almost at any price" with only a "small, but noisy and corrupt, war group" opposing the "best in France" (Adamthwaite, Anthony France and the Coming of the Second World War 1936-1939, London: Frank Cass, 1977, page 177). Moreover, a most misleading summary of his time as Ambassador to Berlin; only the dispatches that Phipps sent that seem prescient in the light of later events are quoted here. This is very wrong. Some of Phipps's dispatches did warn of a danger from Germany while others very much downplayed the danger from the Reich, saying that Hitler was very much a moderate, who was strugging to control his extremist followers. Phipps himself often admitted that he was not sure about what were Adolf Hitler's ultimate intentions, so I think it highly dishonest to say "Phipps, in his despatches whilst ambassador to Berlin, warned the British Government about the character of Adolf Hitler's régime". Only some of Phipps's dispatches warned about Hitler, while others did not, so it really seems unfair to imply as this article does that in the mid-1930s, Phipps warned London about Hitler, who apparently did not heed Phipps's advice. --A.S. Brown (talk) 04:04, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

— I agree that this section (regarding his stance on Hitler's government) needs to be addressed. I don't know his position, and it appears from your comments that he didn't either. That should be made clear if it is verifiable. The 2nd sentence edit was rather poorly done ... it makes the article appear to be speaking from both sides of the mouth. RenaissongsMan 20:25, 21 June 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Renaissongsman (talk • contribs)

— — To this end I've made some adjustments to the paragraph in question. RenaissongsMan 22:14, 21 June 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Renaissongsman (talk • contribs)

Assessment comment[edit]

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Eric Phipps/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

C+ Some endnotes and a brief summary, but very short on details. Nothing about his time as Ambassador to France, when he was a close ally of Georges Bonnet. Moreover, a misleading summary of his time as Amassador to Berlin; only the dispatches that Phipps sent that seem prescient in the light of later events are quoted here. This is very wrong. Some of Phipps's dispatches did warn of a danger from Germany while others very much downplayed the danger from the Reich, saying that Hitler was very much a moderate. Phipps himself often admitted that he was not sure about what were Adolf Hitler's ultimate intentions, so I think it highly dishonest to say "Phipps, in his despatches whilst ambassador to Berlin, warned the British Government about the character of Adolf Hitler's régime".--A.S. Brown (talk) 10:01, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Last edited at 10:01, 11 February 2008 (UTC). Substituted at 14:36, 29 April 2016 (UTC)