Edward Wood

British Conservative politician and diplomat. He served as Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931 and as Foreign Secretary from 1938 to 1940. Created Baron Irwin in 1925, Viscount Halifax in 1934, and Earl of Halifax in 1944, he is variously known across different periods as Lord Irwin, Viscount Halifax, or Lord Halifax. During his tenure as Viceroy of India, he negotiated the Gandhi–Irwin Pact with Mahatma Gandhi. In the 1930s, alongside Neville Chamberlain, he promoted the appeasement policy toward Germany and was involved in negotiations with Hitler. However, after Germany dismembered Czechoslovakia in 1939, he shifted his stance on Germany and supported security guarantees for Poland. In 1940, he was a prime candidate to succeed Chamberlain as Prime Minister, but declined the position, believing Winston Churchill was better suited as a wartime leader. He subsequently served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1940 to 1946, strengthening cooperative relations with the U.S.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Edward Wood
1881	Birth of Edward Wood (Period: April 16, 1881, Location: Exeter, Devon, England (birthplace Powderham Castle near Kenton, south of Exeter))
1909	Marriage (Edward Wood, Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow, Age: 28 years old, Period: September 21, 1909, Location: United Kingdom)
1910	First Election to the House of Commons (Edward Wood, Age: 28 years old, Period: January 10, 1910, Location: Ripon Constituency (Yorkshire, UK))
1918	Political Activities after World War I (Age: 36 years old, Period: 1918–1921, Location: London, UK Parliament)
1919	Irish War of Independence (Age: 37 years old, Period: 1919–1921, Location: Ireland) Lowther Petition (Age: 37 years old, Period: April 1919, Location: London, UK Parliament)
1921	Appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Edward Wood, Age: 39 years old, Period: 1921–1922, Location: Colonial Office, London, UK)
1922	Appointment as President of the Board of Education (Edward Wood, Age: 40 years old, Period: 1922–1924, Location: London, UK Government)
1924	Appointment as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (Edward Wood, Age: 42 years old, Period: 1924–1925, Location: London, UK Government)
1926	Appointment as Viceroy and Governor-General of India (Edward Wood, Age: 44 years old, Period: April 1926 – April 1931, Location: British India centered on New Delhi)
1930	Indian Civil Disobedience Movement (Age: 48 years old, Period: 1930–1931, Location: British India) Involvement in the Government of India Act (Age: 48 years old, Period: Early 1930s – 1935, Location: London and British India)
1931	Second Round Table Conference (Age: 50 years old, Period: September – December 1931, Location: London (UK))
1934	Elevation to the House of Lords as Viscount Halifax (Edward Wood, Age: 52 years old, Period: 1934–1935, Location: London, UK Parliament)
1937	Halifax's Meeting with Hitler (Age: 56 years old, Period: November 19, 1937, Location: Berchtesgaden (Germany))
1938	Appointment as Foreign Secretary (Edward Wood, Age: 56 years old, Period: February 1938 – December 1940, Location: Foreign Office, London, UK) Annexation of Austria (Anschluss, Age: 56 years old, Period: March 12–13, 1938, Location: Austria)
1939	German Occupation of Czechoslovakia (Age: 57 years old, Period: March 15, 1939, Location: Prague and Czech Region) British Safety/Security Guarantee to Poland (Age: 57 years old, Period: March 31 – August 1939, Location: London and Poland) German Invasion of Poland (Age: 58 years old, Period: September 1, 1939, Location: Poland)
1940	1940 British War Cabinet Crisis (Age: 59 years old, Period: May – June 1940, Location: London (UK)) Declining the Prime Ministership in 1940 (Edward Wood, Age: 59 years old, Period: May 1940, Location: London, UK Government) Dunkirk Evacuation and Peace Negotiations Debate (Age: 59 years old, Period: May 25 – June 4, 1940, Location: Dunkirk, France and London)
1941	Appointment as British Ambassador to the United States (Edward Wood, Age: 59 years old, Period: January 1941 – May 1946, Location: Washington, D.C. (USA))
1944	Creation as Earl of Halifax (Age: 62 years old, Period: 1944, Location: United Kingdom)
1946	Resignation as Ambassador to the United States (Edward Wood, Age: 65 years old, Period: May 1946, Location: Washington, D.C. (USA))
1959	Death of Edward Wood (Age: 78 years old, Period: December 23, 1959)

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Element

Europe World

Group	List
British Politics	David Lloyd George Winston Churchill Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain Clement Attlee Anthony Eden Edward Wood Ernest Bevin
French Politics	Georges Clemenceau Charles de Gaulle Paul Reynaud Édouard Daladier Léon Blum Philippe Pétain Maxime Weygand Maurice Gamelin
Jewish relief	Anne Frank Etty Hillesum Edith Stein Raoul Wallenberg Aristides de Sousa Mendes Varian Fry Nicholas Winton Chiune Sugihara
Nuclear Science	Lise Meitner James Chadwick John Cockcroft Ernest Walton Patrick Blackett Mark Oliphant Otto Hahn Otto Robert Frisch

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Edward Wood

Edward Wood

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