Edward Goschen

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Sir William Edward Goschen, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC (July 18, 1847 - May 20, 1924), was a German-born British diplomat. He was the younger brother of the Conservative politician George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen.

Born in Oberlosnitz, Saxony, Goschen would use his knowledge of German affairs to rise to become one of the most proficient and senior British diplomats during the early 20th Century. He served as Ambassador to Austria-Hungary between 1905 and 1908, before being moved to Berlin, as Ambassador to Imperial Germany, in which capacity he served until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. On August 4, 1914, in his last conversation with the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg before asking for his passports, Bethmann famously expressed his astonishment that England would go to war for "a scrap of paper" (the 1839 treaty guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality).

Besides diplomacy, Goschen played five matches of first-class cricket, as a right-handed batsman for the University of Oxford.

Goschen was admitted to the Privy Council in 1905 and in 1916 he was created a Baronet, of Beacon Lodge, Highcliffe, in the County of Southampton. He died in Chelsea, London, in May 1924, aged 74, and was succeeded in his title by his son Edward Henry Goschen.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir Francis Richard Plunkett	British Ambassador to Austria-Hungary 1905–1908	Succeeded by Sir Fairfax Cartwright
Preceded by Sir Frank Lascelles	British Ambassador to Germany 1908–1914	Succeeded by None
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New creation	Baronet (of Beacon Lodge)	Succeeded by Edward Henry Goschen