Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere
Encyclopedia
Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (26 April 1868 – 26 November 1940) was a highly successful British
newspaper
proprietor, owner of Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is known in particular, with his brother Alfred Harmsworth
, the later Viscount Northcliffe, for the development of the London
Daily Mail
and Daily Mirror. He was a pioneer of popular journalism. He was also the elder brother of the Liberal politician Cecil Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth.
, and the Sunday Pictorial, but his greatest success came with the Daily Mirror, which had a circulation of three million by 1922. His elder brother died without an heir in that year, and he acquired control of the Daily Mail.
Rothermere's descendants continue to control the Daily Mail and General Trust
.
Harmsworth was created a baronet
, of Horsey
in the County of Norfolk
, in 1910, and was raised to the peerage
as Baron Rothermere, of Hemsted in the County of Kent
, in 1914.
in the government of David Lloyd George
for a time during World War I
, and was elevated to Viscount Rothermere
, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, in 1919. In 1921, he founded the Anti-Waste League
to combat what he saw as excessive government spending.
In 1930, Rothermere purchased the freehold of the old site of the Bethlem Hospital in Southwark
. He donated it to the London County Council
to be made into a public open space, to be known as the Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in memory of his mother, for the benefit of the "splendid struggling mothers of Southwark".
in favour of Hungary
. On 21 June 1927, he published in his Daily Mail an editorial titled Hungary's Place in the Sun, in which he supported a detailed plan to restore to Hungary large pieces of territory it lost at the end of the First World War. This boldly pro-Hungarian stance was greeted with ecstatic gratitude in Hungary.
Many in England were caught off-guard by Rothermere's impassioned endorsement of the Hungarian cause; it was rumoured that the press baron had been convinced to support it by the charms of a Hungarian seductress
(she turned out to be Austrian). Rothermere's son Esmond Cecil Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount RothermereEsmond was received with royal pomp during a visit to Budapest, and some political actors in Hungary later went so far as to inquire about Rothermere's interest in being placed on the Hungarian throne. Rothermere later insisted he did not invite these overtures, and that he quietly deflected them. His private correspondence indicates otherwise. He did purchase estates in Hungary in case Britain should fall to a Soviet
invasion. There is a memorial to Rothermere in Budapest
.
towards Nazi Germany
, in part—it is thought—because of a shattering experience during World War I when he had three sons reported killed or missing in the same week. In the 1930s, he urged increased defence spending while being the owner of the only major newspapers to advocate an alliance with Germany. The Rothermere papers for a time in 1934 championed the British Union of Fascists
(B.U.F), and were again the only major papers that did so. Rothermere famously wrote a Daily Mail editorial entitled "Hurrah for the Blackshirts
", in January 1934, praising Mosley
for his "sound, commonsense, Conservative doctrine".
Rothermere http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=lord+rothermere+hitler&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=s&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=jCyeUjZq3W34eM:&imgrefurl=http://themediablog.typepad.com/the-media-blog/2009/11/2121031109-daily-mail-an-wilson-hitler-rothermere.html&docid=FhMqQ12ziI7obM&imgurl=http://themediablog.typepad.com/.a/6a011570c131b2970c0120a65094b7970b-320wi&w=320&h=283&ei=fl7OTpuKEcrE8gPhm7n1Dw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=735&vpy=294&dur=3440&hovh=211&hovw=239&tx=96&ty=97&sig=101393583042850719273&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=163&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0visited and corresponded with Hitler]. On 1 October 1938, Rothermere sent Hitler a telegram in support of Germany's invasion of the Sudetenland
, and expressing the hope that 'Adolf the Great' would become a popular figure in Britain. However, this was tempered by an awareness of the military threat from the resurgent Germany, of which he warned J.C. Davidson.
Secret British government papers released in 2005 show that Rothermere wrote to Adolf Hitler
congratulating him for the annexation of Czechoslovakia
in 1938, and encouraged him to march into Romania
. He went on to note that Hitler's work was "great and superhuman".
The MI5
papers also show that Rothermere paid a retainer of £5,000 per year to Stephanie Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst
, a glamorous Austria
n princess and German spy, intending that she should bring him closer to Hitler's inner circle. She was known as "London's leading Nazi hostess". The secret services had been monitoring her since she came to Britain in the 1920s and regarded her as "an extremely dangerous person". As World War II
loomed, Rothermere stopped the payments and their relationship deteriorated into threats and lawsuits.
version of the Bristol Type 135 cabin monoplane
was ordered by Rothermere for his own use as part of a campaign to popularise commercial aviation
. First flying in 1935, the Bristol Type 142 caused great interest in Air Ministry
circles because its top speed of 307 mph was higher than that of any Royal Air Force
fighter in service. Lord Rothermere presented the aircraft (named "Britain First") to the nation for evaluation as a bomber
and in early 1936 the modified design was taken into production as the Blenheim Mk.I
, travelled to Newfoundland to search for a supply of lumber
and to look for a site to build and operate a pulp and paper mill
. While searching along the Exploits River
they came across Grand Falls, named by John Cartwright
in 1768. After purchasing the land a company town
was built and today is known as Grand Falls-Windsor
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
proprietor, owner of Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is known in particular, with his brother Alfred Harmsworth
Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe
Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe rose from childhood poverty to become a powerful British newspaper and publishing magnate, famed for buying stolid, unprofitable newspapers and transforming them to make them lively and entertaining for the mass market.His company...
, the later Viscount Northcliffe, for the development of the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and Daily Mirror. He was a pioneer of popular journalism. He was also the elder brother of the Liberal politician Cecil Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth.
Newspaper proprietor
Harmsworth founded the Glasgow Daily RecordDaily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
, and the Sunday Pictorial, but his greatest success came with the Daily Mirror, which had a circulation of three million by 1922. His elder brother died without an heir in that year, and he acquired control of the Daily Mail.
Rothermere's descendants continue to control the Daily Mail and General Trust
Daily Mail and General Trust
Daily Mail and General Trust plc is a British media conglomerate, one of the largest in Europe. In the UK, it has interests in national and regional newspapers, television and radio. The company has extensive activities based outside the UK, through Northcliffe Media, DMG Radio Australia, DMG World...
.
Harmsworth was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, of Horsey
Horsey, Norfolk
Horsey is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk within The Broads National Park.It covers an area of and had a population of 99 in 40 households as of the 2001 census....
in the County of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, in 1910, and was raised to the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Rothermere, of Hemsted in the County of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, in 1914.
Public life
Rothermere served as President of the Air CouncilSecretary of State for Air
The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. It was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force...
in the government of David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
for a time during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and was elevated to Viscount Rothermere
Viscount Rothermere
Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a Baronet, of Horsey in the County of Norfolk, on 14 July 1910, and Baron...
, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, in 1919. In 1921, he founded the Anti-Waste League
Anti-Waste League
The Anti-Waste League was a political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1921 by Lord Rothermere.The formation of the League was announced in a January 1921 edition of the Sunday Pictorial with Rothermere attacking what he saw as government waste during a time of recession. As such the party...
to combat what he saw as excessive government spending.
In 1930, Rothermere purchased the freehold of the old site of the Bethlem Hospital in Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
. He donated it to the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
to be made into a public open space, to be known as the Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in memory of his mother, for the benefit of the "splendid struggling mothers of Southwark".
Revision of the post-WWI treaties
Rothermere strongly supported revision of the Treaty of TrianonTreaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...
in favour of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. On 21 June 1927, he published in his Daily Mail an editorial titled Hungary's Place in the Sun, in which he supported a detailed plan to restore to Hungary large pieces of territory it lost at the end of the First World War. This boldly pro-Hungarian stance was greeted with ecstatic gratitude in Hungary.
Many in England were caught off-guard by Rothermere's impassioned endorsement of the Hungarian cause; it was rumoured that the press baron had been convinced to support it by the charms of a Hungarian seductress
Stephanie von Hohenlohe
Princess Stephanie Julianne von Hohenlohe was a member of a German princely family by marriage and a close friend of Adolf Hitler who spied for Nazi Germany.-Early life:...
(she turned out to be Austrian). Rothermere's son Esmond Cecil Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount RothermereEsmond was received with royal pomp during a visit to Budapest, and some political actors in Hungary later went so far as to inquire about Rothermere's interest in being placed on the Hungarian throne. Rothermere later insisted he did not invite these overtures, and that he quietly deflected them. His private correspondence indicates otherwise. He did purchase estates in Hungary in case Britain should fall to a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invasion. There is a memorial to Rothermere in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
.
Appeasement
In later life Rothermere used his newspaper ownership in attempts to influence British politics, notably being a strong supporter of appeasementAppeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
towards Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, in part—it is thought—because of a shattering experience during World War I when he had three sons reported killed or missing in the same week. In the 1930s, he urged increased defence spending while being the owner of the only major newspapers to advocate an alliance with Germany. The Rothermere papers for a time in 1934 championed the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
(B.U.F), and were again the only major papers that did so. Rothermere famously wrote a Daily Mail editorial entitled "Hurrah for the Blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
", in January 1934, praising Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
for his "sound, commonsense, Conservative doctrine".
Rothermere http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=lord+rothermere+hitler&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=s&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=jCyeUjZq3W34eM:&imgrefurl=http://themediablog.typepad.com/the-media-blog/2009/11/2121031109-daily-mail-an-wilson-hitler-rothermere.html&docid=FhMqQ12ziI7obM&imgurl=http://themediablog.typepad.com/.a/6a011570c131b2970c0120a65094b7970b-320wi&w=320&h=283&ei=fl7OTpuKEcrE8gPhm7n1Dw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=735&vpy=294&dur=3440&hovh=211&hovw=239&tx=96&ty=97&sig=101393583042850719273&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=163&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0visited and corresponded with Hitler]. On 1 October 1938, Rothermere sent Hitler a telegram in support of Germany's invasion of the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
, and expressing the hope that 'Adolf the Great' would become a popular figure in Britain. However, this was tempered by an awareness of the military threat from the resurgent Germany, of which he warned J.C. Davidson.
Secret British government papers released in 2005 show that Rothermere wrote to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
congratulating him for the annexation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
in 1938, and encouraged him to march into Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. He went on to note that Hitler's work was "great and superhuman".
The MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
papers also show that Rothermere paid a retainer of £5,000 per year to Stephanie Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst
Stephanie von Hohenlohe
Princess Stephanie Julianne von Hohenlohe was a member of a German princely family by marriage and a close friend of Adolf Hitler who spied for Nazi Germany.-Early life:...
, a glamorous Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n princess and German spy, intending that she should bring him closer to Hitler's inner circle. She was known as "London's leading Nazi hostess". The secret services had been monitoring her since she came to Britain in the 1920s and regarded her as "an extremely dangerous person". As World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
loomed, Rothermere stopped the payments and their relationship deteriorated into threats and lawsuits.
Interest in aviation
In 1934, a Mercury-enginedBristol Mercury
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Bridgman, L, Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0-517-67964-7* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...
version of the Bristol Type 135 cabin monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
was ordered by Rothermere for his own use as part of a campaign to popularise commercial aviation
Commercial aviation
Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for hire to transport passengers or cargo...
. First flying in 1935, the Bristol Type 142 caused great interest in Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
circles because its top speed of 307 mph was higher than that of any Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
fighter in service. Lord Rothermere presented the aircraft (named "Britain First") to the nation for evaluation as a bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
and in early 1936 the modified design was taken into production as the Blenheim Mk.I
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
Grand Falls, Newfoundland
In 1904, on behalf of his elder brother Alfred, Harmsworth and Mayson Beeton, son of Isabella Beeton, the famed author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household ManagementMrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management was a guide to all aspects of running a household in Victorian Britain, edited by Isabella Beeton. It was originally entitled "Beeton's Book of Household Management", in line with the other guide-books published by Beeton.Previously published as a part...
, travelled to Newfoundland to search for a supply of lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and to look for a site to build and operate a pulp and paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
. While searching along the Exploits River
Exploits River
The Exploits River is a Canadian river in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It flows through the Exploits Valley in the central part of the island of Newfoundland....
they came across Grand Falls, named by John Cartwright
John Cartwright (political reformer)
John Cartwright was an English naval officer, Nottinghamshire militia major and prominent campaigner for parliamentary reform. He subsequently became known as the Father of Reform...
in 1768. After purchasing the land a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
was built and today is known as Grand Falls-Windsor
Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador
Grand Falls-Windsor is a town of 13,558 people located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is the largest in the central region, the fifth largest in the province, and is home to the annual Exploits Valley Salmon Festival...
.