Burdon Haldane (1856-1928), later 1st Viscount Haldane (created
1911), British statesman, lawyer and philosopher, photographed
by Lafayette in July 1906. In the difficult times leading up to
World War I, Haldane was first Secretary of State for War
(1905-1912), and then Lord Chancellor (1912-1915). when the
German Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg introduced new bills in the
Reichstag allowing for an increase in the army and navy,
British-German relations hit a dangerous low. Daisy, the English
wife of the German Prince of Pless was worried and intensified
her efforts in “explaining the two countries to each other.” to
her biographer, W. John Koch, from January 1912 Daisy busied
herself seriously with international politics, writing letters
and meeting crowned heads of Europe, politicians, diplomats and
generals. She tried to convince the German Emperor that the
reports of British hostility were German exaggerations by
sending him positive clippings from the British newspapers which
she felt sure were being withhel