Sir Louis du Pan Mallet (10 July 1864 – 8 August 1936) was a British diplomat who was Ambassador to Turkey at the outbreak of World War I.

Career

Louis du Pan Mallet was the third son of Sir Louis Mallet, a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

and privately before going up to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

after which he entered the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1888. He served in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

before holding the posts of précis writer to the

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

, Lord Lansdowne, 1902–05 and subsequently

Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

to Lansdowne's successor,

Sir Edward Grey Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adhe ...

, 1905–07. He was assistant

Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

, in charge of Near and Middle Eastern affairs, 1907–13. In 1913 Mallet was appointed Ambassador at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. "The appointment caused no little surprise, as it had been expected that it would be given to a member of the

Diplomatic Corps The diplomatic corps (french: corps diplomatique) is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body. The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission ( am ...

with experience of Constantinople. Conditions in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

had greatly changed in the past 15 years. British influence had waned, while that of Germany had increased to the point of dominance. The Secretary of State considered it wise to have an Ambassador in Constantinople without preconceptions derived from former experience there. Mallet had wide experience of foreign politics in general; and, in Sir Edward Grey's opinion, a special knowledge of the problems to be dealt with by a British Ambassador to the

Porte Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...

."Obituary – Sir Louis Mallet – The Turco-German Alliance in the War, ''The Times'', London, 10 August 1936, page 12 Up to July 1914, Mallet's task was not difficult. Britain and Germany had both helped with the settlement after the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

and relations with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

were comfortable. But he was on leave at the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

when Britain confiscated two Ottoman dreadnought battleships that were being built in Britain. Shortly afterwards two German battleships, and , arrived at Constantinople. As Turkey was still officially neutral, they and their crews were transferred to the Ottoman navy. By the time Mallet reached his post, three weeks after the outbreak of war, the question of Turkey's affiliation was practically decided, although the Allied powers continued to negotiate with the Porte until the Ottomans joined the war on the side of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

, when Mallet and other Allied ambassadors had to leave Constantinople. Mallet was criticised at the time and afterwards for failing to keep the Ottoman Empire out of the war, but Germany's influence was aided by Turkey's long-running enmity with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, one of the Allies. Also, Mallet could only act with the concurrence of the British, French and Russian governments, whereas the German ambassador, Wangenheim, was able to act on his own initiative. Mallet served in the Foreign Office during the war and among other tasks was a member of a government committee on prisoners of war. He was attached to the British delegation to the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and retired in 1920.

Personal life

In 1912 Mallet acquired the dilapidated 14th century

Otham Manor Otham Manor, previously known as Wardes, is a late 14th-century manor house in Otham, Kent. The house was built in the late 14th century, probably around 1370, and was altered and extended in the 16th century. It is a L-shaped two-storey timber-f ...

, then known as Wardes, having 'detected amid the ruin and squalor the possibility of restoring an exceptionally fine old timber house to something like its pristine beauty'.

Honours

Louis du Pan Mallet was appointed CB in 1905, knighted KCMG in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

of 1912 and promoted GCMG in the

1915 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1915 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 1 January 1915. Order of the Bath Knight Commander (KCB) ;C ...

. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1913.

References

MALLET, Rt Hon. Sir Louis du Pan
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014) * Obituary – Sir Louis Mallet – The Turco-German Alliance in the War, ''The Times'', London, 10 August 1936, page 12

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet, Louis du Pan 1864 births 1936 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Clifton College Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom