ABSTRACT
Franco-British relations remained in a state of uncertainty, which was made worse by events in British politics at the turn of the year. In December 1905 Balfour's Conservative government, which had negotiated the entente, resigned and was replaced by a Liberal administration headed by Campbell-Bannerman. The instinctive Liberal stance in foreign policy was to deplore the backward tyranny of Tsarist Russia, and by extension to oppose the Franco-Russian alliance. The new Prime Minister, Campbell-Bannerman, went against this trend of thought by appointing as Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, a Liberal Imperialist, a supporter of the entente with France, and an advocate of continuity in foreign policy. Grey was in a serious difficulty, because there was a wide gap between his own thinking and the sentiment of the Liberal Party in general. Grey himself was prepared to use the language of the balance of power, and to consider involvement in a European war.
