View source for Eric Campbell Geddes

{{RIGHTHONSIR}} '''Eric Campbell Geddes''', G.C.B., G.B.E., P.C. (26 September, 1875 &ndash; 22 June, 1937) was a transport administrator, politician and [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] during the [[First World War]].
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==Early Life & Career==

==First Lord of the Admiralty==
The most recent historian of the Admiralty during the war suggests, "He did instil a greater rationale into Admiralty administration, but the creation of the Operations Committee … did not make any real difference to the running of the Naval Staff."<ref>Black.  ''The British Naval Staff in the First World War''.  p. 228.</ref> 

==Later Career==
In 1921, as chairman of the Committee on National Expenditure, Geddes recommended tremendous reductions in government programs to flatten spiraling budgets which had caused per capita taxation to increase 33% in the post-war years.  The final spending reductions enacted, popularly dubbed the "Geddes Axe", affected military and naval budgets profoundly: military spending of all kinds shrank over 40% between the 1921-22 and the 1922-23 Programmes.  Though a gradual increase would follow this abrupt reduction, the effect on ship construction and naval readiness measures was profound.

==See Also==
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{{WP|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Campbell_Geddes}}
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==Bibliography==
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*"Sir Eric Geddes" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Wednesday, 23 June, 1937.  Issue '''47718''', col D, p. 18.
*Grieves, Keith (1989).  ''Sir Eric Geddes: Business and Government in War and Peace''.  Manchester: Manchester University Press.  ISBN 0719023459.
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{{TabAppts|Political Appointments}} 
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|[[Controller (Royal Navy)|Controller of the Navy]]|New Appointment|1917|[[Alan Garrett Anderson|Sir Alan G. Anderson]]
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{{Appt
|[[First Lord of the Admiralty]]|[[Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson|The Rt. Hon. Sir Edward H. Carson]]|1917 &ndash; 1919|The Rt. Hon. Walter H. Long
}}
{{TabEnd}} 

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{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''New Office'''|'''[[Controller (Royal Navy)|Controller]]'''<br>15 May, 1917 &ndash; 6 Sep, 1917{{UKNavalStaff|p. 126}}|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Alan Garrett Anderson|Sir Alan G. Anderson]]'''}}
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==Footnotes==
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{{CatPerson|UK|1875|1937}}