He devoted himself to his duties in the War Cabinet, seldom appearing in the House of Lords except to explain and defend the government's food policy. The acceptance by the government of the principle of imperial preference, and of the conservation of the raw materials of the Empire, owed much to his influence and support. He worked heartily for inter-Allied co-operation in the conduct of the War, and he was in France as the representa tive of the British cabinet at the time of the victorious German advance in March 1918 ; it was largely owing to his influence that General Foch was appointed generalissimo of the Allied forces in France on March 26. Lord Milner was made secretary for war on April 19, and presided over the Army Council during the succeeding months of the year which ended with victory.
Af ter the general election, Lord Milner became colonial secre tary. In that capacity he attended the Paris Peace Conference, and was a signatory to the Treaty of Versailles; and he subse quently helped to deal with a number of difficult questions arising under the treaty out of the disposal of the German colonies con quered in war. His financial authority was invoked to defend ministerial finance in the House of Lords; and when a serious revolutionary outbreak took place in Egypt in 1919, he was sent there in December, at the head of a special mission. The mission remained till March and subsequently conferred with Zaghlul Pasha, the Nationalist leader in London, In November they recommended the recognition of Egyptian independence. Great
Britain was to guarantee the integrity of Egypt against aggres sion; she would have a privileged position in Egypt and would maintain a garrison in the canal zone. The capitulations were to be abolished, and the veto on legislation affecting foreigners would be vested in the high commissioner. Lord Milner resigned, February 1921, and was given the Order of the Garter. Before the end of the month he married Lady Edward Cecil, the widow of Lord Edward Cecil, formerly Miss Violet Maxse.
After this, though he took an active part in the work of the Rhodes Trust, and also published his views (Questions of the Hour, 1923), Milner only once showed any disposition to resume public work. When Baldwin, in the autumn of 1923, appealed to the country for a mandate to introduce protection, Milner ac cepted the chairmanship of a committee to advise the government as to the proposed tariff. As the electorate rejected protection, the committee proved abortive. Soon after returning from a visit to South Africa he was attacked by sleeping sickness and died on May 13, 1925, at Sturry Court, near Canterbury. There was found among his papers, and published shortly after his death, an impressive document containing his Credo (1925).
See also E. B. Iwan-MUller, Lord Milner and South Africa (1902) ; W. B. Worsfold, Lord Milner's Work in South Africa (1906) ; W. T. Stead, "Sir Alfred Milner," in The Review of Reviews, vol. xx. (1899) ; and the bibliography to SOUTH AFRICA. The Nation and the Empire (Collected Speeches 1913).