Chancellor of the Exchequer — Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands Succeeded by Benjamin Disraeli. Leader of the House of Commons — Leader of the British Liberal Party — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom — Succeeded by Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt. Preceded by The Earl of Beaconsfield. He followed Peel in resigning in , and spent the following 6 years in Opposition. Even while serving as Prime Minister in later years, he would walk the streets, trying to convince prostitutes to change their ways.
He spent a large amount of his own money on this work. This caused some confusion, as he was known to favour the policy himself. When the Tory party broke apart in , Gladstone followed Peel in becoming a Liberal-Conservative, now believing strongly in free trade.
He was Chancellor again under Palmerston between and , though their relationship was an uncomfortable one, and yet again under Russell from to His policies were intended to improve individual liberty while loosening political and economic restraints.
He successfully passed an act to disestablish the Church of Ireland and an Irish Land Act to tackle unfair landlords, but was defeated on an Irish University Bill proposing a new university in Dublin open to Catholics and Protestants. But in a heavy defeat at the general election led to his arch-rival Disraeli becoming Prime Minister. Gladstone retired as leader of the Liberal Party, but remained an intimidating opponent, attacking the government fiercely over their weak response to Turkish brutality in the Balkans, known as the Eastern Crisis.
For 2 years he combined the offices of Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Yet trouble overseas created problems. Other commitments to democracy included the realization of old Chartist dreams, such as the secret ballot in With these reforms Gladstone won some support but also antagonized powerful interests in the Church and the aristocracy.
His opponents said that he was a wild demagogue and a republican; the government was defeated in the election of The "Irish question," which was to dominate Gladstone's later years, received considerable attention in the first Cabinet. Responding to the Fenian violence of the s, the government moved to disestablish the Irish Episcopal Church in and pass a Land Act in But the Irish problem remained, and the home-rule movement of Isaac Butt and Charles Stewart Parnell demanded a solution in the s.
Gladstone emerged from a temporary retirement in in the celebrated Midlothian campaign to attack Disraeli's pro-Turkish foreign policy. The theme of his attack was that Disraeli's Near Eastern policy was morally wrong. The Turkish atrocities in the Balkans outraged Gladstone just as the prisoners of Naples had provoked his earlier attack against Bourbon injustice in Italy.
Gladstone's direct appeal to the British voter in this campaign was a first in a more democratic approach to electioneering, and his eloquence was triumphant as the Liberals won the general election of The major concern of Gladstone's second Cabinet was not foreign policy but Ireland and the empire. A Second Land Act was passed in , which attempted to establish a fair rent for Irish tenants and tenure for those who paid rent. The act was not popular with the landlords or tenants, and a series of agrarian riots and general violence followed.
The high point of this was the assassination of Lord Cavendish, the chief secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Burke, the undersecretary, in Phoenix Park, Dublin, in The Fenians, rather than the Home Rule party, were responsible for this act, but Gladstone was forced to suspend discussion of Irish reform and resort to harsh measures of suppression in a Prevention of Crimes Bill Gladstone's commitment to Ireland was coupled with a consistent opposition to imperialism.
He considered imperialism a Conservative ruse to distract the masses from the real issues. He believed that the "infamy of Disraeli's policy was equalled only by the villainy with which it had been carried out. But Gladstone's second ministry coincided with a worsening agricultural depression in which England's free trade policy seemed a liability rather than an asset.
New market areas unencumbered with tariffs had an appeal, and imperialism became a popular crusade. Egypt and the Sudan were the main concerns in the s following Britain's purchase of the Suez Canal A riot in Alexandria brought a British occupation in , and a rebellion in the Sudan brought the death of Gen.
Gordon in , when Gladstone's dilatory tactics failed to rescue him in time. The popular reaction to Gordon's death was a clear indication of Gladstone's misreading of this issue. He served as Prime Minster of England on four occasions, and often lost his position by pursuing what he considered noble, but unpopular causes.
He was, like every great politician, both admired and loathed, but is credited with courage—a rare trait in his chosen occupation—even by his detractors. He did not serve continuously however; his career was interrupted by several retirements, resignations, and even a failed election. When Robert Peel split from the Tory party in over the corn-laws protective tariffs on food-stuffs , Gladstone became a 'Peelite', and after Peel's death, joined forces with the Whigs and helped form the Liberal party.
At the same time, his life-long antagonist, Disraeli transformed the protection Tories into the Conservative party. Both men served long careers in Parliament and were the most renowned orators of the day. It is difficult to understand precisely how Gladstone's political positions evolved over time without a good knowledge of how the British government was administered during his age. Ideas of "liberal" and "conservative" as applied in Victorian England, have almost no bearing to their current uses.
For example, as a liberal, Gladstone supported low-taxes and free-trade, while contemporary conservatives favored protective tariffs. Also, the influence of the Anglican Church in the Victorian era government was enormous so church-state relations of the age were exceedingly intertwined.
The church had its own source of revenues and a great number of clients, and "social reforms" in Gladstone's age typically meddled with the Church's existing functions. Although Gladstone was a life-long Anglican he frequently took positions in opposition to that of the state-church, and was joined in his opposition by both sincere Christians and ardent secularists.
The issue that probably most characterized Gladstone during his career, was his continued support for the political rights for Ireland. This was a contentious issue because the Irish had centuries of grievances against England and a wide-spread radical element, and the memories of the French Revolution were still fresh in the minds of most Victorians.
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