User:Rjensen/sandbox5 Gladstone

User:Rjensen/sandbox5 Gladstone

see Foreign Policy of William Ewart Gladstone

Proposed new article on Gladstone's Foreign Policy
I propose to create a new article on Gladstone's Foreign Policy. The topic is mentioned briefly many times in articles on Gladstone and related topics, but is never brought together. The new article will have excepts from Wikipedia plus new material based on scholarly books and articles. For example besides the lengthy biographies we have such books as Paul Knaplund, Gladstone's foreign policy (1935); Paul Hayes, Modern British Foreign Policy: The Twentieth Century: 1880–1939 (1978); R.W. Seton-Watson, Disraeli, Gladstone and the eastern question (1935); and  Marvin Swartz, The politics of British foreign policy in the era of Disraeli and Gladstone (1985)  Rjensen (talk) 19:58, 15 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Foreign Policy of William Ewart Gladstone
 * Foreign Policy of William Ewart Gladstone

Prime minister Gladstone 1868
When Gladstone began his first ministry December 1, 1868, his attention focused on domestic issues and the Irish question. With the fall of the Conservative government in 1869, Gladstone set up a strong liberal and named the George Villiers, Lord Clarendon, (1800-70) as his foreign minister. Lord Clarendon had years of diplomatic experience as a Whig but had broken with the Conservatives. He stated that his foreign policy would not change in essence, but he was cautious in European relations. John Bloomfield, ambassador to Austria, 1860-71, kept London apprised regarding Austria, France, and Prussia and warned about the risk of war between France and Prussia. He pointed to French threats against Belgium,. which Britain was obligated by treaty to defend. Britain diplomatically intervened to ease the tense situation between Prussia and Austria.

The major outstanding international issue was relations with the United States and the wake of the American Civil War, and the emerging effort of Irish Catholic Fenians based in the United States to attack Canada. European affairs soon came to the floor, as Prussia, under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, defeated Denmark in a complicated war, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire as well. War between Prussia and France was looming, and British public opinion considered France the aggressor and generally supported Germany. Queen Elizabeth had very strong German ties, and was sharply hostile to France. Gladstone told the Queen that it was important that Britain not act alone in interventions in European affairs, but only act in concert with other powers. He was not knowledgeable about European affairs, and showed no interest in intervening. As the tensions escalated between Berlin and Paris, Gladstone took a strong position that warn both sides, especially France, against an invasion of Belgium. Neither side had any such plans, and both promised to honor Belgian neutrality. In terms of the British Empire, there were small movements in Asia and Africa that for the moment demanded minimal attention from Gladstone. He opposed expansion in the South Pacific and the Malay Peninsula, although there was attention to the Fiji Islands and an increase in British influence in Malaya. The scramble for Africa to characterize the 1880s and not yet begun. Britain had small coastal holdings in both the East and West, and a successful war against the Ashanti led to the acquisition of lands in the Gold Coast. Diamonds were discovered in South Africa, dramatically increasing the economic importance of the region. A level of tension between the Boers and the British in South Africa was slowly increasing.

Spanish issues
copy ex "Spain–United Kingdom relations" During 1865-76 Britain sought to calm the Iberian Peninsula. The issues were many: Spain tried to unite with Portugal; there was internal strife in Spain over the throne; and France and Germany argued over the Spanish succession in 1870. Furthermore there was a "War-in-Sight" crisis of 1875, problems in Morocco, religious intolerance, and the usual issues of trade, which British merchants dominated. London opposed the union of Spain and Portugal because it wanted to keep Portugal as a loyal ally with its strategic location in the Atlantic. Britain held Gibraltar but it was not yet a fully satisfactory base. The unsuccessful attempts after September 1868 to find a successor to Queen Isabella who would satisfy the French, Germans, Portuguese, Austrians, Italians, and Spanish kept British diplomats busy with peacemaking moves in many capitals. With British help, Spain slowly ceded control of Morocco to France. Spanish anti-Protestant intolerance troubled British merchants and bankers, so Spain softened religious intolerance. For the most part British diplomats were able to defuse tensions and defend British interests in the Peninsula.

Ottoman Empire
copy ex "International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)"

After 1800 the Ottoman Empire steadily weakened militarily, and lost most of its holdings in Europe (starting with Greece) and in North Africa, starting with Egypt. Its great enemy was Russia, while its chief supporter was Britain.

As the 19th century progressed the Ottoman Empire grew weaker and Britain increasingly became its chief ally and protector, even fighting the Crimean War in the 1850s to help it against Russia. Three British leaders played major roles. Lord Palmerston, who in the 1830–1865 era considered the Ottoman Empire an essential component in the balance of power, was the most favourable toward Constantinople. William Gladstone in the 1870s sought to build a Concert of Europe that would support the survival of the empire. In the 1880s and 1890s Lord Salisbury contemplated an orderly dismemberment of it, in such a way as to reduce rivalry between the greater powers. The Berlin Conference on Africa of 1884 was, except for the abortive Hague Conference of 1899, the last great international political summit before 1914. Gladstone stood alone in advocating concerted instead of individual action regarding the internal administration of Egypt, the reform of the Ottoman empire, and the opening-up of Africa. Bismarck and Lord Salisbury rejected Gladstone’s position and were more representative of the consensus. Gladstone abandoned Salisbury’s Ottoman policy; withdrew the military consuls; and disregarded several British guarantees to the Porte. He did not return Cyprus.

“Splendid isolation” was the term used to characterize the British policy of operating without alliances. The worst moment came in spring 1885, when the Russians defeated the Afghans along their frontier. London feared Russia would invade Afghanistan and threatened India from the north. Gladstone secured a vote of credit from Parliament, in preparation for a war with Russia. His strategy was to send the Royal Navy through The Straits into the Black Sea and threatened Russia. However the Ottoman officials, strongly supported by all the European powers, refused to allow passage. It was the most formidable display of Continental hostility to Britain between Napoleon's day and Hitler's. Russia, however, had no interest in conquering Afghanistan and that tension was peacefully settled  with Afghanistan remaining a buffer state.

Takeover of Egypt, 1882
copy ex "International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)" The most decisive event emerged from the Anglo-Egyptian War, which resulted in the British occupation of Egypt for seven decades, even though the Ottoman Empire retained nominal ownership until 1914. France was seriously unhappy, having lost control of the canal that it built and financed and had dreamed of for decades. Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy – and of course the Ottoman Empire itself-- were all angered by London's unilateral intervention. Britain insisted over and over that the Porte was still sovereign and the occupation of Egypt was temporary. A complete takeover of Egypt, turning it into a British colony like India was much too dangerous for it would be the signal for the powers to rush in for the spoils of the tottering Ottoman Empire, with a major war a likely result. Historian A.J.P. Taylor says that this "was a great event; indeed, the only real event in international relations between the Battle of Sedan and the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese war." Taylor emphasizes the long-term impact:
 * The British occupation of Egypt altered the balance of power. It not only gave the British security for their route to India; it made them masters of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East; it made it unnecessary for them to stand in the front line against Russia at the Straits....And thus prepared the way for the Franco-Russian Alliance ten years later.

Gladstone and his Liberal Party had a reputation for strong opposition to imperialism, so historians have long debated the explanation for this sudden reversal of policy. The most influential was study by John Robinson and Ronald Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians (1961), which focused on The Imperialism of Free Trade and was promoted by the Cambridge School of historiography. They argue there was no long-term Liberal plan in support of imperialism, but the urgent necessity to act to protect the Suez Canal was decisive in the face of what appeared to be a radical collapse of law and order, and a nationalist revolt focused on expelling the Europeans, regardless of the damage it would do to international trade and the British Empire. Gladstone's decision came against strained relations with France, and maneuvering by "men on the spot" in Egypt. Critics such as Cain and Hopkins have stressed the need to protect large sums invested by British financiers and Egyptian bonds, while downplaying the risk to the viability of the Suez Canal. Unlike the Marxists, they stress "gentlemanly" financial and commercial interests, not the industrial, capitalism that Marxists believe was always central. More recently, specialists on Egypt have been interested primarily in the internal dynamics among Egyptians that produce the failed Urabi Revolt.

Historiography

 * St. John, Ian. The Historiography of Gladstone and Disraeli (Anthem Press, 2016) 402 pp excerpt