Gladstone's liberal reforms. Gladstone William - Encyclopedia of the Hayasg Project Foundation William Gladstone is a famous political figure in Great Britain
(29 December 1809 - 19 May 1898) - English statesman and writer. He was Prime Minister of Great Britain four times (December 1868 - February 1874, April 1880 - June 1885, February - August 1886, August 1892 - February 1894). 41st, 43rd, 45th and 47th Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Born in Liverpool into a family of Scottish origin. He was the fifth child of six children of Sir John Gladstone (1764-1851), a wealthy merchant, well educated and active in public life; in 1819-1827 he was a member of Parliament, and in 1846 he became a baronet. Mother Anna Mackenzie Robertson instilled in William a deep religious feeling and developed in him a love of poetry. From an early age he showed outstanding abilities, the development of which was greatly influenced by the influence of his parents.
Gladstone received his initial education at home, in 1821 he was placed at Eton School, where he remained until 1828, and then entered Oxford University, where he graduated in the spring of 1832. Mentally, he took everything he could from Eton and Oxford; hard work gave him extensive and versatile knowledge and aroused in him a keen interest in literature, especially classical literature. He took an active part in the debates of the Eton Society of Fellows (under the name The Literati) and in the publication of the Eton Miscellany, a periodical collection of the works of the students, being its energetic editor and its most active supplier of material, in the form of articles, translations and even satirical and humorous poems.
At 22, Gladstone is already a member of parliament from the Tory party, and soon enters the Conservative government. His political and economic views have evolved over time. A conservative guardian of the fundamentals early in his career, opposing the abolition of grain duties, Gladstone from the mid-40s. draws closer to supporters of free trade (free traders) and leans towards liberalism.
The changes taking place in society (the weakening of the position of landlords, the growth of the urban population, the increasing role of the middle strata, the strengthening of trade unionism and the political activity of the working masses) required a turn of society towards democratization. William Gladstone sensitively grasped the vector of this turn. He left the Conservatives and joined the Liberal ranks, and in 1865 became leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons.
The liberal doctrine included the following components: an economy based on private property and the market, a minimal role of the state (the idea of the state as a “night watchman”), constitutionalism and parliamentarism, personal freedom, freedom of speech, conscience, assembly, and finally, reforms as a method of gradual, moderate and purely legal changes in society to solve pressing problems.
His activities reflected the main positions of classical liberalism. The first Liberal government of William Gladstone was rightly called "reformist". At this time, a law was passed on the separation of the Anglican Church from the state in Ireland and the Land Act, which provided a number of guarantees to Irish tenant farmers. The 1870 education law was very relevant, introducing a system of public primary schools and compulsory education, which provided the opportunity for the children of workers to attend school. Religious qualifications in universities were abolished, and people of non-Anglican faiths could receive scholarships and degrees. A secret voting procedure was introduced for parliamentary elections. Trade unions received legal rights. These reforms contributed to the democratization of English society.
During the election campaign of 1879 - 1880, Gladstone for the first time used political technologies unprecedented for that time: delivering keynote speeches directly to voters. During a 2-week trip to the Midleton constituency, he spoke in front of tens of thousands of Englishmen, becoming a kind of “trend setter” for such political events.
William Gladstone also contributed significantly to the democratization of the British electoral system. Back in 1866, he introduced a bill on suffrage reform to parliament; the Conservatives then defeated it, accepting the reform when they came to power in 1867. But Gladstone introduced liberal amendments to the law, which significantly changed its character. As a result, qualified workers received the right to vote based on property qualifications. In 1884, after William Gladstone's third parliamentary reform, when this right was extended to small tenants and agricultural workers, the size of the electorate increased by 1.5 times.
Within the framework of the liberal system of views, W. Gladstone also considered the problems of the British Empire. He believed that the empire was a weakness for England; its strength was in guaranteeing equal rights to other peoples. Gladstone called for the empire to be given the character of self-governing nations with representative governments. In an effort to neutralize Irish resistance to British rule, Gladstone repeatedly tried to introduce into Parliament a Bill for Home Rule (autonomy) of Ireland within the British Empire. His last attempt to pass this bill led to a split in the Liberal Party, from which came supporters of preserving the union of England and Ireland (liberal unionists). Disagreements within the Liberal Party forced Gladstone to resign as prime minister in 1894.
The “Great Old Man,” as his contemporaries called him, died on May 19, 1898, but contradictions within the ranks of liberals were intensifying, which was a reflection of the deepening crisis of classical liberalism.
Gladstone (1809 - 1898). - A prominent politician in England in the second half of the 19th century. Leader of the Liberals. In his youth he was a Tory and a protectionist, but then he began to “move to the left”, and already in 1847 he became a moderate Tory, joining the so-called “Pilites” (supporters of the left Tory Robert Peel). In 1852, Gladstone participated in Lord Aberdeen's coalition ministry of Whigs and Peelites as Minister of Finance. Since 1859 - Minister of Finance in the Liberal Ministry of Palmerston. From then on, he finally became a liberal, participating in all subsequent liberal cabinets until 1893. Gladstone remained faithful to the old principles of English liberalism even when he left the latter in the 80s. imperialist elements broke away. His name is associated with a significant expansion of suffrage and the struggle for self-government (“Home Rule”) for Ireland. The Home Rule Act, introduced by Gladstone when he was Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1886, was rejected by the House of Commons. In 1893, Gladstone managed to insist on the bill being passed by the House of Commons, but he ran into resistance from the House of Peers, where the bill was defeated. Because of this conflict, Gladstone soon resigned.
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Gladstone, William Ewart (29.XII.1809 - 19.V.1898) - English statesman. Born in the city of Liverpool into the family of a wealthy businessman. He received his education at the closed aristocratic school at Eton and at Oxford, where he studied theology and classical literature. In 1832 he was elected to parliament from the Tory party. During this period, he approved of the state of siege in Ireland, objected to the abolition of grain duties and the introduction of secret voting in elections. However, gradually, realizing that the development of capitalism and the strengthening of the bourgeoisie were making the old Toryism unpromising, Gladstone began to move away from it and focus on the liberals. In 1843-1845, Gladstone was Minister of Trade, in 1845-1847 - Minister of Colonies. In 1852-1855 - Minister of Finance in the coalition government Aberdeen, was a supporter of the war against Russia ( Crimean War 1853-1856). In 1859-1866 - Minister of Finance in the Liberal government of Palmerston; during the American Civil War of 1861-1865, he supported the slave owners of the Southern states. In 1868 he was elected leader of the Liberal Party. In 1868-1874, Gladstone was prime minister; his government carried out a reform of primary education, legalized trade unions (at the same time introducing penalties for picketing by strikers of enterprises in order to combat strikebreakers), and introduced secret voting in elections. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, Gladstone opposed the strengthening of Prussia and saw this as a danger to Great Britain. After the parliamentary elections of 1874, which brought defeat to the Liberals, Gladstone led the opposition to the Conservative government Disraeli. The struggle of these two figures was determined to a large extent by the desire to gain the support of voters and stay in power, so often bills put forward by conservatives and criticized by the liberals who were in opposition were carried out by them when the liberals came to power. K. Marx called Gladstone “a notorious hypocrite and casuist” (see K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, vol. 27, 1935, p. 129). Having headed the government in 1880-1885, Gladstone continued the expansionist foreign policy of the Conservatives. In 1882, Gladstone's government sent British troops to conquer Egypt. In Ireland, while brutally suppressing the national liberation movement, Gladstone's government simultaneously made minor concessions. The defeat of British troops in Sudan and complications in Ireland led to the fall of Gladstone's government. Briefly leading the government in 1886, Gladstone introduced the Home Rule Bill to Parliament. The fight over this issue dragged on. Back in government from 1892 to 1894, Gladstone pushed the bill through the House of Commons, but the House of Lords rejected it. Gladstone retired, ending his more than 60-year political career.
English historiography, without proper grounds, created Gladstone's reputation as a great statesman. K. Marx used the expression “great” in quotation marks to him. Political unscrupulousness, casuistic hypocrisy, flirting with the masses and shameless deception of them, expansion in foreign policy, covered by verbal sympathy for small countries and peoples, and finally, religious hypocrisy - these are the typical features of Gladstone's political face.
V. G. Trukhanovsky. Moscow.
Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 4. THE HAGUE - DVIN. 1963.
Works: A chapter of autobiography, L., 1868; Gleanings of past years 1843-1878, v. 1-7, L., 1879; Speeches and public addresses, v. 9-10, L., 1892-94; Bassett A. T., Gladstone's speeches (descrip. index and bibl.), L., 1916.
Literature: Erofeev N. A., Essays on the history of England. 1815-1917, M., 1959; Morley J., The life of W. E. Gladstone, v. 1-3, L., 1911; Knaplund P., Gladstone's foreign policy, L., 1935; his, Gladstone and Britain's imperial policy, L., 1927.
Gladstone, William Ewart (1809-98) - English politician who, during his long career, went from extreme Toryism to liberalism. Gladstone came from a wealthy Liverpool merchant and colonial plantation family; received an excellent education. At the age of 22, Gladstone was elected to parliament from one of the “rotten towns” (pocket constituencies of local land magnates), in 1841 he was already a fellow minister of trade, two years later - minister of trade, and in 1852 received the portfolio of Chancellor of the Exchequer, i.e. e. Minister of Finance. Gladstone owed such rapid advancement not only to his influential family connections, but also to his own talents; outstanding oratorical talent, great diligence and ability to master the smallest details of the most difficult issue, as well as his exceptional art of moving from one position to another, directly opposite to it, to defend today what he furiously condemned the day before. Toryism at that time was on the decline: liberalism, under the slogans of free trade and universal peace, triumphed. From the beginning of the 50s, Gladstone began to move away from his party, and in 1860 he officially broke with the conservatives, moving to the liberal camp. Nevertheless, being, after his retirement, the “high commissioner” of the Ionian Islands, which had been under the protectorate of England since 1815, Gladstone, an admirer of Hellenic culture, found that Greece had no rights to the Ionian Islands (although their population was exclusively Greek) and that it would be a crime for England to give them up. Another 10 years later, during the American Civil War, Gladstone did not hesitate to take the side of the southern slaveholding states; he defended the preservation in Ireland, a Catholic country, of the dominance of the state Anglican Church. In 1868, after the electoral victory of the Liberals, he headed the Liberal cabinet for the first time. After this, G. served as prime minister three more times. Over this long period, he carried out many reforms, but they were often dictated by opportunistic considerations of the parliamentary struggle with the opposition, in particular with Beaconsfield. Thus, the struggle for granting self-government to Ireland (the so-called Home Rule), which glorified Gladstone’s political activity, although it ended unsuccessfully, was started by him after the Conservatives themselves negotiated on this topic with the Irish leaders: Gladstone intercepted from them the support of the strong Irish faction in the House .
Even more controversial were Gladstone's positions on foreign policy. As a member of the government when the Crimean War broke out, Gladstone fully approved of England's action in defense of Turkey "in the name of international law"; but he fiercely opposed Turkey when, in 1877-1878, Beaconsfield supported the Turks in the name of the same “right.” From that time on, Gladstone acquired a reputation as a friend of Russia and the Balkan Slavs. Gladstone became close friends with the secret agent of Russian diplomacy in London O. Novikova (...). However, Gladstone loudly condemned the famous Stoletov mission (see Stoletov mission) in Afghanistan. When in 1885 Russia actually moved closer to the very borders of Afghanistan (into the Pendine Valley), Gladstone, who was in power, at the last moment prevented an armed clash, eliminating the conflict with a compromise. True, it must be taken into account that Bismarck also played a role in this matter, who forced the Sultan to close the straits and thereby thwarted the planned plan to send the English fleet to the Black Sea. In the mid-90s, when Gladstone had finally retired from political life, he, in connection with the bloody reprisals of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (...) against the Armenian population, demanded the expulsion of the Turks from Europe and the transfer of the vilayets populated by Armenians to Russia. In general, when Gladstone was out of work, he acted as a passionate defender of small nations and an ardent opponent of imperialism. However, having headed the government, he also carried out the seizure of Egypt; stopped the war started with Afghanistan only after the latter renounced sovereign rights to the strategically important area of Quetta in favor of England; returned "independence" to the Transvaal only after the British army was completely defeated by the Boers, and the Transvaal agreed to recognize English control over its foreign relations. In Europe itself, Gladstone pursued a policy of neutrality in all the wars that then took place: he was not influenced either by the Truce of Villafranca in 1859, although he considered himself a friend of Italy, or by the annexation of Bismarck after 1866, although he considered himself an enemy of Prussia, or by the capture of Alsace and Lorraine as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, although he fully sympathized with the new republican regime in France. Gladstone at this time obtained a written commitment from both sides in the said war to respect Belgian neutrality, which was in the immediate interests of England. After the second failure of Gladstone's Irish Home Rule Bill in 1894, rejected by the House of Lords, he resigned from the leadership of the government and the Liberal Party and took no further part in political life.
Diplomatic Dictionary. Ch. ed. A. Ya. Vyshinsky and S. A. Lozovsky. M., 1948.
Read further:
Marx Karl. The New Financial Fraud, or Gladstone and the Pence. K. Marx, F. Engels. Essays. 2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 44-49.
Historical persons of England (biographical index).
Great Britain in the 19th century (chronological table).
Essays:
A chapter of autobiography, L., 1868;
Gleanings of past years 1843-1878, v. 1-7, L., 1879;
Speeches and public addresses, v. 9-10, L., 1892-94;
Bassett A. T., Gladstone's speeches (descrip. index and bibl.), L., 1916.
Literature:
Marx, K. and Engels, F. Works. T. X. P. 297. T. XIII. Part 1. P. 339, 407. T. XV. pp. 675-682. T. XVI. Part II. P. 360. T. XXVII. G. 129, 239. - Gladstone, W. E. A chapter of autobiography. London. 1868. - Gladstone, W. E. Gleanings of past years 1843-1878. Vol. 1-7. London. 1879. - Gladstone, W. E. The speeches and public addresses of W. E. Gladstone, with notes and introductions. Ed. by A. W. Hutton and H. J. Cohen. Vol. 9-10. London. 1892- 1894. - Gladstone, W. E. Bulgarian horrors and question of the East. London. 1876. 64 p. Translations: Gladstone, V. E. Bulgarian horrors and the Eastern question. Transl. from English K. P. Pobedonostsev and K. N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. St. Petersburg 1876. XIII, 48 pp.; -Gladstone, V. E. Bulgarian horrors and the Eastern question. From app. his speeches and letters. St. Petersburg 1876. 115 p. (Questions of the day. 1.). - Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone (1876-1887). Sotr. by R. H. Gretton. London. 1913. VI, 120 p.- Gladstone and Palmerston. The correspondence of lord Palmerston with Mr. Gladstone 1851-1865. Ed. with introduction and commentary by P. Guedalla. London. Gollancz. 1928. 368 p. - Gladstone's speeches, descriptive index and bibliography by Arthur Tilney Bassett, with a pref. by Bryce and introduction. to the selected speeches by H. Pane. London. . XI, 667 p. - Temperley, H. W. and Penson, L. M. Foundations of British foreign policy from Pitt (1792) to Salisbury (1902) or Documents old and new. Select, and ed. with historical introduction. Cambridge. 1938. P. 317-346, 390-415, 416-428. - Morley, J. Life of William Ewart Gladstone. Vol. 1-3. London. 1911. - Knaplund, P. Gladstone's foreign policy. New York - London. 1935. XVIII, 303 p. - Somervell, D. C. Disraeli and Gladstone: a duo-biographical sketch. London. 1932. 320 p. - Seton-Watson, R. W. Disraeli, Gladstone and the Eastern question... London. 1935. XV, 590 p.
Unlike Winston Churchill or Margaret Thatcher, the name of the British politician William Gladstone is not very well known among us. But Gladstone is the only one who became Prime Minister of Great Britain four times. And for the last time - at the 83rd year of his life! He is the oldest prime minister in the country's history and, perhaps, one of the most controversial.
The beginning of the biography of William, the third son of the wealthy merchant John Gladstone, was quite ordinary. The boy received a good education at home, then in 1821, at the age of 12, he was sent to the closed Eton School. After her, he entered Christ Church College at Oxford University. At Oxford, William Gladstone studied theology and literature, but was also keenly interested in politics. The university had a student parliament - the Oxford Debating Society. Gladstone became its president and once made a fiery speech against the Electoral Reform Bill. Later, he called this speech “a mistake of youth,” but then he sincerely believed that there was absolutely no need to change the existing electoral system and give farmers or townspeople the right to vote.
Conservative start
Perhaps the world would never have known about the politician William Gladstone, since after graduating from university he wanted to choose a spiritual career. But his father intervened, who believed that such a good speaker as his son should devote himself to social activities. So in 1832 William became a Tory MP. Within six months, he attracted everyone's attention by giving a speech. The issue of abolition of slavery was discussed, and Gladstone spoke out in defense of the rights of slave owners. The future Prime Minister Robert Peel liked the young man, and he began promoting William.
Alas, he was unable to rise high, because Peel’s government soon fell. However, the head of the Tory party did not forget about William, and in 1841, in the new ministry, Gladstone took the post of Deputy Minister of Trade. And a couple of years later he himself became the Minister of Trade. This is at 33 years old! This is the first time such a young member has appeared in the cabinet. In this post, he distinguished himself by fiercely defending the abolition of grain duties. He eventually managed to partially abolish and partially reduce customs duties, as he was imbued with the idea of free trade. Perhaps this was his first deviation from traditional conservative views, but far from the last.
In 1845 Gladstone became Secretary of State for the Colonies. And in 1852 - Minister of Finance, or, as they said then, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Thanks to William, this post became the second most important in the government and still remains so. Gladstone turned out to be a brilliant financier, so it is not surprising that in 1859 he again received this position in the office of the next prime minister, Lord Palmerston. It would seem that there is nothing wrong with that - a capable person is needed in any government. However, Lord Palmerston led the Whig party - the eternal opponents of the Tories. Thus, William, from a conservative, first became simply a liberal, and in 1868 - the leader of the liberal party!
A radical turn
Gladstone's change in political views is best illustrated by his speech in May 1864 in the House of Commons. Then he declared that every person in good health has the right to vote. This was a bold speech at that time, which outraged even some liberals. But this attracted new supporters to William. Four years later, after the Liberals won the elections, he was entrusted with forming a government. After becoming prime minister, Gladstone presented his cabinet with several difficult tasks. And many of his global ideas were brought to life.
In 1869, a law was passed that separated the Anglican Church in Ireland from the state. The following year the Land Act came into force, giving a number of guarantees to Irish tenant farmers. Also in 1870, a law on compulsory primary education was passed, and a network of schools began to be created throughout the country.
During the six years of Gladstone's work, laws were passed to abolish the sale of positions in the army, to introduce a secret voting procedure in parliamentary elections, to establish religious qualifications at Oxford and Cambridge universities, and to legalize trade unions. Not all of these measures were popular, so the Liberals lost the 1874 election. After this, Gladstone intended to step down from the leadership of the party. He told his friends that not a single prime minister had managed to accomplish anything outstanding after the age of 60, so it was time to end his political career.
But his career unexpectedly continued. The reason for this was the situation in Bulgaria. In 1876, it became known about the atrocities that the Turks were committing in this Balkan country. Gladstone published a pamphlet, The Bulgarian Horrors and the Eastern Question, from which the public learned that the current Conservative government of Great Britain under the leadership of Lord Disraeli advised the Turks to “act mercilessly” during the Bulgarian liberation uprising. The retired prime minister wrote that, in his opinion, the “Turkish race” behaves like “one great inhumane specimen of the human race.” And that an Islamic state cannot be good and tolerant towards “civilized and Christian races.” Gladstone proposed granting autonomy to Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria. And also stop supporting Turkey.
Gladstone presented his pamphlet personally to Lord Disraeli, which, of course, did not improve their relationship. Disraeli spoke very unflatteringly about his political opponent, calling him “half-mad” and “an unprincipled maniac.” Nevertheless, the brochure had a great influence in society, and at the same time increased the political authority of its author. So after the 1880 election, William Gladstone became Prime Minister again.
Defender of Ireland
These were difficult times for Great Britain. The flow of cheap products from America ruined English farmers. And rising tariffs led to a decline in British exports. As a result, unemployment grew and unrest arose - people demanded social reforms. Gladstone did not agree to this; he believed that the state should not take on work that people could do themselves, and that helping farmers would undermine the welfare of society as a whole.
The situation in foreign policy was also difficult. The public demanded the implementation of an imperial policy, but the prime minister did not consider the expansion of possessions correct. And yet, in 1882, he sent troops to capture Egypt. However, this populist measure did not save him. After the defeat of the troops in Eastern Sudan, he lost popularity and in 1885 was forced to leave the political scene again. It should be noted that in five years Gladstone's cabinet managed to do something: in 1881, the Land Act for Ireland was adopted, and in 1884, the third law on suffrage reform.
Just six months later, the Liberals were again in the majority in the elections, and Gladstone was given a third chance to lead the government. And he took advantage of it. This time he considered his main task to be the final solution to the Irish question. Not so long ago, he himself advocated the suppression of the national liberation movement in Ireland, but now his position has changed dramatically. William Gladstone concluded that only self-government could ease tensions in the region. The first thing he did as prime minister was introduce a bill on home rule (self-government) into parliament. However, Britain was not yet ready for this. The bill was defeated and Gladstone resigned.
For six long years he was in opposition, but did not give up, continuing to promote the idea of political self-government for Ireland. And when, in 1892, Gladstone was entrusted with forming and leading the government for the fourth time, the first thing he did was introduce a bill on Home Rule. And he even passed it through the House of Commons, but the House of Lords still rejected the document.
William Gladstone resigned as prime minister in 1894 and retired. He lived for another four years in Wales, finally devoting all his time to his favorite ancient literature, for which he had never had enough time before.
Marina Viktorova
Gladstone William Yuart Gladstone Career: Actor
Birth: 29.12.1809
English historiography, without proper grounds, created Gladstone's reputation as a great statesman. K. Marx used the expression “great” in quotation marks to Gladstone, calling him an arch-hypocrite and a casuist.
Gladstone William Ewart (12/29/1809, Liverpool, 5/19/1898, Harden), British statesman. Born into the family of a wealthy businessman. He received his education at the closed aristocratic school at Eton and at Oxford, where he studied theology and classical literature. In 1832 he was elected to parliament from the Tory party. However, gradually realizing that the formation of capitalism and the strengthening of the bourgeoisie were making ancient Toryism unpromising, G. began to focus on the liberals. In 184345, Minister of Trade in the Peel government, in 184547 Minister of Colonies. In 185255 Minister of Finance in the coalition government of Aberdeen. In 185966 Minister of Finance in the Liberal government of Palmerston; During the American Civil War, 186165 supported the slave owners of the Southern states. In 1868 he was elected leader of the Liberal Party. In 186874 Prime Minister; its leadership reformed primary education, legalized trade unions (at the same time introducing retribution for strikers picketing enterprises to combat strikebreakers), and introduced secret voting in elections. After the defeat of the liberals in the parliamentary elections of 1874, G. led the opposition to the conservative government of Disraeli. Having become the head of the government in 188085, G. continued the expansionist foreign policy of the conservatives. In 1882, Georgia's leadership sent British troops to capture Egypt. In Ireland, while brutally suppressing the national liberation movement, the Irish leadership made minor concessions. The defeat of British troops in Sudan and complications in Ireland led to the fall of G.'s government. Having headed the leadership for a short time in 1886, G. introduced a bill on Home Rule to parliament, the failure of which prompted him to resign. The fight over this issue dragged on. Again leading the leadership in 189294, G. carried the same bill through the House of Commons, but the House of Lords rejected it. G. once again retired, and his more than 60-year political career ended.
English historiography, without proper grounds, created G.'s fame as a great statesman. K. Marx applied the expression “great” in quotation marks to G., calling him an arch-hypocrite and a casuist.
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William Ewart Gladstone(English) William Ewart Gladstone; December 29th ( 18091229 ) , Liverpool - 19 May) - English statesman and writer, 41st (December - February 1874), 43rd (April - June 1885), 45th (February - August 1886) and 47th ( August - February 1894) Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Early life
William Ewart Gladstone was born in Liverpool. His family was of Scottish origin. He was the fifth child of six children of Sir John Gladstone (1764-1851), a wealthy merchant, well educated and active in public life; in 1827 he was a member of Parliament, and in 1846 he became a baronet. Mother Anna Mackenzie Robertson instilled in William a deep religious feeling and developed in him a love of poetry. From an early age he showed outstanding abilities, the development of which was greatly influenced by the influence of his parents.
His father passed on to him a keen interest in social issues, and at the same time a conservative point of view on them. William was not yet twelve years old when his father, in conversations with him, introduced him to various political issues of the day. John Gladstone was at that time on friendly terms with Canning, whose political ideas had a great influence on the young Gladstone, partly through his father, partly directly.
Gladstone received his initial education at home, in 1821 he was placed at Eton School, where he remained until 1828, and then entered Oxford University, where he graduated in the spring of 1832. The school and the University further contributed to the fact that Gladstone entered life as a supporter of the conservative direction. Recalling Oxford many years later, he said:
I did not take away from Oxford what I acquired only later - the ability to appreciate the eternal and invaluable principles of human freedom. A suspicious attitude towards freedom was too prevalent in the academic environment.
Mentally, he took everything he could from Eton and Oxford; hard work gave him extensive and versatile knowledge and aroused in him a keen interest in literature, especially classical literature. He took an active part in the debates of the Eton Society of Fellows (under the name The Literati) and in the publication of "Eton Miscellany", a periodical collection of works by students, being its energetic editor and the most active supplier of material for it, in the form of articles, translations and even satirical and humorous poems. At Oxford, Gladstone was the founder and chairman of a literary circle (called by his initials - WEG), in which, among other things, he read a detailed essay on Socrates' belief in immortality; He also took an active part in the activities of another Union society, where he made a heated speech against the reform bill - a speech that he himself later called “the mistake of youth.” His comrades even then expected outstanding political activity from him.
Upon leaving the University, Gladstone intended to devote himself to a spiritual career, but his father opposed this. Before deciding on his choice of profession, he took a trip to the continent and spent six months in Italy. Here he received from the 4th Duke of Newcastle (whose son, Lord Lincoln, became close friends with Gladstone at Eton and Oxford) an offer to stand as a Tory candidate from Newark, of which he was elected on December 15, 1832. With his speeches and actions during the election campaign (he had two dangerous rivals), Gladstone attracted everyone's attention.
Career in parliament. Ministerial post under Pyla
Gladstone made his first significant speech in Parliament on May 17, 1833, when discussing the issue of the abolition of slavery. Since then he has been an active participant in debates on a wide variety of issues of current politics and soon gained a reputation for himself as an outstanding orator and a very skillful debater. Despite Gladstone's youth, his position within the Tory party was so noticeable that when a new cabinet was formed in December 1834, Robert Peel appointed him Junior Lord of the Treasury, and in February 1835 he moved him to the senior position of Assistant Secretary (Minister) for the Administration of the Colonies . In April 1835, Peel's ministry fell.
In the following years, Gladstone took an active part in the opposition, and devoted his free time from parliamentary studies to literature. With special zeal he studied Homer and Dante, and read all the works of St. Augustine. The study of the latter was undertaken by him in order to illuminate some questions about the relationship between the church and the state and had a great influence on the development of those views that he outlined in his book: “The state in its relations to the Church” (1838). This book, in which Gladstone spoke out strongly in favor of the state church, attracted much attention; it, by the way, provoked a lengthy critical analysis of Macaulay, who, however, recognized the author’s outstanding talent and called him “the rising hope of the stern and unyielding Tories.”
Robert Peel was skeptical about Gladstone’s book, saying: “Why would he want to write books with such a career ahead of him!” The famous Prussian envoy, Baron Bunsen, wrote the following enthusiastic lines in his diary: “The appearance of Gladstone's book is the great event of the day; this is the first book since Bork that touches on a fundamentally vital question; the author is above his party and his time.”
When Robert Peel's new ministry was formed in 1841, Gladstone took the post of vice-president of the Bureau (Ministry) of Commerce, and in 1843 became its president, becoming a member of the cabinet for the first time, at the age of 33. He actively participated in the debate on the abolition of grain duties; in 1842, he carried out work to revise the customs tariff in the spirit of partly complete abolition, partly reducing duties. Little by little, from a protectionist, Gladstone became an ardent supporter of free trade ideas.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
First cabinet, 1868-1874
The formation of the new ministry was entrusted to Gladstone (in December 1868), who first appeared as prime minister. This first Gladstone cabinet lasted until February 1874; His most important measures: the abolition of the state church in Ireland in 1869, the Irish Land Act of 1870, radical reform in the field of elementary public education in 1870, the abolition of the system of selling positions in the army in 1871, the introduction of secret voting in elections in 1872, etc. d. After the fall of the cabinet, in March 1874, Gladstone, in a letter to Lord Grenville, announced his intention to withdraw from active leadership of the Liberal party. It is curious that he then considered his political career over, telling friends that none of the prime ministers managed to do anything outstanding after the age of 60.
In opposition
In January 1875, in a new letter to Lord Grenville, Gladstone formally announced his resignation from leadership. The Marquis of Hartington was elected as his successor.
However, already in 1876, Gladstone returned to active participation in political life, publishing a pamphlet: “The Bulgarian Horrors” and taking an energetic part in organizing a social movement against the Eastern Policy of Benjamin Disraeli Lord Beaconsfield. The pamphlet had significant influence: denouncing the "Turkish race" as "one great inhuman specimen of the human race," Gladstone proposed granting autonomy to Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria, as well as ceasing to provide unconditional support to the Porte.
When, in 1880, Beaconsfield dissolved Parliament, the general election gave a huge majority to the Liberal Party. These elections were preceded by Gladstone's election campaign in Scotland, amazing in energy and a number of brilliant speeches, in the Midlothian constituency of which he put up his candidacy.
Second Ministry, 1880-1885
Gladstone under the influence of the Land League. Caricature from the 1880s.
The creation of a new ministry was entrusted first to Hartington (who continued to be considered the leader of the liberal party), then to Grenville, but they could not form a cabinet and the queen was forced to entrust this to Gladstone. Gladstone's second ministry lasted from April 1880 to July 1885. He managed to carry out the Irish Land Act of 1881 and the third parliamentary reform (1885).
Third Cabinet, 1886
In June 1885, Gladstone's cabinet was defeated, but Lord Salisbury's new ministry did not last long: after the general elections, in December 1885, a large majority was on the side of the Liberals, due to the accession of the Irish party, and in January 1886 Gladstone's third ministry was formed. By this time there was a decisive turn in Gladstone's views on the Irish question; The main goal of his policy was to grant Ireland home rule (internal self-government). A bill introduced on this subject was defeated, which prompted Gladstone to dissolve Parliament; but new elections (in July 1886) gave him a majority hostile to him. Gladstone's failure was greatly facilitated by a split within the liberal party: many influential members fell away from it, forming a group of liberal unionists. A long period of Salisbury's ministry began (July 1886 - August 1892). Gladstone, despite his advanced age, took an active part in political life, leading the party of his adherents, which, since the split among the liberals, began to be called the party of “Gladstonians.” He set the implementation of the idea of Home Rule as the main goal of his life; both in Parliament and outside it, he vigorously defended the need to grant political self-government to Ireland.
Fourth Cabinet, 1892-1894
Salisbury was in no hurry to call general elections, and they did not take place until July 1892, that is, just one year before the expiration of the legal seven-year term of Parliament. The election campaign was conducted with great excitement both by supporters of Home Rule and by its opponents. As a result of the elections, the Gladstonians and groups adjacent to them had a majority of 42 votes, and in August, immediately after the opening of the new parliament, the Salisbury cabinet was defeated; a new, fourth Gladstone ministry was formed (this is the first time in the history of England that a politician became prime minister for the fourth time). Having been appointed Prime Minister in his eighty-third year, Gladstone became the oldest Prime Minister of Great Britain in its entire history.
Main directions of political activity
These are the most important facts of Gladstone's long political career. One of its most characteristic features is the gradual change in the political beliefs and ideals of Gladstone, who began his activity in the ranks of the Tories and ended it at the head of the advanced part of English liberals and in alliance with extreme radicals and democrats. Gladstone's break with the Tory party dates back to 1852; but it was prepared gradually and over a long period of time. In his own words, from those with whom he had formerly acted, he "was torn away, not by any arbitrary act, but by the slow and irresistible work of inner conviction." In the literature about Gladstone one can find the opinion that, in essence, he always occupied a completely independent position among his comrades and did not actually belong to any party. There is a lot of truth in this opinion. Gladstone himself once said that parties in themselves do not constitute a good, that a party organization is necessary and irreplaceable only as a sure means to achieving one or another high goal. Along with independence in relation to matters of party organization, it is necessary to note, however, another important feature of Gladstone’s political worldview, a hint of which is already in the first speech he delivered to the voters, on October 9, 1832: this is the firm conviction that the basis of political actions "sound general principles" must lie first. The special properties of his outstanding mind, the clarity and logic of thinking developed in him this characteristic feature, which manifested itself early and never weakened. Throughout his entire career, he constantly sought and found a fundamental basis for the views and activities of each given moment. These features served as the source of the revolution in Gladstone's political views and ideals, which took place in him as he became more closely acquainted with the life and needs of the people. Gladstone's political views were constantly in the process of internal evolution, the direction of which was determined by a conscientious and attentive attitude to the general conditions and demands of the country's cultural growth. The more the range of phenomena accessible to his observation expanded, the clearer the democratic movement of the century appeared to him, the more convincing its legitimate demands became. Doubts could not help but arise in him about the justice and correctness of those views that the Conservative Party continued to hold in its opposition to the new trend. Gladstone's inherent desire to find the fundamental basis of any social movement, in connection with his humane worldview, highly honest views on life and demanding attitude towards himself, helped him come to the correct answer to the question of where is the truth, where is justice. As a result of prolonged internal work to clarify the doubts that arose, his final transition to the ranks of the liberal party was achieved.
A remarkable feature of Gladstone's political activity is also the predominant position that issues of internal cultural development always had in it over the interests of foreign politics. This latter, during the periods when he was the first minister, caused especially strong criticism from his opponents, and in 1885, for example, served as the immediate cause of the fall of his cabinet. In this area he was most vulnerable, but only because he was never inclined to attach primary importance to international issues and has views on them that differ too sharply from the point of view that prevails in European countries today. According to his fundamental convictions, he is an enemy of war and all violence, the manifestations of which are so rich in the field of international politics. While the merits of Gladstone's famous rival, Lord Beaconsfield, boil down mainly to a series of deft diplomatic moves and deals, the list of Gladstone's great deeds for the benefit of England covers only issues of its internal life. The definition of the role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which Gladstone made back in 1850, in a dispute with Lord Palmerston over Greek affairs, is very characteristic. His task is “to preserve peace, and one of his first duties is the strict application of that code of great principles that was bequeathed to us by previous generations of great and noble minds.” He ended this speech with a warm invitation to recognize the equality of the strong and the weak, the independence of small states, and generally refuse political interference in the affairs of another state.
In his political activities, however, Gladstone more than once touched upon the interests of other states and intervened in other people's affairs, but this intervention took on a unique form. So, Gladstone spent the winter of 1850-1851 in Naples. At that time, the government of King Ferdinand II, nicknamed “Bomba” for his cruelty, carried out brutal reprisals against those citizens who took part in the movement against the intolerable regime: up to twenty thousand people, without investigation or trial, were imprisoned in gloomy prisons in which conditions the existence was so terrible that even serving doctors did not dare to enter there for fear of infection. Gladstone carefully studied the state of affairs in Naples and was filled with indignation at the sight of this gross barbarity. In the form of “Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen,” he announced the details of all the horrors that he had to know and see. Gladstone's letters made a huge impression throughout Europe and did not remain without influence on subsequent events in Italy.
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