The Liberal Imperialists were a faction within the British
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
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around 1900 regarding the policy toward the British Empire. They supported the Boer War which most Liberals opposed, and wanted the Empire ruled on a more benevolent basis. The most prominent members were
R. B. Haldane
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (; 30 July 1856 – 19 August 1928) was a British lawyer and philosopher and an influential Liberal and later Labour politician. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during wh ...
,
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
, Sir
Edward Grey and
Lord Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...
.
Beliefs
The Liberal Imperialists believed that under the leadership of
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
the Liberal Party had succumbed to "faddists", sectional interests, and the "
Celtic fringe
The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who sha ...
" which prevented it from being a truly national party. Furthermore, the Liberal Party should include people of all classes, along with promoting
working-class MPs in the Liberal Party. They also argued that the Liberals had lost the centre vote because the party had distanced itself from "the
new Imperial
New Imperial was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by Norman Downes in Birmingham, between 1887 and 1901, and became New Imperial Motors Ltd in 1912, when serious production commenced. New Imperial made innovative motorcycles that emplo ...
spirit". Instead, they argued for a "clean slate", that the Liberal Party must change if it is to succeed. The old, classical Liberalism must give way to the new ideas of "
National Efficiency" and imperialism.
History
The grouping came to prominence shortly after the failed
Jameson Raid
The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched Raid (military), raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the emplo ...
in 1895 and prior to the outbreak of the
Boer war
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
four years later, as tensions between Britain’s South African colonies and its neighbours increased. Its leaders were members of the parliamentary Liberal Party – then in opposition – who supported the imperialist aspects of
Lord Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
's Conservative government’s foreign policy. This stood in contrast to the radical wing of the parliamentary Liberal Party, whose prominent members included former leader
William Harcourt,
John Morley
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor.
Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...
and
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
. Party leader
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 190 ...
, himself sceptical of Government foreign policy and particularly critical of the Colonial Secretary,
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...
, tried to bridge the gap between the two Liberal Party factions.
In the
1900 General Election Liberal Imperialist affiliated candidates were opposed by the Unionist Coalition. In particular, Joseph Chamberlain labelled the entire Liberal party as 'pro-Boer' and unpatriotic in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
.
In 1902 the group changed its name to the
Liberal League with more or less the same people involved. After the Liberal victory in 1906 they played major roles in the new Liberal government: Asquith, Grey and Haldane went to the Exchequer, the Foreign Office and the War Office respectively.
Political epithet
In modern times, "liberal imperialism" has been increasingly used as a political epithet against liberals in the United States. This modern term is unrelated to the historic political faction. Proponents often use the term to criticize
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
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foreign policy, calling it a form of
cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ...
. They claim that liberal imperialists seek to impose their
cultural liberalism
Cultural liberalism is a social philosophy which expresses the social dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed a ...
on foreign cultures with more
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
values. It has been compared to
neoconservatism
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...
in that liberal imperialists are willing to use military force to achieve their goals.
Notes
Further reading
* Bernstein, George L. "Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and the Liberal Imperialists." ''Journal of British Studies ''23.1 (1983): 105-124.
* Boyle, Thomas. "The Liberal Imperialists, 1892–1906." ''Historical Research'' 52.125 (1979): 48-82.
*Viscount Grey of Fallodon, ''Twenty Five Years. 1892-1916'' (1925).
*R. B. Haldane, ''An Autobiography'' (1929).
*Robert Rhodes James, ''Rosebery'' (1963).
*H. C. G. Matthew, ''The Liberal Imperialists. The Ideas and Politics of a Post-Gladstonian Élite'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973).
*
J. A. Spender
John Alfred Spender CH (23 December 1862 – 21 June 1942) was a British journalist and author. He also edited the London newspaper ''The Westminster Gazette'' from 1896 to 1922.
Early life
Spender was the eldest of four sons born to John Kent ...
and Cyril Asquith, ''Life of Herbert Henry, Lord Oxford and Asquith'' (1932).
*Peter Stansky, ''Ambitions and Strategies'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964).
*Tyler, J. E. "Campbell-Bannerman and the Liberal Imperialists, (1906–1908)." ''History'' 23.91 (1938): 254-262
online/ref>
{{Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, state=collapsed
Liberal Party (UK)
Political party factions in the United Kingdom
History of liberalism
Imperialism