The Midlothian campaign of 1878–80 was a series of
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
speeches given by
William Gladstone, leader of Britain's
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.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. It is often cited as the first modern political campaign.
It also set the stage for Gladstone's comeback as a politician. It takes its name from the
Midlothian
Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...
constituency in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
where Gladstone (who was of Scottish ancestry) successfully stood in the 1880 election.
When Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
attempted to distract public opinion from the
economic and financial problems of Britain by calling attention to the worsening
British-Ottoman relations, Gladstone in four speeches charged the government with financial incompetence, neglect of domestic legislation, and mismanagement of foreign affairs.
The Midlothian campaign unified the Liberal Party under Gladstone's leadership and probably forced the government to think in terms of dissolution sooner. It created a momentum that carried the Liberals to power in the election.
Background
In 1876, news of a series of atrocities by the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
during their suppression of the Bulgarian
April Uprising
The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...
reached the British press, despite the strong censorship of the Turkish authorities. British public reaction was generally one of dismay, fuelled by the public prints, but the government of
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
continued its policy of support for the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, an ally in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
and a bulwark against possible
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
expansion in the area.
Gladstone took up the issue slowly, at first appearing uninterested. By 1878 he was publishing articles in favour of ending British economic support for the
Ottoman government
The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...
in response.
The campaign
By 1880, Gladstone's dogged focus on the issue had dragged it to the forefront of public attention, and in the
general election of 1880, Gladstone toured a series of cities giving speeches of up to five hours on the subject. The nature of his orations has often been compared to that of sermons, and his fiery, emotive, but logically structured speeches are credited with swaying a large number of undecided voters to the Liberals in the 1880s, and ousting Disraeli's last
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
government.
Equally important to the large scale of attendance at these meetings (several thousand came to each, and given the relatively narrow scale of the franchise, this meant Gladstone could address a large proportion of electors in each district) was the widespread reporting of Gladstone's speeches and the public reaction to them. Paul Brighton argues that it was a highly successful media event:
:What was new about Midlothian was not that Gladstone spoke from the platform. This was already common-place for many front-rank politicians. It was the fact that the campaign was effectively designed as a media event, with specific attention to the deadlines and operational requirements of the journalists covering it and crafted for maximum impact in the morning and evening papers.
Content
Gladstone's speeches covered the entire range of national policy, he gave his large audiences an advanced course in the principles of government that was both magisterial and exciting. The major speeches constitute a statement of the Liberal philosophy of government, reinforced by the fervour of his own deeply-held Anglican faith. Scotland, at this time, was a nation fixated on the promotion this sort of religious and moral rectitude and probity. His focus was usually on foreign affairs. Gladstone presented his commitment to a world community, governed by law, protecting the weak. His vision of the ideal world order combined universalism and inclusiveness; he appealed to group feeling, the sense of concern for others, rising eventually to the larger picture of the unity of mankind.
[Robert Kelley, "Midlothian: A Study In Politics and Ideas," ''Victorian Studies'' (1960) 4#2 pp 119-140.]
See also
*
Tulchan
A Tulchan (from the Scottish Gaelic, ''tulachan'') was in Scotland a man appointed as bishop after the Reformation, who was a bishop in name only and whose revenue was drawn by his patron. The term originally referred to a calfskin stuffed with s ...
*
American election campaigns in the 19th century
In the 19th century, a number of new methods for conducting American election campaigns developed in the United States. For the most part the techniques were original, not copied from Europe or anywhere else. The campaigns were also changed by a g ...
, for contemporary campaigns
References
Further reading
* Blair, Kirstie. "The People’s William and the People’s Poets: William Gladstone and the Midlothian Campaign." ''The People’s Voice'' (2018
online
* Brooks, David. "Gladstone and Midlothian: The Background to the First Campaign," ''Scottish Historical Review'' (1985) 64#1 pp 42–67
online* Brown, Stewart J. “‘Echoes of Midlothian’: Scottish Liberalism and the South African War, 1899-1902.” ''Scottish Historical Review'' 71#191/192, (1992), pp. 156–83
online
* Fitzsimons, M. A. "Midlothian: the Triumph and Frustration of the British Liberal Party," ''Review of Politics'' (1960) 22#2 pp 187–201
in JSTOR* Jenkins, Roy. ''Gladstone'' (1997) pp 399–415
* Kelley, Robert. "Midlothian: A Study In Politics and Ideas," ''Victorian Studies'' (1960) 4#2 pp 119–140
online* Matthew, H. C. G ''Gladstone: 1809-1898'' (1997) pp 293–313
* Whitehead, Cameron Ean Alfred. "The Bulgarian Horrors: culture and the international history of the Great Eastern Crisis, 1876-1878" (PhD. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, 2014
online* Yildizeli, Fahriye Begum. "W.E. Gladstone and British Policy Towards the Ottoman Empire." (PhD dissertation, University of Exeter, 2016
online
Primary sources
* Gladstone, W.E. ''Midlothian Speeches. 1879'' (Leicester University Press, 1971).
* Gladstone, William E. ''Midlothian Speeches 1884'' with an Introduction by M. R. D. Foot, (New York: Humanities Press, 1971
online
External links
Political campaigns in the United Kingdom
History of Midlothian
19th century in the United Kingdom
William Ewart Gladstone
1870s speeches
1880s speeches