154. A great man falls, a lesser one fades

154. A great man falls, a lesser one fades

With both eyesight and hearing fading, Gladstone couldn’t last long after his defeat on Home Rule. Though he lasted as long as he could. Even after almost the entire cabinet prevented him from blocking an increase in naval expenditure, demanded by the admirals, and which he feared would merely add fuel to the fire of an arms race, he still clung on for a while longer. Finally though, in February 1898 he went.

But who would replace him? Would it be Spencer, his favoured candidate despite having opposed Gladstone over the naval expenditure? Well, Victoria didn’t even do him the courtesy of consulting him about his successor, so what he favoured didn’t matter.

Might it be Harcourt, the Chancellor and ‘little Englander’ whose cautious view of imperialism was in line with thinking across the mainstream of the Liberal Party?

Or would it be the Liberal Imperialist Rosebery, who’d keep the party firmly anchored to its right wing?

Well, Victoria was quite an imperialist herself. Rosebery was picked. He head a short-lived, inglorious government, torn by internal dissension – Harcourt couldn’t forgive him for depriving him of a position to which he thought he was entitled – which fifteen months later simply imploded and meekly resigned, letting Salisbury form his third administration.

That was the opening of a Tory decade. It was that long before the Liberals got another chance to form a government.


Illustration: Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, by Henry T. Greenhead, published 23 October 1894, when Gladstone’s successor was a fading Prime Minister. National Portrait Gallery D39875

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.


Jaksot(275)

42. The business of empire is business

42. The business of empire is business

England in the early eighteenth century was undergoing great changes. London was Europe's biggest city. And the country was rapidly emerging as a major business centre, displacing the Netherlands from...

12 Kesä 202114min

41. Sex and Sickness

41. Sex and Sickness

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an extraordinary woman, both in her personality and in her contribution to the world, specifically in medicine.  This episode looks at both aspects, trying to pick out th...

7 Kesä 202114min

40. Bye, bye Anne. Hello, George. And bye, bye James yet again

40. Bye, bye Anne. Hello, George. And bye, bye James yet again

In the dying days of her reign, we see Queen Anne refusing royal assent to a bill, a historic moment only because it was the last time ever that a British monarch blocked a bill passed by both Houses ...

3 Kesä 202112min

39. Great Britain

39. Great Britain

It's time for a new country. Time to shake off the old bickering small nations around the island of Britain. It's time for Great Britain to emerge as a powerful new player on the world stage, bringing...

28 Touko 202114min

38. Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre

38. Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre

The War of the Spanish succession was really just the continuation of the Nine Years' War, but this time with the specific issue of the succession to the Spanish throne at stake. That, incidentally, m...

23 Touko 202114min

37. Who'll take the decisions?

37. Who'll take the decisions?

As William III, reigning alone since the death of his wife Mary II, approached the end of his reign, there was clearly a vital issue to address. Mary's sister Anne was the only Protestant heir to the ...

18 Touko 202114min

36. Just one war after another

36. Just one war after another

Just as soon as William III could free himself up from wars in the British Isles, to secure his throne (and his wife Mary II's), he got stuck into the fighting on the Continent, on behalf of his home ...

13 Touko 202113min

35. Bloodless? Did I say bloodless?

35. Bloodless? Did I say bloodless?

That’s it: we’ve reached the great and dreadful moment of the Battle of the Boyne, an event that casts its shadow right down to the present day. Each year – on an oddly chosen anniversary date – Orang...

8 Touko 202110min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
huijarit
mystista
rss-ikiuni
totuus-vai-salaliitto
tsunami
konginkangas
rouva-diktaattori
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-peter-peter
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
historiaa-suomeksi
apinan-vuosi
maailmanpuu
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast