John D. Fair

British Conservatism in the Twentieth Century: An Emerging Ideological Tradition

Lord Acton, one of the most formidable intellects of the last century, was a master of transforming seemingly complicated or contradictory principles into concise epigrammatic statements. Attempting to reconcile Edmund Burkes many liberal views with his reputed Conservatism, Acton asked why was Burke “not an entire liberal? How thoroughly he wished for liberty—of conscience—property, trade, slavery, etc. What stood against it? His notion of history. The claims of the past. The authority of time. The will of the dead. Continuity.” One of the most important lessons to be derived from Burkes writings—recognized by countless authorities as the wellspring of modern British Conservatism—is that Conservatism is not so much a system of thought or ideology as it is a general inclination and regard for history. The behavior of the Conservative Party has been governed by precedent and pragmatism rather than by rationalism and idealism. Words such as dogma, program, or even policy have never been part of its lexicon, whereas such words as spirit, tradition, or even “way“ have more aptly described its approach to politics. By the twentieth century the Conservative Partys preference for lessons from the past (in accordance with Englands common law tradition) to any scientifically derived formulas had gained for it the twin monikers of “the national party” and “the stupid party.” But Conservatism does not claim to possess the “keys or the Kingdom,” notes Ian Gilmour, an active politician and Conservative theoretician. “There is no certainty about the route and no certainty about the destination. As Burke said of himself, the lead has to be heaved every inch of the way.” Such is the way that modern British Conservatives, at least, have wished to perceive themselves.

The Irish Disestablishment Conference of 1869

The Reform Bill of 1867 inaugurated a new era in the political history of Great Britain. By enlarging the electorate and increasing the possibilities for party organisation this Act brought to a close that period of the mid-nineteenth century when parties were in a state of flux. This was manifested in Parliament by a growing disparity between the popularly elected House of Commons and the hereditary based House of Lords. In 1868 and 1869 these bodies converged in a constitutional struggle over the disestablishment of the Irish Church. By toppling Disraeli from the premiership and acquiring a clear mandate from the electorate for a change in the status of the Irish Church Gladstone was able to make an irrefutable case for disestablishment. When Gladstone placed his bill before Parliament opposition developed in the first instance, as expected, from churchmen and Tories in the House of Lords who feared that the passage of disestablishment would admit a host of further changes in the constitution. Through the efforts of archbishop Tait, however, and other moderates the upper house wisely passed the principle of the bill. But opposition to the measure was based not so much on upholding the principle of establishment in Ireland, which was indefensible, but on a disagreement with the substance, or the details by which the Irish Church was to be disendowed. During the committee stage the House of Lords precipitated a crisis by so amending the bill as to maintain the financial security of the Irish Church. For the purpose of reaching a compromise on the disendowment clauses of the bill a conference of party leaders was summoned. To this end the mediation efforts of the queen were directed. But any settlement of the crisis depended in the final analysis on the extent of Conservative opposition and the ease with which party divisions could be bridged.

Savrola and Winston Churchill's Search for Meaning

This essay focuses on a previously under-explored facet of Churchills life by analysing the autobiographical novel he created while reading literary classics as a young soldier suffering bouts of depression in a remote corner of the British Empire. It employs a combination of research strategies that include Churchills correspondence, extracts from Savrola and related works, the social-scientific insights of Anthony Storr and Daniel Levinson, and an unpublished document in the Churchill Archives that links Churchills capacity for heroism to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The author concludes that Savrola provided a means of self-diagnosis and treatment for Winston Churchill to extract some meaning in life and ultimately achieve political success.

Religion versus Empire? British Protestant Missionaries and Overseas Expansion, 1700–1914

also provides a private glimpse of the prime ministers themselves, particularly at points of political and personal crisis. We see Eden’s loss of control over Suez, Callaghan’s frustration and helplessness during the Winter of Discontent in 1979, and Thatcher’s sense of personal injury over her ouster in 1990. As such, The Goldfish Bowl complements comparative studies of the premiers themselves, such as Peter Clarke’s A Question ofleadership, and is similarly suitable for general readers. The question left hanging is how Booth herself sees her role. Professionally successful in her own right, it would have been instructive to read her reflections on the role the prime minister’s spouse does, or should, play.

Churchill, a Biography: Jenkins, Roy: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1002 pp., Publication Date: November 2001

ginalization of the American Creole class. That change, over five decades, produced the milieu that facilitated revolution. Perhaps Lynch’s most insightful essay is the one dealing with Canarian immigration to what was to become Venezuela. That immigration was substantial and created a white, European underclass with grievances. Canarian tensions with the Creole elite explain an otherwise incomprehensible “War to the Death,” mainly against Canarians, who became the backbone of royalist counterrevolution. it may also give context to betrayal of Miranda, a second generation Canarian. In fact, given the make-up of Venezuelan society, Lynch shows that terrorism probably was a necessary component of successful revolution. One important factor in the 1750 to 1850 period of revolutions, given only slight mention and n o analysis by Lynch, is the role of Freemasonry. He only refers to Freemasonry as almost irredentist in the chapter on the Millenarians, probably the weakest or strangest part of the book. Perhaps we may look forward to a future Lynch essay on Masonry and the Latin American revolutions. Nonetheless, Lynch provides a most satisfying academic experience with good use of primary source material. Although footnotes are abundant, complete citations in a single bibliography would be useful. They were probably omitted because the chapters were originally written as separate essays rather than as a book. Latin Anterica between Colony and Nation is a most enjoyable experience for the dedicated Latin Americanist and a fine piece of scholarship.

The Labour Party: A Centenary History

We may not be able to make you love reading, but labour party a centenary history will lead you to love reading starting from now. Book is the window to open the new world. The world that you want is in the better stage and level. World will always guide you to even the prestige stage of the life. You know, this is some of how reading will give you the kindness. In this case, more books you read more knowledge you know, but it can mean also the bore is full.

The Monarchy and the Constitution

In the increasingly questioning world of the 1990s, the role of the monarchy in a democracy is again coming under scrutiny. Its critics argue that the monarchy is a profoundly conservative institution which serves to inhibit social change; that it has outlived its usefulness; that it symbolizes and reinforces deference and hierachy; and that its radical reform is therefore long overdue. Rejecting these arguments Vernon Bogdanor makes a powerful case for the positive role that monarchy plays in modern democratic politics. Ranging across law, politics, and history he argues that far from undermining democracy, the monarchy sustains and strengthens democratic institutions; that constitutional monarchy is a form of government that ensures not conservatism but legitimacy. The first serious examination of the political role of the monarchy to appear in many years, this book will make fascinating reading for all those interested in the monarchy and the future of British politics.

The Political Aspects of Women's Suffrage During the First World War

The womens suffrage movement in Great Britain has suffered from the misconception that it was through the urgings, exertions, and sacrifices of women exclusively prior to 1918 that the vote was finally achieved. Such writers as the Pankhursts and Millicent Garrett Fawcett, who were also participants in the struggle, have set the tone of historical interpretation by describing their success in such titular terms as My Own Story,…The Story of How We Won the Vote , and Womens Victory… , a lead dutifully followed by others who have written since the passage of the Reform Bill. Almost without exception these accounts, which include Roger Fulfords Votes For Women , stress the more exciting prewar aspects of the story, thereby conveying the mistaken impression that the conferral of the suffrage was the natural consequence of feminist agitation. Those more enlightened authors who recognize the adverse effect which the militant suffragists had on their own cause and the absence of any kind of solicitation during the war have subscribed to the equally misleading explanation that it was womens participation in the war which won the vote. Such is the perspective gained from reading Monstrous Regiment by David Mitchell. A close examination of the politics of the reform question, an approach heretofore eschewed by nearly every writer of the period, reveals that the extension of the suffrage to women did not “just happen” as a result of the manifold conversions in political and public spheres, for whatever reason. Indeed the question of giving women the vote would never have arisen during the war had Parliament not been confronted with the urgency of granting the vote to soldiers and sailors on active duty.