This is the work of some students from past years

Oral presentation:

Gladstone

and

Disraeli

Language and Culture III

                                                        Andreolli, Adriana

                                                        Betti, Cristian

                                                        Ranchilio, Laura

William Ewart Gladstone ( 1809-1898)

Prime Minister     1868-1874

                                1880-1885

                                1886- Febr

1868-1874

                                1892-1894

By the time of Gladstone´s first administration, rebellion had broken out in Ireland in a violent attempt to express bitterness over the English rule. After the Great Famine ( 1845-1852), there were acts of violence and the Irish did not want the British domination any more. When he became Prime Minister for the first time, he declared that his mission was to pacify Ireland. He also began and ambitious program of reform in Great Britain.

ó     First, he disestablished the Anglican Church of Ireland ( 1869). He introduced a bill which stated that Catholic farmers no longer had to pay taxes to the Church.

ó     He also pushed through the first Irish land Act that awarded tenants compensation for their improvements to the land if they were evicted ( forced to leave.)For the first time, the rights of the tenants were recognized by law.

ó     The Educational Act of 1870 was the first step in the construction of a national educational system. He established a system of public education, since only one half of the children of elementary school were in attendance. So, elementary school was made compulsory and all the fees were abolished. He also ended the monopoly of the Church of England in higher education by abolishing all religious tests at Universities.

ó     The Ballot Act was to establish the secret ballot to protect the votes from intimidation at the polls. Especially in Ireland, the landlord or shop owner lost his political influence over his workers. The law was a step further to prevent corrupt political practices.

Foreign Policy

1880-1885

                Gladstone was disinterested in the extension of the empire, preferring for England to have a moral prestige to an imperial prestige. England remained neutral in the Franco-Prussian war during which Prussia became the most powerful state in Europe. In dealing with the United States, Gladstone submitted the issue of the Alabama Claims to an international tribunal of arbitration and awarded 15 million dollars in gold for direct damages. ( claims for damages by the US government against Great Britain during the American Civil War when Britain sold warships to the Confederacy). Popular opinion felt that Gladstone was not asserting Britain´s position as a great power. Actually, he promoted peace.

                                    

               The  Irish question dominated the political scene.  Gladstone became convinced that Irish Home Rule was the only solution and fought for it, but he was unable to carry his entire party with him.

                A conscious expansion of empire took place among European nations, brought on by a new emotional and militant form of nationalism, and by the ramifications of the Industrial revolution. Imperialism took the form of expansion over seas looking for colonies as a source of raw materials. Britain began to be threatened by the industrial and military rivalry of continental powers. Although Gladstone was “ anti imperialist”, he was drawn into imperial commitments more than Disraeli. He hesitated to use force on a lesser power and he usually used force too late and even more fully.

Reform Legislation

                Gladstone was mainly interested in political liberalism and in the pacification of Ireland. There was  a second Irish land Act (1881) in which he guaranteed the “3 Fs”: Fair rent, fixity of tenure (tenants could not be evicted provided they had paid the rent) and free sale on the tenants rights. However, nothing but the Home Rule would satisfy the Irish nationalists.

                Parliamentary reform (1884): This bill gave household suffrage to the Agricultural laborers in the counties. With this act, four out of five adult males could vote. The members of the House of Commons increased.

	Feb 1886- Aug 1886

 

                                                              

             Gladstone began his third administration with the promise to provide Home Rule for Ireland. He defended the first Home Rule Bill for 16 days but it was defeated in Parliament.

                The Whig section had already deserted Gladstone on the issue of the Home Rule. In the election of 1886 the Radicals refused to back Home Rule and campaigned as a separate Liberal Unionist Party. The coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Unionists easily won over Gladstone´s Liberals and Irish Nationalists.

	1892-1894

 

Gladstone, at the age of 82, was both the oldest ever person to be appointed Prime Minister and when he resigned in 1894 aged 84 he was the oldest person ever to occupy the Premiership . In 1893 he introduced the Second Home Rule Bill. It was passed in the Commons at second reading . However , the House of Lords voted against it. In December 1893 an Opposition motion called for an expansion of the Royal Navy. Gladstone opposed increasing public expenditure on the naval estimates, in the tradition of free trade liberalism of his earlier political career as Chancellor. Almost all his colleagues, however, believed in some expansion of the Royal Navy.  He resigned the Premiership on 2 March.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Prime Minister     1866-1868

                                1874-1880

                               

         Though he had been in Parliament since many years before, it was not until 1841 that Disraeli became a member of parliament (MP). That year he attached himself to “Young England”, a group of young aristocrats who expressed a desire to return to the “Golden Age” of agricultural society where paternalism and deference ensured that society worked for the benefit of all and the aristocracy ruled the land in justice and peace. Disraeli and members of his group argued that the middle class now had too much political power and advocated an alliance between the aristocracy and the working class. Disraeli suggested that the aristocracy should use their power to help protect the poor. This political philosophy was expressed in Disraeli's novels Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845) and Tancred (1847). In these books the leading characters show concern about poverty and the injustice of the parliamentary system. Disraeli favoured a policy of protectionism and strongly opposed Peel's decision to repeal the Corn Laws.

                In 1852 Lord John Russell, the leader of the Whig government, resigned. Lord Derby, the new Prime Minister, appointed Disraeli as his Chancellor of the Exchequer. This period of power only lasted a few months and Derby was soon replaced by the Earl of Aberdeen.

                In February 1858 Derby formed his second ministry and Disraeli again took the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer but the ministry lasted only for eighteen months; during that time, the government introduced a Reform Bill that was defeated by the Liberals: Disraeli proposed the equalization of the town and county franchise. This would have resulted in some men in towns losing the vote and was opposed by the Liberals.

                In 1859 Lord Palmerston, became Prime Minister, and Disraeli once more lost his position in the government. For the next seven years the Liberals were in power and it was not until 1866 that Disraeli returned to the cabinet. Once again, Lord Derby appointed Disraeli as his Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons.

                In the House of Commons, Disraeli's proposals were supported by Gladstone and his followers and the measure was passed. The 1867 Reform Act gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough constituency. Male lodgers paying £10 for unfurnished rooms were also granted the vote. This gave the vote to about 1,500,000 men.

                In 1868 Lord Derby resigned and Benjamin Disraeli became the new Prime Minister. However, in the 1868 General Election that followed, William Gladstone and the Liberals were returned to power with a majority of 170.

                After six years in opposition, Disraeli and the Conservative Party won the 1874 General Election. It was the first time since 1841 that the Tories in the House of Commons had a clear majority. Disraeli now had the opportunity to the develop the ideas that he had expressed when he was leader of the Young England group in the 1840s. Social reforms passed by the Disraeli government included: the Artisans Dwellings Act (1875), the Public Health Act (1875), the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1875), the Climbing Boys Act (1875), the Education Act (1876).

                After six years in opposition, Disraeli and the Conservative Party won the 1874 General Election. It was the first time since 1841 that the Tories in the House of Commons had a clear majority. Disraeli now had the opportunity to the develop the ideas that he had expressed when he was leader of the Young England group in the 1840s. Social reforms passed by the Disraeli government included: the Artisans Dwellings Act (1875), the Public Health Act (1875), the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1875), the Climbing Boys Act (1875), the Education Act (1876).

                Disraeli also introduced measures to protect workers such as the 1874 Factory Act and the Climbing Boys Act (1875). Disraeli also kept his promise to improve the legal position of trade unions. The Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act (1875) allowed peaceful picketing and the Employers and Workmen Act (1878) enabled workers to sue employers in the civil courts if they broke legally agreed contracts.

                Unlike William Gladstone, Disraeli got on very well with Queen Victoria. She approved of Disraeli's imperialist views and his desire to make Britain the most powerful nation in the world. In 1876 Victoria agreed to his suggestion that she should accept the title of Empress of India.

                In August 1876 Queen Victoria granted Disraeli the title Lord Beaconsfield. Disraeli now left the House of Commons but continued as Prime Minister and now used the House of Lords to explain his government's policies. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878 Disraeli gained great acclaim for his success in limiting Russia's power in the Balkans.

                The Liberals defeated the Conservatives in the 1880 General Election and after William Gladstone became Prime Minister, Disraeli decided to retire from politics. Disraeli hoped to spend his retirement writing novels but soon after the publication of Endymion (1880) he became very ill. Benjamin Disraeli died on 19th April, 1881.

Benjamin Disraeli´s quotations

·         It is easier to be critical than correct.

·         When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken.

·         I feel a very unusual sensation - if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude.

·         A man can know nothing of mankind without knowing something of himself. Self-knowledge is the property of that man whose passions have their full play, but who ponders over their results.

·         Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.

·         Seeing much, suffering much, and studying much, are the three pillars of learning.

·         The secret of success is constancy to purpose.

·         Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

·         The fool wonders, the wise man asks.

·         Nurture your mind with great thoughts for you will never go any higher than what you think.

·         We make our fortunes and call them fate.

·         The secret of success is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

·         Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter.

·         One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.

William E. Gladstone´s quotations

·         “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

·         “Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.”

·         “Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race”

·         “If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you; if you are excited, it will calm you.”

·         “No man ever became great or good except through many and great mistakes”

·         “All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes.”

·         “He is the purest figure in history. [About George Washington]”

·         “Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness.”

·         “[The Turks] one and all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out from the province they have desolated and profaned.”

·         “Mediocrity is now, as formerly, dangerous, commonly fatal, to the poet; but among even the successful writers of prose, those who rise sensibly above it are the very rarest exceptions”

·         “Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.”

·         “Remember the rights of the savage, as we call him. Remember that the happiness of his humble home, remember that the sanctity of life in the hill villages of Afghanistan, among the winter snows, is as inviolable in the eye of Almighty God, as can be your own.”

·         “The disease of an evil conscience is beyond the practice of all the physicians of all the countries in the would”

·         “Never forget that the purpose for which a man lives is the improvement of the man himself, so that he may go out of this world having, in his great sphere or his small one, done some little good for his fellow creatures and labored a little to diminish the sin and sorrow that are in the world.”

·         We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of Peace.”

·         “It is the duty of government to make it difficult for people to do wrong, easy to do right.”

·         There should be a sympathy with freedom, a desire to give it scope, founded not upon visionary ideas, but upon the long experience of many generations within the shores of this happy isle, that in freedom you lay the firmest foundations both of loyalty and order.

William E. Gladstone (1810-1889)

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Extraordinary ability / Highly intelligent / Dominant figures

Loyal/ Devoted to thier country, Queen and monarchy

Patriotic men / Concerned about cultural traditions and identity

Leaders of their parties

Great rivalry/Mutual loathing/ Bitter antipathy/Detested each other/Eternal enemies

Heavy weight fighters

Liberal (Whig)	Conservative (Tory)
Social background / origin: Scotish descendant –Rich ,wealthy upper-class- Born in Liverpool- 4 siblings	Social background / origin:Italian Jewish descendant- lack of wealth- 4 siblings
Father: Merchant- Owner of a slave plantation in the West Indies	Father: Man of letters, critic, historian
Religion: Anglican / priest / devouted-pious- deeply religious	Religion: Although of Jewish origin, he was baptized defying the Synagogue /  adolescence .converted to Anglicanism / no religious principles / remained outside the Church
Education: upper-class education at Eton / Christ Church / very studious / learned	Education: at a small obscure school at Blackheath / further studies at Higlam Hall / no university / law career : abandoned
Nickname: GOM : Grand Old Man , according to his friends and supporters / God´s Only Mistake, according to Disraeli and AV : Arch Villain / Unprincipled maniac, mixture of envy, hypocrisy and supertition	Nickname. “The grand corrupter”, according to Gladstone / Marvelous talent, brilliant buoyancy .
Youth:respectable	Youth: irrespectable
Money:  Good administrator	Money: speculated in the stock exchange in some South American mining companies : in debt / ruined after an attempt to bring out a newspaper
Women: he married Catherine Glynne in 1839 / Rescued prostitutes from the street to help them rehabilitate	Women. He married Marie Anne Lewis in 1839 (rich widow- financial interest ) / during his youth :  a dandy / involved in a romance with a married woman
Politics / Views:democratic sensibility- ethical foreing policy / dominant and controversial- terrible on rebounds / good administrator :finances / He entered the House as a Tory , later he became Liberal after a trip to Italy in which he witnessed extreme poverty / religiuous imprint	Politics:Master of sarcasm an debate / agressive foreing policy / helped the aristocracy and the working class/ against the increasing power of the merchants / concerned with social reforms / Creator of the Modern Conservative Party / former Radical
Personality /Style:Torrential, eloquent, evangelical vehement, intense, with moral fervour, superior intellect , vigorous and magnificent oratory, peculiar temperament, great exitement /industrious to expound his views / strong sense of duty, phenomenal capacity of hard work / devoid of humor	Personality / Style:Flamboyant style and dress/ extravagant / affected manners / acute, urbane, witty, worldly, cynical / sneaky tactics at debates , cunning, great ability, talent, outstanding performances / gift for flattery ( with the Queen) 7 interested in social legislation
Parliament : 1832: as a Tory                      1859: joined the Liberal Party	Parliament: 1837: as a Tory ( although Radical at the begining of his political career )                     1876: Earl of Beaconsfield, left the House of Commons

Dear all,

              I am sorry but I will not make it to the class today. If you have no inconvenience we can make up for this class on Thursday or next Tuesday, as you wish.

Regards,

Constanza