History of the Liberal Party of Great Britain - Essay Example

Was the Decline of the Liberal Party Inevitable Before the First World War? The history of political parties of Great Britain begins in the middle of 17th century. Parliamentary system existed during this period, and the responsibility of opposition was done by Whigs party. The party supporting the King was called Tory. Neither of these groups was a real political party in the contemporary sense of the word. For almost more than one- century, the Tory accepted the conservative attitude, supporting the royal power and Anglican Church, and it reflected mainly the interests of feudal lords. On the contrary, Whigs was considered as the supporters of strong parliamentary systems, and this party got support from industries, bourgeoisie class and nobility. By the middle of 19th century, the Conservative Party came into being, from the Tory, and the Liberal Party was born from the political lines of Whigs. Subsequently, these two forces survived on the political scene up to 1920s, when internal secessions and World War I caused the decline of the liberal party. The focus of this paper is on the decline of Liberal party before the First World War. It should be stated that during 1846-1870 liberalism had been widely approved and supported throughout the country. The point is that economic position of England on the world stage at that time was very good, and it was very stable. So, it means that the liberal economic ideas propagated by the Liberal party really worked. But during the next twenty years of the century the situation changed. In 1885 the economic scenario showed that Great Britain was going to lose its most powerful monopoly in the world market. There was a constant rise in unemployment. The unemployed and the workers came together to form a working class movement, which gradually led to the rift in the trade unions. Moreover, it led to the increase of revolutionary tendencies in the society. In many respects, these events were could be taken as the reason for the decline of the liberal party. But surely these factors were not the only reasons for the decline. Now let us try to analyse, whether the decline of Liberal Party before the World War I was inevitable. Some scholars consider the decline to be inevitable and a natural process in the party’s history. In his book, The Strange Death of Liberal England, George Dangerfield wrote: “The Liberal Party which came back to Westminster [in 1906] with an overwhelming majority was already doomed”1. Some critics are sure that real decline of Liberal Party is related to the World War I. Paul Adelman stated, “it was the Great War which began the real decline of the Liberal party”2. In ‘The Decline of The Liberal Party 1910-1931’ he interpreted Dangerfields thesis as being that during the[se] years [1910-14] the old Liberal values of toleration, moderation, and reason, bruised and battered as they were in 1906, were mercilessly done to death by an unholy alliance of peers, Suffragettes, syndicalists and Unionists, linked only by their hatred of Liberalism and commitment to unreason and extremism3 .While Paul Johnson in the preface to Dangerfields book interprets thus: Dangerfields theme was the decay of that unique civilization created by the British Liberal movement in the late nineteenth century . . . this civilisation . . [was] based upon Free Trade, classical scholarship, strict religious observance, public probity and reformist zeal . . . [and having] reached an apogee in Gladstones first . . . government; thereafter Liberalism ... entered a period of slow decline.4 Indeed, since 1876, there has been a crisis in the key industries in Great Britain. The result is that England has lost its position as the predominant power in the world market. In order to resist German and American competition, English bourgeoisie has fallen back upon the decrease in the working class’ standard of living and has attempted to revive the colonial policy. All this evidently contradicted to the old principles of liberalism. Under the new conditions, the average and small bourgeoisie has required to provide an efficient interference in the class relations of the people in the state. As a matter of fact, the acknowledgement of the state as a regulator of social relations and the acknowledgement of colonial policy already testified the change in the liberalist ideology. Further weakening of Liberal Party is linked to the Irish question, which has played an important role in the political life of the country. Attempting to ensure the support of Irishmen in the fight against the conservatives, liberals developed the project of the self-guidance of Ireland. This has led to the division of party. The great number of the liberals joined to the conservatives, in order to defend the idea of the unity of Great Britain and Ireland. Liberal cabinet fell, and conservatives, who have promised to carry out more decisive foreign and internal policies, came in. ‘The party which took Britain into the First World War, and which had been one of the great political forces of the nineteenth century, was never again to form a government on its own’5. The World War I contributed to colonies’ economic growth, and as a result of it, the export from England noticeably reduced. The colonies started to develop their own productions. Moreover, England was forced to encourage the development of basic industry in the colonies in order to increase military deliveries. For example, in Canada, by the end of the war, more than 600 military plants were established. For England, it meant the beginning of eclipse in its colonies. But, there was another process going on. In 1919, the debt of England to the United States of America was to the tune of 850 millions pound sterling. England was the main debtor of the USA, whereas, before the war, the US had been the main debtor of England. The internal debt of England grew 10 times and reached 6,6 billion pound sterling. From the end of the war to the middle of 1920, there could be observed some economic progress in the country, caused by the increased demand for different kinds of goods, as their production was limited during the years of war. But industry required postwar reconstruction, in order to be able to manage this demand. In 1920, the production stood 10% behind the prewar level. Financial system was disorganized, inflation was rapidly growing, and the price of all things increased. In 1920, the deep financial crisis stepped in. The quantity of bankruptcies had grown fourfold in comparison to the same period of the pre-crisis period. Social stress deepened. At this time, the struggle of Irishmen for the independence got strengthened. As a result of it, the Liberal Party after the war lost its positions, being divided in two groups. At the same time, Conservative and Labor parties strengthened their positions. There is another significant thing that contributed to the decline. In February 1918, Labor Party, in addition to the collective membership in trade unions, introduced the individual membership. The radical-minded representatives of the middle-class started to leave the liberals. By the end of 1922, liberalism as a political trend lost all its perspectives. This party was formed in XIX, when the principle of laissez fair ruled in the England’s economic relations, and there was no other foreign competition, i.e., the program of party was formulated under the conditions of immense market. In the beginning of 20th century, the slogan of free trade damaged the spirit of English manufacturers, and that is why liberals lost their support. Summing up all what is given so far, we may conclude that the decline of the liberal party before the World War I was not inevitable. Accepting Paul Adelman’s line of thinking, we may state that it was with the World War I that the real decline of the Liberal party started. The World War I brought a lot of positive changes to the structure of English industry and to the political alignment of forces. Traditional branches of English economy, such as coal and textile industries, went into decay. The decline of Liberal Party authority became one of the most remarkable changes in the political life of the country. It was Labor Party, which took its place in bipartisan political system of the state. But the point is that ‘more striking than the signs of decline in liberalism was the fact that, in the face of battering from wars, depressions and the attack from totalitarianisms of the right and left, liberalism was able to survive as it had6. References: 1. Dangerfield, G. (1997). The Strange Death of Liberal England (Reprint edition (July 1997) ed.). Stanford University Press. 2. Adelman, P. (1995). The Decline of the Liberal Party 1910-1931. 2nd Edition. Trans-Atlantic Pubns. 3. Adelman, P. (1995). The Decline of the Liberal Party 1910-1931. 2nd Edition. Trans-Atlantic Pubns. 4. How strange was the death of Liberal England. Retrieved February 18, 2007, from www.rufuspollock.org/nonfiction/how_strange_was_the_death_liberal_england.html 5. Pearce, R. (n.d.). Decline of the liberal party. University College of St Martin, Lancaster. Retrieved February 18, 2007, from http://www.history-ontheweb.co.uk/topic/topic11%20dec%20libs.htm 6. Lerner, M. (n.d.) Liberalism. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. Retrieved February 18, 2007, from http://www.britannica.com/original/print?content_id=1374 Read More