Gladstone’s attack on Disraeli’s foreign policy was the most important reason for the Conservative defeat in the 1880 election; however it is also due to the economic depression which was happening at this time in history, as well as Disraeli’s ineffective domestic reforms. Disraeli’s foreign policy included his involvement with the Eastern Crisis in the 1870s, as well as events regarding South Africa and the Boers War. The most important reason as to why the Conservatives lost the 1880 election was Gladstone’s attack on Disraeli’s foreign policy. The most prominent example of Gladstone’s attacks was his Midlothian Campaign. This contributed to the loss of support of the Conservative party because during this tour, made by Gladstone, of the Conservative seat in Scotland, Midlothian, he gave a series of speeches in large towns such as Edinburgh, attacking Disraeli’s foreign policy.
The truth lies most evidently in source 6, for the context of Henry’s reign gives an insight into these situations being rooted in Henry’s menial resources. Moreover, it could be proposed source 4 and 5 also conform to this reasoning, for it was his chronic lack of assets that led to his inability to sway European politics. Henry’s foreign policy failed because of a range of interchanging factors, yet they are all born from his definitive lack of resources. The other prominent leaders in European diplomacy were instrumental in Henry’s failed foreign policy. Source 4 and source 6 both illustrate the problems leaders like Maximillian and Ferdinand posed to Henry.
To what extent was the lack of political representation the most significant cause of the 1905 revolution? There were a number of different causes that contributed to the start of the 1905 Russian revolution however some were more significant than others. One of the contributing factors was the lack of political representation due to the existence of an autocratic regime. Whilst this was an important factor, the most significant factors were the social and economical issues that caused unrest amongst the Russian population. The long-term policies of Russification imposed by the Tsar in the 1880s, caused a lot of political unrest within Russia and these contributed to the 1905 revolution.
How Far Does the North South Divide in Italy Explain the Weakness of the Liberal State in 1896-1914 (30 marks) Italy was fully unified in 1870 this was just 40 years before the first world war. The Liberal State governing it was weak for a number of reason such as several opposition groups, the North South and problems from the unification. However the most important reason was the political system itself and the actions of the liberals including the foreign policy and corruption. At the time Italy used a proportional representation (PR) voting system. This meant that every vote counted and the parliament was proportional to them.
How far do these sources support the view that Labour’s victory in the 1945 General Election was due to the unpopularity of the Conservative Party? Source 1 supports the view of the Conservatives unpopularity, with Reginald Maudling describing how there was ‘a desire for change’ amongst the people of Britain in 1945 and that the Conservative Party had ‘not much to offer those who wished to see change’. This explains that the Conservatives were out of touch with the general mood of the British people. The source goes on to explain how people ‘distinguished between Churchill the War Leader and the Conservative Party as a peacetime Government’. Likewise in source 2, Attlee emphasises how ‘people wanted a positive new policy’ implemented by the next government, ‘not an attempt to go back to the old’.
‘The conservatives lost the 1906 election, rather than the liberals winning it.’ Discuss. Despite the fact the liberal party had lost the general elections of 1895 and 1900 by a huge majority, they won by a huge gap in the 1906 election, although did the conservative party lose it rather than the liberals winning it. There were four main theories that historians believe were a reason for the result of the 1906 election which were, the Boer war, the 1902 education act, thirdly Joseph Chamberlain’s tariff reform campaign was responsible or lastly Arthur Balfour and his miscalculations were responsible for the outcome of the general election in 1906. From 1889 to 1905 Britain encountered a surprisingly difficult war in Africa, the Boer war. The British public, army and the government themselves were not expecting such a strong resistance by the Boer tribes.
Although we are currently in a coalition the government still has a majority through the combination of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. This therefore often renders opposition as a form of scrutiny meaningless and also means that it is difficult for the executive to be held to account. Party loyalty is also very strong. The power of prime ministerial patronage renders many MPs excessively docile and loyal, hence the term ‘lobby fodder’. With the rise in the professional politician many prefer to remain loyal in order to gain power and move up in the hierarchy as opposed to become a rebel who remains in the back benchers.
Using these four passages and your own knowledge, assess the view that Thatcher’s electoral success was a result of the weakness of the Labour Party In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected as the Prime Minister of Britain for the Conservative Party, winning with the majority of 44 seats. Thatcher continued to win two more elections in 1983 and 1987 and then resigned in 1990, after dominating the House of Commons for 11 years, due to the Conservative Party demands. Both interpretations A and C strongly support the view that the weakness of the Labour Party was the reason to Thatcher’s electoral success across the elections, due to their poor leadership, policies and therefore divisions. In contrast, the Falklands War of 1982 is suggested by interpretation C as to the reason behind the three electoral wins of Thatcher. Finally Thatcher’s socio-economic policies are portrayed by all four interpretations as to the reason behind the three electoral victories, although this view can be seen as controversial as her policies did not always have positive effects.
Between 1912 and 1914 Ireland went through many situations that lead onto disatrious concequences. But was these crisis' in irish affairs a result of the mishandling of the liberal leader Asquith? The 5 sources are all from different authors however they do not agree with the majority of the sources leaning towards the fact that it was nit Asquiths mishandling of events thats caused the problems in Ireland. Source A does not support the interpretation that a crisis arose in irish affairs mainly as a result of Asquiths mishandling of events. The source is a spreech said by Andrew Bonar Law who was the irish unionist leader and this speech was at the house of commons and reported in 'The Times' which was an extermely conservative newspaper.
It is clear that the local rivalries among the nobility were a prominent factor in causing the outbreak of the civil war in 1455. However the evidence shows that it was in fact King Henry VI’s inadequacies that were the core cause of the conflict, as it was his inability to control these rivalries that allowed them to escalate, causing the War of the Roses. King Henry VI’s other inadequacies include his mistreatment of the nobility and his careless spending. Limiting factors to this argument include the view that the loss of France was responsible for the start of civil conflict however this is challenged by the fact some of the failures in France can be attributed to Henry’s inadequacies. Furthermore, over-mighty subjects, who presented a threat to the throne, were getting more powerful and wealthy therefore presenting a threat to Henry VI’s kingship.