“Complacent and ultimately harmful to British Interests” How far do you agree with this opinion of GB foreign policy in years 1925-1929? Between the years 1925-1929 British concerns on foreign policy were primarily on the basis of preserving peace and easing the Franco-Germany tensions, defence of Britain, maintaining the status quo, and healing the economy. The terrible losses of the First World War made both politicians and public recoil from the prospect of another war. Thus, Britain seemed to have everything to lose and nothing to gain from a major war, therefore the emphasis on preserving peace were made quite clearly throughout foreign policy as well as compromise, conciliation and concession to prevent any aggression. However some historians would say that Britain was too complacent when it came to foreign policy, and as soon as they believed they had reached satisfactory targets, they wouldn’t go any further, and so risk harming British interests.
The partitions within India of the various parties made coming to an agreement on independence even more difficult as the Indians, (consisting of predominately the Indian national congress and the Muslim League) could not come to an agreement within the country as to who would be in charge. British Imperialism held no strength next to the “fight” going on amongst the various Indian divisions. However the British did see this as a point where they could strengthen their hold on India by arguing that if they could not settle things amongst themselves how could they possibly think to run the country without difficulties. Sources 15 and 17 support the statement, both arguing that the Muslim community would have to be taken into account for true Independence to be achieved. However source 16 states that the British themselves were reluctant to grant India independence.
Politically, the Conservatives learned to accept the welfare state which adapted from the 1942 Beveridge report. The NHS for example was highly favoured by the public and was clear abolishment of the policy would result in an outrage, so ever since its introduction in 1945 by the Attlee government both parties have agreed to keep the welfare state running in the UK. Also among the two parties there was a consensus that industries such as coal and transport needed levels of investment that only the government could provide. Both parties accepted that some nationalised industries, such as gas and electricity produced services that ought to be available to everyone wherever they lived which meant that there needed to be planned and managed interests of the community rather than run purely for the profit of shareholders. Indeed, it was the Conservative-dominated governments of the inter-war years that had begun this process by extending government control over, and investment in, the coal industry, civil aviation, telecommunications, and transport in London.
When Keynes rejected the scale of reparations placed on Germany and resigned from his post at the Treasury, he lead the way for what many leading politicians were to understand later on. Keynes supported the approach of Lloyd George that for economic and political reasons, Europe needed a successful Germany, which would be seriously difficult to achieve whilst the excessive reparations were placed on them. Furthermore, his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), was successful in influencing the view of Britain that a weak Germany would only make the recovery of Europe after the war, a lot more difficult. On the other hand, from taking this view, politicians were criticised for being 'too lenient' towards Germany. Even Lloyd George, who took a much tougher political approach towards the reparations, received criticism.
The last years of Henrys reign was dominated by conservative and reformist factions . In this essay I will assess the extent of the threat created due to the rivalry of factions that had affected the stability of the government. The execution of Cromwell (1940) was a success for conservatives as was also Henrys marriage to Catharine Haword. The marriage was a gateway to influencing Henry by carving out a new royal policy via Catharine H. This increased tension between the Reformists and conservatives and so the reformists took action to destroy the reputations of Cahrine H , Duke of Norfolk and Gardiner. On the contrary this shows that the disputes between these factions may imply that the King was weak and not in control thus significantly threatening the stability of government .
With Roosevelt believing that Great Britain was their key for America’s security the U.S. policy started to change. He started to remove the neutrality acts to help Great Britain. Since Great Britain still controlled the seas Roosevelt ended the arms embargo so it could only
Some of the most recognizable and debated statements are found in the Declaration. During this time period the colonies were faced with what they felt were serious injustices. and as British citizens, the fact that they did not have the same rights as those living in England itself was a tremendous insult. One of the biggest grievances was that they were not allowed representation in Parliament, or to establish any representative form of local government, When the King did allow government, he appointed men whose loyalty to the Crown seemed to be the only qualification needed, not the ability to govern. Because the British government was not fulfilling Jefferson’s previously mentioned definition of a government’s duties; they were forced to take the very necessary step of removing themselves from the King’s rule and ruling themselves.
Paine also calls hereditary succession an abdominal practice. He criticizes the people who were in favor of British Empire saying that Britain watched America only for economic well-being. He also says that British don’t deserve American loyalty because they have been attacking American colonies. According to him, the solution to this problem is independence from the British and for that he also proposed the form of Government which had equal opportunities for all. Paine directly appealed to colonies to separate from the British Empire.
This idea, though pragmatic in my opinion, wasn’t as sensible to some people that wanted to stay a part of Great Britain and wanted to be loyal to the country, hence being called “Loyalists.” The people that were for the separation were known as Patriots, for they stood up for themselves and wanted to have a better democratic country, which is where they would truly represent the country rather than the Parliament dictating everything without consent. This dictation was known as “taxation without representation” because they literally didn’t have any
The Opium War (1839-1842) was now in full effect. For the British, the war was seen as an upholding of free trade, and national honor (in the face of the backwards Chinese), while for the Chinese the war was viewed as a fight against opium and British authority. With the advancement of British troops in northern China, the Qing emperor became increasingly dissatisfied with Commissioner Lin, leading to his expulsion and exile. Although Lin was quickly replaced by a new governor general Ch’-i-shan, he too was dismissed when agreements made between the British forces and himself were deemed inadequate (i.e. the Ch’uan-Pi Convention).