harold macmillan was the british statesman who became synonymous with british liberalism.
harold macmillan was the british statesman who became synonymous with british liberalism.
which british statesman became synonymous with british liberalism?
harold macmillan
between the 14th to the 17th centuries, the balkans region of europe was conquered by the ottoman empire. in the 19th century, various orthodox peoples such as the greeks, bulgarians and serbs, charging that they were being oppressed by the muslim ottomans fought wars of independence. british policy towards the "eastern question" and the balkans in particular oscillated between a fear that the decline of ottoman power would allow britain's archenemy russia to fill the void in the balkans and the near east vs. a humanitarian concern for christian peoples oppressed by the ottomans. in 1876, an uprising in bulgaria was harshly repressed with the ottoman state unleashing the much feared "bashi-bazouks" to wage a campaign of plundering, murder, rape and enslavement against the bulgarians, killing at about 15,000 bulgarian civilians in a series of massacres that shocked the west. the conservative government under prime minister benjamin disraeli, which saw the ottoman empire as a bulwark against russia sought to deny the so-called "bulgarian horrors" under the grounds of "realpolitik". by contrast, the liberal leader, william ewart gladstone came out energetically in support of the balkan peoples living under ottoman rule, publicised the "bulgarian horrors" in his famous 1876 pamphlet "the bulgarian horrors and the question of the east", and demanded that britain support independence for all of balkan peoples on humanitarian grounds. even though the government under disraeli supported the ottomans, gladstone's campaign to publicise the gross human-rights abuses committed by the ottomans and support for balkan independence movements not only made him extremely popular in the balkans, but led to a wave of anglophilia amongst certain balkan christians, who admired britain as a land capable of producing someone like gladstone. anglophilia was rare in the balkans in the 19th century as balkan muslims looked towards the ottoman empire while balkan christians generally looked towards france or russia for inspiration. gladstone saw himself as the defender of human rights which led him in 1890 to criticise anti-chinese laws in australia under the grounds that chinese immigrants were being penalised for their virtues like the willingness to work hard rather than any supposed vices. in the same way, gladstone perceived himself as the champion of the rights of small nations, which led to support "home rule" for ireland (i.e. devolving power from westminster to an irish parliament). the same principles that led gladstone to support home rule for the irish and the rights of chinese immigrants in australia made him very sympathetic to the balkan peoples. balkan angophiles such as vladimir jovanović and čedomilj mijatović in serbia; ioannes gennadius and eleutherios venizelos in greece and ivan evstratiev geshov in bulgaria were all inclined to admire british liberalism, especially of the gladstonian type. furthermore, all five of the above-named men saw britain as an example of a liberal power which had successfully created institutions that were meant to serve the individual rather the state, which inspired them with institution-building in their own newly independent nations. finally, though venizelos, geshov, jovanović gennadius, and mijatović were all nationalists, by the standards of the balkans they were tolerant nationalists who admired the united kingdom as a state which had brought the english, the scots, the welsh and the irish living together in peace and harmony in one kingdom (the precise accuracy of this view is besides the point-this is how the uk was viewed in the balkans), which they saw british unionism as an example for their own multi-ethnic nations.
anglophile
section::::see also.









































bullet::::- liberalism









































bullet::::- nonconformist









































bullet::::- liberalism in the united kingdom









































bullet::::- scottish unionist party (1912–1965)









































bullet::::- irish unionist party









































bullet::::- ulster unionist party









































section::::further reading.









































bullet::::- bebbington, d. w. "the nonconformist conscience: chapel and politics, 1870–1914" (george allen & unwin, 1982).









































bullet::::- bentley, michael. "the climax of british politics: british liberalism in theory and practice 1868–1918" (edward arnold, 1987).









































bullet::::- bernstein, george l. "liberalism and liberal politics in edwardian england" (allen & unwin, 1986).









































bullet::::- blewett, neal. "the peers, the parties and the people: the general elections of 1910" (u of toronto press, 1972).
liberal unionist party