The Politician as Diplomatist

Abstract

For the Prime Minister, Lord Beaconsfield, foreign policy was an extension of politics. In aiming to fulfil Great Britain’s imperial and Continental commitments, he was also trying to strengthen the Conservative government and party. Domestic opposition constrained him less between February and August 1878 than at any earlier stage of the eastern crisis. The Liberal factions were more at odds with each other than with the ministry. Within the Cabinet, Lord Derby alone continued to resist an active policy in the Near East; but the Foreign Secretary could merely delay the implementation of decisions over which he had no control, and by the end of March he had finally resigned his place. Lord Salisbury, who left the India Office to succeed him, worked closely with Beaconsfield to improve the diplomatic position of Great Britain after Russia’s victory over Turkey had resulted in the treaty of San Stefano. Together they attended the congress of Berlin, where they obtained treaty provisions which were as favourable as possible, considering that the conflicting interests of the great powers prevented a definitive triumph by any one of them. In attempting to exploit his achievement at home, Beaconsfield discovered that diplomacy was of limited political usefulness.