The Venezuela Crisis and the Liberal Opposition, 1895-96

Abstract

As students of the period know there is a large historiography on the Venezuela crisis of 1895-96 and on Anglo-American relations during the eighteen nineties. This work has tried mainly to answer such questions as: why did the United States take up Venezuela's case; how did the British Government react to American pressure, when it already facing difficulties with other Powers; how agreement reached and why did the settlement of 1899 take the form it did; did the crisis promote closer Anglo-American relations and how deep growing friendship between the two nations? One recent scholar has concluded that for Britain the Venezuela crisis was the moment of truth as regards her attitude towards the United States,'l but apart froma few nassing references little attention has been paid to the rile played during the crisis by the Parliamentary Opposition. This is perhaps surprising in view of the considerable interest taken in recent years in the problems of the British Liberal Party at this time, especially as Imperialism is usually regarded as having been one of the chief sources of difficulty for the Party.1 Since the treaty of Washington of 1871 the British had assumed amicable relations with the United States to be axiomatic even though the United States not regarded as a major diplomatic factor and actively close relations between the two Powers were not feasible on account of America's traditional opposition to involvement in international politics, her suspicion of British imperialism and the influence of Irish and German immigrants in American politics. Yet the United States remained the m.ost important foreign country for British capital investment and one of her principal export markets.4 American