ABSTRACT
Before becoming Prime Minister, neither Disraeli nor Gladstone had had much direct experience of foreign policy or relations with Europe. Neither had ever held the post of Foreign Secretary. Gladstone, it is true, had served Peel as Colonial Secretary (1845–6) but in this capacity had been responsible for imperial issues; the rest of his time he had been involved in domestic policy as President of the Board of Trade (1843–5) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1852–5 and 1859–66). Disraeli’s ministerial experience had also been gained as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1852, 1858–9 and 1866–8). The foreign policy of the period 1841–65 had been dominated instead by Aberdeen and Palmerston; the influence of Disraeli and Gladstone was expressed only occasionally and on occasion (as over the Don Pacifico affair in 1850) they found themselves on the same side in their criticism of government policy.
