ABSTRACT
In the early 1870s, when the Liberals were in power, a feeling was abroad that Britain was not playing the role commensurate with its standing in the world. The ‘failure’ to mediate in the Franco-Prussian War, to prevent Russia’s denunciation of the Black Sea clauses and to modify the results of the Alabama arbitration 1 all appeared to be instances of Britain’s spineless policies, self-effacement or passivity. The grant of responsible government to the Australian colonies in 1857, the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867 and the grant of responsible government to Cape Colony in 1872 had increased the disquiet. At the same time, the advance of Russia in Central Asia seemed to bring a powerful European state menacingly nearer the frontiers of the Indian Empire. Many began to argue that the Liberal recipes of laissez aller, non-intervention in European affairs and ‘dismantling’ of the empire would not do. Even some Liberals began to share these views. By this time, the Reform Act of 1867 had enfranchised one out of every three male adults in Britain and had thus doubled the electorate.
