ABSTRACT
This chapter will consider the many changes in government between the fall of Robert Peel and the appointment of William Gladstone as prime minister for the first time. The division in the Conservative Party brought about by Peel’s insistence on free trade meant that during these two decades Britain was ruled by the Liberals almost without a break. At the same time, British foreign policy, dominated by Palmerston, became both interventionist and more openly imperial than in previous years. Historical background
The fall of Robert Peel
Changing ministries
The queen and her influence
Prince Albert and the Great Exhibition
The end of Chartism
Religious issues
Parliamentary reform
Spain and France 1846–8
Palmerston and the 1848 revolutions
‘Gunboat’ diplomacy
Don Pacifico, 1850
The Arrow incident 1856
The Crimean War 1854–6
The Indian ‘mutiny’ 1857
The Orsini plot and the Conspiracy to Murder Bill 1858
Schleswig-Holstein and Prussia
Relationships with the USA
EssaysChanges in ministry
The demand for electoral reform
The Chartists
Trade unionism
The royal family
The Crimean war
The Empire and the Indian ‘mutiny’
Palmerston and foreign policy
Britain and Europe
SourcesParliamentary reform: demand and provision
The conduct of foreign affairs
Historical skillsResearch and discussion about the royal family
Europe between 1846 and 1868
