What kind of story does Benjamin Disraeli have?

In 1846, after the Liberal Party came to power, the British government often accused the monarchies on the European continent of enslaving weak peoples, which put Queen Victoria in a dilemma.

In 1854, a war broke out between Tsarist Russia and Turkey. Palmerston and Bonaparte III colluded with each other and sent a joint British and French fleet to support Turkey, annihilating Tsarist Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in one fell swoop. Queen Victoria couldn't help it, because the Russian Czar Nicholas I was the son of her godfather Nicholas I. She asked Prince Albert to come forward and persuade the cabinet to show mercy. Unexpectedly, rumors spread like wildfire.

When the Queen heard the news, she was furious and even refused to see the cabinet members for a period of time.

In December 1861, Queen Victoria experienced her greatest personal tragedy; her husband, Prince Albert, died of typhoid fever at the age of 42. The Queen was physically and mentally exhausted from this, and recalling the unfriendly attitude of London citizens towards Albert, she went into complete seclusion. As a result, no British foreign documents were signed for a long time.

Although Benjamin Disraeli only served as Prime Minister for nine months in 1868, he established a very close personal relationship with Queen Victoria. When he wrote to the Queen, his words were exaggerated to a disgusting level, but the Queen accepted it without any objection. Disraeli privately told a friend: "Everyone likes to be flattered by others. When you see Her Majesty, you just need to do your best to flatter her."

In February 1874, the ruling Liberal Party Glass The Donton cabinet thought it had achieved great results in politics and announced an early election. Unexpectedly, when the British subjects saw the rise of the German Empire and the expansion of the United States overseas, they felt that Gladstone's political performance was mediocre and he had no great achievements. As a result, the Liberal Party was defeated, the Conservative Party came to power, and Disraeli became Prime Minister for the second time.

When Disraeli came to power, he decided to strengthen the British Empire's control over the colonies. On the one hand, he expanded the area of ??British colonies in Africa. On the other hand, he decided to strengthen the control of British immigrant countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada that demanded autonomy. Adopt a soft policy and allow autonomy, but the economy and diplomacy should still be controlled by London.

Disraeli also took the opportunity to attack the Gladstone cabinet's policy of tightening military spending, accusing the Liberal Party of being shrinking in Europe and indifferent to the rise and fall of the British Empire. He said: "What was the result of the Liberal Party's attempt to disintegrate the British Empire when it was in power? Their hopes were completely disappointed. Why? Because the colonies supported the mother country. They decided not to allow anyone to disintegrate the British Empire. I think if the British ministers let go By trying his best to revitalize the colonial empire, he failed in his duty by not responding to the support of the colonies that might become a valuable source of strength for Britain!"

How did Disraeli seize the opportunity to revitalize the British Empire? What about this colonial empire that "the sun never sets"? His first move was to buy the Suez Canal.

In 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation, shortening the world's east-west shipping routes by nearly half. However, the Suez Canal did not bring direct benefits to Egypt. Egypt had to bear the cost of 16 million pounds for the construction of the canal and had to borrow a large amount of foreign debt from France. In 1875, Egypt encountered a serious financial crisis, and Ismail planned to sell 44% of the Canal Company shares held by the Egyptian government to escape the predicament.

The Suez Canal is the lifeline from Britain to India, the "jewel in the Queen's crown". Disraeli had criticized the Gladstone cabinet's de facto monopoly on France when he was leader of the opposition party. Canal expressed dissatisfaction, and now he couldn't even sit still when he heard that Ismail wanted to sell Canal Company's shares.

Disraeli used the money borrowed from Rothschild to buy all the shares in Ismail's hands without passing parliament, plus some small shares, and controlled the connection in one fell swoop. The Suez Canal is the hub of east-west maritime traffic. When Disraeli announced in Parliament that Britain had taken control of this maritime artery and took the lead in shouting "Long live Her Majesty the Queen", the entire hall of the House was filled with cheers of joy from the members, and not a single word of condemnation was heard. Disraeli stood tall and walked out of the Palace of Westminster to thunderous applause from MPs.

Victories should come one after another. In 1875, the British praised Disraeli's decisiveness, but Disraeli was thinking about how to do something that would shock Europe and attack the Gladstone Liberal Party. He thought of India...

1876 In 2001, Disraeli proposed a motion in Parliament without consulting the Queen in advance, requesting that the Queen be given the title of Queen of India. "How could a monarch refuse to add a new title to himself?" Disraeli privately told his party colleagues. they said.

The Queen relished this title. Later, the Parliament passed this proposal and put a new crown with India's famous "Moon Stone" on her head. The Queen has always stayed in the title since her widowhood. The dull atmosphere on his face was instantly wiped away.

It seems that Disraeli's proposal deeply satisfied the Queen. Soon, she pardoned Disraeli and made him Lord Beaconsfield. At the wedding of her son, the Prince of Wales, An exception was made for two chairs, for Disraeli to sit side by side with him.

It was a great honor for a Jew who converted to the Church of England to receive such favor from the Queen. However, when the "Eastern Question" broke out again in early 1877, he cheered up and stood up.

Among the great powers, Britain was the only one who opposed the national liberation movement of the Balkan people and Tsarist Russia's southward advance. Disraeli was worried that Russia's occupation of the Black Sea Strait and even the occupation of the Ottoman Empire would threaten the security of the Sui-Turkish Canal. He told his men: "The key to opening India is Constantinople and the Black Sea Strait, not just Egypt and Suez Canal, once the Ottoman Empire disintegrates, we will face the greatest threat since the Napoleonic Wars."

Russia declared war on Turkey in April 1877 and began to make rapid progress, but the Russian army was blocked at Prifna. to the Turkish army. Disraeli instructed the British Ambassador to Turkey Layard to advise Turkey to "invite" the British fleet to enter the Black Sea Strait, but the ambassador failed to complete this task. In January 1878, the Russian army finally broke through Prifna and marched to the gates of Constantinople, the capital of Turkey.

Disraeli did not want to fight, but he knew that if the Russian army continued to stay outside Constantinople, it would pose a threat to Britain's maritime security at any time. In order to avoid fighting and to allow the Russians to retreat, he sent people to find Count Andrassy. The Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire understood that if the Russian army was stationed in Bulgaria, his country would be a dead end if it went south. Andrassy appealed to Bismarck to intervene, and the German Chancellor agreed to the request.

Due to Bismarck's mediation, the dispute between Britain and Russia ceased.

In the following weeks, Disraeli reached the top of his official career. Passers-by took off their hats when they saw his carriage, and the Queen held a grand celebration banquet for him, including Brave Mrs. Telford also returned to his side again. However, it didn't take long for the goddess of fate to stop smiling at him.

After Russia withdrew from Türkiye, it began to expand into Afghanistan. Disraeli knew that if the Russians occupied Afghanistan, the British Empire's Indian colonies would be in danger. He made up his mind and launched a war of aggression against Afghanistan in 1878. Although he quickly occupied Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, it did not take long for the Afghan people to launch an anti-British uprising, recapture the capital and kill the officials of the British colonial authorities in Kabul.

One wave has not subsided, but another wave has arisen. At the end of 1878, the Boers launched another uprising against the British. Because of these, the Conservative Party failed in the general election in April 1880, and the Disraeli cabinet that had been in power for six years came to an end.

In April 1881, Disraeli died of illness at the age of 77. His death brought sorrow to Queen Victoria.

When the Queen heard the news, she put down the document she was reviewing. "My dear," she said to her private secretary, "at such a terrible moment, when I am in tears and unable to see clearly, I There is no way to continue working..."