One of the founders of the British Liberal Party: a brief introduction to palmerston's life

Palmerston (1784~ 1865), British politician, Prime Minister (1855~ 1865), one of the founders of the Liberal Party. 1784, 1865, 10, 18 years 10 was born in London and died at brocket Manor in Hertfordshire. Studied at Harrow College and Edinburgh University. 1802 as the third generation viscount palmerston, he inherited the title and property of Irish aristocracy from his father. 1803 entered Cambridge university. 1807 party member entered the House of Commons as a Conservative Party. 1809~ 1828 served as secretary of the army. 1832 before and after the parliamentary reform, the Whig Party occupied an increasingly dominant position in politics. 1830~ 185 1 foreign minister,1852 ~/interior minister, 1855 twice prime minister. Palmerston regards Russia as Britain's main enemy in Central Asia and the Near East.

In order to compete with Russia, he advocated maintaining the integrity of the Ottoman Empire and provoking the Crimean War. He regarded France as Britain's main competitor in Greece, Egypt, Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean Sea. Agree with Sava dynasty to unify Italy to deal with France. In the Puo-Danish War, he supported Prussia, expecting it to grow into a strong enemy of France and Russia in order to maintain the balance of power in Europe. He launched two Opium Wars in the Far East to invade China and helped the Qing Dynasty suppress the Taiping Revolution. And brutally suppressed the Indian national uprising. He intervened in the American Civil War and supported the slave owners in the South. Because of the opposition of British workers, he dared not send troops to intervene.

1837, 18-year-old Victoria, Princess of Kent, became the Queen of England until her death in 190 1. During the 60 years of Queen Victoria's rule, Britain controlled the global sea power and dominated the world trade. Its huge colonies are spread all over the continents, and it seems that "not falling into the empire" can "compete with the world". During the Victorian period, Maxwell, the greatest scientist since Newton, Dickens, the most outstanding writer since Shakespeare, Gladstone, the pioneer of liberal policy, and palmerston, a famous diplomat, emerged in Britain, with a wealth of talents. The name palmerston may be unfamiliar to people in China, but many people in China know his famous saying: "The British Empire has no eternal allies and enemies, only eternal interests." In Europe in the middle of19th century, Lord palmerston was well known. 1830, he became the British foreign secretary for the first time, and served as the foreign secretary for 16 years. He served as British Prime Minister twice in 1855 and 1859 until his death in 1865. During these thirty-five years, the foreign policy of Victorian Empire was deeply influenced by palmerston. Throughout the history of world diplomacy for hundreds of years, no one can compare with it except China's great diplomat Zhou Enlai.

The Opium War, which the people of China will never forget, was initiated by then Foreign Minister palmerston. 1997 A sensational film & gt A true record of this period of history when Hongkong returned to China. As the inscription at the beginning of this masterpiece says, "Only when a nation really stands up can it face up to and reflect on its humiliating history."

1839, Lin Zexu and Humen put out opium, the hero saved the United States, but also faithfully served the country. But with Lin Zexu's shrewdness, as long as he had a basic understanding of the overseas situation, he would never choose 1839 to ban opium. Lin Zexu's failure was that he didn't realize that his real opponent was not an opium dealer in Guangzhou, but palmerston in London.

History is a mixture of inevitability and contingency. It was inevitable that Britain came to the East step by step with a strong ship and guns until it broke through the gates of the Qing Dynasty, but the outbreak of this war in 1839 had its own contingency. The Qing dynasty, which lacked a minimum understanding of the west, mistakenly chose the worst time. It was in 1839 that palmerston realized a far-reaching event in the history of European diplomacy: he established a country.

The coastal areas of northeastern France and southern Netherlands are a defensible plain, and any hostile forces that control them will exert great pressure on the British Isles. 18 15 years, it was in Waterloo on this plain that the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon and relieved the greatest threat in British history. Since then, Britain's goal has been to ensure that this land does not fall into the hands of any mainland power. The first attempt in Britain failed. The result of the transfer of this land to the Netherlands by the Vienna Peace Conference was the outbreak of the 1830 revolution. At that time, the armies of France, Prussia, Russia and Austria gathered, and a big war was coming.

Palmerston, who just became foreign minister, clearly realized that the only way to ensure that this plain does not become a springboard for anti-British forces is to make it an independent country. This country should not only be independent, but also neutral, and her neutrality must be unanimously recognized by Europe. After nine years of unremitting mediation, palmerston finally used the main British fleet in the English Channel several times at the critical moment and became a miraculous worker. 1839, five European powers, Britain, France, Austria and Russia, signed a convention recognizing Belgium's independence and solemnly sworn Belgium as a permanent neutral country. Without Belgium's request, the troops of the State Party shall not enter Belgium. If Lin Zexu banned smoking in 1830, palmerston, who was preoccupied with Belgian affairs, would probably have no time to look east, and the British fleet concentrated at home would also be unable to set off for the Far East. 1839 The Belgian Convention has just been signed, and the whole of Europe is shaking for the name of Lord palmerston. At the cabinet meeting to discuss the "Guangzhou incident", the foreign minister slammed his fist on the table and growled, "This is not only related to the interests of British businessmen, but also to the dignity of Her Majesty the Queen." The decision of the war was thus decided. Belgium convention has little to do with Russia and Austria, and is willing to accommodate; Both France and Germany are restricted by this buffer zone; Only British families took advantage. Palmerston's success laid the foundation for Britain's foreign policy of "balance of power on the European continent", and the national interests of the British Empire became "justice and axiom" in Europe. 1870 During the Franco-Prussian War, British Prime Minister gladstone invoked this convention, demanding that the warring parties should not violate Belgian neutrality, which seems to be the style of the defenders of European order. 19 14 When Britain declared war on Germany, it also invoked the Belgian Convention. Lloyd George publicly condemned Germany's treacherous invasion of Belgium in his speech, calling it a "total villain". Compared with the United States, which accepted the China clause in the Shanghai Communiqué, it is now holding a villain's hat everywhere, which cannot but reflect how great the British gentleman's "imperial wrist" is! If it is palmerston's first-class law, after the Gulf War, it must be in a favorable position to sign a peace treaty with Saddam Hussein and then resume trade with Iraq; At the same time, it signed treaties with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to legally determine the right of the United States to station troops; Then seize the opportunity to force Israel to make concessions and realize the partition of Israel and Palestine according to the United Nations resolutions formulated by the United States itself. If Israel is not at ease, it can formally sign the US-Israel defense treaty and even arrange for Israel to join NATO. Looking back now, this is the only chance to peacefully resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, thus freeing the United States from the burden of the Middle East.

If we take these three steps, the Middle East will become the sphere of influence of the United States. Why are you so passive now?