Benjamin Disraeli, although a Conservative, is sympathetic to some of the demands of the Chartists and has argued for an alliance between the landed aristocracy and the working class against the increasing power of the merchants and new industrialists in the middle class, helping to found the Young England group in 1842 to promote the view that the landed interests should use their power to protect the poor from exploitation by middle-class businessman.

Disraeli continually seeks a Tory-Radical alliance, to little avail.

The working class does not possess the vote and therefore has little tangible political power.

Although Disraeli forges a personal friendship with John Bright, a Lancashire manufacturer and leading Radical, Disraeli is unable to convince Bright to sacrifice principle for political gain.

After one such attempt, Bright notes in his diary that Disraeli "seems unable to comprehend the morality of our political course.”

Disraeli had become a Tory by the time he won a seat in the House of Commons in 1837 representing the constituency of Maidstone, though he had initially stood for election unsuccessfully, as a Radical.

The next year he had settled his private life by marrying Mary Anne Lewis, the widow of Wyndham Lewis, Disraeli's erstwhile colleague at Maidstone.

Benjamin Disraeli, who is a baptized Christian of Italian-Jewish descent, writes a Zionist novel, Tancred, in 1847, in which he describes the Jews' desire for independence in a land of their own.

The most important event in Disraeli's boyhood had been his father's quarrel in 1813 with the synagogue of Bevis Marks, which led to the decision in 1817 to have his children baptized as Christians.

Northwest Europe (1864–1875): Prosperity, Public Health Breakthroughs, and Political Challenges

Mid-Victorian Prosperity and Stability

From 1864 to 1875, Britain sustained its mid-Victorian “Golden Years,” characterized by substantial economic prosperity, social harmony, and diplomatic caution. Historian Bernard Porter highlights this period as one of peace and rising national prosperity, driven by expanding industry, robust global trade, and steady improvements in living standards, particularly for the middle and working classes.

Political reforms, such as Benjamin Disraeli’s Second Reform Act (1867), extended voting rights significantly, reflecting gradual democratization in response to working-class demands initially articulated by the earlier Chartist movement. British society remained stable, with the aristocracy and landed gentry continuing to hold most power and social prestige, though middle-class values steadily permeated society.

Cholera Outbreaks and Advances in Epidemiology

Despite growing prosperity, Britain still grappled with public health crises. In 1866, a localized cholera epidemic erupted in London’s East End, killing 5,596 people. The outbreak occurred just as London's ambitious sewage and water treatment infrastructure, designed by Joseph Bazalgette, neared completion—although crucial sections in the East End remained unfinished. This area’s severe overcrowding amplified the epidemic’s severity.

Noted epidemiologist William Farr conclusively identified contaminated water supplied by the East London Water Company as the source of infection, building on Dr. John Snow’s earlier groundbreaking work from the 1854 cholera epidemic. Farr’s work reinforced acceptance of the waterborne theory of disease, driving comprehensive sanitation reforms. In the same year, contaminated canal water caused another smaller outbreak at Ystalyfera in South Wales, leading to 119 deaths among workers associated with local waterworks and their families. These incidents accelerated nationwide reforms, culminating in legislation such as the Sanitary Act of 1866 and, later, the Public Health Act of 1875.

Irish Nationalism and the Home Rule Movement

In Ireland, nationalist aspirations re-emerged powerfully in the 1870s, as moderate nationalists formed the Irish Parliamentary Party, led prominently by Charles Stewart Parnell. Advocating Home Rule—limited self-government for Ireland under the British Crown—the party rapidly gained influence, significantly reshaping British and Irish politics.

Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone introduced Home Rule Bills, which, despite their failure in Parliament, profoundly divided British politics. Many Liberals supported Home Rule, but a significant unionist minority—largely Protestant, based in Ulster—opposed it fiercely. Unionists feared discrimination from a predominantly Catholic nationalist parliament in Dublin and economic harm to Ulster’s prosperous industries. This conflict laid lasting groundwork for future political tensions.

Formation of Canada and Imperial Consolidation

Britain continued consolidating its imperial framework. In 1867, Britain united most of its North American colonies as the Dominion of Canada, granting substantial self-government and responsibility for domestic affairs, while retaining control over foreign policy and defense. This development marked a critical shift toward self-governing dominions within the empire, creating a model subsequently applied elsewhere.

Aestheticism, Fashion, and Gender Norms

Social and cultural trends shifted gradually during this era, notably within artistic and intellectual circles. By about 1870, women associated with the Aesthetic Movement adopted dresses featuring an uncorseted appearance, reflecting a subtle challenge to prevailing restrictive fashions. However, neither these aesthetic styles nor earlier progressive designs from the Pre-Raphaelites and Amelia Bloomer significantly displaced corsets, which continued to dominate women’s fashion.

Conversely, the middle-class aspiration toward gentlemanly respectability fostered considerable conformity in men's attire, exemplified by standardized, formal suits. These developments reinforced prevailing middle-class values of modesty, decorum, and social uniformity.

Education Reform: Toward Universal Literacy

Educational reform accelerated dramatically, with Forster’s Elementary Education Act (1870) making elementary schooling compulsory for children, transforming literacy rates and educational access. Local school boards established by this Act significantly improved standards, fostering a more educated populace capable of supporting Britain’s complex, industrialized economy.

Technological Advancements and Global Communication

Technological and industrial innovation continued unabated. Britain's infrastructure, especially railways, expanded considerably, supporting commerce and industry. Additionally, global communications were transformed by the successful laying of the transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, enabling instant communication between Britain and North America. This advancement profoundly reshaped diplomacy, trade, and information dissemination.

British Diplomacy: Pragmatic Neutrality and Strategic Interests

Britain maintained diplomatic pragmatism during continental conflicts, notably the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), adopting a neutral stance while carefully monitoring shifting balances of European power. Persistent concerns regarding Russia’s ambitions toward the declining Ottoman Empire influenced cautious foreign policy aimed at preserving strategic interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and routes to India.

Britain’s earlier controversial support for the American Confederacy during the American Civil War, especially through shipbuilding (notably the CSS Alabama), was diplomatically resolved in the Treaty of Washington (1871), marking a significant precedent for peaceful international arbitration and strengthening future Anglo-American relations.

Persistent Gender Inequality and Early Feminist Advocacy

Although social conditions improved broadly, gender inequality persisted starkly. Economic opportunities for women remained severely limited, prompting early feminist advocacy for enhanced education, employment opportunities, and greater autonomy. Progress remained gradual, with the rigidity of gender norms still deeply entrenched in Victorian society.

Leisure, Tourism, and Victorian Culture

Organized tourism, spearheaded by entrepreneur Thomas Cook, expanded widely, making leisure travel accessible and popular among the middle classes. Cook's tours extended throughout Europe, Egypt, and North America, reflecting Victorian prosperity and curiosity. Literature flourished through writers such as George Eliot, Anthony Trollope, and the late Charles Dickens, portraying contemporary social realities and advocating gradual social reform.

In contrast, the fine arts continued to experience limited official support, overshadowed by the Victorian emphasis on industrial achievements, commerce, and engineering prowess showcased earlier at the Great Exhibition (1851).

Scandinavian and Icelandic National Developments

In Scandinavia, Norway steadily affirmed its distinct national identity within its union with Sweden. Denmark adjusted to territorial losses suffered during the Second Schleswig War (1864), profoundly shaping national consciousness.

Simultaneously, Iceland’s independence movement gained momentum under nationalist leader Jón Sigurðsson, following liberalization of Icelandic trade in the 1850s. The emerging Icelandic nationalism laid critical foundations for increasing autonomy and future independence aspirations.

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From 1864 to 1875, Northwest Europe, particularly Britain, navigated complex yet prosperous years. Significant public health breakthroughs and sanitation improvements followed deadly cholera outbreaks, notably in London and South Wales. Political and social reforms gradually reshaped British society, reflected in expanded voting rights, improving labor conditions, educational access, and emerging feminist ideals. Internationally, cautious diplomacy preserved Britain's strategic interests amid continental turmoil and reshaped relationships with North America and Ireland. These developments collectively solidified Britain’s position at its imperial and economic apex, laying critical foundations for the later Victorian era.

The teenage acting sensation Ellen Terry and her sister Kate had had their portraits painted by the eminent artist George Frederic Watts in London during her engagement at the Haymarket Theatre.

His famous portraits of Terry include Choosing, in which she must select between earthly vanities, symbolized by showy but scent-less camellias, and nobler values symbolized by humble-looking but fragrant violets.

His other famous portraits of her include Ophelia and Watchman, and, together with her sister Kate, The Sisters.

Watts had soon proposed marriage to Terry.

Impressed with Watts's art and elegant lifestyle, she had wished to please her parents by making an advantageous marriage.

She had left the stage during the run of Our American Cousin, a hit comedy by Tom Taylor at the Haymarket, in which she had played Mary Meredith.

She and Watts had married on February 20, 1864 at St Barnabas, Kensington, seven days before her seventeenth birthday, when Watts was 46.

She is uncomfortable in the role of child bride, and Watts's circle of admirers, including Mrs. Prinsep, are not welcoming.

Terry and Watts separate after only ten months of marriage.

Nevertheless, during the marriage, Terry had made the acquaintance of a number of cultured and important and talented people, among them Browning, Tennyson, Gladstone, Disraeli and the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

Britain’s Vaccination Act of 1867, which consolidates and updates the existing laws relating to vaccination, passes on the assurance of medical officials that smallpox vaccinations are safe.

The poor-law guardians are to control vaccination districts formed out of the parishes, and pay vaccinators from one shilling to three shillings per child vaccinated in the district (the amount paid varies with how far they have to travel).

Within seven days of the birth of a child being registered, the registrar is to deliver a notice of vaccination; if the child is not presented to be vaccinated within three months, or brought for inspection afterwards, the parents or guardians are liable to a summary conviction and fine of twenty shillings.

The Act also provides that any person who produced or attempted to inoculate another with smallpox could be imprisoned for a month.

The Act begins to elicit protest from the population and sparks an increase in the number of anti-vaccination groups.

The Reform Act of 1867, Benjamin Disraeli’s Second Reform Act, is a piece of British legislation that enfranchises the urban male working class in England and Wales.

Before the Act, only one million of the five million adult males in England and Wales could vote; the act doubles that number.

In its final form, the Reform Act of 1867 enfranchises all male householders and compounding is also subsequently abolished in the process.

However, there is little redistribution of seats; and what there is had been intended to help the Conservative Party.

External debts force Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, to sell his country's share in the Suez Canal for four million pounds to the United Kingdom in 1875, but French shareholders still hold the majority.

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is accused by William Ewart Gladstone of undermining Britain's constitutional system, because he had not referred to, or obtained consent from, Parliament when purchasing the shares with funding from the English branch of the House of Rothschild.

Northwest Europe (1876–1887): The Imperial Zenith, Gladstone and Disraeli, and Reform at Home

Imperial Peak: Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and Global Expansion

Between 1876 and 1887, Britain reached the apex of its imperial grandeur, symbolically marked by Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1887. Celebrating sixty years on the throne, the Jubilee underscored Britain's unparalleled global dominance. The British Empire expanded dramatically in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, prominently exemplified in Africa by the ambition to have the Union Jack flying uninterrupted "from Cairo to Cape Town." This era of imperial expansion, known as the "Scramble for Africa," consolidated British control over extensive territories, secured through a dominant Royal Navy—then the world’s preeminent maritime force—and supported by a small, professional army, uniquely sustained without conscription, unlike other European powers.

Queen Victoria herself played a limited role politically, yet became the enduring symbolic embodiment of British national pride, imperial grandeur, and societal propriety. Her restrained demeanor, common sense, and directness mirrored national virtues that made Britain globally preeminent. As a female sovereign, her evolving public image—from innocent young woman, devoted wife, and mother, to grieving widow and grandmotherly matriarch—conveyed powerful moral symbolism, deeply influencing Victorian ideals of domesticity and endurance. Victoria’s emblematic legacy extended beyond Britain, defining a moral image of Empire and domestic propriety that profoundly shaped national identity.

Disraeli and Gladstone: Giants of Victorian Politics

British politics during this era were dominated by two towering figures: Conservative Benjamin Disraeli and Liberal William Ewart Gladstone. Their rivalry defined what historians later termed Britain’s "golden age of parliamentary government."

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), prime minister in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880, emerged as an iconic Conservative statesman. Disraeli reshaped Conservatism into a broadly appealing force through his concept of "one-nation" Tory democracy. Known for his international assertiveness and charismatic leadership, he enjoyed significant support from Queen Victoria, contrasting sharply with Gladstone’s contentious relationship with the monarch. Disraeli’s foreign policy was robust and patriotic, exemplified by his assertive diplomacy at the Congress of Berlin (1878) during the Russo-Turkish War, successfully limiting Russian expansion into Ottoman territories, thus securing British strategic interests. His personal charm and political insight made him a lasting hero to Conservatives, though historians have subsequently critiqued his imperialist ambitions and rhetorical excess.

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898), Disraeli’s great Liberal counterpart, served as prime minister four times (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886, 1892–1894). Gladstone, the moral conscience of British liberalism, shaped politics through exceptional oratory, evangelical religiosity, and fierce commitment to progressive reforms. His famous Midlothian Campaign (1879–1880) pioneered modern political campaigning, rallying public opinion against Ottoman atrocities in Bulgaria. Gladstone’s foreign policy idealism envisioned a Europe built on international law, cooperation, and mutual trust, directly challenging Bismarck’s system of militarized alliances and calculated tensions—a vision ultimately defeated by German Realpolitik.

Gladstone’s reforms had profound domestic impacts. His first ministry (1868–1874) successfully introduced landmark measures including the Irish Church Act (1869), disestablishing the Protestant Church of Ireland, ending centuries-old sectarian burdens upon Irish Catholics. Additionally, Gladstone championed:

• The Education Act of 1870: introducing compulsory elementary education nationwide, significantly raising literacy and educational standards.

• The Judicature Act of 1873: unifying Britain’s chaotic court system into a single, streamlined judiciary.

• The Secret Ballot Act of 1872: safeguarding electoral integrity by preventing vote-buying and intimidation.

• The Trade Union Act of 1871: legally securing unions, diminishing employer intimidation, and providing legal protections for trade-union funding.

• Civil service reforms: replacing aristocratic patronage with merit-based examinations, emphasizing talent over birthright.

Gladstone’s vision of government-driven social fairness and expanded liberty resonated profoundly with Britain’s lower middle classes and working people, earning him the affectionate title, "Grand Old Man."

Yet Gladstone’s passionate advocacy for Irish Home Rule in 1886 deeply divided his party, splitting it irreversibly. Joseph Chamberlain formed the breakaway Liberal Unionist faction, aligning with Conservatives against Home Rule, leaving the Liberal Party politically fragmented for decades.

Ireland and Home Rule Conflict

Ireland’s quest for autonomy intensified in the 1880s, led by nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell. His Irish Parliamentary Party grew into a major parliamentary presence, pressing for self-government under the British Crown. Gladstone’s introduction of the first Home Rule Bill in 1886 split the Liberals and prompted fierce resistance from Unionists, particularly in Protestant-majority Ulster, who feared Catholic-nationalist domination. Although the bill failed, its divisive legacy permanently reshaped British and Irish politics, paving the way for later nationalist struggles.

Army Reforms and Military Modernization

While Britain’s Royal Navy dominated globally, the army suffered from outdated structures, unfair practices, and ineffective organization. Gladstone’s war secretary, Edward Cardwell, launched significant military reforms during this period:

• Reducing enlistment terms from twenty-one years to six active years plus six reserve years.

• Organizing regiments by territorial districts for streamlined mobilization.

• Equipping regiments with advanced rifles.

• Eliminating the purchase of officers’ commissions, emphasizing meritocracy.

• Abolishing flogging in peacetime, reflecting changing attitudes toward military discipline.

Although incomplete, due to lingering aristocratic privileges like those enjoyed by the Duke of Cambridge, these reforms substantially modernized and professionalized Britain's army.

Gender Roles, Fashion, and Cultural Shifts

Socially, the late Victorian period witnessed subtle yet significant shifts, especially regarding gender norms. By the 1870s, women associated with the artistic Aesthetic Movement adopted uncorseted dress styles, gently challenging conventional restrictions. While mainstream fashion remained corseted, the growing aesthetic movement anticipated broader shifts toward comfort and personal freedom in women's fashion.

Conversely, men's attire became increasingly standardized, reflecting middle-class aspirations toward gentlemanly respectability and social conformity.

Technological and Industrial Advances

Britain’s technological and industrial dominance continued robustly. Railways expanded steadily, facilitating commerce and communication, while telegraph networks integrated global markets. British industries leveraged standardized manufacturing techniques, precision engineering, and mass production to sustain global leadership, despite economic challenges from the "Long Depression" (1873–1896).

Education, Leisure, and Cultural Life

Educational reforms steadily raised literacy and numeracy standards nationwide, contributing to Britain’s economic resilience and social stability. Middle-class leisure grew extensively, with organized tourism popularized by entrepreneurs like Thomas Cook, now commonplace, opening domestic and international travel to broad social groups.

Victorian literature thrived, represented by authors such as Thomas Hardy, Henry James, and Robert Louis Stevenson, addressing social and moral themes. However, fine arts continued to receive less attention compared to Britain’s celebrated industrial and technological achievements.

Diplomacy, International Relations, and European Affairs

Britain maintained diplomatic neutrality amid European tensions, notably during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)and the subsequent Congress of Berlin (1878). Prime Minister Disraeli successfully limited Russian territorial gains, preserving Britain's strategic interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and access to India.

Relations with the United States significantly improved following the resolution of wartime disputes (Alabama Claims, Treaty of Washington, 1871). Nevertheless, Britain remained wary of continental ambitions, particularly Germany’s growing power under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, whose complex alliance system undermined Gladstone’s idealistic vision of European harmony.

Scandinavia and Icelandic Nationalism

In Northern Europe, Iceland’s nationalist movement gained steady momentum under leader Jón Sigurðsson, inspired by romantic nationalism and earlier trade liberalization. Norway maintained its distinct national identity within its union with Sweden, while Denmark recovered cautiously from territorial losses of the 1864 Schleswig War, reinforcing stable domestic development.

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From 1876 to 1887, Northwest Europe, notably Victorian Britain, reached its imperial and economic apex, symbolized by Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Britain’s global expansion, parliamentary dynamism led by Disraeli and Gladstone, substantial domestic reforms, and evolving social norms defined this era. Despite increasing challenges—Irish nationalism, economic pressures, diplomatic complexities—Britain's confident imperial identity and parliamentary vibrancy profoundly shaped this influential historical period.

Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone dominate British politics of the late nineteenth century, Britain's golden age of parliamentary government.

They will long be idolized, but historians in latter decades will become much more critical, especially regarding Disraeli.

Disraeli (1804–1881), prime minister 1868 and 1874–80, remains an iconic hero of the Conservative Party.

He plays a central role in the creation the Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach.

Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal leader William Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy".

He makes the Conservatives the party most identified with the glory and power of the British Empire.

He was born into a Jewish family, which had become Episcopalian when he was twelve years old.

Disraeli fights to protect established political, social, and religious values and elites; he emphasizes the need for national leadership in response to radicalism, uncertainty, and materialism.

He is especially known for his enthusiastic support for expanding and strengthening the British Empire in India and Africa as the foundation of British greatness, in contrast to Gladstone's negative attitude toward imperialism.

Gladstone denounces Disraeli's policies of territorial aggrandizement, military pomp, and imperial symbolism (such as making the Queen Empress of India), saying it does not fit a modern commercial and Christian nation.

In foreign policy he is best known for battling and besting Russia.

Disraeli's second term is dominated by the Eastern Question—the slow decay of the Ottoman Empire and the desire of Russia, to gain at its expense.

Disraeli had arranged for the British to purchase a major interest in the Suez Canal Company (in Ottoman-controlled Egypt).

In 1878, faced with Russian victories against the Ottomans, he works at the Congress of Berlin to maintain peace in the Balkans and makes terms favorable to Britain which weaken Russia, its longstanding enemy.

Disraeli's historical reputation as the "Tory democrat" and promoter of the welfare state will fade as historians argue that he had few proposals for social legislation in 1874–80, and that the 1867 Reform Act had not reflected a vision for the unenfranchised working man.

However he does work to reduce class antagonism.

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) is the Liberal counterpart to Disraeli, serving as British prime minister four times (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, and 1892–94).

He is the moral compass of the Liberal Party and is famous for his oratory, his religiosity, his liberalism, his rivalry with Disraeli, and for his poor relations with the Queen.

Gladstone's first ministry had seen many reforms including Disestablishment of the Protestant Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting.

His party had been defeated in 1874, but makes a comeback based on opposition to Turkey's Bulgarian atrocities against Christians.

Gladstone's Midlothian Campaign of 1879–80 is a pathbreaking introduction of many modern political campaigning techniques.

His Liberal party is increasingly pulled apart on the Irish issue.

He proposes Irish home rule in 1886; it fails to pass and the resulting split in the Liberal Party will keep it out of office for most of the next twenty years.

Gladstone's financial policies, based on the notion of balanced budgets, low taxes and laissez-faire, are suited to a developing capitalist society but cannot respond effectively as economic and social conditions change.

Called the "Grand Old Man" later in life, he will always be a dynamic popular orator who appeals strongly to British workers and lower middle class.

The deeply religious Gladstone brings a new moral tone to politics with his evangelical sensibility and opposition to aristocracy.

His moralism often angers his upper-class opponents (including Queen Victoria, who strongly favours Disraeli), and his heavy-handed control splits the Liberal party.

His foreign policy goal is to create a European order based on cooperation rather than conflict and mutual trust instead of rivalry and suspicion; the rule of law is to supplant the reign of force and self-interest.

This Gladstonian concept of a harmonious Concert of Europe is opposed and ultimately defeated by the Germans with a Bismarckian system of manipulated alliances and antagonisms.

Regarding Ireland, the major Liberal efforts focus on land reform, where they had ended centuries of landlord oppression, and the disestablishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland through the Irish Church Act 1869.

Gladstone becomes a champion of Home Rule, but it causes a deep split in the Liberal Party.

Joseph Chamberlain forms the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party that refuses to consider Home Rule for Ireland and becomes allied with the Conservatives.

In terms of historic reforms, Gladstone's first ministry 1868–74 is his most successful.

He is an idealist who insists that government should take the lead in making society more efficient, more fair, and that the government should expand its role in society in order to extend liberty and toleration.

The Education Act of 1870 makes universal schooling a major national policy.

The justice system is made up of multiple overlapping and conflicting courts dating back centuries.

The Judicature Act of 1873 merges them into one central court.

In local government the challenges of sanitation and clean water in fast-growing cities are met with new powers in the realm of public health.

Local government is streamlined in a later Gladstone ministry, and made more powerful and standardized.

Patronage and favoritism are replaced by civil service examinations, downplaying the role of family and aristocracy and emphasizing the role of talent and ability.

The secret ballot had been enacted in 1872 to prevent the buying of votes—politicians will not pay out the money if they are not sure how the person votes.

The Trade Union Act 1871 had lessened the intimidation of employers, made unions legal, and protected their funding from lawsuits.

The Protestant Church of Ireland had been disestablished;Catholics no longer had to pay taxes to it.

While the Navy is in fine shape, the Army is not.

Its organization is confused, its policies unfair, and its punishments are based chiefly on flogging.

At the county level, politicians name the officers of the county militia units, preferring connections in class over capacity.

The regular army calls for enlistments for twenty-one years, but with reforms initiated by Edward Cardwell, Gladstone's War Secretary, enlistments are reduced to six years, plus six years in the reserves.

Regiments are organized by territorial districts, and advanced with modern rifles.

The complex chain of command is simplified, and in wartime the county militias ware under the control of the central war office.

The purchase of officers' commissions is abolished, as is flogging in peacetime.

The reforms are not quite complete: the Duke of Cambridge, as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, still has great authority, despite his mediocre abilities.

Historians will give Gladstone high marks on his successful reform program..

The atrocities in Bulgaria also outrage public opinion in Europe, where they became known as the Bulgarian Horrors, a name given currency by the British politician William Ewart Gladstone.

Gladstone, currently in opposition and contemplating retirement from the leadership of the Liberal Party, is moved by reports of the atrocities to write his pamphlet “The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East” (1876).

He campaigns vigorously against the foreign policy of the Conservative prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, which favors supporting the Ottoman Empire as a counterweight to Russia.

Publicity given to the atrocities serves to arouse public sympathy in Europe for the Bulgarians and other southern Slavs attempting to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Despite widespread public indignation, the European powers do little to alleviate the situation.