The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism

When the (second) Boer war began in 1899, it was greeted in Britain by the usual bellicose enthusiasm—itself fuelled by the widespread feeling of British superiority. The most striking evidence of popular support can be seen in the landslide victory of the Unionists that became known as the Khaki el...

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Main Author: Françoise Orazi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2007-12-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cve/10535
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author Françoise Orazi
author_facet Françoise Orazi
author_sort Françoise Orazi
collection DOAJ
description When the (second) Boer war began in 1899, it was greeted in Britain by the usual bellicose enthusiasm—itself fuelled by the widespread feeling of British superiority. The most striking evidence of popular support can be seen in the landslide victory of the Unionists that became known as the Khaki election. The Liberal party suffered a crushing defeat because it was once again divided over an imperialist issue; while the so-called pro-war rallied the patriotic upsurge, the pro-Boers refused to support a war which went against core liberal principles. They continuously denounced the injustice of the war and its atrocities, thus putting forward an alternative Representation of War that challenged the official one. Moreover, the pro-Boer faction was to develop into one of the most significant trends of Liberal thought in the twentieth century, namely New Liberalism. Thus what appears to be a dissenting Representation of War gave birth to a new political movement that reconciled the pacifist and anti-imperialist liberalism that had been advocated by such great liberal figures as Richard Cobden and which was at the heart of Gladstone’s Midlothian campaign and the new generation of thinkers who were in favour of a greater intervention of the State.
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spelling doaj-art-581ea0c3a1be4c879a0c096b51aeb11c2025-01-30T10:21:16ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492007-12-016610.4000/cve.10535The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New LiberalismFrançoise OraziWhen the (second) Boer war began in 1899, it was greeted in Britain by the usual bellicose enthusiasm—itself fuelled by the widespread feeling of British superiority. The most striking evidence of popular support can be seen in the landslide victory of the Unionists that became known as the Khaki election. The Liberal party suffered a crushing defeat because it was once again divided over an imperialist issue; while the so-called pro-war rallied the patriotic upsurge, the pro-Boers refused to support a war which went against core liberal principles. They continuously denounced the injustice of the war and its atrocities, thus putting forward an alternative Representation of War that challenged the official one. Moreover, the pro-Boer faction was to develop into one of the most significant trends of Liberal thought in the twentieth century, namely New Liberalism. Thus what appears to be a dissenting Representation of War gave birth to a new political movement that reconciled the pacifist and anti-imperialist liberalism that had been advocated by such great liberal figures as Richard Cobden and which was at the heart of Gladstone’s Midlothian campaign and the new generation of thinkers who were in favour of a greater intervention of the State.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/10535
spellingShingle Françoise Orazi
The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
title The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism
title_full The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism
title_fullStr The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism
title_full_unstemmed The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism
title_short The Pro-Boer Representation of War and the Origins of New Liberalism
title_sort pro boer representation of war and the origins of new liberalism
url https://journals.openedition.org/cve/10535
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