Mary, Countess of Derby, and the Politics of Victorian Britain

Mary, Countess of Derby, and the Politics of Victorian Britain PDF

Author: Jennifer Davey

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-06-06

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0191089575

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Lady Mary Derby (1824-1900) occupied a pivotal position in Victorian politics, yet her activities have largely been overlooked or ignored. This volume places Mary back into the political position she occupied and offers the first dedicated account of her career. Based on extensive archival research, including hitherto neglected or lost sources, this study reconstructs the political worlds Mary inhabited. Her political landscape was dominated by the machinations and intrigues of high politics and diplomacy. As Jennifer Davey uncovers, Mary's political skill and acumen were highly valued by leading politicians of the day, including Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, and she played a significant role in many of the key events of the mid-Victorian era. This included the passing of the Second Reform Act, the formation of Disraeli's 1874 Government, the Eastern Crisis of 1875-1878, and Gladstone's 1880-1885 Government. By exploring how one woman was able to exercise influence at the heart of Victorian politics, this book considers what Mary's career tells us about the nature of political life in the mid-nineteenth century. It sheds new light on the connections between informal and formal political culture, incorporating the politics of the home, letter-writing, and social relations into a consideration of the politics of Parliament and Government. It provides a rich investigation of how a woman, with few legal or constitutional rights, was able to become a significant figure in mid-Victorian political life.

Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500

Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 PDF

Author: Glenda Sluga

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-06-12

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1317497031

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Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 explores the role of women as agents of diplomacy in the trans-Atlantic world since the early modern age. Despite increasing evidence of their involvement in political life across the centuries, the core historical narrative of international politics remains notably depleted of women. This collection challenges this perspective. Chapters cover a wide range of geographical contexts, including Europe, Russia, Britain and the United States, and trace the diversity of women’s activities and the significance of their contributions. Together these essays open up the field to include a broader interpretation of diplomatic work, such as the unofficial avenues of lobbying, negotiation and political representation that made women central diplomatic players in the salons, courts and boudoirs of Europe. Through a selection of case studies, the book throws into new perspective the operations of political power in local and national domains, bridging and at times reconceptualising the relationship of the private to the public. Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 is essential reading for all those interested in the history of diplomacy and the rise of international politics over the past five centuries.

British Diaries

British Diaries PDF

Author:

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 2021-05-28

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0520363957

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This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1950.

Wellington: Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852

Wellington: Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852 PDF

Author: Rory Muir

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2015-06-09

Total Pages: 761

ISBN-13: 0300214049

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The preeminent Wellington biographer presents a fascinating reassessment of the Duke’s most famous victory and his political career after Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington’s momentous victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo was the culminating point of a brilliant military career. Yet Wellington’s achievements were far from over. He commanded the allied army of occupation in France to the end of 1818, returned home to a seat in Lord Liverpool’s cabinet, and became prime minister in 1828. He later served as a senior minister in Robert Peel’s government and remained Commander-in-Chief of the Army for a decade until his death in 1852. In this richly detailed work, the second and concluding volume of Rory Muir’s definitive biography, the author offers a substantial reassessment of Wellington’s significance as a politician and a nuanced view of the private man behind the legendary hero. Muir presents new insights into Wellington’s determination to keep peace at home and abroad, achieved by maintaining good relations with the Continental powers, resisting radical agitation, and granting political equality to the Catholics in Ireland. Countering one-dimensional image of Wellington as a national hero, Muir paints a nuanced portrait of a man whose austere public demeanor belied his entertaining, gossipy, generous, and unpretentious private self.

The Trial of Queen Caroline

The Trial of Queen Caroline PDF

Author: Jane Robins

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2006-08-07

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 0743255909

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Traces the early nineteenth-century adultery trial of Queen Caroline, describing her loveless arranged marriage to George IV, their mutual separation and affairs with other people, and the public's riotous defense of Caroline.

Dorothea Lieven

Dorothea Lieven PDF

Author: Judith Lissauer Cromwell

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2006-12-15

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 0786426519

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Dorothea de Benckendorff was born December 28, 1785. Bright, vivacious and personable, she was destined to become an influential player in international diplomacy. Spending three of her most formative years in exile with her mother, Dorothea was not only the recipient of an excellent education, she was also the beneficiary of years of her mother's careful social training. She was adopted by an intimate friend of her mother, Empress Maria of Russia, after her mother's death. Dorothea's close connections to the Russian imperial family positioned her for the life role she wished to play. Marriage to Count Christopher Lieven at the age of 14 (a custom typical of the place and time) furthered Dorothea's desire to play a part in the fascinating world of politics. Beginning with her husband's appointment by Tsar Alexander I as ambassador to Great Britain, Dorothea used her intellect, charisma and social skills to become a political force in European diplomacy during the first half of the nineteenth century. This biography provides a detailed look at the life and times of Dorothea Lieven, a woman who achieved the status of an independent stateswoman in her own right in the diplomatic communities of Russia, France and England. It examines the way in which Dorothea, entrusted with a secret diplomatic overture to England by Tsar Alexander I, participated in events which culminated in the birth of modern Greece. Using Princess Lieven's memoirs and other unpublished correspondence, the work provides a perspective on four Romanov rulers--Empress Catherine, Tsar Paul I, Tsar Alexander I and Tsar Nicholas I. The extent of Dorothea's political and diplomatic influence, through her friendships with King George IV, the Duke of Wellington and Talleyrand as well as her liaisons with Clement Metternich and Francois Guizot, is also discussed. An appendix contains medical testimonial regarding the Princess' declining health as well as some of Princess Lieven's letters. A reference list of key events in her life is provided.

Paris Between Empires

Paris Between Empires PDF

Author: Philip Mansel

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2003-04-05

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13: 0312308574

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In this social history of Europe's most famous city during its golden age, Mansel tells the story of the political turbulence, dynamic intrigue, violence in the streets, and the societal wars that took place in upper-class salons. 32 page photo insert.

The Chancelleries of Europe

The Chancelleries of Europe PDF

Author: Alan Palmer

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2013-12-19

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0571305830

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In the author's own words this is a book about 'chaps and maps'. More formally. The Chancelleries of Europe is a study of traditional diplomacy at its peak of influence in the nineteenth-century and the first years of the twentieth. At the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 the five Great Powers - Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and Russia - established a system of international intercourse that safeguarded the world from major war for exactly a hundred years. The successive crises that challenged this supranational system - the unification of Italy and Germany, the scramble for colonies in Africa, and for trade concessions in Asia, the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of Japan - are well-known. Less attention has been given to the way the system functioned and to changes imposed on its character by the spread of speedier communications. It is these gaps in our understanding of the international politics of the century that the author seeks to fill. The book therefore studies the clashes of personality between crowned heads of the old empires and between rival statesmen and ambassadors seeking advancement. It compares the growth of personnel and specialist departments in the various foreign ministries, assesses the impact of domestic politics on external affairs, the power of the pressure groups like the (British) China Association and the (Russian) Far Eastern Committee, the proto-spin fed to favoured newspapers and, in contrast, the growing unease of press and public at 'hidden' negotiations and the concealment of diplomatic expedients and alliances. But the book also notes changes in the way diplomacy was conducted in the wake of technological inventions such as the semaphore towers of the early years and the electric telegraph and undersea cables of the second half of the century. Moments of high drama, skullduggery and bathos prove that the reading of diplomatic history is not the dull, dreary drudge many abhorred in their schooldays.