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John Charmley

Splendid Isolation?: Britain, the Balance of Power and the Origins of the First World War Hardcover – 2 Sep 1999

by John Charmley (Author)

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This text offers a different interpretation of Britain's role in the world in the period leading up to World War I. It draws on evidence from previously private papers to offer an account of the methods Disraeli used to establish his ascendency over British foreign policies.

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Product details

Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd; First Edition edition (2 Sept. 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0340657901
ISBN-13: 978-0340657904
Package Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 5.2 cm
Customer reviews: 3 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 985,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5009 in 20th Century Britain History
- #3347 in European Governments & Politics
- #1572 in UK Politics

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peter

Gr8 book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 January 2019

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Interesting

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William Podmore

Fascinating survey, pre First Unnecessary War

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2001

Format: Paperback

In this deeply researched and passionately argued book, Charmley shows that there was an alternative policy to Sir Edward Grey's policy of ever closer union with France, and that this alternative could have benefited Britain by keeping us out of World War One. Grey abandoned Britain's traditional foreign policy, described by the Fourteenth Earl of Derby as, "To keep itself upon terms of goodwill with all surrounding nations, but not to entangle itself with any single or monopolizing alliance with any one of them; above all to endeavour not to interfere needlessly and vexatiously with the internal affairs of any foreign country."
But in 1874, when Disraeli became Prime Minister, he tried to manipulate the European balance of power in Britain's favour. Gladstone's foreign policy was also activist and ambitious, though with different rhetoric: Disraeli interfered for imperial grandeur, Gladstone to defend human rights. (But as Lord Salisbury said, "if our ancestors had cared for the rights of other people, the British Empire would not have been made.") The logical conclusion of Gladstone's ethical foreign policy was 'universal interference'.
Salisbury as Prime Minister returned to a less interventionist foreign policy. He thought that a "European war ... was ... a calamity which we should do our utmost to prevent." He believed that a continental commitment, not its refusal, increased the risk of war, which would do Britain more harm than good. However, in 1906 Grey reasserted Disraelian imperialism. Unlike Salisbury, he thought that an alliance with France would prevent war and that British isolation would lead to war, so he strengthened the Entente with France by allowing secret naval commitments to be made.
Charmley argues that a similar romantic interventionism motivated Churchill in 1939. He also observes that after 1945, "Britain's commitment would be to an Atlantic alliance that would allow her to play the Disraelian role". The temptation to get entangled in Europe's affairs became a Governmental habit, at the expense of Britain's real interests.

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Jan Wammen

An excellent book :))

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2008

Format: Hardcover

I very much enjoyed this book. It is interesting with new interpretations of Britains role leading up to the First World War. I can in this conext also highly recommend Niall Fergusons "Pity of War".

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Splendid Isolation?: Britain, the Balance of Power and the Origins of the First World War Hardcover – 2 Sep 1999

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