William Ewart Gladstone (Gladstone William Ewart)

(1809-1898)
Born December 29, 1809 in Liverpool. William, the youngest of four sons, was educated at Eton and Christ Church College at Oxford University, where he studied theology and ancient authors.
In 1832 Gladstone became a member of parliament from the Tory party. In his first speech in 1833 defending the rights of West Indian slave. In 1834-1835 held the minor post in the government Peel. In 1838 Gladstone's career was threatened. In the book he published was argued that the state neglects its duty in relation to the Anglican Church, he offered to withdraw access to the official positions of nonconformists and Catholics. Macaulay made a trenchant criticism of these ideas, but Peel was shocked by the views of his protege. However, soon he was able to shift attention away from the theology of Gladstone on the financial sphere.

In 1845 Gladstone lost his seat in parliament because of its free-trade views. In 1843-1845 he was Minister of Trade, in 1845-1846 - Minister of Colonies. In 1847 he was elected to Parliament from the University of Oxford. In 1846, as Peel, withdrew from the Tories. In 1852 the government refused to enter the Derby, and then contributed to his downfall by exposing the brilliant criticism of the budget, presented by Finance Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

In 1852-1856 Gladstone was finance minister in the coalition government of Aberdeen, and again it took place in 1859-1866 in the government of Palmerston. Thanks to him, this post has become the second largest in the government. The peak of the first phase of his career were the budgets of 1853 and 1860, which were embodied the principles of laissez faire and the idea of the liberation of citizens from the burden of fiscal constraints. During this period he became one of the leaders of the Liberal Party (formed on the basis of Whig, joined by sawing and Free Traders). In 1866 Gladstone introduced a draft parliamentary reform, which was not adopted. Nevertheless, his speech is largely drove Disraeli to formulate a law on electoral reform in 1867 in the form in which it was then adopted. At this time there was a change of religious belief Gladstone and its relation to the High Church, with its emphasis on authority and tradition. In May 1864 Gladstone declared in the House of Commons that every person in good health, has the right to vote. This infuriated the leader of the Liberals of Prime Minister Palmerston and Gladstone was worth, to his chagrin, seats in parliament as the representative of Oxford University. In 1865, after the death of Palmerston Gladstone became leader of the House of Commons, while remaining Minister of Finance.

In 1868 Gladstone became Prime Minister. The main task he considered the implementation of several highly moral conduct, such as getting rid of the Balkans from the Turkish yoke, and the Irish - from the British Raj. Among the accepted laws of this period: the law on the separation of the Anglican Church and State in Ireland, the land act of 1870, . granted a number of safeguards Irish tenant farmers; Education Act 1870, . introduces the system of primary schools and compulsory education law abolishing the sale of posts in the army and the religious voter in the Oxford and Cambridge universities, the law on the introduction of secret ballots in elections to the Parliament of 1872; law granting trade unions the legal rights, the judicial act, . followed by a reorganization of the entire system of judiciary,
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In the elections of 1874 the Liberals were defeated, and in 1875 Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, who served from 1868. Finest hour of the second period of Gladstone's career was his campaign in the Scottish county of Midlothian in November 1879 and March 1880, during which he made speeches against the pro-Turkish foreign policy of Disraeli.

Gladstone again became prime minister in 1880, and his government remained in power until 1885. During this period, were adopted by the land act of 1881 for Ireland and the third law on the reform of the electoral law in 1884. In the second period of his premiership Gladstone faced with a crisis of agriculture and trade. Cheap food from America devastated British farmers to raise tariffs limited exports of British and caused unemployment and unrest, the growth of armaments in Europe, created a threat to British security. All this contributed to the emergence of two mass movements in British public opinion, demanding a policy of social reform within the country and rigid imperial policy abroad. Both of these requirements caused outrage Gladstone, . who considered, . first, . that the welfare of the country will be undermined, . if the state will assume the job, . which everyone must carry out independently, he considered as, . that the military-political and financial balance of power will be violated, . if Britain will re-equipment or will seek to expand their holdings, . compensating for the relative decline of its influence in Europe,
. However, Gladstone's foreign policy lacks consistency. In particular, in 1882 he sent troops to seize Egypt. Gladstone has lost popularity after the defeat in 1884 of British troops in eastern Sudan, and an unsuccessful attempt to rescue General Gordon, who was killed in Khartoum by Sudanese rebels.

Gladstone headed the government and in 1886, that's when he introduced a bill in parliament on Home Rule for Ireland, which was rejected. The last time he was in power in 1892-1894. His efforts of this period were directed mainly at the enactment of Home Rule (which was again rejected by the House of Lords in 1893). Through the last period of his public action campaign in defense of the Home Rule Bill, Gladstone sacrificed unity in the Liberal Party: the right wing - the Liberal Unionists (ie. advocates preservation of the union with Ireland) broke, and a large part of them subsequently joined the Conservatives, radicals resigned in protest against the refusal to authorize Gladstone moderate social reforms.

Gladstone died at Hawarden Castle, (county of Flintshire, Wales), May 19, 1898.