Another of Britain’s main policies and principles was of trade and economics. Britain was the most advanced country at the time. It was the first to industrialize and this meant that Britain had the upper hand with trade as they could produce quality goods for cheap and then sell them abroad. Trade was essential to help Britain’s economy and in order to grow and expand. There were several strategic colonies on the route to and from India that allowed the navy and merchant navy to transport goods easily, this was a valuable link. Also one of the major focuses for both Castlereagh and Canning had been the question of Latin America and America in general. During the problems in Europe, Castlereagh had looked to Latin America for valuable trade and so had recognized the Americas as independent and free countries. Canning who openly stated that Britain wanted and was trading with Latin America followed this on; this was the outcome after an incident with America over who was to get the trade. Which resulted in the Monroe Doctrine. Canning, who had not felt the same about peaceful relations with America had to persuade Latin America to trade and so secured Britain’s trade with other countries than in Europe.
Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, and was keen to see that all slave trade would be stopped, the Atlantic Slave trade became a focus for policy to stop this trade, it was felt that it was immoral and wrong to have slaves and in order to stop slavery firstly the slave trade must be stopped. In order to achieve this the navy was used and the superiority was taken advantage of, all British naval ships had the power to stop and search and ship crossing the Atlantic in order to stop the trade of slaves. This was first implemented by Castlereagh but followed on r. There was much objection from countries that still relied on slaves such as Spain and France. However this policy was carried on and remained in order to stop the trade.
The balance of power was an especially important principle for Britain, during Castlereagh’s era, France had always been the main threat and at the treaty of Vienna he was careful not to give France too much power back and to try and restrict them. Castlereagh used to congress systems mainly in order to achieve what he wanted in Europe, the treaty of Vienna was another example of this. Canning, although he used a different system, was also aware of the French but also other countries such as Austria. Canning did not like the congress system and preferred bi-lateral cooperation; he didn’t trust many of the other European countries. Before where Castlereagh and Metternich had had a good relationship this was followed by Canning who despised Metternich and the feeling was mutual. For Palmerston the threat abroad wasn’t in the form of France, but now of Russia. Yet this was continuation of a policy that was in the State Paper in 1820. Palmerston wanted to top Russian expansion and stop its influence in turkey and the area around and replace it with British support. Over the time there had been several important s events that Britain had to get involved with due to the policy but it was essential for Britain to take a leading role. Such events included to defeat and restrictions on France after Napoleonic wars, the Greek independence problem and also the Belgian crisis. It was essential for Britain to have a role in these, not only to pursue their interests abroad but it was essential that the balance of power in Europe be kept. Britain needed a politically stable and peaceful Europe to maintain trade with other countries. Without the stability Britain would suffer and would not be able to trade and develop as it was.
The last principle was of liberty and morality. This was partly to do with such things as the slave trade but also to support other constitutional countries that were similar to Britain. The feeling in society was that slavery was immoral and so should be stop, and it was Britain’s duty to enforce this and make it stop. Also it was in Britain’s policies to help other constitutional countries, this can been seen, but not too well. In the Greek independence, although Britain partly supported the Greek cause it could not fully support it, as it would eventually mean a change in the balance of power and Russia would be allowed to expand and Turkey would collapse. Britain did indirectly help Italian unification later on; again this was helping a constitutional country.
Throughout all the main principles we can see that several are linked together and often follow the same principle. The navy is essential to Britain’s success and being able to carry many policies out. The balance of power was essential for stability and trade, while at the same time Britain was starting trade with other countries. Peace seemed a large concern for Britain and liberty. However most importantly of these factors and one that all other policies were based on was the idea of British security. That was the main point for a foreign secretary to make sure that Britain maintained it position and remained strong. It was essential that Britain should not be threatened, thus the intervention in Portugal. We could say that if security had not been the main principle then many of the polices would have been different and the shape of history would have changed. Yet the job of a foreign secretary was to preserve Britain’s interests and security. Therefore all policies must be based around that idea.
Silas Bingley
