how important was support for foreign movements for national independence in influencing British foreign policy in the years 1822 to 1846?

However, another interpretation is that there were other factors, such as a desire for peace and a balance of power, which were a bigger influence in determining British foreign policy in this period. Palmerston’s introduction of ‘gunboat diplomacy’, a major change in foreign policy, is surely more focused on supporting British trade and prestige (e.g. the Opium Wars with China), showing that a major change did not occur because of support for foreign Liberal movements. Moreover, although the first interpretation argues that British support for liberal movements abroad was a large factor in foreign policy, Britain failed to help Poland when Russia clinically repressed a Liberalist revolution, showing that Britain sometimes did not aid Liberalist movements consistently, thus this cannot be considered a major aspect of foreign policy in the designated period. Furthermore, the argument that Poland was too far away is nullified when it is taken into account that a desire for trade resulted in gunboats being sent to China, and there is even intervention in South America via the Polignac Memorandum. It can thus be argued that the main motive behind the Polignac Memorandum was a desire to exploit the trade possibilities offered by newly independent Latin American countries. Finally, it is clear that a peace through a balance of powers is arguably the most important deciding factor in British foreign policy in this period. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, it was clear to Britain that one power must not be allowed to dominate the entire continent, in the way that Napoleon’s France had attempted to. Maintenance of peace would allow amicable trade relations and prevent the British government from having to increase taxes, thereby keeping social unrest from growing as it had done during the Napoleonic Wars (e.g. Luddism): it is therefore clear that factors such as the balance of powers and the maintenance of peace, trade relations and British prestige were far more important in directing British foreign policy.

It may be most prudent, then, to suggest that although there can be no doubt that British sympathy for democracy and Liberalist movements did play a part in foreign policy initiatives (especially in terms of their involvement in Greece), it is clear that the natural self-interests (e.g. trade) of such a large world power took precedence over aiding others. Indeed, often, the aims of Britain as a nation happened to coincide with helping nationalistic ambitions abroad (e.g. Polignac Memorandum, which allowed expansion of British trade as well as granting independence to countries): this shows that Britain were definitely in favour of such movements, and would help if aid also served their own interests as a nation, but their inertia with regards to Poland shows that Britain would not go out of its way in order to support such a movement.