The roots of national liberalism are to be found in the 19th century, when
conservative liberalism and/or
classical liberalism was the ideology of the political classes in most European countries and in particular those of
Central Europe, then governed by hereditary
monarchies. At their origin, national liberals, although pro-business, were not necessarily advocates of
free trade and
economic liberalism per se and sometimes favoured cooperation between the government and the national industry, moderate levels of protectionism, the establishment of preferential custom unions, subsidies for infant industry or companies considered of national strategic importance and various forms of industrial planning. National liberalism was popular in a number of countries including Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Romania during the 19th century. In Germany, Austria and Romania, national liberals and/or "National Liberal" parties were long in government. More specifically, in
German-speaking countries national liberals were also in favour of a more authoritarian or conservative political regime because of the multi-ethnic character or heterogeneous nature of countries like the
Austrian Empire (later officially renamed
Austria-Hungary) or the newly created Germany under
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
Austria In
Austria-Hungary, the
Constitutional Party was the main representative of national liberalism. During the
interwar period, the national-liberal camp was gathered into the
Greater German People's Party. By 1938, with the
Anschluss of Austria into
Nazi Germany, the national-liberal camp had been swallowed whole by
Austrian National Socialism and all other parties were eventually absorbed into Nazi totalitarianism. Both Socialists and Christian Socials were persecuted under the Nazi regime and the national-liberal camp was scarred after the war due to
guilt by association with National Socialism. It incorporated an array of political movements, including free market liberals, populists, former Nazis and German nationalists, all of whom had been unable to join either of the two main parties. The VdU evolved into the
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) in 1955–1956. When
Jörg Haider was chosen as new FPÖ leader in 1986, the party started an ideological turn towards
right-wing populism, which resulted in the split of most liberals, who formed the
Liberal Forum (LiF), which took over the FPÖ's membership in the
Liberal International and would later eventually merge into
NEOS. Haider himself would split from the party and form the
Alliance for the Future of Austria in 2005.
Bulgaria In
Bulgaria the
National Liberal Party (NLP) was a political party founded in 1920 by a merger of the
Liberal Party (Radoslavists), the
People's Liberal Party and the
Young Liberals Party. The party has won several seats in some elections including the November
1923 elections and
1927 elections. A party named National Liberal Party '
Stefan Stambolov' was established after the fall of the communist regime, and was part of the
Coalition for Bulgaria alliance in the
1991 parliamentary elections.
Czech Republic In
Austria-Hungary the
Young Czech Party, emerged in 1874 after a split from the
Old Czech Party, was a national-liberal force. During
Czechoslovakia's era (1918–1992), a few parties were described as national-liberal:
Czechoslovak National Democracy, the
National Labour Party and, after 1989, the
Czech National Social Party. Today, the conservative
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in the Czech Republic has been described as a national-liberal party. The ODS is a member of the
Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe, as Slovakia's
Freedom and Solidarity, and the
International Democrat Union.
Denmark In Denmark, from the 1830s the core concept of national liberalism was that the nation and the state should have the same extent. National liberals supported the union the Kingdom of Denmark and the
Duchy of Schleswig under a common constitutional framework. On the economy, the state should not interfere with trade and the national-liberal economic vision was transposed in the 1857 Law on Freedom of Business, which abolished the last remnants of the feudal monopolies which had previously formed the framework for the craft of the cities. Danish national liberals supported
Scandinavism and thus Scandinavian unity.
Egypt In 1919 the
Wafd Party was founded by
Egyptian nationalist leader
Saad Zaghloul. The Wafd Party led the
1919 Egyptian revolution against
British colonial rule in Egypt, resulting in the
Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence and the founding of the
Kingdom of Egypt, as well as writing of the
Egyptian Constitution of 1923, which created a
bicameral,
parliamentary democratic,
constitutional monarchy. The Wafd Party was dissolved by
Gamal Abdel Nasser's Free Officers movement after the
1952 Egyptian revolution. The
New Wafd Party, A.K.A. the Egyptian Wafd Party was founded in 1978 by
Fouad Serageddin after
Anwar Sadat increased political liberalization in Egypt. They sought to form an opposition bloc with the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the
1984 general election, but only won 15%. The Egyptian Wafd Party was active in the
2011 Egyptian revolution. They have been represented in the
Egyptian Senate and
Egyptian House of Representatives since the
2011-12 elections. Additionally, the NLP (which had obtained around 30% in the first three federal elections, including 30.1% in the
1871 federal election) suffered huge losses in the
1878 federal election and especially the
1881 federal election (when it was reduced to 14.6%). Later, the party experienced a steady decline in its share of vote, contextually with the rise of the
Social Democratic Party and the
Centre Party at the turn of the century. During the
Weimar Republic, the NLP was succeeded by the
German People's Party (DVP), whose main leader was
Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor (1923) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1923–1929). The DVP, which was joined by some moderate elements of the
Free Conservative Party (FKP) and the
Economic Union (WV), was generally thought to represent the interests of the great German industrialists and has been classified as a national-liberal party by several observers. Its platform stressed Christian family values, secular education, lower tariffs, opposition to welfare spending and agrarian subsidies and hostility to "
Marxism" (that is to say, both the
Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party). After Stresemann's death, the DVP, whose ranks included several anti-republicans, veered sharply to the right. The current
Free Democratic Party (FDP), which was the joint successor of the DVP and the
social liberal German Democratic Party (DDP), originally featured conservative and partly nationalist efforts, which were particularly strong in some state associations until the 1950s and more occasionally after that (For example
Jürgen Möllemann, FDP leader in
North Rhine-Westphalia in 1983–1994 and 1996–2002) and still includes a national-liberal faction, which holds a consistently
Eurosceptic position, differently from the rest of the party. Some right-wing elements, including
Sven Tritschler (former leader of the Stresemann Club), have more recently joined the
Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has in turn been characterised by some observers as national liberal.
Hungary József Antall was the
first democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary as a member of the
Hungarian Democratic Forum. Antall played a major role of in bringing
Hungary closer to the
Western Bloc, as well bringing down the
Warsaw Pact. Antall promoted both
economic liberalization, while appealing to the
right-wing populist fringe of his party by discussing the "national issue" of Hungarians living outside of Hungary and
Hungarian irredentism (see also
Székely autonomy movement). All of this coincided with the
End of communism in Hungary and the country's democratisation and decommunisation, something Antall played a major role in promoting.
Israel Since 1973,
Likud – National Liberal Movement operates in Israel as the main
right-wing and Zionist political party in the country. It historically based its ideology upon the national liberal principles of
Ze'ev Jabotinsky, known as
Revisionist Zionism. This has led to a combination of liberal policies (such as
free market economics in
Israel) and nationalist policies (such as vaguely supporting some idea of
Greater Israel and an Israeli one-state solution). In recent years, other national liberal parties in Israel (such as
Yisrael Beiteinu,
National Unity,
New Hope, and
Derekh Eretz) that have either explicitly or implicitly supported a
two-state solution, albeit not necessarily based upon the
1949 Armistice border. The main exception to this is Derekh Eretz, which can best be described as a
center-right,
moderately conservative pro-peace party. Even still, Derekh Eretz falls strongly within the national liberal politics of Israel, given its support for
Zionism and promotion of a
secular,
free market,
democratic, and Jewish Israel.
South Korea In South Korea during the reign of
Syngman Rhee, various movements sought to move away from Rhee's
dictatorial,
conservative, and
quasi-fascist governance (at least at the beginning of the
First Republic) and towards a more
liberal and
democratic society. This included the
Democratic Party, usually considered the main opposition to Syngman Rhee's
Liberal Party. The Democratic Party often synthesized
nationalist support for the state of
South Korea with liberalism to form a kind of South Korean national liberalism. Slowly the party would gain more prominence within the South Korean political scene. In the
1958 South Korean legislative election, the Democratic Party won 79 seats, making it second to the ruling Liberal Party. During the
first democratic elections in 1960 during the short lived
Second Republic of Korea,
Yun Po-sun, lifelong
anti-communist, democracy advocate, and ideological national liberal, won under the Democratic Party banner. However, his reign was not to be. Factionalism, division, and economic instability defined the Second Republic, including within the
South Korean army. Within a year, Yun Po-sun and his Democratic Party were ousted by military leaders
Park Chung Hee and
Chang Do-yong, the former of whom would become dictator during the
Third Republic of Korea.
Lebanon The
National Liberal Party was founded in 1958 by
Camille Chamoun with a
pro-British, and
anti-French foreign policy along with
free enterprise,
democracy, and
nonsectarianism. During the
Lebanese Civil War, the National Liberal Party had a military wing, the
Tigers Militia, which was allied with the
Lebanese Front and
Lebanese Forces. As a result it has maintained close relations with the
Lebanese Forces party today. In 2005, the National Liberal Party opposed
Syrian occupation and was part of the
Qornet Shehwan Gathering.
Romania In Romania, the
National Liberal Party (PNL), which was initially established in 1875, re-incorporated in 1990, and subsequently enlarged in 2014 (when it absorbed the
Democratic Liberal Party, PDL), has also been part of the national-liberal tradition. Nowadays, it is one of the country's main parties. Former Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis (2014–2025) stemmed from it. Currently, in terms of political ideology, the PNL is mainly
liberal-conservative and
pro-European, therefore placed on the
centre-right of the
political spectrum concerning economy, society, culture, freedom of expression, and civil liberties.
Russia In Russia, "national liberalism" was a 1990s movement claiming to be redefining "liberal" principles as understood in the Western tradition to produce a "national liberalism" better suited to Russian culture, being practically a variety of
Russian nationalism.
Sweden In Sweden, in the 1860s liberals described themselves as national liberals (
nationalliberaler) and constituted a coalition of monarchists and liberal reformists in support of parliamentary reforms. ==Other uses==