Salisbury's expertise was in foreign affairs. For most of his time as prime minister, he served not as
First Lord of the Treasury, the traditional position held by the prime minister, but as
foreign secretary. In that capacity, he managed Britain's foreign affairs, but he was being sarcastic about a policy of "
Splendid isolation"—such was not his goal.
Foreign policy In foreign affairs, Salisbury was challenged worldwide. The long-standing policy of "
Splendid isolation" had left Britain with no allies and few friends. In Europe, Germany was worrisome regarding its growing industrial and naval power,
Kaiser Wilhelm's erratic foreign policy, and the instability caused by the decline of the Ottoman Empire. France was threatening British control of Sudan. In the Americas, for domestic political reasons, U.S. President
Grover Cleveland manufactured a quarrel over
Venezuela's border with
British Guiana. In South Africa conflict was threatening with the two Boer republics. In the
Great Game in Central Asia, the line that separated Russia and British India in 1800 was narrowing. In China the British economic dominance was threatened by other powers that wanted to control slices of China. The tension with Germany had subsided in 1890 after
a deal exchanged German holdings in East Africa for
an island off the German coast. However, with peace-minded Bismarck retired by an aggressive new Kaiser, tensions rose and negotiations faltered. France retreated in Africa after the British dominated in the
Fashoda Incident. The Venezuela crisis was settled amicably and London and Washington became friendly after Salisbury gave Washington what it wanted in the
Alaska boundary dispute. The
Open Door Policy and a 1902 treaty with Japan resolved the China crisis. However, in South Africa a nasty
Boer war broke out in 1899 and for a few months it seemed the Boers were winning.
Venezuela crisis with the United States In 1895 the
Venezuelan crisis with the United States erupted. A border dispute between the colony of
British Guiana and
Venezuela caused a major Anglo-American crisis when the United States intervened to take Venezuela's side. Propaganda sponsored by Venezuela convinced American public opinion that the British were infringing on Venezuelan territory. The United States demanded an explanation and Salisbury refused. The crisis escalated when President Cleveland, citing the
Monroe Doctrine, issued an ultimatum in late 1895. Salisbury's cabinet convinced him he had to go to arbitration. Both sides calmed down and the issue was quickly resolved through arbitration which largely upheld the British position on the legal boundary line. Salisbury remained angry but a consensus was reached in London, led by
Lord Landsdowne, to seek much friendlier relations with the United States. By standing with a Latin American nation against the encroachment of the British, the US improved relations with the Latin Americans, and the cordial manner of the procedure improved American diplomatic relations with Britain. Despite the popularity of the Boers in American public opinion, official Washington supported London in the Second Boer War.
Africa An Anglo-German agreement (1890) resolved conflicting claims in East Africa; Great Britain received large territories in Zanzibar and Uganda in exchange for the small island of
Helgoland in the North Sea. Negotiations with Germany on broader issues failed. In January 1896 German Kaiser Wilhelm II escalated tensions in South Africa with his
Kruger telegram congratulating Boer President
Paul Kruger of the Transvaal for beating off the British
Jameson Raid. German officials in Berlin had managed to stop the Kaiser from proposing a German protectorate over the Transvaal. The telegram backfired, as the British began to see Germany as a major threat. The British moved their forces from Egypt south into Sudan in 1898, securing complete control of that troublesome region. However, a strong British force unexpectedly confronted a small French military expedition at Fashoda. Salisbury
quickly resolved the tensions, and systematically moved toward friendlier relations with France.
Second Boer War After gold was discovered in the
South African Republic (called Transvaal) in the 1880s, thousands of British men flocked to the gold mines. Transvaal and its sister republic the
Orange Free State were small, rural, independent nations founded by
Afrikaners, who descended from Dutch immigrants to the area before 1800. The newly arrived miners were needed for their labour and business operations but were distrusted by the Afrikaners, who called them "
uitlanders". The uitlanders heavily outnumbered the Boers in cities and mining districts; they had to pay heavy taxes, and had limited civil rights and no right to vote. The British, jealous of the gold and diamond mines and highly protective of its people, demanded reforms, which were rejected. A small-scale private British effort to overthrow Transvaal's President Paul Kruger, the
Jameson Raid of 1895, was a fiasco and presaged full-scale conflict as all diplomatic efforts failed. War started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902 as Great Britain faced the two small far-away Boer nations. The Prime Minister let his extremely energetic colonial minister
Joseph Chamberlain take charge of the war. British efforts were based from its Cape Colony and the Colony of Natal. There were some native African allies, but generally, both sides avoided using black soldiers. The British war effort was further supported by volunteers from across the Empire. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain. Inside Britain and its Empire there also was a significant
opposition to the Second Boer War because of the atrocities and military failures. The British were overconfident and underprepared. Chamberlain and other top London officials ignored the repeated warnings of military advisors that the Boers were well prepared, well armed, and fighting for their homes in a very difficult terrain. The Boers with about 33,000 soldiers, against 13,000 front-line British troops, struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberly, and Mafeking, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg in late 1899. Staggered, the British fought back, relieved its besieged cities, and prepared to invade first the Orange Free State, and then Transvaal in late 1900. The Boers refused to surrender or negotiate and reverted to guerrilla warfare. After two years of hard fighting, Britain, using over 400,000 soldiers systematically destroyed the resistance, raising worldwide complaints about brutality. The Boers were fighting for their homes and families, who provided them with food and hiding places. The British solution was to forcefully relocate all the Boer civilians into heavily guarded concentration camps, where 28,000 died of disease. Then it systematically blocked off and tracked down the highly mobile Boer combat units. The battles were small operations; most of the 22,000 British dead were victims of disease. The war cost £217 million and demonstrated the Army urgently needed reforms but it ended in victory for the British and the Conservatives won
the Khaki election of 1900. The Boers were given generous terms, and both former republics were incorporated into the
Union of South Africa in 1910. The war had many vehement critics, predominantly in the Liberal Party. However, on the whole, the war was well received by the British public, which staged numerous public demonstrations and parades of support. Soon there were memorials built across Britain. Strong public demand for news coverage meant that the war was well covered by journalists – including young
Winston Churchill – and photographers, as well as letter-writers and poets. General
Sir Redvers Buller imposed strict censorship and had no friends in the media, who wrote him up as a blundering buffoon. In dramatic contrast,
Field Marshal Frederick Roberts pampered the press, which responded by making him a national hero.
German naval issues In 1897 Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz became German Naval Secretary of State and began the transformation of the
Imperial German Navy from a small, coastal defence force to a fleet meant to challenge British naval power. Tirpitz called for a
Risikoflotte or "risk fleet" that would make it too risky for Britain to take on
Germany as part of a wider bid to alter the international balance of power decisively in Germany's favour. At the same time German foreign minister
Bernhard von Bülow called for
Weltpolitik (world politics). It was the new policy of Germany to assert its claim to be a global power. Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck's policy of
Realpolitik (realistic politics) was abandoned as Germany was intent on challenging and upsetting international order. The long-run result was the inability of Britain and Germany to be friends or to form an alliance. Britain reacted to Germany's accelerated naval arms race with major innovations, especially those developed by
Admiral Fisher. The most important development was unveiled – after Salisbury's death – the entry of into service in 1906, which rendered all the world's battleships obsolete and set back German plans. Historians agree that Salisbury was a strong and effective leader in foreign affairs. He had a superb grasp of the issues, and was never a "
splendid isolationist" but rather, says Nancy W. Ellenberger, was:
Domestic policy At home he sought to "kill Home Rule with kindness" by launching a land reform programme which helped hundreds of thousands of Irish peasants gain land ownership and largely ended complaints against English landlords. The
Elementary School Teachers (Superannuation) Act 1898 (
61 & 62 Vict. c. 57) enabled teachers to secure an annuity via the payment of voluntary contributions. The
Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act 1899 (
62 & 63 Vict. c. 32) permitted school boards to provide for the education of mentally and physically defective and epileptic children.
Honours and retirement In 1895 and 1900 he was honoured with appointments as
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and
High Steward of the City and Liberty of Westminster, which he held for life. On 11 July 1902, in failing health and broken-hearted over the death of his wife, Salisbury resigned. He was succeeded by his nephew,
Arthur Balfour. King
Edward VII conferred upon him the Grand Cross of the
Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), with the order star set in brilliants, during his resignation audience. ==Last year: 1902–1903==