Disraeli And The United Kingdom 1874-1880 Years Of Social Reform

Since the mid-18th century, social contradictions resulted from Britain's industrialized mode of production had been gradually exposed: the growing gap between the rich and poor, outrageous unemployment, serious environmental pollution followed by rampant diseases, public health declined caused by workers'poor housing conditions, capitalists'cruel exploitation of the workers without law restrictions and so on. The lower people's discontents made all these issues a prominent social problem. At the same time, two parliamentary reforms had greatly improved the numbers of worker voters, which made them a major force in political elections. To win the supports of the working class, both of the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party adjusted their governing thinking in favor of the workers and did some social reform, which therefore speeded up the process of Britain's democratization.During the 1860s and 1870s, Conservatism was faced with a serious crisis. As the leader of the Conservative Party, Disraeli put forward the progressive thinking, "Toledo democracy", to conformed to the trend of the times. After his cabinetmaking in 1874, a range of social legislations on worker housing, trade unions'legal status, public health and other aspects were brought into effect. These policies not only greatly eased Britain's social conflicts, but also to some extent changed the Conservative Party's stereotype of being "conservative" and "old-fashioned". Further more, it reversed the Conservative Party's adverse situation of being long-term out of power. In this thesis, by analyzing the backgrounds, causes and effects of Disraeli's social legislation of this period, the author seeks to specify that the social legislation during this period is necessary to Britain's democratic process, and also is an inevitable requirement of the "welfare" state process of the United Kingdom.This article includes three parts:The first part: an overview of the social context of Disraeli's reform, including the challenges brought by international competitiveness and its threaten to Britain's economic hegemony; the acuity of social problems after the industrial revolution as well as the improvement of working class's status which made the social reform urgent; new social trend of thought have changed people's perspective on poverty: poverty eradication was not only a personal matter, but the Government should take more responsibilities for it, and this view also provided a possibility of a state intervention; since the numbers of voters incresed after workers got the right to vote, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party must get the support of the middle and lower classes that took the majority of the voters. Therefore, either of the two parties had to adjust their policies, choose attractive election campaign slogan, and carry out democratic social reforms when they came into power.The second part: analysis on Disraeli's political life to explore the deep-seated reasons of his reconstruction on conservatism, namely his social reforms and democratic measures that adapted to the needs of the industrial bourgeoisie and the people, in order to win the votes to expand the party's prestige, based on the consolidation of aristocracy. Focuses are on the process and content of Disraeli's social reform, including "Public Health Act," "Artisans Housing Act" and "Trade Union Law", which had made great achievements.The third part: the evaluation of Disraeli social reforms in 1874-1880. Disraeli added "Dory democracy" to conservatism, and applied it to social reform led by him. These achievements were attributed to his innate character and the full support from Queen Victoria to a certain extent. Analysis on the reform's impact and limitations came at the end of the article. These progressive policies expanded the influence of the Conservative Party by playing a significant role in improving the workers'living standards and alleviating social problems. However, since these concessions were made under the premise of holding out the country's basic system, it is impossible for them to drastically solve the lower people's living condition.