William Gladstone was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1868-1894. He was primarily interested in domestic affairs, especially ones involving Ireland, which during this time, did not have good relations with England. Ireland at the time endured some unfair policies which were enforced by the English, such as a tax for Irish Catholics that had to be paid to the Protestant Church. Gladstone believed that Ireland should have some independence from England, and made arguments in favor of home rule for Ireland. What were the arguments that Gladstone made in favor of home rule for Ireland?
The first argument that Gladstone made was that home rule for Ireland would help improve the suffering relations between Ireland and England. He pointed out that putting more regulations, and unfair policies upon the Irish their relationship with Ireland would suffer further, and leave an opening for the Irish to rebel against England. His other argument was that giving more freedoms and the power of home rule to the Irish would prevent them from separating from Britain altogether.
Though the arguments of Gladstone were reasonable enough, and may have helped with the poor relationship between Ireland and England, nothing was actually done. England and Ireland’s relationship continued to suffer on, which led to further conflicts down the line.
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