Conservatism and Foreign Policy During the Lloyd George Coalition 1918-1922

After the war of 1914-1918, Conservatives throughout Britain hoped to establish a peaceful and stable international system, consistent with traditional conservative foreign policy. How to pursue this course was, however, a matter of intense, at times fierce, internal controversy and debate. It was a debate not made easier by the formidable challenges, internal and external, that the post-1918 era presented to traditional Conservative foreign policy. Inbal Rose examines the evolution of Conservative foreign policy as tension between the traditional and the innovative that coloured Conservatives' criticism, positive and negative, of the major foreign policy issues of the day, and analyzes how this tension affected the development of traditional conservative foreign policy concepts and values.