Arthur Balfour

Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje, Cecil Rhodes and John Tengo Jabavu, c. 1881-1900. National Library of South Africa, Cape Town.

Cecil Rhodes and the Election That Caused the Boer War

Cecil Rhodes was once described as the single biggest threat to peace in southern Africa. In 1898 a bitter election campaign did little to suggest otherwise.

Declaration of the result of the 1880 general election poll at Leeds Town Hall, in which Gladstone’s Liberals have a majority, illustration for The Graphic, 10 April 1880. Look and Learn / Illustrated Papers Collection / Bridgeman Images.

The End of Britain’s Weeks-Long General Elections

General elections in Britain were once weeks-long affairs of corruption and chaos. The shift to one-day polling was slow.

The Theism of Lord Balfour

Lord Balfour, then Foreign Secretary, announced that he viewed with favour a national home for the Jews in Palestine. I.T. Naamani examines the philosophical writings of a remarkable British statesman.

Venezuela coimplains to Uncle Sam about the presence of a German warship, from Puck magazine, 22 January 1902. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

The 1902 Blockade of Venezuela

In 1902 a revolutionary dictator named Castro provoked an unlikely Anglo-German naval demonstration off the coast of Venezuela.

British Prime Ministers: Arthur Balfour

A.P. Ryan introduces the life and career of The Earl of Balfour: Conservative Prime Minister, 1902-5; Foreign Secretary, 1916-19; President of the Council 1919-22, 1925-9.

The Career of A.J. Balfour

Graham Goodlad reviews the career of A.J. Balfour, an unsuccessful Prime Minister and party leader but an important and long-serving figure on the British political scene.