Lord Palmerston
1784 – 1865 British Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary
Combative foreign secretary and prime minister who used the Royal Navy to force open markets, including in the Opium Wars against China.
- Religion
- Church of England
- Affiliations
- Whig, Liberal
Henry John Temple, Lord Palmerston, dominated British foreign policy for much of the mid-nineteenth century as foreign secretary and later prime minister. He championed an aggressive gunboat diplomacy, sending the navy to protect British trade and prestige. He drove Britain into the First Opium War to force China to accept the opium trade, and was prime minister during the Second Opium War and the 1857 Indian rebellion. His approach set the tone for high-Victorian imperial assertiveness.
Connections
- associate of Queen Victoria — The queen he served, who often clashed with his freelancing diplomacy.
In the timeline
- 1839 – 1842 The First Opium War and the Cession of Hong Kong the foreign secretary who pressed the war
- 1840 Palmerston and gunboat diplomacy mentioned
- 1856 – 1860 Second Opium War the prime minister
- 1857 – 1858 Indian Rebellion of 1857 the prime minister
- 1858 The Crown Takes Control of India the prime minister