CHAPTER VII 



VENEZUELA AND AFTER 



IN June, 1895, after a Liberal interlude of 

 nearly three years under Mr. Gladstone and 

 Lord Rosebery, the British Government came 

 once more into the hands of the Marquis of 

 Salisbury, leading the coalition of Conserva 

 tives and Liberal-Unionists. It was destined to 

 be ten years before another change of party con 

 trol should take place, so thoroughly were the 

 Liberals demoralized by the fall of Parnell and 

 the retirement of Gladstone. 



Lord Salisbury entered upon his administra 

 tion with complete consciousness that the rela 

 tions of Great Britain with the other powers 

 of Europe would require the most absorbing 

 attention. The harrying of the Armenians by 

 the Turks was in full progress, disturbing the 

 delicate adjustment made by the Conference of 

 Berlin in 1878; in the Far East, Japan, fresh 

 from her triumph over China, was confronting 

 Russia in such a way as to raise pressing ques 

 tions about British interests in that region; 



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