The Thought Of British Conservative Historians Between The Two World Wars

Recession had swept the UK between the two world wars. A catastrophic loss with negligible gain, and that the Armistice did not bring peace, honour, or prosperity. Instead, there was a devastating economic depression, unemployment. The crisis within the economy also had a multifaceted impact in the field of the British politics. After the first world war, inside the country, the Labour Party rose and gradually replaced the Liberal Party to become another pillar of the two party system in Britain. Outside the the country, the colonial system of the British Empire began to collapse after the end of the war, the decline of the Empire had caused the United Kingdom to adjust the foreign policy from the balance of power into appeasement between the two world wars.Faced with this situation, with their professional knowledge, the representative of the conservative historians like Hearnshaw, Bryant, Feiling, had given their conservative interpretation to the unprecedented threat events. Under the background of the two world wars, they had established an extended Disraeli Toryism which formed the basic principles of conservatism, namely human imperfection, the emphasis on tradition, emphasize the role of religion, people born inequality, conservatism and freedom compatible. They used the principles of conservatism to explain the significant issues of British society, such as the growing strength of socialism, the issues of Empire, appeasement and the anti-semitism in 1930 s. This kind of conservatism principles together with the explanation about the social events from the historians laid the British conservatism tone between the two world wars, which not only formed the unique extended Disraeli conservatism theory in 20 th century, but as a transition to the Neo-conservatism, it also had a profound impact on the Britain conservatism after World War II.The historians are not part of a special group, but belonged rather to a wider, more diffuse, intellectual community. However, in the propaganda of the conservatism, the role of the historian is very important. First, compare to the politicians, they can stay out of political life itself or only on its margin where they can create opinion on subjects of vital concern. Second, as historians, they insist on using historical knowledge to prove and explain the rationality of conservatism in the past, present, and future. Finally, as intellectuals of the times, they have their own social responsibility and mission, that is to prove their values through a series of conservatism ideological propaganda activities.