UDC

Authors

Abstract

This article is devoted to the key stages of European conservatism development in modern and contemporary history. The author draws the reader’s attention to the traditional, protective, reform, neoconservative and other versions of conservative ideology in the above mentioned period of time. Special attention is paid to British conservatism, which has played an important part in the development of this ideology as a whole. The author emphasizes that the formation of conservative ideology has been closely connected with the political and economic development of the European countries. The paper analysed the works of the fathers of European conservatism – E. Burke, J. de Maistre and L. de Bonald – as well as of B. Disraeli, R. Salisbury, W. Churchill and others. These intellectuals formulated the traditional concept of conservatism, which was formed shortly after the events of the Great French Revolution. They stressed the need for a sustainable development of the state and society, based on traditions, order, law, religion, family and moral values. It should be noted that conservatism as a political ideology was formed at the turn of the18th and 19th centuries as a response of feudal aristocracy to the social ideas of the Enlightenment and the experience of the Great French Revolution. In addition, the author compares the European, American and Canadian versions of conservatism and shows how conservative ideology is related to the needs of the modern world. For example, the Invitation to Join the Government of Britain. The Conservative Manifesto (D. Cameron) is compared with Stand Up for Canada. Conservative Party of Canada Federal Election Platform (S. Harper). The author also introduces the term globalization conservatism, which is closely linked with the conservatives’ attempts to solve the global challenges of our age.

Keywords

References

1. 1. Rakhshmir P.Yu. Evolyutsiya konservatizma v novoe i noveyshee vremya [The Evolution of Conservatism in Modern and Contemporary History]. Novaya i noveyshaya istoriya, 1990, no. 1, pp. 48–62.
   
2. 2. Burke E. Razmyshleniya o revolyutsii vo Frantsii [Reflections on the Revolution in France]. Moscow, 1993. 144 p.
   
3. 3 Maistre J. de. Rassuzhdeniya o Frantsii [Considerations on France]. Moscow, 1997. 216 p.
   
4. 4. Maistre J. de. Sankt-Peterburgskie vechera [The Saint-Petersburg Evenings]. St. Petersburg, 1998. 732 p.
   
5. 5. Bonald L.A. de. Theorie du pouvoir politique et religieux dans la société civile. Paris, 1966.
   
6. 6. Vneshnyaya politika Rossii XIX i nachala XX veka. Dokumenty rossiyskogo Ministerstva inostrannykh del. Ser. 1. 1801–1815 [The Foreign Policy of Russia in the 19th and Early 20th Century. Documents of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ser. 1. 1801–1815]. Moscow, 1972. Vol. VIII.
   
7. Orlik O.V. “Evropeyskaya ideya” Aleksandra I [The “European Idea” of Alexander I]. Novaya i noveyshaya istoriya, 1997, no. 4, pp. 46–69.
   
8. Galkin A.A., Rakhshmir P.Yu. Konservatizm v proshlom i nastoyashchem [Conservatism in the Past and the Present]. Moscow, 1987.
   
9. Hoffman J.D. The Conservative Party in Opposition, 1945–1951. London, 1964. 400 p.
   
10. Imperial Policy: A Statement of Conservative Policy for the British Empire and Commonwealth. London, 1949.
    
11. Invitation to Join the Government of Britain. The Conservative Manifesto, 2010. Available at: http://www. learningace.com/doc/175850/4518ba1b01865e98b2e221a7b5c3a57e/cpmanifesto2010_lowres (accessed 25 April 2015).
    
12. Stand Up for Canada. Conservative Party of Canada Federal Election Platform. Ottawa, 2006.
    
13. Worcester R., Mortimore R., Baines P., Gill M. Explaining Cameron’s Coalition. How It Came About, an Analysis of the 2010 British General Election. London, 2011. Available at: http://www.uea.ac.uk/documents/241631/839342/ robert-worcester.pdf/15569453-ccee-4e35-a918-9049d085e557 (accessed 20 April 2015).