... seemingly subjective principles can be seen in some of his foreign policy decisions. Disraeli's most famous opportunistic decision was undoubtedly the purchase of the Suez Canal shares. The purchase of the Suez Canal shares was Disraeli's opportunism at its best. When the Khedive of Egypt decided to sell his forty four percent stake in the Suez Canal in 1875 Disraeli could see he potential problems is the French raised the money to buy the rest of the shares. Lowe describes it as "a splendid piece of opportunism". Disraeli could see that if action was not taken, the trade routes with India could be affected by raised tariffs on the canal. It could be argued that this shows principle, it was the protection of British interest abroad which was also important to Gladstone. However Gladstone criticised the action at the time saying that it was just an excuse to move Britain into ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now