"William Gladstone"

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William Ewart Gladstone (December 29, 1809 – May 19, 1898, in old Greek literature as William Gladstone) was a prominent English Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He distinguished himself for his rhetorical skill and philhelleneism. He was also a partner of the Royal Society and a member of the Royal Statistical Society.

In 1834 he became second Lord Treasurer and in 1835 State Minister for Colonies, when he repeatedly advocated the abolition of slavery in the colonies. In 1862, as Minister of Finance in the Palmerston government, he voted in favour of the union of the Ionian Islands with Greece. In 1867 he succeeded Lord Russell in the leadership of the Liberal party and in 1868 formed the first under the government presidency, when he managed to pass a law to separate the church from the state.

He resigned in 1873 after rejecting a bill and did not cease to monitor political events, aggressively attacking Benjamin Disraeli's pro-Turkish policy. During the 1880 election, by majority he won the election and became a second Prime Minister. Thus he succeeded in being sent to Berlin for the conference, which would eventually give Thessaly to Greece in 1881.

In 1886 he formed his third government with a program of granting full autonomy to Ireland. Because the House voted against the relevant bill, elections were held in 1892, which brought him for the fourth time in the position of prime minister. His bill was passed by the House, but was rejected by the House of Lords. Eventually, Gladstone definitively resigned from politics in 1893, when he became involved in translating the Odes of Vision and other writers.

Gladston and Greece
In modern Greek history William Gladstone associated his name with both the union of the Ionian islands with Greece and the Cyprus issue. In particular over the last year before he died (1897) he made the following confession:
"I think - he wrote - what satisfaction I would feel if I had the chance before the end of my little life to see the population of this Greek island (Cyprus) incorporated after a friendly settlement with his brothers, the Kingdom of Greece."

Important is his decision to continue the Greek schools of Cyprus teaching in the Greek language, as opposed to a recommendation they made to him when he was minister of colonies, saying that it is not worth doing to Greeks what we did to other peoples, that is, to impose our language on them.

Gladstone was one of the first major British politicians to adopt the political view that Britain could intervene to protect the Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire and even try those responsible for persecution. This policy was based on international treaties such as the Treaty of