Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th earl of Rosebery

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th earl of Rosebery (born May 7, 1847, London—died May 21, 1929, Epsom, Surrey, Eng.) was a British prime minister from March 3, 1894, to June 21, 1895; faced with a divided Cabinet and a hostile House of Lords, his ministry achieved little of consequence.

His father, Archibald Primrose, son of the 4th earl, died before Archibald was four; as heir to the earldom he therefore bore the title of Lord Dalmeny at Eton. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, without receiving a degree, and in 1868 he succeeded to the earldom and to large estates in Scotland. Early on, he had taken an interest in politics, leaning toward Liberalism, but he never sat in the House of Commons.

At Rosebery’s suggestion and with his help, William Ewart Gladstone conducted the Midlothian campaigns (November 1879 and March 1880) that inspired the Liberals to a decisive victory in the national election of 1880. In Gladstone’s second government Rosebery served as undersecretary of state in the Home Office, with special responsibility for Scottish affairs (August 1881–June 1883), and as lord privy seal (March–June 1885). Associated with the Progressives in London politics, he became the first chairman (1889) of the London County Council. In Gladstone’s final governments, he was secretary of state for foreign affairs from February to July 1886 and from August 1892 to March 1894.

Mistrusting Russia and (to a lesser extent) France, Rosebery largely continued Lord Salisbury’s policy of secret collaboration with the Triple Alliance powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). His Liberal Imperialism clashed with the views of his chief; in 1894 he established a protectorate over Uganda, from which Gladstone had wished to withdraw all British influence. At home he headed a committee that effected (Nov. 17, 1893) a compromise settlement of a major coal strike.

A controversy over an increased appropriation for the navy resulted in the fall of Gladstone, who had opposed the measure, and his replacement by Rosebery, who favoured a stronger battle fleet. Rosebery proved unable to resolve the conflicts within the Liberal Party, and the determinedly Conservative House of Lords rejected all Liberal legislation except the budget. When his government lost a House of Commons vote on a minor issue, Rosebery hastily and gladly resigned. On Oct. 8, 1896, he also resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. During the South African War (1899–1902) his enthusiasm for the British Empire led to his estrangement from the bulk of the party, and, late in 1905, a few weeks before the Liberals returned to power, he completely broke with them by declaring his opposition to Irish Home Rule. He thereafter ceased to play any major role in public life. He wrote widely read biographies of Chatham, Pitt, Napoleon, and Lord Randolph Churchill; and he was noted throughout his life for his stable of racehorses.