The USA built itself off genocide and colonialism and has spent the last three centuries expanding its empire to every continent (and has long-since been an attack dog for Israel).
France endorsed liberty, equality, and fraternity at home and horrors abroad in Haiti and Algeria.
To the credit of the Liberal Party, they were much less imperialist than the Whigs they derived from or Tories. This is not to say that they were truly opposed to imperialism. Cecil Rhodes was a Liberal.
In all of these cases, the colonial adventures did not occur despite liberalism but were justified by it. We must bring enlightened civilization to the savages, you see. Locke and Mill, two foundational British figures of liberalism, were both supporters of colonialism.
Because liberalism is a hypocritical ideology.
The USA built itself off genocide and colonialism and has spent the last three centuries expanding its empire to every continent (and has long-since been an attack dog for Israel).
France endorsed liberty, equality, and fraternity at home and horrors abroad in Haiti and Algeria.
To the credit of the Liberal Party, they were much less imperialist than the Whigs they derived from or Tories. This is not to say that they were truly opposed to imperialism. Cecil Rhodes was a Liberal.
In all of these cases, the colonial adventures did not occur despite liberalism but were justified by it. We must bring enlightened civilization to the savages, you see. Locke and Mill, two foundational British figures of liberalism, were both supporters of colonialism.