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However, one should not think that Disraeli called for a return to the past. He was a realist politician and understood the impossibility of this. Disraeli spoke of the need to close the gap between the two nations and unite into one. For this, different classes must be bound by strong bonds of mutual obligations. The task of the ruling class is to realize its responsibility to the people. Its solution will contribute to the achievement of two goals at once: taking care of the living conditions of the people, the ruling class will simultaneously be able to observe its own interests. As Disraeli said in 1848: "The palace will not be at peace when the hut is unhappy." Thus, he recognized the need for reform. The whole question was how they should be carried out. In a speech in Edinburgh in 1868, Disraeli said: “In a progressive country, change comes gradually, and the great question is not whether to resist the change that is inevitable, but whether it will be carried out with due respect for the mores, customs, according to the laws and traditions of the people, or according to an abstract principle, general doctrines, and arbitrary.” Disraeli, of course, was in favor of the first, as he called it, "national" way of change. To do this, it is necessary to maintain and strengthen established social institutions: the monarchy, the church, the aristocracy. It should be noted, however, that under the aristocracy Disraeli meant not only large landowners, but also the big bourgeoisie, and talented people from the middle class, among which he ranked himself first of all.

Another important element of Disraeli's conception was the imperial idea. Its meaning was to constantly maintain British pride in their great country through an active foreign policy. Thus, the concept of the national conservative party of Disraeli can be reduced to three main elements: social reform, the preservation of the traditions of the past and the imperial idea. This concept turned out to be very successful and, with known changes, has been successfully serving the British Conservatives so far.
The path to the pinnacle of power, which Disraeli always aspired to, was long and difficult for him. Years of political struggle in parliament and the party have passed. He was greatly hampered by his background and difficult financial situation. However, thanks to his great abilities, willpower and hard work, he finally achieved his goal. Disraeli even subordinated his personal life to her achievement. To strengthen his financial and social position, he married Mary Ann Evans, who was 12 years older than him, but owned a large fortune. True, in the end their marriage turned out to be successful. Subsequently, Mary Ann said: "Dizzy married me for money, but if he had a chance to do it again, he would marry for love."

Disraeli was never particularly picky about the means to achieve his ends. A typical example is the implementation of the parliamentary reform of 1867. Disraeli, like no one else, understood its necessity. However, when in 1865 the Liberal leader, Lord Russell, proposed a proposal for such a reform, Disraeli did his best to make it fail. Having become in 1866 the Minister of Finance in the Conservative government, he began with all his energy to put the idea of ​​reform into practice. He was well aware that its implementation would raise the authority not only of the Tory party, but also of his own. The result of the 1867 reform was to expand the number of people who had the right to vote to two million. In passing the Reform Bill through Parliament, Disraeli showed his political genius to the fullest. During the debate on this issue, he spoke more than 300 times, showed miracles of political flexibility and resourcefulness, sometimes did not disdain to manipulate the facts, but he achieved the passage of the law, despite strong opposition.

The ideas of democratic conservatism preached by Disraeli turned out to be most welcome after a significant increase in the number of voters. But in order to attract their votes, in addition to general concepts, it was necessary to restructure the structure of local party bodies so that they were focused mainly on the conduct of the election campaign, i.e. create a political party in the modern sense of the word. Such a restructuring was carried out when Disraeli became leader of the Conservative Party in 1868.
The first time Disraeli headed a Conservative British government was in 1868. It was a minority government, i.e. in the House of Commons most of the seats were held by Whigs. Therefore, Disraeli could not pursue an independent policy and resigned a few months later.

The pinnacle of Disraeli's political career was 1874-1880, when he headed the British government for the second time. In the field of domestic politics, Disraeli showed that the ideas of democracy for him were not just a phrase. Laws were passed to improve the living conditions of workers, on public health, as well as a series of laws called the Charter of Social and Industrial Freedom of the Working Class. However, Disraeli paid the main attention to foreign policy issues. He felt that only here he could fully satisfy his ambitions. His biggest successes in this area were the purchase of shares in the Suez Canal Company and the Congress of Berlin in 1878.

The construction of the Suez Canal, which connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas, was completed in 1869. It significantly shortened the path of ships traveling from Europe to India and the Pacific Ocean. For Great Britain, the importance of the canal was enormous because most of the cargo that followed it was of English manufacture. Meanwhile, the shares of the company managing the canal were divided approximately equally between France and Egypt. The Khedive of Egypt was a very wasteful man and, bogged down in debt, decided in 1875 to sell his part of the shares. The British learned that the Khedive was negotiating with the French about this. Disraeli understood that by taking over all the shares of the Suez Canal Company, the French would thereby significantly complicate British trade. Then he decided to get ahead of the French and buy half of the shares for his country for 4 million pounds. But it was necessary to act decisively, without wasting time. There was no money in the treasury, and Disraeli turned for help to the largest banker Rothschild, who financed the deal. In this way, Disraeli not only secured British control of the canal, but also prepared for Britain's subsequent occupation of Egypt.
The real triumph of Disraeli's foreign policy was the Congress of Berlin in 1878, convened to revise the terms of the San Stefano peace. The peace treaty between Russia and Turkey, which met the interests of Russia and other Slavic states, did not suit Great Britain and Austria-Hungary. Disraeli, who was striving to strengthen the position of Great Britain around the world, saw in this the strengthening of Russia's influence that was dangerous for his country. By the threat of war, he forced Russia to submit the conclusion of a peace treaty to the judgment of the leading European states. At the Berlin Congress, Russia was forced to make major concessions in fact in the interests of Great Britain. Disraeli's other success in Berlin was that he managed to break the alliance of the emperors of Russia, Austria and Germany and thereby restore the predominant role of Great Britain in Europe.

After the Berlin Congress, Disraeli was at the height of his political power, but he could no longer fully use it. He himself said about this: “Power! She came to me too late. There were times when I woke up feeling that I could move dynasties and governments, but that's all gone." In the elections in 1880, the conservatives were defeated. Disraeli courageously agreed to remain party leader, although he was already seriously ill. Until the end of his days, he took an active part in political and public life, continued to write books. He died April 19, 1881.

Disraeli, like any talented and bright personality, can cause conflicting feelings. In any case, we must recognize him as one of the most prominent political figures in the history of Great Britain. Very few people who did not belong to the noble aristocratic families of England managed to reach the post of prime minister in this country, even in a more democratic 20th century. Disraeli achieved this in the 19th century. His foreign policy in 1874-1880. laid the foundation for the imperialist policy of Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th century. The myth of popular Toryism, in terms of which Disraeli interpreted the past of England, can be easily refuted, but Disraeli worked hard to turn it into reality during his political activity. Disraeli gave the Conservative Party the form that it largely retains to this day. Therefore, the unflagging interest of politicians and historians in the political legacy of Benjamin Disraeli is understandable.
Today, the symbol of peace for me is broken wings.” So said about his time a man who combined the talent of a poet, the wisdom of a philosopher, the courage of a soldier and more than once experienced the pain of “broken wings”.

These words of the great Cuban Jose Marti (1853-1895) contain a capacious image not only of the second half of the 19th century, but also of his long-suffering homeland, and, in a sense, of his entire life. Coming from a poor family of a prison guard, young Jose almost repeated the career of his father, who longed to see his son as his successor in the service. Fortunately for world culture, this did not happen.

For almost four centuries, Cuba was a colony of Spain, "an island of sugar and slaves." The feeling of protest woke up early in the soul of the young man. And how could this multifaceted nature endure the whistling of the overseer's whip on the plantations and the merciless suppression of the freedom-loving aspirations of the Cubans. Many years later, wiser by life experience and struggle, Marty wrote: “No sooner had a man been born, and near his cradle they are already standing, holding at the ready wide and thick bandages of philosophies, religions, hobbies of fathers, political systems. A person is twisted, tied, and for the rest of his life he remains bridled and saddled, like a horse. Therefore, the earth is now full of people whose faces are hidden under masks. He himself has always been alien to the mask of a hypocrite and a hypocrite.

1868-1878 - the years of the Ten Years' War of the Cuban people for freedom and independence. Jose - with those who fight; he writes political poetry and contributes to the newspaper La Patria Libre (Free Motherland). Already at the age of 16, he was arrested for his political beliefs. He spends several months in the San Lazaro hard labor quarries, then ends up on the island of prisoners of Pinos, and in 1871 the Spanish authorities expel him to the Iberian Peninsula.

Here, in the metropolis, José Martí strives to make the most productive use of forced excommunication from his homeland. Already in May 1871, he entered the University of Madrid, and two years later he moved to Zaragoza and in 1874 graduated from two faculties of the University of Zaragoza at once: the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature. While still in Madrid, Marty publishes his first non-fiction brochure, Political Prison in Cuba, about the terrible situation of hard labor prisoners. After the proclamation of the Spanish Republic in February 1873, he writes the book "The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution", where he states: "Cuba declares its independence by the same right by which Spain declares itself a republic."
After the Ten Years' War, which did not liberate Cuba from colonial dependence, Jose Marti receives permission to return to his homeland and is again included in the political struggle. He is firm and uncompromising. Fiery speeches in defense of the Cuban people make his name extremely popular. At one of the banquets, not embarrassed by the presence of the governor of the island, appointed by Spain, the captain general of Cuba, Martí made such a diatribe and implacable speech that the head of the colonial administration of the island exclaimed: “I want to forget as soon as possible what I heard here . I will never be able to understand how it is possible in my presence, in the presence of a representative of the Spanish government, to say such things. I think José Marti is crazy, but crazy is too dangerous."

Voltaire wrote that man is born to live either in convulsions of anxiety or in the lethargy of boredom. José Marti never sought peace. He was constantly attracted by the political struggle and preparation for the decisive battle for national liberation, but this passion for freedom was combined in his soul with another, no less powerful element, whose name is poetry.

All his life, Marty bowed to French culture, deified the literature of France, He remained a true poet in his literary critical articles. He likened Victor Hugo to the sun at its zenith, dazzlingly bright, capturing the admiring glances of everyone. He wrote about the Goncourt brothers that they are distinguished by "refined elegance, the aroma of a perfumed salon, the mysterious play of chiaroscuro ...". Flaubert, "who dressed like a Moor and minted words like a Goth", in his opinion, has a magical solidity.

It is not surprising that Marty's work was influenced by French poets and writers, especially the Symbolists and Parnassians. It is from them that color painting and imagery come into his work: he seeks to transfer the techniques of painting and music to literature. Marty substantiated the need to use these techniques in a kind of prose poem: “There is something plastic in the language, the word has its own visible body, its own laws, beauties, its own perspective, its own light and its shadows, its sculptural form and its colors. All this can only be comprehended by looking at the words, turning them this way and that, weighing them, caressing them, polishing them. In every great writer there is a great painter, a great sculptor and a great musician.”

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