在一八七六至一八八○年間，英國自由黨領袖格蘭斯敦的政治關懷環繞著「東方問題」(即土耳其問題) 而發，他對於這個問題的討論與呼籲引起英國全國輿論的關注，並使自由黨在外交政策方面的理念與保守黨開始清楚區隔。然而在此同時，落實所謂「自由派的帝國主義」之困難，使人又頗覺自由黨缺乏與保守黨真正不同的外交策略；如何調合自由黨的道德意識與現實政治，成為格蘭斯敦在一八八○年主政梭的難題，這尤其表現在自由黨政府推動柏林會議決議──保守黨政府的政策──的困境上。自由黨政府當然不能因其理想而解散大英帝國，但自由黨人在實際的政策中如何妥協調整，以圖外交上臻於其所認知的中庸之道，這是本文探討的重點。全文分為四節，首節說明自由黨人在一八七八年柏林會議之前對東方問題的整體看法，第二節以政黨政治與國際政治的衝擊為背景，討論自由黨對於柏林條約接受的狀況，第三節討論一八七九至一八八○年間，在大選的情勢中，自由黨如何提出其東方政策的規劃，第四節結論解釋東方問題的爭議對於自由黨帝國政策取向成形的影響。整體而言，一八七六年以來自由黨的對外政策可說即是格蘭斯敦的路線，它以反對保守黨迪士瑞理的帝國主義為前提，而在一八八○年大選中獲得英國選民的認同，自由黨外交體系自此逐漸開展。但它的成功卻也顯示自由主義精神的沒萃，這使自由黨作為帝國主義批判者的形象受到損害。

From 1876 to 1880 W. E. Gladstone made the Eastern Question the main business of his life. Gladstone’s campaign involved his countrymen in a heated debate on that question, and clarified the party line between the Liberals and the Conservatives in regard to foreign policy. The Eastern Question was that which made the Whigs ‘liberal’ in diplomacy, but it also revealed how difficult it was to distinguish themselves in practice from the Conservatives as far as British foreign policy was concerned. Whether there was a natural connection between Liberalism and a high morality in international politics was a question that defied absolute solution. But it had not been so obvious as it was after the new Liberal government began to execute the Treaty of Berlin in 1880. While it is a truism to say that the Liberals were not so naïve and idealistic as to reject the imperial heritage, the question has not been fully explored how and when they came to terms with the necessity of keeping Britain imperial. This study treats of the Liberal views of the Eastern Question before and after the Berlin Congress and the Gladstone government's policy towards Turkey in 1879-1880 to explain the connection between the development of the Eastern Question and the rise of ‘liberal imperialism.’ It shows that the foreign policy of the Liberal Party around 1880 was actually that of Gladstone, and that that policy took shape in their attacks on Disraelian imperialism and against the background of an intensifying scramble for the Ottoman Empire from 1876. Nevertheless, the Liberals were quick to seek for a ground of action common to both political parties in regard of the fulfilment of the Berlin Treaty. Thus, the Liberal Party had built up a reputation for itself in the power politics of Europe, but by so doing it tragically debased itself as a critic of imperialism.