Editing Conservatism (section)

=== Europe===
{{Conservatism in Europe}}
European conservatism has taken many different expressions. Early forms were often [[reactionary]] and [[Romanticism|romantic]], idealizing the [[Middle Ages]] and its [[Feudalism|feudal social order]] with aristocratic rule and an established church.{{sfn|von Kuehnelt-Leddihn|1943|p=124}}{{sfn|Nisbet|2002|pp=34–36}} In the late 19th century, conservatism became increasingly [[Progressive conservatism|progressive]], adopting capitalism and espousing nationalism—which up until now had been anti-traditionalist and anti-imperialist forces.{{sfn|Neill|2021|pp=70–76}} During the first half of the 20th century, as socialist movements were becoming more powerful and the [[Tsar]]ist regime was overthrown in the [[Russian Revolution]], conservatism in Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Romania transformed into the [[Far-right politics|far-right]], becoming more [[Authoritarian conservatism|authoritarian]] and [[Ultraconservatism|extreme]].{{sfn|Blinkhorn|1990|p=7}} In the post-war era, conservatism assumed a more [[Moderate conservatism|moderate]] form with center-right Christian-democratic parties dominating politics across [[Western Europe]] throughout the rest of the century,<ref name=":9" /> although the authoritarian regimes of [[Francoist Spain]] and [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Salazarian Portugal]] survived for a few more decades.{{sfn|Heywood|2017|p=82}} Towards the end of the century, after [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|the collapse of the Soviet Union]], conservatism took on a more [[Liberal conservatism|liberal]] form. In recent decades, [[National conservatism|nationalist]] parties have been on the rise across Europe in opposition to [[globalism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nationalism and Europe's Turn to the Right |url=https://www.iwm.at/Nationalism-and-Europes-turn-to-the-right |access-date=June 23, 2024 |website=IWM WEBSITE}}</ref>

European nations, with the exception of [[Switzerland]], have had a long monarchical tradition throughout history. Today, existing monarchies are [[Co-Princes of Andorra|Andorra]], [[Monarchy of Belgium|Belgium]], [[Monarchy of Denmark|Denmark]], [[Monarchy of Liechtenstein|Liechtenstein]], [[Monarchy of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], [[Monarchy of Monaco|Monaco]], the [[Monarchy of the Netherlands|Netherlands]], [[Monarchy of Norway|Norway]], [[Monarchy of Spain|Spain]], [[Monarchy of Sweden|Sweden]], and the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]. Some reactionary movements in republican nations, such as {{lang|fr|[[Action Française]]}} in France, the [[Monarchist National Party]] in Italy, and the [[Black-Yellow Alliance]] in Austria, have advocated a restoration of the monarchy.
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==== Austria ====
{{Conservatism in Austria}}
Austrian conservatism originated with Prince [[Klemens von Metternich]], who was the architect behind the monarchist and imperialist [[Conservative Order]] that was enacted at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in the aftermath of the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica}} The goal was to establish a [[European balance of power]] that could guarantee peace and suppress republican and nationalist movements.<ref>Gordon Craig, "The System of Alliances and the Balance of Power." in J.P.T. Bury, ed., ''The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 10: The Zenith of European Power, 1830–70'' (1960), p. 266.</ref> During its existence, the [[Austrian Empire]] was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the [[Russian Empire]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. Following its defeat in the [[Austro-Prussian War]], it transformed into the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]], which was the most diverse state in Europe with twelve nationalities living under a unifying monarch.{{sfn|von Kuehnelt-Leddihn|1943|pp=139–140}} The Empire was fragmented in the aftermath of [[World War I]], ushering in the democratic [[First Austrian Republic]].

The [[Austrian Civil War]] in 1934 saw a series of skirmishes between the right-wing government and socialist forces. When the insurgents were defeated, the government declared [[martial law]] and held mass trials, forcing leading socialist politicians, such as [[Otto Bauer]], into exile.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brook-Shepherd |first=Gordon |year=1996 |title=The Austrians: A Thousand-Year Odyssey |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-00-638255-X |page=283}}</ref> The conservatives banned the [[Social Democratic Party of Austria|Social Democratic Party]] and replaced [[parliamentary democracy]] with a [[Conservative corporatism|corporatist]] and [[Clericalism|clerical]] constitution. The [[Patriotic Front (Austria)|Patriotic Front]], into which the paramilitary {{lang|de|[[Heimwehr]]}} and the [[Christian Social Party (Austria)|Christian Social Party]] were merged, became the only legal political party in the resulting authoritarian regime, the [[Federal State of Austria]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pyrah |first=Robert |date=2007 |title=Enacting Encyclicals? Cultural Politics and 'Clerical Fascism' in Austria, 1933–1938 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14690760701321338?journalCode=ftmp20 |journal=[[Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions]] |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=369–382 |doi=10.1080/14690760701321338 |via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref>

While having close ties to [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]], which was still a [[Kingdom of Italy|monarchy]] as well as a fellow Catholic nation, Austrian conservatives harbored strong anti-Prussian and anti-Nazi sentiment. Austria's most prominent conservative intellectual, the Catholic aristocrat [[Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn]], published several books in which he interpreted [[Nazism]] as a [[Left-wing politics|leftist]], [[Mob rule|ochlocratic]], and [[Demagogy|demagogic]] ideology opposed to the traditional rightist ideals of aristocracy, monarchy, and Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/kuehnelt-leddihn-and-american-conservatism |title=Kuehnelt-Leddihn and American Conservatism |last=Congdon |first=Lee |date=March 26, 2012 |website=Crisis Magazine |access-date=December 23, 2023}}</ref> Austria's dictator [[Engelbert Dollfuss]] saw Nazism as another form of totalitarian [[communism]], and he saw [[Adolf Hitler]] as the German version of [[Joseph Stalin]]. The conservatives banned the [[Austrian Nazi Party]] and arrested many of its activists, causing tens of thousands of Nazi sympathisers to flee to [[Nazi Germany]] in order to avoid persecution.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Binder |first=Dieter A. |title=The Christian Corporatist State |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=9781351315203 |pages=73}}</ref> A few months later, Nazi forces initiated the [[July Putsch]] and managed to assassinate Chancellor Dollfuss in an attempt to overthrow the conservative government.{{sfn|Bischof|2003}} In response, [[Benito Mussolini]] mobilized a part of the Italian army on the Austrian border and threatened Hitler with war in the event of a German invasion of Austria. In 1938, when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the {{lang|de|[[Anschluss]]}}, conservative groups were suppressed: members of the [[Austrian nobility]] and the [[Catholic clergy]] were arrested and their properties were confiscated.{{sfn|von Kuehnelt-Leddihn|1943|p=210}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Zoch |first=Irene |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1455082/Habsburgs-demand-return-of-estates-seized-by-Nazis-in-1938.html  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1455082/Habsburgs-demand-return-of-estates-seized-by-Nazis-in-1938.html  |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Habsburgs demand return of estates seized by Nazis in 1938 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=February 22, 2004 |access-date=August 18, 2024}}</ref> [[Otto von Hapsburg]], the last [[List of heirs to the Austrian throne|Crown Prince]] of Austria-Hungary, was a fervent anti-Nazi, for which reason the Nazi regime ordered that he was to be executed immediately if caught.<ref>{{cite news |author=Dan van der Vat |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/04/otto-von-habsburg-obituary |title=Otto von Habsburg obituary |work=The Guardian |date=July 4, 2011 |access-date=August 18, 2024 |archive-date=September 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930132055/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/04/otto-von-habsburg-obituary |url-status=live}}</ref>

Following [[World War II]] and the return to democracy, Austrian conservatives and socialists alike abandoned their extremism, believing in political compromise and seeking consensus in the middle.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jelavich, Barbara |year=1989 |title=Modern Austria: Empire & Republic 1815–1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-31625-1}}</ref> The conservatives formed the [[Austrian People's Party]], which has been the major conservative party in Austria ever since. In contemporary politics, the party was led by [[Sebastian Kurz]], whom the {{lang|de|[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]}} nicknamed the "young [[Klemens von Metternich|Metternich]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kurier.at/politik/inland/aussenminister-in-deutschen-medien-sebastian-kurz-der-junge-metternich/46.313.665 |website=kurier.at |title=Sebastian Kurz, der "junge Metternich" |date=January 16, 2014 |language=de |access-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518092627/https://kurier.at/politik/inland/aussenminister-in-deutschen-medien-sebastian-kurz-der-junge-metternich/46.313.665 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Belgium ====
Having its roots in the conservative [[Catholic Party (Belgium)|Catholic Party]], the [[Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams|Christian People's Party]] retained a conservative edge through the 20th century, supporting the King in the [[Royal Question]], supporting nuclear family as the cornerstone of society, defending Christian education, and opposing [[euthanasia]]. The Christian People's Party dominated politics in post-war Belgium. In 1999, the party's support collapsed, and it became the country's fifth-largest party.{{sfn|Annesley|2005|p=124}}<ref>Zig Layton-Henry, ed. ''Conservative Politics in Western Europe'' (St. Martin's Press, 1982)</ref><ref>Paul Lucardie and Hans-Martien Ten Napel, "[https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/15171/pu1994Christian%20Democracy%20in%20Europe%20.pdf?sequence=2 Between confessionalism and liberal conservatism: the Christian Democratic parties of Belgium and the Netherlands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623075553/https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/15171/pu1994Christian%20Democracy%20in%20Europe%20.pdf?sequence=2 |date=June 23, 2020 }}." in David Hanley, ed. ''Christian Democracy in Europe: A Comparative Perspective'' (London: Pinter 1994) pp. 51–70</ref> Since 2014, the [[Flemish Movement|Flemish nationalist]] and conservative [[New Flemish Alliance]] is the largest party in Belgium.<ref>{{cite news |author=Philippe Siuberski |title=Belgium gets new government with Michel as PM |agency=AFP |url=https://news.yahoo.com/belgium-parties-agree-form-govt-michel-pm-190206709.html |newspaper=Yahoo News |date=October 7, 2014 |access-date=November 7, 2014}}</ref>

==== Denmark ====
{{Conservatism in Denmark}}
Danish conservatism emerged with the political grouping ''[[Højre]]'' (literally "Right"), which due to its alliance with King [[Christian IX of Denmark]] dominated Danish politics and formed all governments from 1865 to 1901. When a constitutional reform in 1915 stripped the landed [[gentry]] of political power, Højre was succeeded by the [[Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|Conservative People's Party of Denmark]], which has since then been the main Danish conservative party.<ref name=Egander>{{cite web |last1=Skov |first1=Christian Egander |title=Konservatisme |url=https://danmarkshistorien.dk/vis/materiale/konservatisme |website=danmarkshistorien.dk |access-date=July 17, 2023 |language=da}}</ref> Another Danish conservative party was the [[Free Conservatives]], who were active between 1902 and 1920. Traditionally and historically, conservatism in Denmark has been more [[Right-wing populism#Denmark|populist]] and [[Agrarianism|agrarian]] than in Sweden and Norway, where conservatism has been more [[Elitism|elitist]] and [[Urbanization|urban]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=euconedit |date=September 17, 2023 |title=Nordic Conservative Homecoming |url=https://europeanconservative.com/articles/essay/nordic-conservative-homecoming/ |access-date=December 3, 2023 |website=europeanconservative.com}}</ref>

The Conservative People's Party led the government coalition from 1982 to 1993. The party had previously been member of various governments from 1916 to 1917, 1940 to 1945, 1950 to 1953, and 1968 to 1971. The party was a junior partner in governments led by the [[Venstre (Denmark)|Liberals]] from 2001 to 2011{{sfn|Annesley|2005|p=68}} and again from 2016 to 2019. The party is preceded by 11 years by the [[Young Conservatives (Denmark)|Young Conservatives (KU)]], today the youth movement of the party.

The Conservative People's Party had a stable electoral support close to 15 to 20% at almost all general elections from 1918 to 1971. In the 1970s it declined to around 5%, but then under the leadership of [[Poul Schlüter]] reached its highest popularity level ever in [[1984 Danish general election|1984]], receiving 23% of the votes. Since the late 1990s the party has obtained around 5 to 10% of the vote. In [[2022 Danish general election|2022]], the party received 5.5% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kosiara-Pedersen |first1=Karina |title=Det Konservative Folkeparti |url=https://denstoredanske.lex.dk/Det_Konservative_Folkeparti |website=Den Store Danske |access-date=July 17, 2023 |language=da |date=July 10, 2023}}</ref>

Conservative thinking has also influenced other Danish political parties. In 1995, the [[Danish People's Party]] was founded, based on a mixture of conservative, nationalist, and social-democratic ideas.<ref name=Egander/> In 2015, the party [[New Right (Denmark)|New Right]] was established, professing a national-conservative attitude.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abildlund |first1=Andreas |title=Den konservative højrefløj er gået i udbrud |url=https://www.information.dk/moti/2015/10/konservative-hoejrefloej-gaaet-udbrud |work=Information |date=October 9, 2015 |language=da}}</ref>

The conservative parties in Denmark have always considered the [[Monarchy of Denmark|monarchy]] a central institution in Denmark.<ref>''[[Folketinget]]'': [https://www.ft.dk/da/partier/om-politiske-partier/partiernes-historie "Partiernes historie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313003717/https://www.ft.dk/da/partier/om-politiske-partier/partiernes-historie |date=March 13, 2020 }}</ref><ref>''[[The Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|Det Konservative Folkeparti]]'': [https://konservative.dk/politik/is/vi-elsker-kongehuset/ "Vi elsker Kongehuset"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319072551/https://konservative.dk/politik/is/vi-elsker-kongehuset/ |date=March 19, 2022 }}</ref>

==== Finland ====
The conservative party in Finland is the [[National Coalition Party]]. The party was founded in 1918, when several monarchist parties united. Although right-wing in the past, today it is a moderate liberal-conservative party. While advocating economic liberalism, it is committed to the [[social market economy]].{{sfn|Siaroff|2000|p=243}}

There has been strong [[Anti-Russian sentiment|anti-Russian]] and [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] sentiment in Finland due to its long history of being invaded and conquered by Russia and the Soviet Union.<ref>''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'', October 11, 2004, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311034013/http://www.hs.fi/english/article/International%2Bpoll%2BAnti-Russian%2Bsentiment%2Bruns%2Bvery%2Bstrong%2Bin%2BFinland/1076154202275 International poll: Anti-Russian sentiment runs very strong in Finland. Only Kosovo has more negative attitude]</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jussi M. Hanhimäki |title=Containing Coexistence: America, Russia, and the "Finnish Solution" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWfudYWUOt0C&pg=PA4 |year=1997 |page=4 |isbn=9780873385589 |publisher=Kent State UP}}</ref> In the [[Finnish Civil War]] of 1918, [[Whites (Finland)|White Finland]] defeated the leftist [[Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic|Red Finland]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xCJBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 |title=The Finnish Civil War 1918: History, Memory, Legacy |date=2014 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-28071-7 |page=166}}</ref> The [[Finnish Defence Forces]] and the paramilitary [[White Guard (Finland)|White Guard]], led by Baron [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim]], were assisted by the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Imperial Army]] at the request of the Finnish civil government. The far-right [[Lapua movement]] continued to terrorize communists in post-war Finland, but it was banned after [[Mäntsälä rebellion|a failed ''coup d'etat'' attempt]] in 1932.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |title=How Democracies Die |last2=Ziblatt |first2=Daniel |publisher=Crown |year=2018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwtFDwAAQBAJ |isbn=9781524762933}}</ref>

==== France ====
{{main|Conservatism in France}}
{{Conservatism in France}}
Early conservatism in France focused on the rejection of the secularism of the French Revolution, support for the role of the Catholic Church, and the restoration of the monarchy.<ref>{{cite book |title=Three Studies In European Conservatism: Metternich, Guizot, The Catholic Church In The Nineteenth Century |author-last=Woodwards |author-first=E. L. |isbn=9780714615295 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPUkAQAAMAAJ |year=1963 |publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> After the first fall of [[Napoleon]] in 1814, the [[House of Bourbon]] returned to power in the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]]. [[Louis XVIII]] and [[Charles X of France|Charles X]], brothers of the executed King [[Louis XVI]], successively mounted the throne and instituted a conservative government intended to restore the proprieties, if not all the institutions, of the {{lang|fr|[[Ancien Régime]]}}.{{sfn|Fawcett|2020|pp=20–21}}

After the [[July Revolution]] of 1830, [[Louis Philippe I]], a member of the more liberal [[House of Orléans|Orléans branch]] of the House of Bourbon, proclaimed himself as King of the French. The [[Second French Empire]] saw an Imperial [[Bonapartist]] regime of [[Napoleon III]] from 1852 to 1870.{{sfn|Heywood|2017|p=75}} The Bourbon monarchist cause was on the verge of victory in the 1870s, but then collapsed because the proposed king, [[Henri, Count of Chambord]], refused to fly the tri-colored flag.<ref>{{cite book |author=Roger Price |title=A Concise History of France |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYjB2-RnWUwC&pg=PA225 |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge UP |page=225 |isbn=978-0-521-84480-2}}</ref> The turn of the century saw the rise of {{lang|fr|[[Action Française]]}}—an ultraconservative, reactionary, nationalist, and royalist movement that advocated a restoration of the monarchy.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Judaken |first=Jonathan |editor=Richard S. Levy |encyclopedia=Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution |title=Action Française |year=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-439-4 |page=1}}</ref>

Tensions between Christian rightists and secular leftists heightened in the 1890–1910 era, but moderated after the spirit of unity in fighting World War I.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Larkin |author-first=Maurice |title=Religion, Politics and Preferment in France since 1890: La Belle Epoque and its Legacy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0521522706 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7rPaeTm4lm4C}}</ref> An authoritarian form of conservatism characterized the [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] of 1940–1944 under Marshal [[Philippe Pétain]] with heightened antisemitism, opposition to individualism, emphasis on family life, and national direction of the economy.<ref name=":10" />

Conservatism has been the major political force in France since World War II,<ref>{{cite book |author=Viereck, Peter |title=Conservatism Revisited: The Revolt Against Ideology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gvxCmgEACAAJ |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7658-0576-8 |page=205}}</ref> although the number of conservative groups and their lack of stability defy simple categorization.<ref name=":14" /> Following the war, conservatives supported [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] groups and parties, espoused [[French nationalism|nationalism]], and emphasised tradition, social order, and the regeneration of France.<ref>Richard Vinen, "The Parti républicain de la Liberté and the Reconstruction of French Conservatism, 1944–1951", ''French History'' (1993) 7#2 pp. 183–204</ref> Unusually, post-war conservatism in France was formed around the personality of a leader—army general and aristocrat [[Charles de Gaulle]] who led the [[Free France|Free French Forces]] against Nazi Germany—and it did not draw on traditional French conservatism, but on the [[Bonapartism|Bonapartist]] tradition.{{sfn|Ware|1996|p=32}} Gaullism in France continues under [[The Republicans (France)|The Republicans]] (formerly [[Union for a Popular Movement]]), a party previously led by [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012 and whose ideology is known as [[Sarkozysm]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Hauss, Charles |title=Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-495-50109-1 |page=116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XkIAAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

In 2021, the French intellectual [[Éric Zemmour]] founded the nationalist party [[Reconquête]], which has been described as a more rightist version of [[Marine Le Pen]]'s [[National Rally]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 13, 2021 |title=Eric Zemmour: Meet the right-wing TV pundit set to shake up France's presidential race |url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/13/eric-zemmour-meet-the-right-wing-tv-pundit-set-to-shake-up-france-s-presidential-race |access-date=October 30, 2021 |website=euronews.com}}</ref>

==== Germany ====
{{main|Conservatism in Germany}}
{{Conservatism in Germany}}
Germany was the heart of the reactionary [[Romanticism|Romantic]] movement that swept Europe in the aftermath of the progressive [[Age of Enlightenment]] and its culmination in the anti-conservative French Revolution.<ref name=":3" /> [[German Romanticism]] was deeply [[Organicism#In politics and sociology|organicist]] and [[Medievalism|medievalist]], finding expression philosophically among the [[Right Hegelians|Old Hegelians]] and judicially in the [[German historical school]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Liedke |first=Herbert R. |date=1958 |title=The German Romanticists and Karl Ludwig von Haller's Doctrines of European Restoration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27707117 |journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=371–393 |jstor=27707117 |issn=0363-6941}}</ref> Prominent conservative exponents were [[Friedrich Schlegel]], [[Novalis]], [[Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder]], [[Friedrich Carl von Savigny]], and [[Adam Müller]].<ref>{{cite book |title=De konservativa idéerna |chapter=De kontrarevolutionära idéerna i Tyskland |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1166587654 |publisher=Aldus/Bonniers |year=1966 |access-date=August 29, 2023 |oclc=1166587654 |first=Herbert |last=Tingsten |pages=42–73}}</ref>

During the second half of the 19th century, German conservatism developed alongside [[German nationalism|nationalism]], culminating in Germany's victory over France in the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the creation of the unified [[German Empire]] in 1871, and the simultaneous rise of ”Iron Chancellor” [[Otto von Bismarck]] on the European political stage. Bismarck's [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] model maintained peace in Europe for decades at the end of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Eyck |author-first=Erich |title=Bismarck and the German Empire |year=1964 |pages=58–68}}</ref> His "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy, based on [[class collaboration]] and designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the [[Junker (Prussia)|Junker]] aristocracy—more loyal to state and [[German Emperor|Emperor]].{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica}} He created the modern [[welfare state]] in Germany in the 1880s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steinberg |first=Jonathan |title=Bismarck: A Life |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-978252-9 |pages=416–417}}</ref> According to scholars, his strategy was: {{Blockquote|granting social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kersbergen |first1=Kees van |last2=Vis |first2=Barbara |title=Comparative Welfare State Politics: Development, Opportunities, and Reform |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQL3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |year=2013 |publisher=Cambridge UP |page=38 |isbn=978-1-107-65247-7}}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Bismarck also enacted [[universal manhood suffrage]] in the new German Empire in 1871.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Robert Laurence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PeoqKSxiOu4C&pg=PA226 |title=The American Century in Europe |last2=Vaudagna |first2=Maurizio |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8014-4075-5 |page=226}}</ref> He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory after he left office in 1890.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frankel |first=Richard |year=2003 |title=From the Beer Halls to the Halls of Power: The Cult of Bismarck and the Legitimization of a New German Right, 1898–1945 |journal=German Studies Review |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=543–560 |doi=10.2307/1432746 |jstor=1432746}}</ref>

During the [[interwar period]]—after Germany's defeat in World War I, the abdication of Emperor [[Wilhelm II]], and the introduction of parliamentary democracy—German conservatives experienced a cultural crisis and felt uprooted by a progressively modernist world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stern |first=Fritz |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofcultur00ster |title=The Politics of Cultural Despair: A Study in the Rise of the Germanic Ideology |publisher=University of California Press |year=1961 |isbn=978-0520026261}}</ref> This angst was expressed philosophically in the [[Conservative Revolution]] movement with prominent exponents such as historian [[Oswald Spengler]], jurist [[Carl Schmitt]], and author [[Ernst Jünger]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Woods |first=Roger |title=The Conservative Revolution in the Weimar Republic |year=1996 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-333-65014-X |page=29}}</ref> The major conservative party of this era was the reactionary [[German National People's Party]], who advocated a restored monarchy.<ref>{{cite book |first=Fritz K. |last=Ringer |title=The Decline of the German Mandarins: The German Academic Community, 1890–1933 |publisher=University Press of New England |year=1990 |page=201}}</ref>

With the rise of [[Nazism]] in 1933, [[Agrarian conservatism in Germany|traditional agrarian movements]] faded and were supplanted by a more command-based economy and forced social integration. [[Adolf Hitler]] succeeded in garnering the support of many German industrialists; but prominent traditionalists, including military officers [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] and [[Henning von Tresckow]], pastor [[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]], Bishop [[Clemens August Graf von Galen]], and monarchist [[Carl Friedrich Goerdeler]], openly and secretly opposed his policies of euthanasia, genocide, and attacks on organized religion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shirer |first=William L. |date=1960 |title=[[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich]] |location=New York City |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=0671624202 |page=372}}</ref> The former German Emperor [[Wilhelm II]] was highly critical of Hitler, writing in 1938:

{{blockquote|There's a man alone, without family, without children, without God&nbsp;... He builds legions, but he doesn't build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, traditions: it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children&nbsp;... This man could bring home victories to our people each year, without bringing them either glory or danger. But of our Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians, of artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed in a mob and led by a thousand liars or fanatics.<ref name=":7" />}}

Post-[[World War II]] Germany developed a special form of conservatism called [[ordoliberalism]], which is centred around the concept of [[ordered liberty]].<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Sally |author-first=Razeen |year=2002 |title=Classical Liberalism and International Economic Order |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-16493-1 |page=106}}</ref> Neither socialist nor capitalist, it promotes a compromise between state and market, and argues that the national culture of a country must be taken into account when implementing economic policies.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Gregg |author-first=Samuel |title=Wilhelm Röpke's Political Economy |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing Limited |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84844-222-1 |page=29}}</ref> [[Alexander Rüstow]] and [[Wilhelm Röpke]] were two prominent exponents of this economic theory, and its implementation is largely credited as a reason behind the [[Wirtschaftswunder|German miracle]]—the rapid reconstruction and development of the war-wrecked economies of [[West Germany]] and [[Austria]] after World War II.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2007 |title=The Maturing of a Humane Economist Modern Age |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0354/is_3_45/ai_n6140123 |access-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-date=March 23, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323094516/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0354/is_3_45/ai_n6140123 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

More recently, the work of conservative [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] leader and Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] helped bring about [[German reunification]], along with the closer [[European integration]] in the form of the [[Maastricht Treaty]]. Today, German conservatism is often associated with politicians such as Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]], whose tenure was marked by attempts to save the common European currency ([[Euro]]) from demise. The German conservatives were divided under Merkel due to the refugee crisis in Germany, and many conservatives in the [[CDU/CSU]] opposed the immigration policies developed under Merkel.<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael John Williams |date=February 12, 2020 |title=The German Center Does Not Hold |url=https://atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-german-center-does-not-hold/ |work=New Atlanticist |access-date=March 7, 2020 |archive-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620010611/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-german-center-does-not-hold/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2020s also saw the rise of the right-wing populist [[Alternative for Germany]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 3, 2023 |title=Germany bewildered about how to halt the rise of the AfD |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-bewildered-about-how-to-halt-the-rise-of-the-afd/ |access-date=March 14, 2024 |website=POLITICO}}</ref>

==== Greece ====
{{Conservatism in Greece sidebar}}
The main inter-war conservative party was called the [[People's Party (Greece)|People's Party]] (PP), which supported [[Greek monarchy|constitutional monarchy]] and opposed the [[Second Hellenic Republic|republican]] [[Liberal Party (Greece)|Liberal Party]]. Both parties were suppressed by the authoritarian, arch-conservative, and royalist [[4th of August Regime]] of General [[Ioannis Metaxas]] in 1936–1941. The PP was able to re-group after World War II as part of a United Nationalist Front which achieved power campaigning on a simple anti-communist, nationalist platform during the [[Greek Civil War]] in 1946–1949. However, the vote received by the PP declined during the so-called "Centrist Interlude" in 1950–1952.

In 1952, Marshal [[Alexandros Papagos]] created the [[Greek Rally]] as an umbrella for the right-wing forces. The Greek Rally came to power in 1952 and remained the leading party in Greece until 1963. After Papagos' death in 1955, it was reformed as the [[National Radical Union]] under [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]]. Right-wing governments backed by the palace and the army overthrew the [[Centre Union]] government in 1965 and governed the country until the establishment of the far-right [[Greek junta]] (1967–1974). After the [[metapolitefsi|regime's collapse]] in August 1974, Karamanlis returned from exile to lead the government and founded the [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] party. The new conservative party had four objectives: to confront [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus|Turkish expansionism in Cyprus]], to reestablish and solidify democratic rule, to give the country a strong government, and to make a powerful moderate party a force in Greek politics.<ref>Penniman, Howard Rae. ''Greece at the polls: the national elections of 1974 and 1977''. Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1981. {{ISBN|978-0-8447-3434-7}} pp. 49–59</ref>

The [[Independent Greeks]], a newly formed political party in [[Greece]], has also supported conservatism, particularly [[National conservatism|national]] and [[religious conservatism]]. The Founding Declaration of the Independent Greeks strongly emphasises the preservation of the Greek state and its sovereignty, the [[Greek people]], and the [[Greek Orthodox Church]].{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

====Hungary====
{{Conservatism in Hungary}}
The dominance of the political right of [[Hungary between the two world wars|inter-war Hungary]], after the collapse of a short-lived communist regime, was described by historian [[István Deák]]:

{{blockquote|Between 1919 and 1944 Hungary was a rightist country. Forged out of a counter-revolutionary heritage, its governments advocated a "[[Christian nationalism|nationalist Christian]]" policy; they extolled heroism, faith, and unity; they despised the French Revolution, and they spurned the liberal and socialist ideologies of the 19th century. The governments saw Hungary as a bulwark against [[bolshevism]] and bolshevism's instruments: [[socialism]], [[cosmopolitanism]], and [[Freemasonry]]. They perpetrated the rule of a small clique of aristocrats, civil servants, and army officers, and surrounded with adulation the head of the state, the counterrevolutionary [[Miklós Horthy|Admiral Horthy]].<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Deák |author-first=István |chapter=Hungary |editor-last=Roger |editor-first=Hans |title=The European Right: A Historical Profile |year=1963 |page=364}}</ref>}}

Horthy's authoritarian conservative regime suppressed communists and fascists alike, banning the [[Hungarian Communist Party]] as well as the fascist [[Arrow Cross Party]]. The fascist leader [[Ferenc Szálasi]] was repeatedly imprisoned at Horthy's command.<ref name=":8" />

Since 2010, [[Viktor Orbán]] of the [[Fidesz]] party has been [[Prime Minister of Hungary]]. Orbán's positions are a blend of [[soft Euroscepticism]], [[right-wing populism]], and [[national conservatism]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/05/hungary-one-party-rule |location=London |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |title=Hungary: One-party rule |type=editorial |date=January 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/populist-premier-set-for-defeat-in-hungarian-election-9161938.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/populist-premier-set-for-defeat-in-hungarian-election-9161938.html |archive-date=August 17, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |first=Stephen |last=Castle |title=Populist premier set for defeat in Hungarian election |date=April 22, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=A populist's lament: Viktor Orbán has made Hungary a ripe target for doubters |date=November 22, 2011 |url=http://www.politics.hu/20111122/a-populists-lament-viktor-orban-has-made-hungary-a-ripe-target-for-doubters |newspaper=Politics.hu |place=Hungary |access-date=September 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116131138/http://www.politics.hu/20111122/a-populists-lament-viktor-orban-has-made-hungary-a-ripe-target-for-doubters/ |archive-date=November 16, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Iceland ====
{{main|Conservatism in Iceland}}
{{Conservatism in Iceland}}
Founded in 1924 as the [[Conservative Party (Iceland)|Conservative Party]], Iceland's [[Independence Party (Iceland)|Independence Party]] adopted its current name in 1929 after the merger with the [[Liberal Party (Iceland, historical)|Liberal Party]]. From the beginning, they have been the largest vote-winning party, averaging around 40%. They combined liberalism and conservatism, supported nationalization of infrastructure, and advocated [[class collaboration]]. While mostly in opposition during the 1930s, they embraced economic liberalism, but accepted the welfare state after the war and participated in governments supportive of state intervention and protectionism. Unlike other Scandanivian conservative (and liberal) parties, it has always had a large working-class following.<ref>Grofman, Bernard and Lijpart, Arend, editors. ''The evolution of electoral and party systems in the Nordic countries''. New York: Agathon Press, 2002. "The Icelandic electoral system 1844–1999" by Olafur Th. Hardarson {{ISBN|978-0-87586-138-8}}, pp. 107–108</ref> After the financial crisis in 2008, the support level has dropped to 20–25%.

==== Ireland ====
Conservatism in Ireland historically revolved around social policies relating to the [[Catholic Church in Ireland|Catholic Church]] as well as a commitment to [[Irish republicanism]], [[Irish neutrality]], [[anti-abortion movements#Ireland|anti-abortion]], [[anti-communism]], [[pro-Europeanism]], and, more recently, [[Opposition to immigration#Ireland|anti-immigration]].

During the presidency of [[Éamon de Valera]], a broad array of [[Éamon de Valera#Catholic social policy|Catholic social policies]] were enacted, mostly with the goals of winning devout, rural, conservative voters, most of whom welcomed these policies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oireachtas |first1=Houses of the |title=Orders of the Day. – Local Government Bill, 1931—Second Stage. – Dáil Éireann (6th Dáil) – Wednesday, 17 Jun 1931 – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1931-06-17/21/#spk_405 |website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie |date=June 17, 1931}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kissane |first1=Bill |title=Éamon de Valéra and the Survival of Democracy in Inter-War Ireland |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022009407075554 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |pages=213–226 |language=en |doi=10.1177/0022009407075554 |date=April 1, 2007|volume=42 |issue=2 }}</ref> Such policies included writing into the [[Constitution of Ireland]] that a woman's place was in the home, prohibiting the [[importation]] or [[sales|sale]] of [[contraceptives]], and enactment of strict censorship laws.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ryan |first1=Louise |title=Constructing 'Irishwoman': Modern girls and comely maidens |journal=Irish Studies Review |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09670889808455611 |doi=10.1080/09670889808455611 |date=December 1, 1998|volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=263–272 }}</ref>

[[Fianna Fáil]] and its historic rival, [[Fine Gael]], are both considered historically to be conservative parties. However, there are some differences: mainly, Fianna Fáil is usually considered more republican,<ref>{{cite news |title=Micheál Martin: Fianna Fáil has more to offer than simplistic and divisive right-left politics |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/06/22/fianna-fail-has-more-to-offer-than-simplistic-and-divisive-rightleft-politics/ |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NYC Department of Records – Notable New Yorkers – Eamon De Valera |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/features/devalera.shtml |date=February 8, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040208005923/http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/features/devalera.shtml |archive-date=February 8, 2004 }}</ref> while Fine Gael tends to be more classically liberal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Viola |first1=Donatella M. |title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 |publisher=Routledge |language=en |date=August 14, 2015|isbn=978-1-317-50363-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Prat |first1=Cesáreo R. Aguilera de |title=Political Parties and European Integration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ctGllqdyg7oC&pg=PA64 |publisher=Peter Lang |language=en |date=2009|isbn=978-90-5201-535-4 }}</ref>

Starting in 2022, a [[Irish anti-immigration protests|series of protests calling for a reduction in illegal immigration]] have become more commonplace in Ireland, mostly over the status of [[Transitional shelter|temporary asylum seeker shelters]] were unable to accommodate the more than 65,000 refugees.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Malekmian |first1=Shamim |title=How the Government Created an Opening for Anti-Immigration Activists to Exploit in East Wall |url=https://dublininquirer.com/2022/11/30/how-the-government-created-an-opening-for-anti-immigration-activists-to-exploit-in-east-wall/ |website=Dublin Inquirer |date=January 1, 1970}}</ref>

==== Italy ====
{{main|Conservatism in Italy}}
{{Conservatism in Italy}}
After the [[unification of Italy]], the country was governed successively by the [[Historical Right]], which represented conservative, liberal-conservative, and conservative-liberal positions, and the [[Historical Left]]. After [[World War I]], the country saw the emergence of its first mass parties, notably including the [[Italian People's Party (1919)|Italian People's Party]] (PPI), a Christian-democratic party that sought to represent the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] majority, which had long refrained from politics. The PPI and the [[Italian Socialist Party]] decisively contributed to the loss of strength and authority of the old liberal ruling class, which had not been able to structure itself into a proper party: the [[Liberal Union (Italy)|Liberal Union]] was not coherent and the [[Italian Liberal Party]] came too late.

In 1921, [[Benito Mussolini]] founded the [[National Fascist Party]] (PNF), and the next year, through the [[March on Rome]], he was appointed [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] by King [[Victor Emmanuel III]]. Fascism originated as a populist, revolutionary, anti-royalist, anti-clerical, anti-capitalist, and anti-conservative ideology,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Parlato |first=Giuseppe |title=La sinistra fascista: storia di un progetto mancato |publisher=Il Mulino Ricerca |year=2008 |isbn=978-8815127051 |language=it |trans-title=Fascist left: history of a failed project.}}</ref> viewed by many socialists as a leftist heresy rather than a rightist opponent, but it transformed and became distinctly right-wing when it made compromises with the conservative establishment in order to consolidate authority and suppress communist movements.<ref>{{cite book |last=De Grand |first=Alexander |title=Italian Fascism: its Origins and Development |edition=3rd |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2000 |page=145}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Griffin |editor-first1=Roger |chapter=Fascism |author-last=Sternhill |author-first=Zeev |title=International Fascism: Theories, Causes, and the New Consensus |location=London, England; New York |publisher=Arnold Publishers |date=1998 |pages=32}}</ref> Mussolini commented on the dynamic pragmatism of fascism:

{{blockquote|We do not believe in dogmatic programs. ... We permit ourselves the luxury of being aristocratic and democratic, conservative and progressive, reactionary and revolutionary, legalists and illegalists, according to the circumstances of the moment, the place and the environment.<ref>{{cite book |title=Political Protest and Social Change: Analyzing Politics |author1-first=Charles |author1-last=Andrain |author2-first=David |author2-last=Apter |publisher=Springer |year=1994 |isbn=9780230377004 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDuJDAAAQBAJ}}</ref>}}

In 1926, all parties were dissolved except the PNF, which remained the only legal party in the [[Kingdom of Italy]] until the fall of the regime in July 1943. By 1945, fascists were discredited, disbanded, and outlawed, while Mussolini was executed in April that year.<ref>{{cite book |author1-first=Stefano |author1-last=Fella |author2-first=Carlo |author2-last=Ruzza |title=Re-inventing the Italian Right: Territorial Politics, Populism and 'Post-Fascism' |publisher=Routledge |year=2009}}</ref> The [[1946 Italian institutional referendum]] concerned the fate of the monarchy. While southern Italy and parts of northern Italy were royalist, other parts, especially in central Italy, were predominantly republican. The outcome was 54–46% in favor of a republic, leading to a collapse of the monarchy.<ref>{{cite book |language=it |first=Giorgio |last=Bocca |title=Storia della Repubblica italiana |publisher=Rizzoli |year=1981 |pages=14–16}}</ref>

After [[World War II]], the center-right was dominated by the centrist party [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC), which included both conservative and center-left elements.<ref>Pepijn Corduwener, ''The Problem of Democracy in Postwar Europe: Political Actors and the Formation of the Postwar Model of Democracy in France, West Germany and Italy'' (Taylor & Francis, 2016), pp. 15, 17, 27, 40, 42.</ref> With its landslide victory over the [[Italian Socialist Party]] and the [[Italian Communist Party]] in 1948, the political center was in power. In [[Denis Mack Smith]]'s words, it was "moderately conservative, reasonably tolerant of everything which did not touch religion or property, but above all Catholic and sometimes [[Clericalism|clerical]]".<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Mack Smith |author-first=Denis |author-link=Denis Mack Smith |title=Modern Italy: A Political History |year=1997 |pages=491––496}}</ref> DC dominated politics until its dissolution in 1994, having governed for 47 out of 52 years.<ref name=":9" /> Among DC's frequent allies there was the conservative-liberal [[Italian Liberal Party]]. At the right of DC stood parties like the royalist [[Monarchist National Party]] and the post-fascist [[Italian Social Movement]].

In 1994, entrepreneur and media tycoon [[Silvio Berlusconi]] founded the liberal-conservative party {{lang|it|[[Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} (FI). He won three elections in [[1994 Italian general election|1994]], [[2001 Italian general election|2001]], and [[2008 Italian general election|2008]], governing the country for almost ten years as prime minister. FI formed a coalitions with several parties, including the national-conservative [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (AN), heir of the MSI, and the regionalist [[Lega Nord]] (LN). FI was briefly incorporated, along with AN, in [[The People of Freedom]] party and later revived in the new [[Forza Italia (2013)|Forza Italia]].<ref>Daniele Albertazzi, et al., eds. ''Resisting the tide: cultures of opposition under Berlusconi (2001–06)'' (Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2009).</ref> After the [[2018 Italian general election|2018 general election]], the LN and the [[Five Star Movement]] formed a populist government, which lasted about a year.<ref>Antonino Castaldo, and Luca Verzichelli. "Technocratic populism in Italy after Berlusconi: The trendsetter and his disciples." ''Politics and Governance'' 8.4 (2020): 485–495.</ref> In the [[2022 Italian general election|2022 general election]], a [[Centre-right coalition (Italy)|center-right coalition]] came to power, this time dominated by [[Brothers of Italy]] (FdI), a new national-conservative party born on the ashes of AN. Consequently, FdI, the re-branded [[Lega (political party)|Lega]], and FI formed a government under FdI leader [[Giorgia Meloni]].

==== Luxembourg ====
Luxembourg's major conservative party, the [[Christian Social People's Party]], was formed as the Party of the Right in 1914 and adopted its present name in 1945. It was consistently the largest political party in Luxembourg and dominated politics throughout the 20th century.<ref>Urwin, Derek W. ''A Dictionary of European History and Politics, 1945–1995''. London: Pearson, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-582-25874-7}} p. 76</ref>

==== Netherlands ====
Liberalism has been strong in the Netherlands. Therefore, rightist parties are often liberal-conservative or conservative-liberal. One example is the [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]]. Even the right-wing populist and far-right [[Party for Freedom]], which dominated the [[2023 Dutch general election|2023 election]], supports liberal positions such as gay rights, abortion, and euthanasia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2013 |title=Netherlands: Geert Wilders, the Dutch "Cricket" |url=https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/netherlands-geert-wilders-dutch-cricket-7644 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126021928/https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/netherlands-geert-wilders-dutch-cricket-7644 |archive-date=January 26, 2022 |access-date=December 23, 2023}}</ref>

==== Norway ====
The [[Conservative Party (Norway)|Conservative Party of Norway]] (Norwegian: {{lang|no|Høyre}}, literally "Right") was formed by the old upper-class of state officials and wealthy merchants to fight the populist democracy of the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]], but it lost power in 1884, when parliamentarian government was first practiced. It formed its first government under parliamentarism in 1889 and continued to alternate in power with the Liberals until the 1930s, when [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour]] became the dominant party. It has elements both of [[paternalism]], stressing the responsibilities of the state, and of [[economic liberalism]]. It first returned to power in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Heidar, Knut |title=Norway: Elites on Trial |publisher=Boulder Westview Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8133-3200-0 |pages=66–67}}</ref> During [[Kåre Willoch#Premiership|Kåre Willoch's premiership]] in the 1980s, much emphasis was laid on liberalizing the credit and housing market and abolishing the [[NRK]] TV and radio monopoly, while supporting [[Law and order (politics)|law and order]] in criminal justice and traditional norms in education.<ref>Francis Sejersted [http://snl.no/H%C3%B8yreb%C3%B8lgen Høyrebølgen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219002028/http://snl.no/H%C3%B8yreb%C3%B8lgen |date=December 19, 2013 }} Store norske leksikon. Retrieved December 18, 2013 {{in lang|no}}</ref>

==== Poland ====
{{Conservatism in Poland}}
The dominant conservative party in Poland is [[Law and Justice]] (PiS). Polish conservatism is characterized by social and cultural conservatism, patriotism, adherence to [[Catholic social teaching]], and cooperation with the [[Catholic Church in Poland|Catholic Church]].<ref name=Dudek>{{cite book |last=Dudek |first=Antoni |date=2023 |title=Historia polityczna Polski 1989–2023 |trans-title=Polish political history 1989–2023 |url=https://scholar.com.pl/pl/glowna/8768-historia-polityczna-polski-19892023.html |location=Warsaw |language=Polish |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar |isbn=978-83-67450-66-9}}</ref> Contemporary Polish conservatives believe in [[Atlanticism]] and strong relations with the United States, meanwhile taking a stand against Russia.<ref name=Kaczyński>{{cite book |last=Kaczyński |first=Jarosław |date=September 30, 2011 |title=Polska naszych marzeń |url=https://lubimyczytac.pl/ksiazka/115668/polska-naszych-marzen |publisher=Drukarnia Akapit |isbn=9788378250005}}</ref>

PiS has taken a populist and statist approach to economics, expanding regulations, state control over industries and media, greatly expanding social welfare and applying [[Keynesian]]-esque "anti-crisis shields",<ref name=Dudek/> differentiating itself from previous conservative political parties and movements like [[Solidarity Electoral Action|AWS]] or [[National Democracy (Poland)|Endecja]]<ref name=Mackiewicz>{{cite book |last=Cat-Mackiewicz |first=Stanisław |date=2012 |title=Historia Polski od 11 listopada 1918 do 17 września 1939 |publisher=Universitas |isbn=97883-242-3740-1}}</ref> which believed in economic liberalism. Another difference to AWS is PiS' euroscepticism.<ref name=Dudek/> Though not opposing European Union membership, PiS pursues an assertive policy of conflict with the [[European Commission]],<ref name=Kaczyński/> which, in reaction, took a hostile stance against PiS. In the European Parliament, PiS belongs to the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|European Conservatives and Reformists]] group. Liberal media in Poland is vehemently biased against PiS and opposed to its rule, often calling it authoritarian.<ref name=Dudek/> Liberal scholar Antoni Dudek rejects giving PiS the authoritarian label, suggesting that PiS rejects the ideals of [[liberal democracy]] and instead embraces a "national democratic" or [[illiberal democracy|illiberal democratic]] form of governance.<ref name=Dudek/>

In the preceding [[interwar period]], Poland's conservative movement was split between the "Old" Galician and Kresy conservatives, usually landowners, which formed minor parties like the [[State Unity in the Kresy]], and the "New Conservative" movement of [[National Democracy (Poland)|National Democracy]] (Endecja) under [[Roman Dmowski]], which was oriented around the urban [[intelligentsia]] and [[petite bourgeoise]]. The latter sometimes cooperated with the right-wing factions of the [[Peasant movement#Poland|Polish peasant movement]], affiliated under the [[Polish People's Party "Piast" (1913–1931)|PSL "Piast"]] that cooperated with Endecja, creating a [[Chjeno-Piast|common government]] under the [[Lanckorona Pact]], although the peasant movement was still not a part of the conservative movement. Endecja espoused [[Russophilia]] and believed in cooperation with the [[Russian Empire]] and later the [[White Army]]. They also advocated maintenance of democracy, [[civic nationalism]], and [[parliamentarism]], opposing [[Józef Piłsudski]]'s [[Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government|BBWR]]'s attempts at [[presidential republic|empowering the presidency]] and later its absolute seizure of power.<ref name=Mackiewicz/> In contrast, many Old Conservatives, such as [[Stanisław Cat-Mackiewicz]], found themselves as allies of Marshal Piłsudski.<ref name=Mackiewicz/> Endecja rejected [[Romanticism in Poland|Romanticism]] and [[Christ of Europe|Messianism]], concepts which were important to the Old Conservatives.<ref name=rd>{{cite book |last=Dmowski |first=Roman |date=1903 |title=Myśli Nowoczesnego Polaka |publisher=Capital |trans-title=The Notions of a Modern Pole |url=https://capitalbook.com.pl/pl/p/Mysli-nowoczesnego-Polaka-Roman-Dmowski/1347 |language=Polish |isbn=978-83-64037-04-7}}</ref>

==== Russia ====
{{main|Conservatism in Russia}}
{{Conservatism in Russia}}
Russian conservatism has experienced a revival in recent decades.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Retraditionalization' and Sacralization of 'Worldview Matters': The Politics of Values in Eastern Europe |url=https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/38493 |access-date=May 27, 2024 |website=ecpr.eu}}</ref> Under [[Vladimir Putin]], the dominant leader since 1999, Russia has promoted explicitly conservative policies in social, cultural, and political matters, both at home and abroad.<ref>Sergei Prozorov, "Russian conservatism in the Putin presidency: The dispersion of a hegemonic discourse." ''Journal of Political Ideologies'' 10.2 (2005): 121–143 [https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/84604/1/DIIS2004-20.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606061501/https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/84604/1/DIIS2004-20.pdf |date=June 6, 2021 }}.</ref> Putin has criticized globalism and economic liberalism, claiming that "liberalism has become obsolete" and that the vast majority of people in the world oppose [[multiculturalism]], [[free immigration]], and [[LGBT rights by country or territory|rights for LGBT people]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 27, 2019 |editor1-last=Tiounine |editor1-first=Margot |editor2-last=Hannen |editor2-first=Tom |work=[[Financial Times]] |title=Liberalism 'has outlived its purpose' — President Putin speaks exclusively to the Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/video/a49cfa25-610e-438c-b11d-5dac19619e08 |access-date=October 14, 2023}}</ref> Russian conservatism is special in some respects as it supports a [[mixed economy]] with [[Economic interventionism|economic intervention]], combined with a strong nationalist sentiment and [[social conservatism]] which is largely [[Right-wing populism|populist]]. As a result, Russian conservatism opposes [[Right-libertarianism|right-libertarian]] ideals such as the aforementioned concept of economic liberalism found in other conservative movements around the world.

Putin has also promoted new [[think tank]]s that bring together like-minded intellectuals and writers. For example, the [[Izborsky Club]], founded in 2012 by [[Alexander Prokhanov]], stresses [[Russian nationalism]], the restoration of Russia's historical greatness, and systematic opposition to liberal ideas and policies.<ref>Marlene Laruelle, "The Izborsky Club, or the new conservative avant‐garde in Russia." ''The Russian Review'' 75.4 (2016): 626–644.</ref> [[Vladislav Surkov]], a senior government official, has been one of the key ideologues during Putin's presidency.<ref>Sirke Mäkinen, "Surkovian narrative on the future of Russia: making Russia a world leader." ''Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics'' 27#2 (2011): 143–165.</ref>

In cultural and social affairs, Putin has collaborated closely with the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Michel |first=Casey |date=February 9, 2017 |title=How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/how-russia-became-a-leader-of-the-worldwide-christian-right-214755/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Paterson |first=Tom |date=November 9, 2021 |title=Why Putin Goes to Church |url=https://www.thecambridgelanguagecollective.com/politics-and-society/why-putin-goes-to-church  |website=The Cambridge Language Collective}}</ref> Under [[Patriarch Kirill of Moscow]], the Church has backed the expansion of Russian power into Crimea and eastern Ukraine.<ref>Mark Woods, "How the Russian Orthodox Church is backing Vladimir Putin's new world order" [http://www.christiantoday.com/article/how.the.russian.orthodox.church.is.backing.vladimir.putins.new.world.order/81108.htm ''Christian Today'' March 3, 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304015051/http://www.christiantoday.com/article/how.the.russian.orthodox.church.is.backing.vladimir.putins.new.world.order/81108.htm |date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> More broadly, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reports in September 2016 how the Church's policy prescriptions support the Kremlin's appeal to social conservatives:

{{blockquote|A fervent foe of homosexuality and any attempt to put individual rights above those of family, community, or nation, the Russian Orthodox Church helps project Russia as the natural ally of all those who pine for a more secure, illiberal world free from the tradition-crushing rush of globalization, multiculturalism, and women's and gay rights.<ref>Andrew Higgins, "In Expanding Russian Influence, Faith Combines With Firepower", [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/europe/russia-orthodox-church.html ''New York Times'' Sept 13, 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110031305/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/europe/russia-orthodox-church.html |date=November 10, 2019 }}</ref>}}

==== Spain ====
{{Conservatism in Spain}}
Conservatism in Spain is represented by the center-right [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] and ultra-right [[Vox (political party)|Vox party]]. The People's Party has its roots in the People's Alliance founded on 9 October 1976 by former [[Francoist Spain|Francoist]] minister [[Manuel Fraga]]. Although Fraga was a member of the reformist faction of the Franco regime, he supported an extremely gradual transition to democracy. However, he badly underestimated the public's distaste for Francoism. Additionally, while he attempted to convey a reformist image, the large number of former Francoists in the party led the public to perceive it as both [[reactionary]] and [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]]. In the June [[1977 Spanish general election|1977 general election]], the AP garnered only 8.3 percent of the vote, putting it in fourth place.

The PP joined the [[European People's Party]] in 1991.<ref name="JansenHecke2011">{{cite book|author1=Thomas Jansen|author2=Steven Van Hecke|title=At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXEA8XGdEb8C&pg=PA51|year= 2011|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-19414-6|page=51}}</ref>

The PP became the largest party for the first time in 1996, and [[José María Aznar]] became Prime Minister with the support of the [[Basque Nationalist Party]], the [[Catalonia|Catalan]] [[Convergence and Union]] and the [[Canarian Coalition]]. In the 2000 elections, the PP gained an [[absolute majority]].

In August 2003, [[Mariano Rajoy]] was appointed Secretary General by Aznar. Thus, Rajoy became the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the [[2004 Spanish general election|2004 general election]], held three days after the [[11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings]], and which Rajoy lost by a big margin to [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) leader [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]].

The PP under [[Mariano Rajoy]] opposed the PSOE government after the PP lost the [[2004 Spanish general election|general election in 2004]], arguing that this victory was influenced by the [[2004 Madrid train bombings|Madrid bombings]] of 11 March 2004. At a national level, its political strategy has followed two main axes, both linked to Spain's delicate regional politics: first, opposing further administrative devolution to Catalonia by means of the newly approved "Estatut" or Statute of Catalonia that lays out the powers of the Catalan regional government. Second, it remains opposed to political negotiations with the Basque separatist organisation [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]].

The prospect of increased demands for autonomy in the programs of Catalan and Basque parties, and Zapatero's alleged favouring of them, became a focus for the party's campaign for the [[2008 Spanish general election|March 2008 general election]]. [[Lehendakari|Basque President]] [[Juan José Ibarretxe]]'s proposal for a unilateral referendum for the solution of the [[Basque Conflict]] was another important issue.

The People's Party under Rajoy has an increasingly patriotic, or [[nationalism|nationalist]],{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} element to it, appealing to the sense of "Spanishness" and making strong use of national symbols such as the [[Flag of Spain|Spanish flag]]. Prior to the national celebrations of Spanish Heritage Day, Rajoy made a speech asking Spaniards to "privately or publicly" display their pride in their nation and to honor their flag, an action which received some criticism from many political groups of the Congress.

Vox was founded in December 2013, splitting from the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] (PP).<ref name="Reuters1">{{cite news|last=O'Leary|first=Elisabeth|date=16 January 2014|title=Spanish ruling party rebels launch new conservative party|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-idUSBREA0F1HM20140116|access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref> The [[party platform]] called for the rewriting of the [[Spanish constitution]] so as to curb regional autonomy and abolish regional parliaments.<ref name="Reuters1" /> Several founding members of the party (for example, [[Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca|Alejo Vidal-Quadras]], [[José Antonio Ortega Lara]], and [[Santiago Abascal]]) had been members of the platform "reconversion.es", which had issued a manifesto in 2012 calling for a [[Political unitarism|recentralization]] of the State.<ref name="casals2019pp">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.politicaprosa.com/catalunya-i-la-espana-viva-de-vox/ |journal=Política & Prosa|date=1 April 2019|first=Xavier|last=Casals|issue=5|author-link=Xavier Casals i Meseguer |title=Catalunya i 'la España viva' de Vox}}</ref> Vidal-Quadras was proclaimed as the first chairman in March 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |work=Crónica Global |url=https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/vox-elige-a-vidal-quadras-como-su-primer-presidente_5576_102.html|title=Vox elige a Vidal-Quadras como su primer presidente|date=8 March 2014}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
{{main|Conservatism in Sweden}}
{{Conservatism in Sweden}}
In the early 19th century, Swedish conservatism developed alongside [[Swedish Romantic literature|Swedish Romanticism]]. The historian [[Erik Gustaf Geijer]], an exponent of [[Gothicism]], glorified the [[Viking Age]] and the [[Swedish Empire]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Geijer och samhället : en studie i svensk tradition |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/873899895 |date=1942 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |oclc=873899895 |first=Edvard |last=Rodhe |page=131}}</ref> and the idealist philosopher [[Christopher Jacob Boström]] became the chief ideologue of the official state doctrine, which dominated Swedish politics for almost a century.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2217786 |jstor=2217786 |last1=Smart |first1=Ninian |title=Reviewed work: Philosophy of Religion, Christopher Jacob Boström, Victor E. Beck, Robert N. Beck |journal=The Philosophical Quarterly |date=1964 |volume=14 |issue=57 |page=381 |doi=10.2307/2217786}}</ref> Other influential Swedish conservative Romantics were [[Esaias Tegnér]] and [[Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom]].

Early parliamentary conservatism in Sweden was explicitly elitist. The [[Moderate Party|Conservative Party]] was formed in 1904 with one major goal in mind: to stop the advent of [[universal suffrage]], which they feared would result in socialism. Yet, it was a Swedish admiral, the conservative politician [[Arvid Lindman]], who first extended democracy by enacting [[male suffrage]], despite the protests of more traditionalist voices, such as the later prime minister, the arch-conservative and authoritarian statesman [[Ernst Trygger]], who railed at progressive policies such as the abolition of the [[death penalty]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Söderbaum |first=Jakob E:son |title=Modern konservatism |date=2020 |publisher=Recito |isbn=978-91-7765-497-1 |location=Borås |pages=289}}</ref>

Once a democratic system was in place, Swedish conservatives sought to combine traditional elitism with modern populism. Sweden's most renowned political scientist, the conservative politician [[Rudolf Kjellén]], coined the terms [[geopolitics]] and [[biopolitics]] in relation to his [[Organicism#In politics and sociology|organic theory of the state]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Radikalkonservatismens rötter – Rudolf Kjellén och 1914 års idéer |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1241263181 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |isbn=978-91-7703-243-4 |oclc=1241263181 |first=Christian |last=Abrahamsson |pages=43–56 |chapter=Den organiska statsteorin |date=December 18, 2023 |publisher=Timbro}}</ref> He also developed the [[Conservative corporatism|corporatist]]-nationalist concept of {{lang|sv|[[Folkhemmet]]}} ('the people's home'), which became the single most powerful political concept in Sweden throughout the 20th century, although it was adopted by the [[Swedish Social Democratic Party|Social Democratic Party]] who gave it a more socialist interpretation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Isaksson |first=Anders |title=Per Albin |date=1985 |publisher=Wahlström & Widstrand |isbn=978-91-46-15026-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=184}}</ref>

After a brief [[grand coalition]] between Left and Right during World War II, the center-right parties struggled to cooperate due to their ideological differences: the agrarian populism of the [[Centre Party (Sweden)|Centre Party]], the urban liberalism of the [[Liberals (Sweden)|Liberal People's Party]], and the liberal-conservative elitism of the [[Moderate Party]] (the old Conservative Party). However, in [[Fälldin I cabinet|1976]] and in [[Fälldin II cabinet|1979]], the three parties managed to form a government under [[Thorbjörn Fälldin]]—and again in [[Carl Bildt cabinet|1991]] under aristocrat [[Carl Bildt]] and with support from the newly founded [[Christian Democrats (Sweden)|Christian Democrats]], the most conservative party in contemporary Sweden.<ref>{{Cite news |title=KD är det mest konservativa partiet |url=https://strengnastidning.se/insandare/artikel/kd-ar-det-mest-konservativa-partiet/lyd0p99l |work=strengnastidning.se |date=October 4, 2022 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |first=Jakob E:son |last=Söderbaum}}</ref>

In modern times, [[mass immigration]] from distant cultures caused a large populist dissatisfaction, which was not channeled through any of the established parties, who generally espoused [[multiculturalism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Uvell |first=Markus |title=Bakslaget: radikalt etablissemang, konservativa medborgare |date=2018 |publisher=Timbro förlag |isbn=978-91-7703-129-1 |location=Stockholm}}</ref> Instead, the 2010s saw the rise of the right-wing populist [[Sweden Democrats]], who were surging as the largest party in the polls on several occasions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cornucopia |date=June 21, 2018 |title=Yougov: SD största parti med 28.5% av väljarstödet |url=https://cornucopia.se/2018/06/yougov-sd-storsta-parti-med-285-av/ |access-date=December 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Majlard |first=Jan |date=November 15, 2019 |title=SD största parti i ny mätning |language=sv |work=Svenska Dagbladet |url=https://www.svd.se/a/JoXm3R/sverigedemokraterna-storsta-parti-i-ny-matning |access-date=December 23, 2023 |issn=1101-2412}}</ref> Due to its fascist roots, the party was ostracized by the other parties until 2019 when Christian Democrat leader [[Ebba Busch]] reached out for collaboration, after which the Moderate Party followed suit.<ref>{{Cite news |last=SVT Nyheter |first= |date=March 21, 2019 |title=KD-ledaren öppnar för SD-samarbete |language=sv |work=SVT Nyheter |url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/kd-ledaren-oppnar-for-sd-samarbete |access-date=December 17, 2023}}</ref> In [[2022 Swedish general election|2022]], the center-right parties formed a [[Kristersson cabinet|government]] with support from the Sweden Democrats as the largest party.<ref>{{Cite news |last=SVT Nyheter |date=October 14, 2022 |title=L, KD och M ska ingå i regeringen – SD får stort inflytande |language=sv |work=SVT Nyheter |url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/l-kd-och-m-ska-inga-i-regeringen-sd-far-stort-inflytande |access-date=December 17, 2023}}</ref> The subsequent [[Tidö Agreement]], negotiated in [[Tidö Castle]], incorporated authoritarian policies such as a stricter stance on immigration and a harsher stance on law and order.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oscarsson |first=Tea |date=October 14, 2022 |title='Tidöavtalet' – här är viktigaste punkterna |language=sv |work=Svenska Dagbladet |url=https://www.svd.se/a/2BB3pB/det-viktigaste-i-tidoavtalet-mellan-moderaterna-kd-l-och-sd |access-date=December 17, 2023 |issn=1101-2412}}</ref>

==== Switzerland ====
{{Conservatism in Switzerland}}
In some aspects, Swiss conservatism is unique, as Switzerland is an old federal republic born from historically sovereign [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]], comprising three major nationalities and adhering to the principle of [[Swiss neutrality]].

There are a number of conservative parties in Switzerland's parliament, the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]]. These include the largest ones: the [[Swiss People's Party]] (SVP),<ref name="Hans-Georg">{{cite book |last=Ziebertz |first=Hans-Georg |title=How Teachers in Europe Teach Religion: An International Empirical Study: An International Empirical Study in 16 Countries |year=2011 |publisher=Lit Verlag |isbn=978-3-643-10043-6 |page=237}}</ref> the [[Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland|Christian Democratic People's Party]] (CVP),<ref name=Juravich>{{cite book |last=Juravich |first=Tom |title=Ravenswood: The Steelworkers' Victory and the Revival of American Labor |year=2000 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-8666-1 |page=133}}</ref> and the [[Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland]] (BDP),<ref name=Schwok>{{cite book |last=Schwok |first=René |title=Switzerland – European Union: An Impossible Membership? |year=2009 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-90-5201-576-7 |page=143}}</ref> which is a splinter of the SVP created in the aftermath to the election of [[Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf]] as Federal Council.<ref name="Schwok"/>

The SVP was formed from the 1971 merger of the [[Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents|Party of Farmers, Traders and Citizens]], formed in 1917, and the smaller Democratic Party, formed in 1942. The SVP emphasised agricultural policy and was strong among farmers in German-speaking Protestant areas. As Switzerland considered closer relations with the European Union in the 1990s, the SVP adopted a more militant [[Protectionism|protectionist]] and [[Isolationism|isolationist]] stance. This stance has allowed it to expand into German-speaking Catholic mountainous areas.{{sfn|Siaroff|2000|p=446}} The [[Anti-Defamation League]], a non-Swiss lobby group based in the United States has accused them of manipulating issues such as immigration, Swiss neutrality, and welfare benefits, awakening antisemitism and racism.<ref>The Stephen Roth Institute. ''Anti-semitism worldwide'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002 {{ISBN|0-8032-5943-3}} p. 120</ref> The [[Council of Europe]] has called the SVP "[[Far-right politics|extreme right]]", although some scholars dispute this classification. For instance, [[Hans-Georg Betz]] describes it as "populist radical right".<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Hainsworth |author-first=Paul |title=The Extreme Right in Western Europe |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-39682-0 |pages=44 and 74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCtm2UeUQFIC}}</ref> The SVP has been the largest party since 2003.

==== Ukraine ====
The authoritarian [[Ukrainian State]] was headed by Cossack aristocrat [[Pavlo Skoropadskyi]] and represented the conservative movement. The 1918 [[Hetman of Ukraine|Hetman]] government, which appealed to the tradition of the 17th–18th century [[Cossack Hetmanate|Cossack Hetman state]], represented the conservative strand in Ukraine's struggle for independence. It had the support of the proprietary classes and of conservative and moderate political groups. [[Vyacheslav Lypynsky]] was a main ideologue of Ukrainian conservatism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CC%5CO%5CConservatism.htm |title=Conservatism |website=encyclopediaofukraine.com |access-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref>

==== United Kingdom ====
{{main|Conservatism in the United Kingdom}}
{{Conservatism UK}}
{{Toryism |expanded=related}}
Modern English conservatives celebrate Anglo-Irish statesman [[Edmund Burke]] as their intellectual father. Burke was affiliated with the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig Party]], which eventually split among the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] and the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], but the modern Conservative Party is generally thought to derive primarily from the [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]], and the MPs of the modern conservative party are still frequently referred to as Tories.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Sack |first=J. J. |year=1987 |title=The Memory of Burke and the Memory of Pitt: English Conservatism Confronts Its Past, 1806–1829 |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=623–640 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X00020914}}</ref>

Shortly after Burke's death in 1797, conservatism was revived as a mainstream political force as the Whigs suffered a series of internal divisions. This new generation of conservatives derived their politics not from Burke, but from his predecessor, the [[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Viscount Bolingbroke]], who was a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] and traditional Tory, lacking Burke's sympathies for Whiggish policies such as [[Catholic emancipation]] and [[American Revolution|American independence]] (famously attacked by [[Samuel Johnson]] in "Taxation No Tyranny").<ref name=":5" />

In the first half of the 19th century, many newspapers, magazines, and journals promoted [[Loyalism|loyalist]] or right-wing attitudes in religion, politics, and international affairs. Burke was seldom mentioned, but [[William Pitt the Younger]] became a conspicuous hero. The most prominent journals included ''The [[Quarterly Review]]'', founded in 1809 as a counterweight to the Whigs' ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'', and the even more conservative ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]''. The ''Quarterly Review'' promoted a balanced Canningite Toryism, as it was neutral on Catholic emancipation and only mildly critical of [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist dissent]]; it opposed slavery and supported the current poor laws; and it was "aggressively [[British imperialism|imperialist]]". The [[high-church]] clergy of the Church of England read the ''[[Orthodox Churchman's Magazine]]'', which was equally hostile to Jewish, Catholic, [[Jacobin]], [[Methodist]] and [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] spokesmen. Anchoring the [[ultra-Tories]], ''Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine'' stood firmly against Catholic emancipation and favored slavery, cheap money, [[mercantilism]], the [[Navigation Acts]], and the [[Holy Alliance]].<ref name=":5" />

Conservatism evolved after 1820, embracing [[free trade]] in 1846 and a commitment to democracy, especially under [[Benjamin Disraeli]]. The effect was to significantly strengthen conservatism as a grassroots political force. Conservatism no longer was the philosophical defense of the landed aristocracy, but had been refreshed into redefining its commitment to the ideals of order, both secular and religious, expanding imperialism, strengthened [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarchy]], and a more generous vision of the welfare state as opposed to the punitive vision of the Whigs and liberals.<ref>Gregory Claeys, "Political Thought", in Chris Williams, ed., ''A Companion to 19th-Century Britain'' (2006). p. 195</ref> As early as 1835, Disraeli attacked the Whigs and utilitarians as slavishly devoted to an industrial [[oligarchy]], while he described his fellow Tories as the only "really democratic party of England", devoted to the interests of the whole people.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Charles Richmond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnF3IRJbKR8C&pg=PA162 |title=The Self-Fashioning of Disraeli, 1818–1851 |author2=Paul Smith |author2-link=Paul Smith (historian) |publisher=Cambridge UP |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-49729-9 |page=162}}</ref> Nevertheless, inside the party there was a tension between the growing numbers of wealthy businessmen on the one side and the aristocracy and rural gentry on the other.{{sfn|Auerbach|1959|pp=39–40}} The aristocracy gained strength as businessmen discovered they could use their wealth to buy a peerage and a country estate.

Some conservatives lamented the passing of a pastoral world where the ethos of {{lang|fr|[[noblesse oblige]]}} had promoted respect from the lower classes. They saw the [[Anglican Church]] and the aristocracy as balances against commercial wealth.<ref>{{harvnb|Eccleshall|1990|p=83}}</ref> They worked toward legislation for improved working conditions and urban housing.<ref>{{harvnb|Eccleshall|1990|p=90}}</ref> This viewpoint would later be called [[Tory democracy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Eccleshall|1990|p=121}}</ref> However, since Burke, there has always been tension between traditional aristocratic conservatism and the wealthy liberal business class.<ref>{{harvnb|Eccleshall|1990|pp=6–7}}</ref>

In 1834, Tory [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Robert Peel]] issued the "[[Tamworth Manifesto]]", in which he pledged to endorse moderate political reform. This marked the beginning of the transformation from [[High Tory]] reactionism towards a more modern form of conservatism. As a result, the party became known as the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]—a name it has retained to this day. However, Peel would also be the root of a split in the party between the traditional Tories (by the [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli]]) and the "Peelites" (led first by Peel himself, then by the [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Earl of Aberdeen]]). The split occurred in 1846 over the issue of [[free trade]], which Peel supported, versus [[protectionism]], supported by Derby. The majority of the party sided with Derby while about a third split away, eventually merging with the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] and the [[radicalism (politics)|radicals]] to form the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. Despite the split, the mainstream Conservative Party accepted the doctrine of free trade in 1852.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Liberal Party faced political schisms, especially over [[History of Ireland|Irish]] [[Irish Parliamentary Party|Home Rule]]. Leader [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]] (himself a former Peelite) sought to give Ireland a degree of autonomy, a move that elements in both the left and right-wings of his party opposed. These split off to become the [[Liberal Unionist Party|Liberal Unionists]] (led by [[Joseph Chamberlain]]), forming a coalition with the Conservatives before merging with them in 1912. The Liberal Unionist influence dragged the Conservative Party towards the left as Conservative governments passed a number of progressive reforms at the turn of the 20th century. By the late 19th century, the traditional business supporters of the Liberal Party had joined the Conservatives, making them the party of business and commerce as well.

After a period of Liberal dominance before World War I, the Conservatives gradually became more influential in government, regaining full control of the cabinet in 1922. In the inter-war period, conservatism was the major ideology in Britain<ref>Stuart Ball, "Baldwin, Stanley, first Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1867–1947)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' 2004.</ref><ref>Ross McKibbin, ''Parties and people: England, 1914–1951'' (Oxford, 2010).</ref><ref>Garside, W.R.; Greaves, J.I. (1997). "[https://www.proquest.com/openview/b8a69e791efde94deca750b6521a4046/ Rationalisation and Britain's industrial Malaise: The interwar years revisited]". ''Journal of European Economic History''. '''26''' (1): 37–68.</ref> as the Liberal Party vied with the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] for control of the left. After World War II, the first Labour government (1945–1951) under [[Clement Attlee]] embarked on a program of nationalization of industry and the promotion of social welfare. The Conservatives generally accepted those policies until the 1980s.

In the 1980s, the Conservative government of [[Margaret Thatcher]], guided by [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] economics, reversed many of Labour's social programmes, privatized large parts of the UK economy, and sold state-owned assets.{{sfn|McLean|McMillan|2009|p=364}} The Conservative Party also adopted [[soft euroscepticism|soft eurosceptic]] politics and opposed [[Federal Europe]]. Other conservative political parties, such as the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP, founded in 1971), and the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] (UKIP, founded in 1993), began to appear, although they have yet to make any significant impact at Westminster. As of 2014, the DUP is the largest political party in the ruling coalition in the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]], and from 2017 to 2019 the DUP provided support for the Conservative [[Second May ministry|minority government]] under a confidence-and-supply arrangement.