The Liberal Party in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was born from the roots of the Whig Party and the Radicals and took center stage during the Reform Revolution. It vied with the Conservative Party (the Tories, ironically "tory" derived from the Irish term for outlaw, Tóraidhe) throughout the 19th and early 20th century for leadership of the British Empire.
Thomas Malthus was an important early influence on Liberalism, but his contributions fell out of favor relatively rapidly in the 19th century. It was not until the dawn of the 20th century that he was rediscovered and some of the earliest of the Malthusian Clubs were founded in the UK and the Malthusians became a powerful influence in the Liberal Party of the United Kingdom, though a majority of the Liberal Party was not as pessimistic about the threat of global overpopulation - many of them relied on the continued promise of the British Dominions such as Southern America and the Australias as options for settlement of excess population.
The Liberal Party was in power at the onset of the Subcontinental Crisis, which threatened to tear in twain between its Majority and Malthusian branches. They government's paralysis led to the stalemate between the British Empire and the breakaway Malthusian-led United Nationalities of India.
That paralysis was shattered by the Saint Petersburg Slaughter. The new King-Emperor, Alexander II, accepted the resignation of the Prime Minister after the no confidence vote in Parliament, and invited the leader of the Conservatives,
Edward Thomas, to form a government. The Malthusian leadership in Parliament found themselves ostracized as the new PM formed a national unity government with Conservatives and other several Liberals who had been more outspoken critics of both the Malthusians and their own leadership's kowtowing to their demands.
Prime Minister Thomas' government declared war on the Thuggies AND the United Nationalities of India within 24 hours of its formation.
