Salisbury, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of

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Salisbury, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of (1830–1903) British statesman, prime minister (1885–86, 1886–92, 1895–1902). Salisbury entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1853, and served in Benjamin Disraeli's administration (1874–80). On Disraeli's death (1881), he became leader of the opposition to Gladstone's government. In each of Salisbury's terms in office he also served as foreign secretary, guiding Britain's imperial and colonial affairs. Despite initial success, his diplomacy of ‘splendid isolation’ resulted in the South African Wars (1899–1902). Salisbury was succeeded by his nephew, Arthur Balfour.

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