National liberalism

National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining nationalism with some liberal policies, especially regarding economic liberalism. The roots of it are to be found in the 19th century, when conservative liberalism was the ideology of the political classes in most European countries, then governed by monarchies. At that time national liberalism was closely linked with the idea of the nation state and with anti-Catholicism.

The term "national liberalism" was mainly used in German-speaking countries such as Germany and Austria during the 19th century , where "National-Liberal" parties were long in government. National liberals were slightly different from those espousing purer principles of the free market and free trade, indeed most national-liberals supported some forms of autarchy and protectionism, in line with British Tories. Historical national-liberal parties included the National Liberal Party and the German People's Party in Germany, the Rural Federation, the Greater German People's Party and the Federation of Independents in Austria, some of the constituent parties of the Swiss People's Party and the Uomo Qualunque Front in Italy.

Between the last decades of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, parties combining nationalist policies with some economic liberal ones, as low taxes and deregulation, while being more skeptical on international trade and privatization are classified as national-liberal. A typical example of a contemporary national-liberal party has been the Freedom Party of Austria, especially under the leadership of Jörg Haider, Susanne Riess-Passer and Karl-Heinz Grasser.

Current and more recent national-liberal parties, other than the Freedom Party of Austria, include the current Alliance for the Future of Austria, Pim Fortuyn List and the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, the Dedecker List in Belgium, the Movement for France and Arise the Republic in France and, to some extent, the Swiss People's Party.

Even the ideology of more nationalist parties, such as the National Front in France, is sometimes classified as national liberalism, as is that of Vlaams Belang.