Traditionalist conservatism is a school of conservatism that values order as a social end, emphasizing the need for transcendent moral order, hierarchy, tradition, organic unity, agrarianism, classicism, and high culture. Conservatism typically represented the monarchy, the aristocracy, the military, and the agricultural farmers of Western European society during the late 18th and 19th centuries, as it sought to preserve the hierarchial feudal system, the power of the church, and an agrarian economy in the face of rising classical liberalism. Conservative parties opposed liberal reforms in favor of maintaining the status quo and hte balance of power, and they also supported a strong central government with the power to legislate taxes and tariffs without limitations, as well as moralism and opposition to immigration. During the Victorian Era, conservatives were the arbiters of the status quo, enemies of change, and defenders of tradition, being reluctant to enact any reform that would change the old ways. Conservatism varied by country, with conservatism in right-wing governments often defending the crown and its values, while conservatives in liberal nations defended the ways that things had always been, defending liberal principles against more progressive views.
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