Liberal Age

In 1851, the first World Fair, known as the Great Exhibition of 1851, was held. Organised by Prince Albert, the exhibition was officially opened by the Queen on 1 May 1851. Despite the fears of many, it proved an incredible success, with its profits being used to endow the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum). The Great Exhibition reflected Britain’s commitment to economic progress and enjoyed over 6 mln visitors. This date serves, probably for nostalgic reasons, as a milestone for the period that the British call Liberal Age and which lasted till 1914.

Between 1847 and 1868 the Tories lost 6 general elections running; Liberals, upon winning, brought about long-expected reforms. They abolished religious tests for entry into Oxford and Cambridge (on the whole, Britain was gradually becoming a secular country; in London only 19% population went regularly to church by the turn of the century).. They put an end to ‘Taxes of Knowledge’ – the stamp duties on newspapers, customs and excise on paper. As a result by 1863 there were over 100 newspapers in Britain. One more important innovation was the Penny Black, the first postage stamp, which standardised postage to a flat price regardless of distance sent.

They dealt away with a shameful practice of purchasing commissions in the army – comissions were to be granted for merit from that time on. They made capitalism relatively safe for the investor by introducing limited liability. They advocated free trade, and that coincided with economic boom.

the Victorians were impressed by science and progress, and felt that they could improve society .There were many movements to obtain greater rights for women, but voting rights did not come until the next century. Women played an important role in charities, church and arts; they were allowed to attend lectures in Universities and take exams, but not degrees; professions remained barred. The Married Women's Property Act 1882 meant that women did not lose their right to their own property when they got married and could divorce without fear of poverty, although divorce was frowned upon and very rare during the 19th century. Some women gained the vote for the local elections and could stand up as candidates for lical councils, school boards and the Poor Law Board.

There appeared first indications of the welfare system: free shool meals, old age pensions (1908), W.Churchill’s labour exchanges (1909) and Lloyd George’s National Insurance Bill (1911) – compulsory insurance to certain workers for benefits in times of sickness and unemployment, paid for by the state, the employer and the employee.

Britain was rapidly becoming an urban nation.Ubarnisation also triggered high farming – which meant drainage, fertilizers and farm machinery. what changed society dramatically was railways.

Working classes ( a Victorian term ) fell into 6 main categories:

• Highpaid labour;

• Regular standard earnings (the largest group of all the rest);

• Small regular earnings;

• Intermittent earnings;

• Casual earnings;

• Lowest class (paupers)

In foreign policy, however, the period is characterized by rapid colonial expansion, or Colonial Imperialism.With the expansion of the Industrial Revolution, Britain could no longer reap the benefits of being the sole modern, industrial nation. Britain by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War was no longer the 'workshop of the world', meaning that its finished goods were no longer produced so efficiently and cheaply that they could often undersell comparable, locally manufactured goods in almost any other market. Britain was even growing incapable of dominating the markets of India a crown colony by 1858 that Disraeli would later deem "the brightest jewel of the crown", Manchu China, the coasts of Africa, and Latin America. The new interest of the emergent industrial powers in colonial expansion brought them into direct competition with Britain. The expansion of the Second Industrial Revolution and the rise of similar economic practices (such as amalgamation of industry) in Germany and the United States intensified the competition for overseas markets and hence formal colonialism. Another innovation – khaki uniforms. Cecil Rhodes was the pioneer of British expansion north into Africa with his privately owned British South Africa Company.

The foreign relations of the Dominions were still conducted through the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom: Canada created a Department of External Affairs in 1909, but diplomatic relations with other governments continued to be channelled through the Governors-General, Dominion High Commissioners in London (first appointed by Canada in 1880 and by Australia in 1910) and British legations abroad. Britain's declaration of war in World War I applied to all the Dominions.

But the Dominions did enjoy a substantial freedom in their adoption of foreign policy where this did not explicitly conflict with British interests: Canada's Liberal government negotiated a bilateral free-trade Reciprocity Agreement with the United States in 1911, but went down to defeat by the Conservative opposition.

To sum up, within the period GB grew in size but hardly in strength. It was remarkably unprepared psychologically and physically for a full-size continental land war. Militarizing society (Militia, Riflemen, Volunteers) had conspicuously failed. ‘To take the King’s shilling’ (to enlist) was an act of desperation in a personal catastrophy. Liberal capitalist democracy based upon free trade could be called an experiment brought to an abrupt end in 1914.