4.1. Years of progress (1837-1906)

General Outline. Not long before this century began, Britain had lost its most important American colonies in a war of independence. When the century began, the country was locked in a war with France. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain established her industrial superiority in the world.

The strengthening of the capitalist state machine continued in this period. During the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), the revolutionary changes that had transformed Britain from a mainly agricultural nation to an industrial one were followed by developments that took it further along the road of industrialism.

Soon after the end of the century, Britain controlled the biggest empire the world had ever seen. One section of this empire was Ireland. During this century, it was part of the UK, where the British culture and way of life predominated.

 Another part of the empire was made up of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These countries had complete internal self-government but recognized the overall authority of the British government.

Another part was India. The British officials developed a distinctly Anglo-Indian way of life. They imposed British institutions and methods of government on the country.

Large parts of Africa also belonged to the empire. Most of Britain’s African colonies started as trading bases on the coast, and were incorporated into the empire at the end of the century. The empire also included numerous smaller areas and islands, which were acquired because of their strategic position along trading routes.

There was a change in attitude in Britain towards colonization during this century. Previously, it had been seen as a matter of settlement, of commerce, or of military strategy. By the end of the century, it was seen as a matter of destiny. Britain became the world’s foremost economic power. This gave the British a sense of supreme confidence, even arrogance, about their culture and civilization. The British came to see themselves as having a duty to spread this culture and civilization around the world.

Political developments. Many men who did not get the vote in 1832 resented the Reform Act and worked to change it. They drew up a charter demanding votes for all men, payment of members of Parliament, the abolition of the rule that members of Parliament must be property owners, the creation of electoral districts of roughly equal populations, and the annual election of parliaments. Members of the movement became known as chartists. The chartists held many demonstrations throughout Britain. A final, sensational demonstration in 1848 failed ridiculously. But most chartists were serious men, and all their demands—except for annually elected parliaments—have since been granted.

Further parliamentary reform came later in the 1800's. The Reform Act of 1867 extended the vote to working men in the towns. The Reform Act of 1884 gave the vote to agricultural labourers. Both these acts also redistributed parliamentary seats.

From 1830 to 1841, with one short break, the Whigs formed the governments. The Tories opposed the Reform Act in 1832. But in 1835, the Tory Party issued a document called the Tamworth Manifesto, which said that the party should combine reform with respect for tradition. The Tories began to call themselves Conservatives. In 1841, they won power under Peel.

Meanwhile, the aristocratic Whigs became, largely under the leadership of William Gladstone, the new Liberal Party. The Liberals represented particularly the middle classes and Nonconformists (Protestants outside the Church of England). In the late 1800s, the trade unions and a group of socialist intellectuals called the Fabians formed the Labour Party. The first Labour members entered Parliament in 1893.

Industrial developments. British industry continued to expand. Coal output more than doubled between 1846 and 1862, and iron production increased by six times between 1833 and 1865. An expansion in trade as well as raw material production made Britain very prosperous and the world's leading manufacturing nation. It retained its industrial lead through the skill of its inventors. Sir Henry Bessemer discovered a less costly way of making steel, and steel replaced iron in engineering, railways, and shipbuilding. In 1844, Isambard Brunei laid the first electric telegraph on the Great Western Railway from Paddington to Slough. In 1866, British engineers laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1884, Sir Charles Parsons made the first practical steam turbine. In 1826, Patrick Bell invented a reaping machine for cutting cereals. He also devised a way of extracting sugar from sugar beet.

Near the end of the 1800s, Britain faced growing competition overseas. Such industrialized countries as France, Germany, and the United States protected their own manufactures against British goods by imposing high tariffs (taxes on imports). The United States and Germany overtook Britain in steel production. Britain's exports went into decline. Only coal, machinery, and ships maintained their share of the export market. Britain suffered an industrial slump between 1875 and 1896.