The Victorian Age

In 1837, King William IV was succeeded by his 18-year-old niece Victoria, who reigned for the longest period in English history — from 1837 to 1901. Her reigned coincided with great changes in the lives of the British — Britain developed the biggest empire the world had ever seen, social and economic conditions in the country changed, the power of monarchy declined. At the same time Victoria symbolised British success in the world and embodied all popular morals of the time — she was religious, hardworking, a devoted wife of Prince Albert and caring mother of nine children. Victoria became an example to her people in different matters and the period of her reign — "the Victorian Age" still remains an example of success and stability.

Government. During Victoria's reign the government became more independent — Prime Ministers were chosen without Queen's approval and royal influence on government matters lessened. The development of two-party system led to the new method of forming the government — now it was formed by the party, who won the elections. The limitation of royal power at home directed Queen's influence more to foreign affairs, where she often mediated political crises. In Dominions, where self-government was established, she remained the Head of the State.

Social Life. The Victorian Age changed life conditions of British people — partially because of increasing wealth in the country, partially due to provided reforms. The increasing wealth let apply science to practical uses — trains and electric telegraphs changed the speed of communication. The number of people belonging to the middle class greatly increased. They constituted a bulk of the British society and included people working in the Church, the law, medicine, the civil service, banks, army and navy. These self-made men believed in hard work and regular style of life — everything which was embodied in Queen Victoria!

The reforms of the period provided new changes in the town life. In 1829, a regular police force was established in London and during the next thirty years it spread all over the country, making life safer. In dirty towns specially appointed health-officers kept an eye on sewerage and clean water. These measures helped to reduce the level of disease.

Parliamentary reforms also increased the number of voters from 20 % to 70 % including the representatives of the working class. This fact and the growth of newspaper publishing strengthened the importance of public opinion and led to the growth of democracy.

The time in general was very remarkable because of the change in thinking — more and more attention was given to the well-being of the community and ordinary people.

Science and Arts in the Victorian Age. This second part of the 19^th century was a period of scientific discoveries and inventions, which changed lives of people:

• Joseph Lister developed antiseptic surgery;

• J.J. Thompson probed the structure of the atom;

• Charles Darwin developed a theory of evolution;

• Organic Chemistry was transformed into biochemistry.

Changes in science and society structure affected the way of thinking — in literature new names as Bernard Shaw, Charles Dickens, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Thomas Hardy appeared. They depicted strengths and weaknesses of the period.

Britain – "the Workshop of the World"

By the 1850s, Britain established a dominant position in the world trade and industry. British industry produced iron, coal, textiles, iron goods and many other items that couldn't be rivaled by other developed nations as Prussia, France and the USA. By 1850, Britain's volume of external trade was greater than that of Germany, France and Italy put together and three times greater than that of the USA. The policy of free trade provided by the British government made British imports of raw materials cheap and her manufactured exports were carried to the farthest corners of the world. London became the world's financial centre. By 1870, England became an urban country — the population of cities and towns reached 66 % of the total population of the country.

The pride of Britain and example of her economic growth was the system of railways which had no analogues in the world at that time. The achievements of the Industrial Revolution allowed creating first good trains which immediately became very popular. These trains made transportation of goods quicker and cheaper, so the system of railways also grew immensely. By 1840, the railways connected all parts of Great Britain — they reached not only important industrial centres, but also economically unimportant towns.

In 1851, the first passenger train was provided by the railway companies. It stopped at all stations, giving a possibility to people to move, quickly and lazily from one place to another. The introduction of passenger trains changed patterns of living in Britain — now many people moved to suburbs and travelled to the city every day by train. Thus they could have country dwelling and also enjoy all advantages of the city. By the beginning of the 20* century a great number of commuters travelled every day from then-houses in the suburbs to their jobs in the city every day.

In 1851, the British government organised the first world exhibition called the Great Exhibition. It included show-pieces of industrial progress from many nations, but chief among them were things made in Britain — "the workshop of the world". This exhibition displayed British supremacy and manufacturing achievements from all over the world.

Till the 1890s, Britain remained the most developed industrial country in the world until she lost this supremacy — first to the United State and then to Germany. Free trade policy of laisser-fair made British goods really cheap, so they spread all over the world.

At the end of the 19^th century, you could find British nails in any household of more or less developed country — so widespread were British exports.

British Foreign Policy at the Second Half of the 19^th Century

The main principles of British foreign policy of the period were closely connected with free trade and colonial expansion. Britain remained in "splendid isolation" from other countries, making alliances and supporting only those states, which could bring advantages and victories. For this policy Britain got the name "treacherous Albion", as very often British rivals were made to fight against one another.

As the result of the Opium Wars (1839—1842, 1856—1858 and 1860) fought in alliance with France, Britain broke down the barriers that prevented the free export of British goods to China. Hong Kong became an important strategic base.

In 1853—1856, in the Crimean War Britain, in alliance with other European countries headed by France and Austria, gained victory over Russia. This victory allowed Britain and France to get access to the Turkish market, Russia was forbidden to fortify any harbours on the Black Sea or to keep any warships there.

In the second half of the 19^th century, Britain continued to extend her colonial empire. The dominions like Canada and Australia got a right to form self-government, by the end of the century they developed then-own economies.

The period of the 1850s and 1860s was very tense in relations with Ireland. In 1845, 1846 and 1847, potato crop failed in Ireland, which caused a severe famine in this country. At the same time Ireland had enough wheat to feed the entire population, but it was grown by the Protestant landowners for export to England, so the Irish population did not get it. "The Great Famine" took the lives of half million of Irishmen and increased immigration to America. By 1848, the population of Ireland fell from over 8 to 6,5 million.

The country did not recover from this stroke till the end of the century — immigration to North America continued, between 1841 and 1920 almost five million Irish settled there. Irish Diaspora supported liberation movements in their native country aimed to make Ireland independent.

The serious conflict to end Victoria's reign was the Boer Wars against the descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa. The two wars (1899—1902) began after the discovery of gold in Transvaal and anti-British policy of these colonies. The British got a victory over the Boers; in May 1902 the Boer republics were absorbed into the British Empire. These wars were the last during Queen Victoria's reign; they finally led to Army reforms in Britain.