The Victorian Age History and Society PDF

The Victorian Age History and Society The Victorian Age 1837 - 1901 An age of industry and reforms History and Society - The Victorian Age  The Chartist Movement and the Reform Bills Queen Victoria (1837-1901) came to the throne during a difficult political and economic period. The Reform Bil...

The Victorian Age History and Society The Victorian Age 1837 - 1901 An age of industry and reforms History and Society - The Victorian Age  The Chartist Movement and the Reform Bills Queen Victoria (1837-1901) came to the throne during a difficult political and economic period. The Reform Bill of 1832 had partly satisfied the middle class, but little had been done for the working class. Workers’ demonstrations were common, and protest often seemed on the verge of revolution. The largest organized workers’ movement was that of the Chartists. History and Society - The Victorian Age In 1867 that a second Reform Bill was passed: it gave town workers the right to vote, but still excluded miners and agricultural workers. These were finally granted franchise (i.e., the right to vote in an election) with a third Reform Bill (1884), by which suffrage was extended to all male workers. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Free trade and the Great Exhibition After 1846 free trade was adopted. Partly because of the prosperity resulting from free trade policies, England did not have the armed revolutions that broke out all over Europe in 1848. In 1851, the Great International Exhibition of London displayed the wonders of industry and science: it revealed Britain as the world’s leading political and economic power. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Industry and science The triumph of industry coincided with the invention of the steam locomotive and the development of the railways which by 1848 covered much of the country. By 1849 regular steamboat services linked Britain with America and the rest of the world. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Industry and science Scientific research was no longer mainly theoretical, but was applied to the invention and construction of machines. The study of electricity, for instance, led to the American Samuel Morse’s invention of the telegraph. Gas lighting in city streets was first introduced to London in 1816. History and Society - The Victorian Age  The poor: urban slums The poor endured terrible conditions. The new Poor Law of 1834 was far from being a solution to the problem: the poor were amassed in workhouses which closely resembled jails and conditions were appalling. In large cities, urban slums became synonymous with the Industrial Revolution. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Social reforms During the Victorian Age several important social reforms were carried out. The most important are: the Mines Act (1862), which forbade the employment of women and children in mines; the Emancipation of religious sects (1871), which allowed Catholics to hold government jobs and to enter the universities of Oxford and Cambridge; History and Society - The Victorian Age  the Trade Union Act (1875), which legalized the activities of the unions of workers. The unions grew steadily and came to play an important role determining internal policy. History and Society - The Victorian Age  The new political parties Britain’s modern-day parties were born during Victoria’s reign: the Conservatives evolved from the old Tories, and the Liberals from the Whigs. The growth in political importance of the working class was marked by the foundation of the Labour Party in 1900. Thanks to this, and to the third Reform Bill, workers’ representatives could sit in Parliament for the first time. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Reform Bill (1832). Chartist Movement, ask of the right to vote for working class. Free trade (1846). Industry and Railway covered much of the country (1848). reform Steamboat service to America and the rest of the world (1849). Great International Exhibition of London (1851). the Mines Act (1862); the Emancipation of religious sects Social reforms (1871); the Trade Union Act (1875). History and Society - The Victorian Age The British Empire History and Society - The Victorian Age  The Irish question Relations with Ireland had always been difficult, but they worsened during Victoria’s reign, due to recurrent famines, especially due to the potato blight of 1845. Since the Irish economy and people’s diet were based on potatoes, when the crops failed, emigration to the United States or to England was the only alternative to starvation. History and Society - The Victorian Age  A movement for Irish independence began, led by Charles S. Parnell (1846-91), who asked for Home Rule (self-government) for Ireland. He convinced Prime Minister Gladstone to present the Irish Home Rule Bill in the Houses of Parliament (1886), but it was twice rejected. History and Society - The Victorian Age  European policy Britain’s European policy from 1830 to 1851 was shaped by the Liberal Lord Palmerston, then Britain’s foreign minister. He was convinced that British interests were opposed to those of European monarchies such as Austria and Russia, which were protectionist. Britain therefore set herself at the head of the liberal forces in Europe. History and Society - The Victorian Age A conflict came with the Crimean War (1854-56), due to a dispute between Turkey and Russia over their border. Britain and France sided with Turkey, and Russia was finally defeated. Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), an Englishwoman, went to the Crimea to organize hospitals and to relieve soldiers’ sufferings. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Colonial policy: Australia, New Zealand and Canada During the reign of Queen Victoria the British Empire greatly expanded. By the time she died in 1901, the Empire had consolidated its possessions in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Indian sub- continent and the Caribbean, and had acquired new territories and strongholds across Africa, the Pacific and South East Asia. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Colonial policy: India and Africa In 1876 Queen Victoria became Empress of India – the territories controlled actually included: India; Bangladesh; Pakistan. History and Society - The Victorian Age  In Africa the British occupied: Uganda, Kenya, Rhodesia (today’s Zimbabwe), the Niger territories. History and Society - The Victorian Age  In the Cape Colony (South Africa), formerly Dutch, the relations between the Dutch colonists (called Boers) and the British were never good. The Boer War (1899-1902) was won by Britain, which gained control over the provinces of Orange and Transvaal, rich in gold and diamonds. History and Society - The Victorian Age  The celebration of the Empire For the whole of the 19th century and up to the First World War the BritishEmpire was of supreme importance for Great Britain – first and foremost, for commercial reasons; a large proportion of all British industrial exports went to the Empire (over a third by 1914). History and Society - The Victorian Age  Rivalry with Germany and U.S. Two powerful rivals emerged at the end of the 19th century: Germany, which under Bismarck’s guidance was beginning to seriously challenge Britain’s naval and industrial supremacy; the United States, which was now on a par with Britain with regards to its industrial production. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Beginning of Irish independence movement (1846). The Irish question Irish Home Rule Bill (1886) twice rejected. Parliamentary monarchy. Crimean War (1854-56), Britain, France and Turkey defeat Russia. The British European and Queen Victoria became Empress of India Empire colonial policy (1876). The Boer War (1899-1902), Britain defeats Holland. Germany, was challengeing Britain’s naval Rivals of the and industrial supremacy; Empire the United States, which had increased its industrial production. History and Society - The Victorian Age Empire and Commonwealth History and Society - The Victorian Age  The expansion of the British Empire The Empire wasn’t just a military and a commercial concern. The glories of trade and empire practically and symbolically merged in the 1851 World Exhibition at Crystal Palace. Among the colonies, India was “the jewel in the crown”, in Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli’s words, especially when in 1876 Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. History and Society - The Victorian Age  The heyday of the British Empire The territories which were consolidated in the period up to 1901 were spread across the world from Canada to Australia and New Zealand as well as the Caribbean and the Indian sub continent. New strongholds were established throughout Africa, the Pacific and South East Asia. The Empire was important for Great Britain throughout the 19th century and until the First World War. History and Society - The Victorian Age  The main reason for this was commercial as a significant proportion of industrial exports were to countries in the Empire. By 1914 these exports accounted for over 30 per cent of the total. The Empire was a lucrative market for British businessmen and financiers. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Politics and patriotism The working class was generally more concerned with issues closer to home. When the Boer War between the British and Dutch settlers broke out, many working-class men volunteered to fight, not necessarily because of any commitment to the cause of Empire, but rather to escape poverty at home. History and Society - The Victorian Age  Enthusiastic support for the Empire, came from the middle classes and this naturally resulted in support for the ruling class. In general, though, it is true that patriotism ran very high in all classes. The Empire was defended by the world’s most powerful navy, and in India alone there were some 340,000 troops. History and Society - The Victorian Age  By 1901, Britain’s imperial defence costs were twice as much as those of Germany or France. And the political and commercial expansion of France in Africa and of Russia in the Far East was becoming more aggressive. These were all signs of the decline and break up of the British Empire that was to occur in the first half of the 20th century. History and Society - The Victorian Age  From Empire to Commonwealth As early as the 19th century, some colonies were already being given limited independence. The following achieved “dominion status”: Canada Australia New Zealand Cape Colony (South Africa) History and Society - The Victorian Age  This meant that they were free from direct British control in their internal affairs, though not in matters of foreign policy and defence. They retained Queen Victoria as head of State, and made up the British Commonwealth of Nations. History and Society - The Victorian Age  In 1949, after the end of the Second World War and the dismantling of the British Empire, this developed into the modern Commonwealth of Nations. Many of the original members were former British colonies. Since then, other countries from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Americas and Europe have become members. History and Society - The Victorian Age  World Exhibition (1851), militar and commercial trade merged. Expansion of New strongholds were established in Asia, British Empire Pacific and South East Asia. Export accounted for over 30 per cent of the total (1914) During Boer War (1854-56) working-class men volunteered to fight to escape poverty Empire and Politics and at home. patriotism Britain’s imperial defence costs were Commonwealth twice as much as those of Germany or France (1901). Limited independence to some colonies (dominion status); From Empire to the modern Commonwealth of Nations Commonwealth is born after the end of the Second World War. History and Society - The Victorian Age