Inglese

Queen Victoria's reign

Queen Victoria went to the throne in 1837. It was one of the logest reings in Great Britain's history,
ended when the Queen died in 1901; a reing second only to that of Elizabeth II.
This period, called Victorian era, lasted for almost 64 years and it was one of the most intense and
complex periods of British history, an age of profound economic, social and cultural changes.
Industrial and economic development

During the 19th century, London became the world's largest city and the population increased in
many British cities because people started to move from the coutryside to the city centre to work in
factories.
In cities, people lived in very bad conditions because of poverty, disease and degradation.

Machines were the symbol of progress:

• they changed the work in factories and on the land raising productivity;
• the printing machines helped to spread knowledge;
• the train shortened times and costs of travelling (in 1836 London's first railway line opened);
• British ships composed the strongest fleet in the world (commercially and militarily)

The developement of the middle class and the success of Britain in science, technology and industry
was celebrated in the GREAT UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION of 1851 in London.
The exhibition took place in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park and many common people visited it
reaching London by train.
Victoria Station was built fot this reason.
Social conflicts

This period was also chacarterised by many social conflicts:

• contrast between very rich and very poor people;
• contrast between science and moralism;
• contrast between liberalism and the first socialist movement in defence of workers rights;
• development of feminist ideas (women could divorce in case of violence, they started to
work as nurses, the suffragette movement raised to ask for the right of vote for women).

The middle class got important advantages with the abolition of the Corn Laws, which imposed a
very high taxation on imported goods. Banks became very important because they could give the
industrial middle class big amounts of money.
The colonies around the world represented British global power.

The working class lived and workes in very bad conditions: people worked for 14 hours; children
were exploited in factories; there was no light nor water in the houses; crime, prostitution and
diseases like cholera were very common.The ruling class seemed to help poor people with little
charity initiative, but they didn't really want things to change.
Social reforms

The workers were not politically represented.

In 1838 the Chartist Movement was formed. They asked for: the abolition of property rigths, secret
vote, universal suffrage for men, a salary for the member of Parliament BUT their requests were
rejected by the Parliament.

In 1871 the Trade Unions became legal and in 1893 the Indipendent Labour Party was founded.
With the Education Act, the number of children who went to school increased.

Changes in the party system

In this period the traditional parties changed. The Tories, who rappresented the landowners, became
the Conservative Party and the Whigs gradually became the Liberal Party, supported by the
middel classes.
All the governments of the Victorian era had to face the Irish question, characterized by a growing
demand of independence and opposition towards Britain's government because they didn't aid
Ireland during a famine. Fenian movement was formed and used terrorism in support of Irish
independence.
Colonial Expansion

Britain increased its dominations in Africa, Australia and New Zeland. Canada became a colony
in 1867. Britain entered the Chinese market after winnig the two Opium Wars and conquering
Hong Kong as a new colony.
Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1877. An important step was the control of a part of
the Suez Canal in 1875, which gave the British control over the routes to India.
At the end of the century there were the first sings of a crisis in the British colonial Empire with the
growth of independence movements and the explosion of conflicts in Ireland and South Africa
(Boer Wars).