1.

Queen Victoria
• Victoria became queen at the age of eighteen in 1837.

• She ruled for almost 64 years.

• Her sense of duty made her the ideal head of a

constitutional monarchy.

• She provided her country with stability.

 2. Victoria and Albert
• Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married in 1840. They had
nine children and their family life provided a model of respectability.

• In 1857 Victoria gave Albert the title of Prince Consort, in recognition

of his importance to the country.

• Albert supported reform but in December

1861 he died suddenly at the age of 42.
The reign of Queen Victoria was one of the most important eras
in British history.
It was characterised by unprecedented scientific and
technological advancements, as well as imperial expansions.

However, uncontrolled progress

brought poverty, inequalities and
exploitations.

Social reforms reshaped the conditions of life.

 3. An age of reforms
The Reform Bill = voting privileges extended to the male
1832
middle class.

The Factory Act = reduced working hours and regulated child

1833 and female labour.

1846 Abolition of the Corn Laws

The Second Reform Bill = extended suffrage to the working

1867
classes.

1870 Education Act = elementary education became compulsory.

 4. Workhouses
Workhouses were places where, in return for board and lodging, employment was
provided for:
• the poor;
• the orphans;
• the physically and mentally sick;
• the disabled;
• the elderly;
• unmarried mothers.
 5. Chartism
In 1838 a group of working-class radicals drew up a People’s Charter
demanding:
• universal male suffrage
• parliamentary reforms
The Chartist movement failed,
although its influence was
important because it was an
inspiration for future change.
 6. Progress
• The invention of steam locomotives started the railway boom

• In 1829 the first permanent rail passenger service was opened

• The world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, was inaugurated
in London in 1863

• The communication system improved.

• 1837, invention of the telegraph

• 1840, penny postal system

• The Great Exhibition of 1851 celebrated the great industrial and

technological progress of the time.
 7. The Great Exhibition

Housed at the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, 1851

Who? Everyone from

What? It showed the Why? It was built so other all over the British
increasing power of the countries could show off their Empire gathered there to
middle classes. scientific and technological see the pride of the
developments. nations.
 7. The Great Exhibition
Inside there were many exhibits from several countries, including China,
America, Canada and many more.

On each industrial country’s exhibit they showcased their biggest designs,

fabrics and their latest creations to show that their home nation was better
than any other.

China’s section. America’s section. Canada’s section.

 7. Political parties
• Evolution of political parties

• Whigs Liberal Party (William E. Gladstone)

• Tories Conservative Party (Benjamin Disraeli)
• Gladstone, four times prime minister, attempted to give Ireland Home Rule
• Disraeli crowned Victoria ‘Empress of India’
• In 1867 he extended the suffrage to the working class (Second Reform Bill) and legalized
trade unions in 1875.

• The Independent Labour Party was founded in 1892, preparing the way for
the Modern British Labour Party (1900).
8. The Irish Potato Famine
1845 – 1847 a terrible famine hit Ireland

Causes
• Rise in population in 1845.
• Dependence on potato crops.
• Destruction of crops because of bad weather
and unknown plant disease.

What was done?

1846: Prime Minister Peel abolished the Corn
Laws, which imposed tariffs on imported corn,
keeping the price of bread high.
 8. The Irish Potato Famine
Results

• 1 million died of disease

and starvation.

• Many thousands of Irish

emigrated to escape
hunger.

• ‘Home rule’ was denied,

laying the basis for
terrible struggles
 8. The expanding Empire
The Victorians were convinced of their moral duty to export their civilisation

They actually exploited people, land and resources

• In the colonies of settlement, immigrants from Britain claimed the land and
pushed natives out.

• Canada obtained “dominion” (self-government) in 1867, Australia and New Zealand in 1907

• The Scramble for Africa is the European race to colonise the African
continent

• In 1875 Britain took control of the Suez Canal and extended its rule on the continent.
 9. Foreign policy
In the mid-19th century England was involved in a series of wars to
protect its expansion of trade.

two Opium Indian Crimean

Wars Mutiny War

• The Chinese government tried to stop the East India Company’s

exportation of opium from India to China.

• Britain won and China ceded Hong Kong and Shanghai

 9. Foreign policy
• Crimean War was fought between Britain and France against the
Russian Empire over the control of the Dardanelles

• Britain won but at a terrible cost in human lives

• Florence Nightingale led a team of nurses

and saved many lives during the Crimean
War. Once back to England, she helped to
establish the nursing profession.
 9. Foreign policy

• The Indian Mutiny: in 1857 a group of native soldiers rebelled against

their British commanders.

• The revolt was suppressed

• The British government took rule over the East India Company

• 1899 – 1902: In South Africa the Boers (descendants of Dutch settlers)

lived in an area rich in diamonds and gold.

• Britain won the Boer War and gained supremacy over the independent South African
Republic and the Orange Free State.
 10. The Victorian Compromise
• The Victorians were great moralisers they supported personal
duty, hard work, decorum, respectability, chastity.

• Respectability a mixture of morality and hypocrisy. The

unpleasant aspects of society – dissolution, poverty, social unrest –
were hidden under outward respectability.
10. The Victorian compromise
• with
The powerful middle-class
gentility and decorum. was obsessed
• Victorian private father.
an authoritarian lives were dominated by
• Women
they
homewere were subject
expected
a ‘refuge’ totomarry
for their male authority;
and
husbands.make
• Single womenaswith
marginalised a child
‘fallen’ were
women.
Decorum strict ideas about authority
 11. Early Victorian thinkers
Evangelicalism
• Religious movement derived from Methodism
• Emphasised strict moral conduct
• Supported humanitarian causes and social reform.
William Wilberforce
(1759-1833), philanthropist
Utilitarianism
• Promoted the greatest amount of good for
the greatest number of people.
Jeremy Bentham
• Neglected human and cultural values. (1748-1832), theorist.

• Any problem could be overcome by reason.

 11. Early Victorian thinkers
Fabian Society
• Was inspired by Marx’s ideas about a new distribution of wealth
• Aimed at transforming Britain into a socialist state, not through a
revolution but through gradual reforms.
Karl Marx,
(1818-1883), philosopher

Social Darwinism
• Applied the principles of natural selection to society
• Life seen as a struggle for existence, the poor and the oppressed
did not deserve compassion
Herbert Spencer,
• Theory used to justify capitalism and white supremacy. (1820-1903), philosopher