	History of Victorian period
Charles Dickens	The History of England from the 20-s of the 19^th Century to the Beginning of the 20^th Century. The Epoch of the Reign of the Queen Victoria. This period in the history of England is considered to be the most prosperous and progressive one. This is the period of colonial expansion of Great Britain during the 19^th century, the period of wars and rebellions in British colonies. The Beginning of the Victorian Age Alexandrina Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India (1819 – 1901) was the child of Edward, duke of Kent, and of princess Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. On the 20^th of June, 1837 , after her uncle’s (William IV) death 18 year old Victoria became the direct heiress to the throne. The coronation took place on the 28^th of June 1838 . Victoria had no enemies except of few number, and the land was peaceful and prosperous when she began to reign over it. During her reign she had a good advisers in her uncle Prince Leopold of Coburg and his doctor and private secretary Baron Stockmar, a man of encyclopeadic information, who had given special attention to the problems of a sovereign’s position in England and played an important role in Queen Victoria ’s life. So, they had always hoped to arrange the marriage of Victoria with her cousin, Albert of Saxe-coburg-Gotha. The marriage took place on the 10^th February 1840 . The Queen and Lord Melbourne. The Queen’s Husband The Queen’s first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, taught the young Queen the duties of the constitutional monarch. From the time of the queen’s marriage the crown played an active part in the affairs of state. The most important part in it played Lord Melbourne, who took the common-sense view that husband should control his wife whether people wish or not. Prince Albert soon took the place de facto of the sovereign’s private secretary. Sir Robert Peel, the Chartists, and Free Trade At the general election of the 1842 the Whigs returned in a minority, and Lord Melbourne resigned. Sir Robert Peel now became prime minister, and Tory appointments were made. Thus, within ten years of the Reform Act, the reforms seemed to be exhausted. A movement was growing up among the working classes in the large towns which went far beyond that of 1832. This was the Chartist movement, so called from the “People’s Charter”, a document drawn up in 1838. The Chartist’s demanded universal suffrage, vote by ballot, annual Parliaments, payment of members, abolition of the property qualification for the members of parliament, and equal electoral districts. All these reforms seemed revolutionary at that time. With this belief in their heads, no wonder that the number of the Chartists grew rapidly. The first Chartist’s petition was rejected by Parliament in 1839, which was followed by protests of the working people and repressions by the Government. The Chartist leaders were arrested, the Movement was defeated when the second Petition was also rejected by Parliament in 1842. There were some poets among the Chartists, the most important of them was Ernest Jones, who wrote such poems as “Prison Bars”, “The Silent Cell”, “ Liberty ”, “Bread”, etc. Liberty “Thy birth-place, where, young Liberty ? In graves “mid heroes” ashes, Thy dwelling, where, sweet Liberty ? In hearts, where free blood dashes.”… Alongside of this revolutionary agitation, another movement of a more legal character was taking place. The alternative to the Whigs polices was the new Conservative Party, created by R. Peel. Peel’s financial reforms brought revival to the country (1844), and legislation to protect factory and mine workers improved their conditions, but the disaster came with the poor harvest in Britain and Ireland . Famine in Ireland (1845) convinced Peel that the Corn Law should be repealed (in1846). It was the greatest victory of the free traders. This was Peel’s last great work. Shortly afterwards he resigned. Free trade may now be said to have been definitely established. The national wealth had grown fast. O’Connell and Ireland Although Ireland was united to Great Britain by the Act of Union in 1800, it still required a separate existence, in many respects. The evils from which Ireland suffered after 1800 were principally these. In the first place, the Roman Catholics, who numbered five-sixth of the population, were excluded from Parliament and the higher official positions. The Protestant Church – the church of a small minority – was supported by tithes drawn from the mass of the people, believers in another creed. Along with this religious inequality went many social troubles. As the landlords were for the most part stupid and wasteful, they did not make anything to improve their estates and were often heavily in debt. The inhabitants of Dublin were cultivated and some of them were even brilliantly educated, but the people in general throughout the whole country were utterly ignorant. The government of Dublin Castle , presided by the Lord Leutenant, was careless and in-efficient. Such a state of things could not but produce widespread discontent. There were organized many revolutionary and secret societies. The movement for Catholic Emancipation for a time absorbed the energies of the Irish people. It was successful in 1829. But its leader, O’Connell, was not satisfied with this success. As soon as Catholic Emancipation was reached, he began to agitate for the repeal of the Union . Soon it became universal throughout Ireland , and O’Connell’s power over the Irish peasantry seemed very strong. But the discontent was as much religious and social as political. The misery of the people during the years 1846-1848 was appalling. Large numbers emigrated, the population fell, and the emigrants carried away with them a bitter sense of wrong which has been the source of many troubles. The Situation in England in the Middle of the 19^th Century Queen Victoria’s Prime Ministers followed one another due to the Political developments in Parliament: Lord Melbourne, Sir R. Peel, Lord John Russel, Earl of Derby, Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount Palmerstone, Benjamin Disraeli, W. E. Gladstone, Earl of Rosebery, Marquess of Salisbury. Encouraged by Prince Albert , the Queen came into conflict with Palmerstone. In 1854 the Crimean War broke out – when Britain and France declared war on Russia in support of Turkey . Prince Albert had supported the policy of preventing the war while Palmerstone was given the Parliamentary support as the only Prime Minister capable of winning the War, and the Queen was compelled to accept him as Prime Minister in 1855. Palmerstone became the symbol of British superiority in everything: in fights, in trade, in politics. The Crimean War revealed the courage of ordinary soldiers and the incompetence of the command. Newspapers reported the shocking conditions in the army hospitals, the terrible organization of supplies: a load of army boots sent out from Britain turned out to be for the left foot. The war solved nothing but it brought a glory to the remarkable work of Florence Nightingale, “the lady with the lamp”, who organized hospitals and treatment of the wounded. In India the British policies aroused a revolt in 1857, it was known as the Indian Mutiny; and it developed into a national movement against foreign rule. There was much violence on both sides. The British brutally punished the defeated rebels, which caused a feeling of animosity that later grew into the Indian Independence movement of the twentieth century. Queen Victoria suffered a great personal tragedy in 1861 – Prince Albert died of typhoid – and the Queen went into deep mourning, withdrew from public duties and lived in isolation for a decade. Her last thirty-five years of reign were a period of struggle between the new Liberal Party led by W. E. Gladstone and the Conservatives who were headed after Palmerstone by Benjamin Disraeli. On the great issues which dominated British politics in the last quarter of the 19^th century – the extension of the parliamentary franchise, the limitation of the Power of the House of Lords, social reform, Home Rule for Ireland and the new aggressive imperialist policy abroad – Queen Victoria strongly sympathized with Conservatives and disapproved of Gladstone and Liberals. B. Disraeli became Prime Minister in 1868 and first held the office for only nine months, but he managed to establish a very close relationship with the Queen and further developed it during his second term of office (1874-1880). B. Disraeli pleased the Queen greatly by persuading Parliament to agree to grant her the title of Empress of India. The contest of Disraeli and Gladstone was in full swing, and the two-party system had been already firmly established. Jingoism (the word for extreme, flag waving patriotism) was encouraged by B. Desraeli, but it was condemned by his rival, the Liberal Leader, William Gladstone. Literature, Art and Science All the Victorian writers, poets, painters glorified English culture. Tennyson and Browning dominated the poetry. Charles Dickens in his novels “David Copperfield”, “Oliver Twist”, “Nicholas Nickleby” exposed the social evils of the time. Thackeray exposed the middle class hypocracy in his “Vanity Fair”. It was a great age for novels. Women writers – the Bronte sisters, Mrs Gaskell – flourished as never before. Thomas Hardy and Henry James were “Victorian” novelists too. Painters of the group called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood expressed the great Victorian nostalgia for the Middle Ages. Victorian science was to become greatly influential on the developments in the Modern Time. Charles Darvin – the founder of the modern theory of biological evolution – shocked the world. The Growth of the British Empire The Empire, that Great Britain had gained by the middle of the 19^th century, was the result of the greatest power that Britain possessed through its command of trade, finance and manufacturing. The colonies were united by English law and by trade, the forms of governing administration varied. The whole population was growing due to the emigration from the British Isles : throughout the 18^th, 19^th centuries poor and disadvantaged people sought a new and a better life in the colonies. In 1850 New Zealand became the responsibility of the Crown. The population of Australia was expanding rapidly. There were four self-governing colonies: New South Wales , South of Australia, Victoria and Queensland . By the end of the century the Empire was spreading over the continents of Africa , Asia , North America , Australia . The sun did not set on the Empire. The colonial office became a large and important ministry. Imperialism had become popular with the middle classes. The patriots of jingoism sounded more and more aggressive: The action of the imperialists were no less dishonourable: a chain of “small colonial wars” was caused by the aggression of the British imperialism. But the Anglo-Boer War proved to be an unsuccessful surprise to the British people and the proof of a certain weekness of the Empire (1880-1881, 1899-1902). The Role of the United Kingdom at the End of the Victorian Age The role of the United Kingdom at the end of the Victorian Era, at the end of the 19^th century was highly important, jingoistic (shovinistic) imperialism and the financial strength spread over the world through the export of capital by the banks of the City, strongly influenced the internal development of the country: Anglo-Saxon shovinism and superiority complex in the upper spheres and the trade unionism, emigration to the colonies, political parties struggle for power were the consequences.

History of Victorian period

Charles Dickens

The History of England from the 20-s of the 19^th Century to the Beginning of the 20^th Century. The Epoch of the Reign of the Queen Victoria.

This period in the history of England is considered to be the most prosperous and progressive one. This is the period of colonial expansion of Great Britain during the 19^th century, the period of wars and rebellions in British colonies.

The Beginning of the Victorian Age

Alexandrina Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India (1819 – 1901) was the child of Edward, duke of Kent, and of princess Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

On the 20^th of June, 1837 , after her uncle’s (William IV) death 18 year old Victoria became the direct heiress to the throne.

The coronation took place on the 28^th of June 1838 . Victoria had no enemies except of few number, and the land was peaceful and prosperous when she began to reign over it.

During her reign she had a good advisers in her uncle Prince Leopold of Coburg and his doctor and private secretary Baron Stockmar, a man of encyclopeadic information, who had given special attention to the problems of a sovereign’s position in England and played an important role in Queen Victoria ’s life.

So, they had always hoped to arrange the marriage of Victoria with her cousin, Albert of Saxe-coburg-Gotha. The marriage took place on the 10^th February 1840 .

The Queen and Lord Melbourne. The Queen’s Husband

The Queen’s first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, taught the young Queen the duties of the constitutional monarch.

From the time of the queen’s marriage the crown played an active part in the affairs of state. The most important part in it played Lord Melbourne, who took the common-sense view that husband should control his wife whether people wish or not. Prince Albert soon took the place de facto of the sovereign’s private secretary.

Sir Robert Peel, the Chartists, and Free Trade

At the general election of the 1842 the Whigs returned in a minority, and Lord Melbourne resigned. Sir Robert Peel now became prime minister, and Tory appointments were made.

Thus, within ten years of the Reform Act, the reforms seemed to be exhausted. A movement was growing up among the working classes in the large towns which went far beyond that of 1832. This was the Chartist movement, so called from the “People’s Charter”, a document drawn up in 1838. The Chartist’s demanded universal suffrage, vote by ballot, annual Parliaments, payment of members, abolition of the property qualification for the members of parliament, and equal electoral districts. All these reforms seemed revolutionary at that time. With this belief in their heads, no wonder that the number of the Chartists grew rapidly. The first Chartist’s petition was rejected by Parliament in 1839, which was followed by protests of the working people and repressions by the Government. The Chartist leaders were arrested, the Movement was defeated when the second Petition was also rejected by Parliament in 1842.

There were some poets among the Chartists, the most important of them was Ernest Jones, who wrote such poems as “Prison Bars”, “The Silent Cell”, “ Liberty ”, “Bread”, etc.

Liberty

“Thy birth-place, where, young Liberty ?

In graves “mid heroes” ashes,

Thy dwelling, where, sweet Liberty ?

In hearts, where free blood dashes.”…

Alongside of this revolutionary agitation, another movement of a more legal character was taking place.

The alternative to the Whigs polices was the new Conservative Party, created by R. Peel. Peel’s financial reforms brought revival to the country (1844), and legislation to protect factory and mine workers improved their conditions, but the disaster came with the poor harvest in Britain and Ireland . Famine in Ireland (1845) convinced Peel that the Corn Law should be repealed (in1846). It was the greatest victory of the free traders. This was Peel’s last great work. Shortly afterwards he resigned.

Free trade may now be said to have been definitely established. The national wealth had grown fast.

O’Connell and Ireland

Although Ireland was united to Great Britain by the Act of Union in 1800, it still required a separate existence, in many respects.

The evils from which Ireland suffered after 1800 were principally these. In the first place, the Roman Catholics, who numbered five-sixth of the population, were excluded from Parliament and the higher official positions. The Protestant Church – the church of a small minority – was supported by tithes drawn from the mass of the people, believers in another creed.

Along with this religious inequality went many social troubles. As the landlords were for the most part stupid and wasteful, they did not make anything to improve their estates and were often heavily in debt. The inhabitants of Dublin were cultivated and some of them were even brilliantly educated, but the people in general throughout the whole country were utterly ignorant. The government of Dublin Castle , presided by the Lord Leutenant, was careless and in-efficient.

Such a state of things could not but produce widespread discontent. There were organized many revolutionary and secret societies. The movement for Catholic Emancipation for a time absorbed the energies of the Irish people. It was successful in 1829. But its leader, O’Connell, was not satisfied with this success. As soon as Catholic Emancipation was reached, he began to agitate for the repeal of the Union . Soon it became universal throughout Ireland , and O’Connell’s power over the Irish peasantry seemed very strong. But the discontent was as much religious and social as political.

The misery of the people during the years 1846-1848 was appalling. Large numbers emigrated, the population fell, and the emigrants carried away with them a bitter sense of wrong which has been the source of many troubles.

The Situation in England in the Middle of the 19^th Century

Queen Victoria’s Prime Ministers followed one another due to the Political developments in Parliament: Lord Melbourne, Sir R. Peel, Lord John Russel, Earl of Derby, Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount Palmerstone, Benjamin Disraeli, W. E. Gladstone, Earl of Rosebery, Marquess of Salisbury.

Encouraged by Prince Albert , the Queen came into conflict with Palmerstone. In 1854 the Crimean War broke out – when Britain and France declared war on Russia in support of Turkey . Prince Albert had supported the policy of preventing the war while Palmerstone was given the Parliamentary support as the only Prime Minister capable of winning the War, and the Queen was compelled to accept him as Prime Minister in 1855. Palmerstone became the symbol of British superiority in everything: in fights, in trade, in politics.

The Crimean War revealed the courage of ordinary soldiers and the incompetence of the command. Newspapers reported the shocking conditions in the army hospitals, the terrible organization of supplies: a load of army boots sent out from Britain turned out to be for the left foot. The war solved nothing but it brought a glory to the remarkable work of Florence Nightingale, “the lady with the lamp”, who organized hospitals and treatment of the wounded.

In India the British policies aroused a revolt in 1857, it was known as the Indian Mutiny; and it developed into a national movement against foreign rule. There was much violence on both sides. The British brutally punished the defeated rebels, which caused a feeling of animosity that later grew into the Indian Independence movement of the twentieth century.

Queen Victoria suffered a great personal tragedy in 1861 – Prince Albert died of typhoid – and the Queen went into deep mourning, withdrew from public duties and lived in isolation for a decade. Her last thirty-five years of reign were a period of struggle between the new Liberal Party led by W. E. Gladstone and the Conservatives who were headed after Palmerstone by Benjamin Disraeli.

On the great issues which dominated British politics in the last quarter of the 19^th century – the extension of the parliamentary franchise, the limitation of the Power of the House of Lords, social reform, Home Rule for Ireland and the new aggressive imperialist policy abroad – Queen Victoria strongly sympathized with Conservatives and disapproved of Gladstone and Liberals.

B. Disraeli became Prime Minister in 1868 and first held the office for only nine months, but he managed to establish a very close relationship with the Queen and further developed it during his second term of office (1874-1880). B. Disraeli pleased the Queen greatly by persuading Parliament to agree to grant her the title of Empress of India.

The contest of Disraeli and Gladstone was in full swing, and the two-party system had been already firmly established.

Jingoism (the word for extreme, flag waving patriotism) was encouraged by B. Desraeli, but it was condemned by his rival, the Liberal Leader, William Gladstone.

Literature, Art and Science

All the Victorian writers, poets, painters glorified English culture. Tennyson and Browning dominated the poetry. Charles Dickens in his novels “David Copperfield”, “Oliver Twist”, “Nicholas Nickleby” exposed the social evils of the time. Thackeray exposed the middle class hypocracy in his “Vanity Fair”. It was a great age for novels. Women writers – the Bronte sisters, Mrs Gaskell – flourished as never before. Thomas Hardy and Henry James were “Victorian” novelists too.

Painters of the group called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood expressed the great Victorian nostalgia for the Middle Ages.

Victorian science was to become greatly influential on the developments in the Modern Time. Charles Darvin – the founder of the modern theory of biological evolution – shocked the world.

The Growth of the British Empire

The Empire, that Great Britain had gained by the middle of the 19^th century, was the result of the greatest power that Britain possessed through its command of trade, finance and manufacturing. The colonies were united by English law and by trade, the forms of governing administration varied. The whole population was growing due to the emigration from the British Isles : throughout the 18^th, 19^th centuries poor and disadvantaged people sought a new and a better life in the colonies. In 1850 New Zealand became the responsibility of the Crown. The population of Australia was expanding rapidly. There were four self-governing colonies: New South Wales , South of Australia, Victoria and Queensland . By the end of the century the Empire was spreading over the continents of Africa , Asia , North America , Australia . The sun did not set on the Empire. The colonial office became a large and important ministry. Imperialism had become popular with the middle classes. The patriots of jingoism sounded more and more aggressive: The action of the imperialists were no less dishonourable: a chain of “small colonial wars” was caused by the aggression of the British imperialism. But the Anglo-Boer War proved to be an unsuccessful surprise to the British people and the proof of a certain weekness of the Empire (1880-1881, 1899-1902).

The Role of the United Kingdom at the End of the Victorian Age

The role of the United Kingdom at the end of the Victorian Era, at the end of the 19^th century was highly important, jingoistic (shovinistic) imperialism and the financial strength spread over the world through the export of capital by the banks of the City, strongly influenced the internal development of the country: Anglo-Saxon shovinism and superiority complex in the upper spheres and the trade unionism, emigration to the colonies, political parties struggle for power were the consequences.