The Victorian Era and the British Empire
Sports

The Victorian Era and the British Empire

What happened during the Victorian era?

The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign, from June 20, 1837 until her death on January 22, 1901.

The era followed the Georgian period (1714 to 1837, named for the Hanoverian kings George I, George II, George III, and George IV) and was characterized by a class-based society that included the upper, middle, and lower classes.

It was a period of old-fashioned ideals, celebrated for its corsets, coifs, top hats, bustles and petticoats and the entrepreneurial spirit of the self-made man.

Charles Dickens became famous as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), a British nurse, known as “The Lady with the Lamp,” whose experiences during the Crimean War laid the foundation for modern nursing .

Coronation of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria’s father died when she was just 8 months old and all three of her uncles also passed away, putting her in line as heir to the throne when she was 18.

Her coronation took place on Thursday June 28, 1838, just over a year after she succeeded to the throne with Lord Melbourne, her first Prime Minister, who trained her in the art of politics.

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her first cousin, became Queen Victoria’s consort from their marriage on February 10, 1840, until her death in 1861.

Her children married into royal and noble families, earning Victoria the nickname “the grandmother of Europe” and spreading hemophilia among European royalty.

Prince Albert died of typhoid fever on December 14, 1861, at Windsor Castle with Queen Victoria and five of their children at his bedside.

The Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914)

The Belle Époque (La Belle Époque, “Beautiful Age”) between the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw French artistic arts flourish, with numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theater and visual art flourished.

In Britain and the rest of Europe, it was characterized by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations.

Industrial Revolution

The dramatic forces of change unleashed by the Industrial Revolution made the British Empire the world’s leading industrial power, producing much of the world’s coal, iron, steel and textiles during the Victorian era.

The first Industrial Revolution (1760 – 1840) in Britain saw the disappearance of rural life as cities expanded rapidly and the factory system, centered on textile manufacturing, was established.

Three of the most influential inventions of this period were the coke-fired oven, the steam engine, and the spinning machine, which increased production capabilities.

The Second Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1914) focused on profitable steel production, railroad expansion, advances in electricity, improved communications, oil, and the automobile.

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922), a Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer, invented and patented the telephone in 1876, while Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – August 2 April 1872), an American inventor and painter, invented the electric telegraph (1832-35) and then co-developed Morse Code (1838).

Child labor during the Victorian era.

Child labor during the Industrial Revolution was made notorious for the conditions in which children were employed, depriving them of their childhood, their ability to attend school, and was mentally, physically, socially, and morally damaging.

Children made up more than 25 per cent of the British workforce in mines, factories and workshops.

Many began work at four or five years of age, working long hours in hazardous working conditions.

In coal mines, children crawled through tunnels too narrow and low for adults, and boys worked as chimney sweeps in rich homes to remove soot.

The famous author, Charles Dickens, worked at the age of 12 in a black factory, with his family in debtors’ prison.

Lord Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (April 28, 1801 – October 1, 1885) was a British politician, philanthropist, and social reformer who became known as the “Earl of the Poor” because of his advocacy of better treatment of the working classes.

He was also president of the Ragged School Union, which promoted the education of the most disadvantaged children in society.

Lord Shaftesbury believed that education was a way to free children from poverty.

Factory Acts he supported ensured better conditions for children and women which included:

*The maximum working day will be 12 hours.

*Children under 9 years old will not be able to work.

*children ages 9-13 restricted to a 48-hour work week, with part-time school attendance.

British Empire

At just 4 feet 11 inches tall, Victoria was a towering symbol of the British Empire.

His reign paved the way for a modern and prosperous Britain.

From the mid-18th century, the Royal Navy was the most powerful in the world and played a key role in establishing the British Empire.

Victories over Napoleonic France increased Britain’s influence abroad as Lord Nelson’s fleet defeated the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in Belgium in 1815.

Queen Victoria became Empress of India on the advice of her seventh Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli.

She approved of his imperialist policies that led to the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s with the other great European powers.

Britain became the most powerful nation in the world with a quarter of the world’s population owing allegiance to the queen.

William Ewart Gladstone (December 29, 1809 – May 19, 1898) was a Liberal politician who served 12 years as Prime Minister of Great Britain in four terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894.

His political doctrine, known as Gladstonian liberalism, was to reduce privilege and open established institutions, such as universities and the military, to all.

Political parties during the Victorian era

The two main political parties during the Victorian era were the Whigs/Liberals and the Conservatives.

The Whigs were a major British political group in the late 17th to early 19th centuries who wanted limited royal authority and increased parliamentary power.

The Labor Party was founded in 1900, having emerged from the trade union movement and socialist parties of the 19th century which overtook the Liberal Party, to become the main opposition to the Conservative Party in the early 1920s.

Prominent statesmen during the Victorian era included Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, and Lord Salisbury.

Lord Melbourne (a Whig), who was British Prime Minister from July 16 to November 14, 1834, and from April 18, 1835 to August 30, 1841, was a close friend of Queen Victoria and chief political adviser during the first years of his reign (from June 20, 1837).

Crimean War

The Crimean War (1853-6) was a major European military conflict of the 19th century that saw an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, Great Britain, and Sardinia against Tsarist Russia.

The immediate cause involved disputes over Orthodox holy sites in Jerusalem and the rights of Orthodox Christian minorities in the Holy Land, which were under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire.

The French Emperor Napoleon III (a Catholic) refused.

Having obtained promises of support from France and Great Britain, the Ottoman Turkish Empire declared war on Russia in October 1853.

Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade which took place during the Battle of Balaklava, on October 25, 1854 of the Crimean War, was the British light cavalry force with fast horses and soldiers armed with lances and sabers.

Through misunderstood orders, the 670-horseman Light Brigade began a headlong charge against the heavily defended Russian troops.

The legend was made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his 1855 poem to honor their bravery and sacrifice: “Honour the charge they made! Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!”

florence nightingale

Florence Nightingale, (1820 – 1910) was a British nurse and the founder of modern nursing.

She became famous for her nursing work during the Crimean War (1854-1856) and an icon of the Victorian era as “The Lady with the Lamp” who made her nightly rounds among wounded and dying soldiers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *