La Regina Vittoria e l'età vittoriana, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica La Regina Vittoria e l'età vittoriana e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Backstory (William IV) •In 1832 the First Reform Act extended the vote to all men with an income at least of £10 a year •In 1833 the Factory Act regarded children and women working in textile factories. It established that no child could work under the age of nine and limited the working hours. The Act also required children under 13 to receive two hours of schooling every day. •In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment established that people who could not support themselves were admitted to workhouses: places where the poor or people with financial problems could live and work (especially children/orphans). Queen Victoria She succeeded her uncle William IV and the 18 y/o princess became Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland. At first, because of her young age, she was inexperienced but found support in her Prime minister, Lord Melbourne. In 1840 she married her cousin to whom she gave the title of Prince Consort. She was deeply devoted to her husband and bore 9 children. Victoria restored the reputation of the monarchy, dimmed by her ancestors and shaped a new role for the Royal family through her civic duties and profound understanding of her constitutional role. The new political parties The merits of this positive political period belonged to the Queen, who reigned constitutionally: she was a mediator between the two parties (Liberals and Conservatives) and never overruled Parliament. -Gladstone was the major representative for the Liberal party and was Prime Minister four times. -Disraeli was the major representative for the Conservative Party. He was a firm believer in the British Empire and crowned Victoria 'Empress of India'. He was also responsible for the Second Reform Bill, which extended suffrage to the working class, and for legalising the trade unions in 1875. Industrial and technological advance The industrial revolution was the process of change from a farming and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. The process began in Britain in the late 1700s, but the full effects only started to be seen during Victoria’s reign. The most important changes brought about the Industrial Revolution were: 1. the invention of machines that produced items more quickly and efficiently than ever before; 2. the use of steam, steel, and iron; 3. the adoption of the factory system. Important developments in transportation occurred, for example the railroads and the steam locomotives gave people the opportunity to travel cheaply and easily around the country. But even inventions like the telegraph and the penny postal system made an important contribution to communications. However, the Victorian Age wasn’t only a period of progress and prosperity, actually it was also characterised by many social problems such as the widening of the economic gap, the exploitation of labour and the overpopulation (because rural populations went to the cities for work). In addition, the spread of industrialisation tremendously increased the use of natural resources and overseas colonies were exploited for their raw materials. Eventually, industrialization led to seeing machines as instruments that aroused as much wonder as fear, since they led the worker to alienation. The empire and the patriotism The Victorian Age saw the greatest splendour and extension of the British Empire which became one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world. Just think that it covered about one-fifth of the Earth’s land mass and Victoria ruled a quarter of the world’s population. The empire attracted the British who, trying to escape poverty, emigrated to Canada and Australia, looking for fortune in an Empire on which the sun never set. Furthermore, Victorians were arrogantly convinced of their superiority and regarded the expansion of the empire as a mission: they had the moral duty to export their language, culture and traditions to the uncivilised lands. (often failing to realise that they were exploiting peoples or pretending not to see it) Patriotism and national fervour were deeply influenced by ideas of racial superiority: in fact the British had the conviction that races were divided by physical and intellectual differences, consequently some were destined to be led by others. This theory was supported by Darwin's famous work “On the origin of species”, in which he explained that, in the fight for life, the strongest survived while the weakest deserved to be defeated. He also discarded the version of creation given by the Bible, arguing that man is the result of a process of evolution. The Opium Wars 1840 In 1840 the Chinese government tried to put an end to the East India Company's illegal exportation of opium from India, which caused serious social and economic problems. Britain won the war and China was obliged to cede Hong Kong and Shanghai. The Crimean War 1854-1856 This war was fought by Britain in alliance with France in order to stop the advance of the too powerful Russian Empire. Britain won the war even though it provoked the deaths of many human lives. The terrible reality of war induced people to go to Crimea to nurse the soldiers, marking the birth of the nursing profession. The Boer War 1899-1902 From 1899 to 1902, Britain was at war with the South African provinces. Dutch Boers colonised these territories in the 17th century, yet Britain occupied them during the Napoleonic Wars and took their complete control after the Congress of Vienna. When the Boer republics were found to be rich in diamonds and gold, the Boers feared annexation and declared war. It was particularly disastrous and cruel, and was won by Great Britain which gained supremacy over the two republics. The Indian Mutiny 1857 India was one of Britain's most important possessions. The Indian Mutiny was a widespread but unsuccessful rebellion against British rule in India begun by the sepoys (native soldiers) who rebelled against their British commanders. The revolt was quickly suppressed and in 1857 the British Government took over rule from the East India Company. Ireland The nation suffered a devastating famine in the years from 1845-47, caused by a failure of the potato crop. It brought, among the population who depended on them for survival, thousands of deaths for starvation and drove several Irish to emigrate to the Americas and Australia.