Definition of Victorian Era

Between 1837 and 1901 the British crown was in the hands of Queen Victoria. During his long reign, the United Kingdom established itself as the first world power and one of the largest empires in history. Historians refer to this period with one term, the Victorian era.

Political stability and economic boom made the UK a great power

From a political point of view, the democracy British remained stable and at the margin of the revolutionary processes of other European nations. While other towns set up barricades in the streets and lived through periods of great social unrest, the British solved their problems in the chambers of popular representation.

On an economic level, the United Kingdom experienced a period of great expansion, especially in industry textile and in the financial sector.

From a commercial point of view, the British promoted imports of raw materials at low prices, at the same time that they sold their textile products all over the world.

In the energy field, the British were the world's major coal producers. The railway network and the telegraph were key elements in the

economy national.

The economic expansion only had some conflictive episodes (for example, the war in the United States caused a decrease in the supply of cotton for the textile industry).

A society with great contrasts

Despite the remarkable economic growth, British society presented great contradictions. In the city of London there were entire neighborhoods where people lived in miserable conditions.

While the wealthy classes lived surrounded by luxury and glamor, factory workers worked in very precarious conditions (in 1847 there was an important advance, since it was prohibited that women and kids will work more than 10 hours a day).

It is not strange that in this weather of oppression labor the first workers' unions emerged in the UK.

The Queen and the Indian Servant

During the Victorian era a moral Puritan in all walks of life. In this sense, some intellectuals expressed their discomfort at the hypocritical attitudes of the Puritans.

Queen Victoria herself had a love affair with one of her Indian attendants, Abdul Karim. This relationship had a clear hypocritical component, since the queen had expressed social and racial prejudices, but in her intimate life she had relationships with a servant of another race.

The two were lovers for a decade and when the queen passed away in 1901 the family The royal attempted to conceal any testimony or evidence linking the queen to her servant.

Photo: Fotolia - Archivist

Themes in Victorian Era