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4. Art and artists

he Romantic movement was also reflected in art. Landscape painting especially acquired new importance, notably in Britain, and its greatest exponents were among the leaders of Romanticism. It was the time of the great English painters John Constable and William Turner. They are both famous for their landscapes, but Turner is especially known for his remarkable light effects. Sketching all over Europe during a long life, Turner produced a succession of water-colours and oil painting of great subtlety and power. Constable reinvented the medium of oil paint as a vehicle for his personal sensations in front of English rural scenery. And though his painting met with little success at the Royal Academy exhibitions, his idea of making art from direct observation of nature brought profound changes to painting later in the 19^th century. Unlike Constable, Turner was hugely successful in his own time, partly because the works he exhibited basically corresponded to the prevailing academic theory that in art landscape should be transformed by the artist's imagination. Even so, his extraordinary use of colour and light, and his dramatic innovations in the painting of stormy seas and effects of weather, made him controversial throughout his career.

Other artists set out to explore the inner world of the mind. William Blake developed a whole private mythology to investigate the meaning of human life and its place in God's creation. Blake was a poet, an artist, a professional engraver and a mystic. His early works (Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience), although Romantic, were never free from symbolism. Some of his poems were published only in 1925. Most of his books were self-illustrated.

5. Victorian Age

During the Victorian Age, the British Empire reached its height and covered about a fourth of the world's land. Industry and trade expanded rapidly, and railways and canals crossed the country. Science and technology made great advances. The size of the middle class grew enormously. By the 1850s, more and more people were getting an education. In addition, the government introduced democratic reforms.

• Monarchy

By the late 1830s the monarchy was beginning to look a disreputable and even unnecessary institution. Kings were not expected to rule but to reign. From this low point the monarchy was rescued by Queen Victoria, one of the most notable figures in British royal history. She came to the throne in 1837 and reigned u ntil her death in 1901. Her achievement was restoring respect and usefulness to the Crown, and then going further by becoming the symbol of the nation.

Victoria first learned about her future role during a history lesson when she was 10 years old. The future queen reacted to the discovery by declaring, "I will be good." She took an active interest in the policy of her ministers. Her relations with Prime ministers Peel and Disraeli were excellent but she was not on good terms with Palmerston and Gladstone. The Queen’s conscientious approach to her duties did much to raise the reputation of the monarchy.

One should never forget about the impact of Victoria’s private life on the country’s policy. In 1839 Victoria fell in love with her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. They were married in February 1840, and Albert soon developed a keen interest in governing his new country. Prince Albert served as his wife’s private secretary. Being an active patron of the arts and sciences he was the prime organizer of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Albert also favored the expansion of education, and he served as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He became a great champion of strengthening and modernizing Britain's armed forces. Though Prince Albert was respected by most of his new countrymen, he was not loved; many resented him because he was a foreigner. For Victoria, however, her husband represented perfection, and the two were very happy together. The royal couple offered an example of family life that contrasted sharply with the images of the previous British monarchs. They took an intense personal interest in the upbringing of their children, and enjoyed a private family life.

Victoria partly owed her success to the fact that she possessed shrewd commonsense and high principles. In many ways the Queen was a very contradictory person. She idolized family life, but felt uncomfortable in the presence of little children. She had no interest in social issues, and yet the 19th century in Britain was an age of reform. She resisted technological change at the time when technological innovations reshaped the face of European civilization. And a lot of technological initiatives came from Britain. Most significantly, Victoria was a queen determined to retain political power; yet unwillingly she greatly contributed to the transformation of the monarch’s political role into a ceremonial one and thus preserved the English monarchy. In a period when middle-class values were of greatest importance, Victoria embodied the qualities that the middle classes most admired – devotion to family and friends, integrity and reliability. Everything that was summed up in the word “respectability”. Nowadays we use the word “Victorian” not only in the meaning of “old-fashioned”, but also to characterize efficiency, high morals and good business practice. But Victoria’s most important asset was her devotion to the nation. Even when she became an elderly woman, she continued to execute her duties.

Victoria early became a widow as Prince Albert died of typhoid fever in 1861. The Queen wanted to retire from public life completely but the sense of duty and responsibility made her emerge from retirement to perform her royal duties. In the last 20 years of her reign she became as completely loved and idolized as Elisabeth I had been. Victoria was often called “the grandmother of Europe” because by her children’s marriages she was related to every royal house of Europe.

• Home and Foreign Policy

In the 19th century the British Empire was constantly expanding and reforming its political relations with old colonies. In 1837 there was a rebellion in Canada. That led to working out the system of self-government for Canada. In 1855, a similar system was applied to the other two territories with white populations, Australia and New Zealand. Later, Prime Minister Gladstone became convinced that there should be Home Rule for Ireland and introduced a Bill in Parliament in April 1886. But the Bill was lost.

The British Empire managed to acquire new territories in various regions of the world. Particularly successful was the conquest of India. Due to internal disputes India’s rulers found themselves completely unprepared for a well-elaborated British invasion. It was Prime Minister Disraeli and his government that gave Queen Victoria the title of Empress of India in 1877.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the purchase of a half-share in the enterprise aroused British interest in the affairs of Egypt and the Sudan. In fact, the British government did not have any elaborated policy towards Africa until the end of the century. They did not want extra territories to administer at great coast. Muсh of the exploration of Africa was left to private individuals: missionaries and businessmen. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary explored much of East and Central Africa. Cecil Rhodes, an explorer, businessman and settler, aimed to establish a great empire for Britain in Africa and to build a railroad from Cairo to the Cape. British influence was similarly extended to Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda through private companies.

The situation in the Near East was also far from being stable. There were serious collisions between the Russian and British Empires about the control other the territory of Afghanistan. Neither of the two succeeded in conquering the country, but a very bitter feeling remained and affected the relations between Russia and Britain.

• The Crimean War (1854-1856)

Britain’s only war with a great power in the 19th century was the Crimean War with Russia. It lasted from 1854 to 1856 and was aimed at the reduction of Russian influence in the Balkan region. The war revealed that the British army was very inefficient compared to other European armies.

The most important battles were fought at Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman. The first Victoria crosses were awarded. The siege and defence of Sevastopol brings to the Russian mind the names of admirals Kornilov, Nakhimov, and the first Russian nurseDaria Mikhailova. To the English mind, it brings the name of Florence Nightingale, the first English nurse. Her work in organizing field hospitals in the Crimea pioneered modern nursing methods and promoted the recognition of nursing as a respected profession.

After a long siege Sevastopol was taken by the allies in 1855 and the war was ended by the Treaty of Paris (1856). The Treaty provided for the demilitarization of the Black Sea. Neither Russia nor Turkey was allowed to have a fleet of ships in the Black Sea. The position of the British Empire was strengthened again. The Russian Black Sea fleet was rebuilt only 16 years later.

• The Boer War

At the end of the century (1899 – 1901), Britain waged a war in South Africa known as the Boer War. The presence of British emigrants in the two Dutch Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, and the question of their civic rights under the Boer rule, worsened Anglo-Boer relations. In 1899, the Boers under Kruger, the Transvaal President, declared war on Britain. It was the first war overseas to split the public opinion. Moreover, public opinion in Europe and America turned against Britain as in opened the first internment camps. The war led to a demand for army reform and to a reaction against imperialism.

The war was won by Britain and the two Dutch republics became part of the British Empire, but Queen Victoria did not live to celebrate the victory. She died in 1901, and her death marked the end of an age – Britain’s summer.

• The development of industry and science.

Victoria’s reign saw the rapid industrialization of Britain, and a vast growth of national wealth, reflected in the imperialism of the late 19^th century. Britain became the strongest colonial power in the world. Its trade with colonies flourished. British businessmen wanted to buy cheap and sell dear, but they were blocked by various preferences granted to colonial produce. Thus foreign markets were growing more important than colonial.

The development of industrial production and trade stimulated the development of transport. The railroad network more than doubled during the mid-Victorian years. And although originally the railroads were built to carry goods, they also catered for passengers. The number of passengers carried annually increased 7 times by the middle of the century. A boom in steamship building began in the 1860s. The value of British exports went up 3 times and overseas capital investments increased 4 times.

The Great Exhibition of 1851, held at Crystal Palace in London, was the first world's fair and symbolized Britain’s industrial supremacy.

Working class living standards improved. The growth of trade unionism led to the establishment of the Trades Union Congress in 1868.

The Victorian age was the peak of the so-called “English summer”. And not only due to the industrial development and colonial expansion of the country. It was also the age of rapid development of science. Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday are two of the most distinguished figures in the history of British science.

In 1857 Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. His theory of evolution based upon scientific observation, was welcomed by many as proof of mankind’s ability to find a scientific explanation for everything. But for religious people, who made the majority of the middle class, the idea that all living-beings, including human-beings, had developed from simpler creatures was intolerable. It led to a crisis in the Church. The battle between “faith” and “reason” lasted for the rest of the century.

• Reforms in education

The country’s developing economy needed skilled workers, technicians and engineers to meet the demands of the growing industrial centres. From the 1870s to the 1890s, several Education Acts were passed by Parliament. In 1870 schooling was made compulsory. All children up to the age of 13 were supposed to go to school, where they were taught reading, writing, arithmetic and sometimes – elementary science. In Scotland, there had been a state education system since the time of the Reformation. There were 4 Scottish universities, three of them dating from the Middle Ages. In Wales, schools had begun to grow rapidly in the middle of the 19^th century, partly for nationalist reasons. By the middle of the century Wales had a university and a smaller university college.

The government began to build “redbrick” universities (and schools) in the new industrial centres. The term “redbrick” distinguished the new universities, usually built of red brick, from older, mainly stone-built universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The new universities had a more pragmatic approach to education, and taught more science and technology to feed Britain’s industries.

• Social life

From the early 1850s to the early 1870s, with occasional years of high unemployment and business failure, almost all sections of the population seemed to be benefiting from relative prosperity. Profits rose, and so did wages and incomes from land. Indeed, those supporters of protection who had argued in the 1840s that free trade would ruin British agriculture were mocked by the mid-Victorian prosperity of agriculture. It was during these years that Victorianism, came to represent a cluster of moral attributes such as “character”, “duty”, “will”, earnestness, hard work and respectable behaviour. These virtues were not only embraced by the striving bourgeoisie, but all of them also made an appeal to other class sections of the population, aristocratic or trade-unionist. But in spite of that, there was always a Victorian underworld. Belief in the family was accompanied by the spread of prostitution, and in every large city there were districts where every Victorian value was ignored. Many Victorians were as eager to read about crime as to read the Bible.

The Late Victorian period was a time of security, the age of house parties and long weekends in the country. Different variants of socialist theories spread in Great Britain including Marxism.

London remained the financial, political and cultural centre of Britain. Moreover, it was one of the country’s industrial centres. You can now watch an old documentary showing London at the end of the 19^th century.