Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and reigned until 1901, bringing the monarchy popularity. She married Prince Albert but was devastated by his early death in 1861. Her period of seclusion drew criticism but her advisers persuaded her to take a more public role, boosting support for the monarchy. Britain's empire grew through the 19th century driven initially by trade but later by fear of rivals, leading to costly colonial wars. Industrialization negatively impacted peripheral regions like Wales, Scotland, and Ireland but social and economic conditions improved in Britain between 1875-1914 as prices fell and real wages rose.

1. Queenandmonarchy
QueenVictoriacome toto the throne as as a youngwoman on 1837 and reigned until heardeathin
1901.She didnotlike the wayin whichpowerseemedtobe slippingsoquickly awayfromthe
monarchy and aristocracy,butlike heradvisers she wasunable topreventVictoriamarried a
German, Prince Albertof Saxe-Coburg,buthe,diedatthe age of forty-twoin1861.
She couldnot getoverher sorrow at hisdeath,andfora longtime refusedtobe seeninpublic.
Thiswas dangerous thingtodo.Newspapersbegantocriticise her,andsome even questioned the
value of the monarchy.Many radicalsactually believed the endof monarchywasboundto happen as
a resultof democracy.Mosthad no wishtohurrt this process,and were happy toletthe monarchy
die naturally.However,the queen’sadvisers persuaded hertotake a more publicinterestinthe
businessof the kingdom .She did so,andthe soonbecame extraordinarily popular.Bythe time
Victoriadied the monarchy wasbetterloved amongthe British thanithad everbeenbefore.
Queenandempire
Britain’s empire hadfirstbeenbuiltontrade and the need todefend thisagainstrival European
countries.Afterthe lossof American colonies in1783,the ideaof creatingnew colonies remained
unpopularuntil the 1830s.Instead,britainWatched the oceancarefully tomake sure itstrade routes
were safe ,andfoughtwars in orderto protectits “areasof interest”.In1889 itattacked Chinaand
forceditto allow the profitablleBritishtrade in opiumfromIndiatoChina.The “OpiumWars” were
one of the more shameful eventinBritish Colonialhistory.After about1850 Britainwas drivenmore
by fearof growingEuropean Competition thanby commercial need.This ledtothe takingof land,the
creationof colonies,andtoColonialwars thatwere extremely exspensive.Fear Russiawould
advance southwards towardsIndiaresultedin adisastrous warinAfghanistan (1839-42),inwhich
one army was completely destroyed byAfghan forcesinthe mountains.soon after,Britainwas
fightingawar inSindh,apart of modern Pakistan,thenanotheragainstSikhsinthe Punjab,in
northwest India.
Wales,Scotlandand Ireland
As industrialisation continued,the areasatthe edge of British economicpowerbecame
weaker.Areasin Wales,Scotland andIreland were partycularly affected.
Waleshad fewer thaneitherScotland orIreland.Itspopulation grew fromhalf amilion in1800 to
overtwo milionby 1900, partly because the average expectation of life doubled fromthirty to
sixty.InsouthWales there were richcoal whichquicklybecame the centre of arapidly growingcoal
and steel industry.
Social and EconomicImprovements
Between 1875 and 1914 the condition of the poor inmostof Britain greatly improved asprices fell
by 40 percent and real wagesdoubled.Life athome wasmade more comfortable.Most homesnow
had gas bothfor heating lighting.Asaresult of fallingprices andincreasedwages,poorfamilies could

2. eat betterfood, includingmeat,freshmilk(broughtfromthe countrysidebytrain)andthe
vegetables.Thisgreatly improvedthe olddietwhitebread andbener.