Empire and industry

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Britain itself was peaceful. Abroad, however, it was aggressively expanding its Empire. Britain was a powerful and rich country because of its Empire and its industry. Cheap raw materials, produced by badly paid and unpaid workers, were imported from the colonies. The technological changes of the Industrial Revolution allowed Britain to manufacture products cheaply for export.

The Industrial revolution caused great social changes in Britain. Many people had moved from the land to the cities. These people now worked in the factories, an urban working class which was often very poor. In Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), children, as young as four, had jobs in factories. Their parents did not have the vote and so could not change things. Many children worked in very bad conditions in Victoria’s reign. In 1833, it became illegal to employ children below the age of 13 for more than 48 hours per week.

The Reform Act of 1832 gave the vote to all men who owned the house, but it was not until 1918 that the right to vote was given to all men over 21 and to women over 30. Women under 30 had to wait until 1928 for the vote.

Britain at its most powerful had colonies in every continent, but the end of the Empire happened quickly, just after the Second World War (1939-1945). India, one of the most important colonies, became independent in 1948. In the 1960s, the African and Caribbean countries also became independent. British people began to realize that their country was no longer an imperial, world power but just one country in a European Community.

1. Read the text and be ready to discuss the following:

a) Why Britain is the Protestant country?

b) The move towards parliamentary democracy.

c) The rise and fall of the British Empire.

2. a) Did our country ever have any overseas colonies?

b) When were women given the vote in Russia?

Did it happen sooner or later than in Britain?

3. a) Choose one of the following dates and give a short

description of what happened in Britain:

1534, 1588, 1649, 1833, 1948