Amazon eBay: Queen Victoria and Her Age The Victorians In the early 21st century, people associate the “Victorian Age“ with many different things. Some think of the prudishness, taboos and moral rectitude that were typical of an era for which virtuous behaviour meant the highest achievement. Politically-minded people might think of the conquest of India, the colonisation of Canada, the Boer War or the Opium Wars. Others think of Crystal Palace, industrial inventions and discoveries, fog-filled London streets and Jack the Ripper. People who care about social issues think of the social reforms, the important new legislation to help the poor and to combat child labour, and also the beginnings of women's suffrage. Yet behind all of this was a small but very powerful woman: Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India. Queen Victoria and Her Role in British History Few women have played such a great role in British history. Victoria ran a whole empire and a whole era was named after her. During her lifetime London became the most important metropolis in the world, a centre of trade, manufacturing, banking and transport, and its population swelled from 2 to 5 million inhabitants. Victoria lived for 81 years. Although she once wrote: “We women are not made for governing”, she ruled a kingdom that became a huge empire for 63 years, and celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 1887 and even a Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Her official title – “By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith” – became even more impressive when she received the title “Empress of India”. She ruled over the British Empire, which at one point covered one quarter of the surface of the globe – an empire “on which the sun never set”, and was the longest-reigning British monarch. Indeed, her empire grew so quickly that Lord Palmerston, her Foreign Secretary, once moaned that he was forced to “keep looking the damned places up on the map”! A great number of places were named after her: Victoria Falls, Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, Victoria Island, the state of Victoria in Australia etc... During her reign Britain reached the height of its commercial, political and economic leadership. Her age was characterised by rapid political, social and economic changes: the invention of photography, construction of the railways, and so on. Even though she was a firm believer in the monarchy and determined to retain political power, Victoria also presided over the transformation of the sovereign's political role into today's ceremonial one. Victoria's Personality A shy and promising young girl who was forced to lead quite a solitary life until she came of age, Victoria developed into a very complex personality. She had several talents: she was quite a good writer and even published two books, was a skilled amateur artist who created excellent sketches and good water colours, and she was also a gifted singer. The great composer Felix Mendelssohn praised Hintergrundtext Bayern2Radio - radioWissen © Bayerischer Rundfunk 2 her beautiful voice which he said was “the finest singing voice of any amateur” he had heard. Despite these talents, however, Victoria was a very mature and serious child. Throughout her life, she worked hard and took her royal duties very seriously. Since she kept a regular diary, we know that she tried very hard to prepare herself for her future role as queen: “Today is my eighteenth birthday! How old! And yet how far am I from being what I should be. I shall from this day take the firm resolution to study with renewed assiduity, to keep my attention always well fixed on whatever I am about, and to strive to become every day less trifling and more fit for what, if Heaven wills it, I'm some day to be.”

Tue Feb 9 04:48:52 2010