Pages 12 and 13
A. Victorian society:
a world of contrasts
Teacher’s
introduction:
In the 19th century, economic changes (industrialisation) brought many social changes (from a rural to an urban lifestyle) and political changes (a very slow increase of power to the working class).
The industrial revolution created immense wealth, but it was not fairly distributed; the contrasts in income and living conditions between the wealthiest and poorest members of Victorian society were very strong.
The industrial revolution created immense wealth, but it was not fairly distributed; the contrasts in income and living conditions between the wealthiest and poorest members of Victorian society were very strong.
During the reign of Queen Victoria (she died in
1903), the living and working conditions of the workers in the UK were indeed terrible: slum housing, disease (cholera epidemics), lack of education, dangerous and badly-paid jobs, etc. This lead to social conflicts but also to efforts at political and social reform.
Social reformists (religious charities and leaders, paternalistic industrialists, philanthropists, politicians, intellectuals, artists and writers such as Charles Dickens, workers themselves organized in workers' unions and societies, Suffragettes) pushed for reforms to improve the working and living conditions of the poorest members of society (the sick, disabled, old, children, women, unemployed, unskilled workers).
Read and translate the
title, introductory paragraph and key question.
Answers to questions 1
and 2:
According to Robert Giffen in his Essays in Finance of 1887, the purchasing
power and living conditions of the working class improved during the 19th century. Giffen was firm believer in “laissez-faire” economics (i.e. minimum
State intervention in the economy). William Booth’s sociological study In Darkest England and the way out of 1890
contrasts with Giffen’s analysis. He notes that there are hundreds of thousands
of extremely poor people living in London alone.
Giffen’s study is in fact accurate because he
describes the status of skilled workers which did indeed improve during the
Victorian era. He does not, however, mention the awful plight of unskilled workers.
These were often newly arrived from the rural areas and were mostly
concentrated in the East End of London; the very poor represented about 15% of
London’s population of 4 million.
Answer to question 3:
This 1888 oil painting by William Logsdail is in a realistic style (it looks almost
like a photo snapshot) comments on the social inequality of Victorian London.
The central figure is a sad-looking flower girl. Behind her, a wealthy mother
and child pass by. Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields is a church in Trafalgar Square
(London). The work highlights the plight of child street sellers. The painter seems to ask through his work if it is fair that a very young girl has to work whilst others live in luxury (he is probably also questioning the role of the Church). It would also have reminded contemporary audiences of the 'Bloody Sunday' demonstrations which had taken place in Trafalgar Square a few months before; thousands of people, demanding the right to free speech, were brutally attacked by armed police and troops.
B. Social reform and
the rise of the Labour movement
Teacher’s comments:
Workers, in order to improve their living and
working conditions, set up trade unions. These became legal in 1871. Following
the London Dockers’ strike in 1889, trade union membership increased.
The TUC (Trade Union Congress), set up in 1868,
brought together most of the trade unions. The TUC and other socialist
organizations set up a political party which became the Labour Party in 1906.
It defended workers’ interests in the Westminster Parliament. James Keir Hardie was its first leader.
Read the FACTFILE
Comments on document
4:
The pioneer of most social reform was Germany. Otto von Bismarck, the most powerful German politician of the second half of the 19th century, passed legislation in favour of workers (mostly
to counteract the influence of the SPD, the socialist party, set up in 1875).
France implemented major social reform only after the Second World War.
In the UK, many social reform laws (retirement pensions, unemployment and health insurance), laying the foundations for the modern welfare state, were passed by the Liberal government (a centrist party) between 1906 and 1911. David Lloyd George was the most important political figure at that time.
In the UK, many social reform laws (retirement pensions, unemployment and health insurance), laying the foundations for the modern welfare state, were passed by the Liberal government (a centrist party) between 1906 and 1911. David Lloyd George was the most important political figure at that time.
Comments on document
5:
This is an extract of an article by George Bernard Shaw, the famous playwright and a member of the Fabian Society (a
British socialist organization which contributed to the founding of the Labour Party).
The cost of membership, according to Shaw, prevented the British
trade unions from growing; only after the successful Great Dock Strike of 1889 did membership increase markedly (note that there had also been a strike by the London matchgirls in 1888). Dockers were unskilled laborours.
The unions subsidized Labour politicians. In a sense, the Labour Party became the political branch of the unions In other countries, socialist parties were more independent from the unions.
The unions subsidized Labour politicians. In a sense, the Labour Party became the political branch of the unions In other countries, socialist parties were more independent from the unions.
