Chapter6 The United Kingdom after the Mid⁃19th Cen...
》》Key Words
■Queen Victoria
■the Reform Acts
■compulsory education
■the Second British Empire
■the Opium War
■the Scramble for Africa
■the World Wars
■the Great Depression
■the Labor Party
■the welfare state
■the European Union
■Margaret Thatcher
■Tony Blair
■the Third Way
The latter part of the 19th century in Britain was known as the Victorian Age named after Queen Victoria.This was a time of great prosperity in Britain，with rapid economic expansion，the growth of the middle class，great social and political reforms，and the establishment of the largest empire in the world.
Queen Victoria who ruled the country from 1837 to 1901
In the 20th century，the United Kingdom underwent many fundamental changes.It was involved in two world wars which caused tremendous damage to the nation and contributed to the collapse of its empire.It experienced a severe economic depression in the 1930s which prompted a movement towards socialist economic policies.The Labor Party rose to power in the 1920s the support of labor unions，and founded the British welfare state after World WarⅡ.Labor governments nationalized important industries，which would be denationalized decades later by the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher.At the end of the century，the Labor Party implemented profound centrist changes to its policies under the leadership of Tony Blair.The British economy went in cyclic development of busts and booms based on political cycles.