MODERN STATE (VICTORIAN ERA)
VICTORIA’S EMPIRE In 1882 Britain was in the later stages of acquiring the largest empire the world had ever seen. POLITICS The political structure of the Victorian era it was far from democratic. No women could legally vote in parliamentary elections until almost 18 years after Victoria's death. If not democratic, the political system was becoming increasingly representative. Britain managed to modernize its political system without succumbing to the political revolutions that afflicted virtually all of its European competitors. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Industrialisation brought with it new markets, a consumer boom, and greater prosperity for most of the propertied classes. It also brought rapid, and sometimes chaotic change as towns and cities expanded, and the consequences were poor housing conditions, long working hours, the ravages of infectious disease and premature death. Ireland, the Protestant northeast around Belfast excepted, did not experience