Victoria Wettin Research Paper

Alexandria Victoria Wettin was a “stubborn, loving, temperamental, imperious, and kind” woman (Ashby 106), and each one of those qualities helped her to rule a successful and expansive empire, even in her most grievous of times. She was brought up by her mother, Princess Mary Louise Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, under very strict rules and groundlines that shielded her from society for much of her childhood (Felder 134). She was crowned the British monarch in 1838 at nineteen and embraced values such as “duty, family, conscience, morality, and stability” (Felder 134). She came to rule during the Industrial Revolution, when the British empire was populated with coal mines and cloth factories (Bernard 7). Queen Victoria, as she was known to her

Nine years before, she learned of her future role and responded with the phrase “I will be good,” which she lived up to until her dying breath (Veldman et al.). During Victoria’s reign, she ruled under a constitutional monarchy, meaning that Queen Victoria had no real authority over government matters; however, she could influence and guide Parliament in her favor (“Victoria” The Royal Family). Queen Victoria is said to have been a good monarch, despite the disrespect the majority of Britain put on the royal family at the beginning of her reign (“Victorian Era: Information about Society & Daily Life”). Victoria came to rule “on the brink of a profound social and technological transformation,” which made Britain one of the wealthiest, and most populated, empires in the world (Felder 134). The Victorian Era, which was named after the British queen, was largely centered on the middle-class and the unjust regulations of the workers in society (Loftus). For all of Victoria’s reign, she would put emphasis on motherhood and family (Veldman et al.), along with women’s rights and education reform (Bernard 7), which helped to shape the Victorian era and society in Britain

Queen Victoria ruled during the Industrial Revolution, which has increasingly helped the innovation of new technologies and industries across the globe. Great Britain had an excess amount of natural resources and a large enough workforce to make the empire one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the world. Trade and competition was heightened (Williams), and the expansion of the British empire was one of Victoria’s personal missions as the queen. Victoria had many important events occur in her lifetime, but the most significant out of them all was the Great Exhibition of 1851. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert both wanted to share the knowledge that Great Britain held with the nations of the world. The exhibition led to an increase in trade and immense competition, which would fuel the economy into present day. The event also celebrated the acceptance of Prince Albert as part of the British people, not just as a foreigner. The Crystal Palace is still a symbol of the Victorian era (Felder 135) and the impacts it had in its own territory, and around the world as