During the Victorian period, Britain was a powerful country with a rich culture. It had a stable government, a growing state, and an expanding franchise. It also controlled a large empire, and was rich, in part due to the degree of its industrialization and imperial possessions and despite the fact that three-quarters or more of its population was of the working class. Late in this period, Britain began to decline as a global political and economic power compared to other major powers, particularly the United States, but this decline was not sharply marked until after World War II.England was already in the midst of limited reforms: Parliament, the treatment of Catholics, the way poverty was dealt with, and how the Church was run. To survive, the Tories reinvented themselves as Conservatives under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel. The Liberals gradually emerged from the old aristocratic Whig party. For both parties, the keywords were low taxes and minimal state intervention.As ever practical, England thus avoided the upheaval that swept the continent during the 'Age of Reform' that culminated in the Year of Revolutions, 1848. England, by contrast, saw only the Chartist-democratic movement in its aims to reform the electoral system. Peaceful and moderate in her approach. However, it was ruthlessly abolished, and the extension of the right to vote beyond the small elite was achieved only slowly.
