19th Century British History (1837 AD – 1902 AD)
19 世纪英国历史（公元 1837 年 – 公元 1902 年）
The British Empire came to its peak during the reign of Queen Victoria. Due to its political stability and technological advancement it was able to have a huge impact on promoting free trade across the world. During the Victorian era, the British pound had the same influence on the world economy as U.S. dollar does today.
大英帝国在维多利亚女王统治期间达到了顶峰。由于其政治稳定和技术进步，它能够对促进全球自由贸易产生巨大影响。在维多利亚时代，英镑对世界经济的影响与今天的美元相同。
Despite Britain’s dominance of the world economy, there were still external factors that threatened to draw Great Britain into war. The Ottoman Empire in central Europe was collapsing and Britain was forced to intervene to stop Russia taking over its territory. France and Germany were also looking to expand their empires. In Africa, there was often military conflict between European countries over territory.
尽管英国在世界经济中占据主导地位，但仍有一些外部因素威胁着将英国卷入战争。中欧的奥斯曼帝国正在崩溃，英国被迫干预以阻止俄罗斯接管其领土。法国和德国也在寻求扩张他们的帝国。在非洲，欧洲国家之间经常发生领土军事冲突。
During the American Civil War, Great Britain government supported the Confederates because the south of America was a major source of cotton for the U.K. The British people however supported the Union side as the U.K was dependent on food supplies from the U.S. and also because of their opposition to slavery.
在美国内战期间，英国政府支持南方邦联，因为美国南部是英国棉花的主要来源。然而，英国人民支持联盟一方，因为英国依赖美国的食品供应，也因为他们反对奴隶制。
In the U.K there were still major tensions between Catholics and Protestants. Only in 1829 were Catholics able to join the U.K. Parliament. In Ireland, a catholic nationalist movement rose against the protestant dominance and the control of the mainland government. The distrust between the different parties resulted in intolerance and violence which has persisted up to the present day. Also in Ireland, there was a major famine when the potato crops died from blight. Many Irish people died and the situation was made worse by the mainland government and landowners. As a result of this disaster, many Irish people emigrated to places such as America, Canada and Australia.
在英国，天主教徒和新教徒之间仍然存在重大紧张关系。直到 1829 年，天主教徒才能够加入英国议会。在爱尔兰，一场天主教民族主义运动兴起，反对新教的统治和大陆政府的控制。不同政党之间的不信任导致了不容忍和暴力，这种不容忍和暴力一直持续到今天。 同样在爱尔兰，当马铃薯作物因枯萎病而死亡时，发生了一场大饥荒。许多爱尔兰人死亡，大陆政府和土地所有者使情况变得更糟。由于这场灾难，许多爱尔兰人移民到美国、加拿大和澳大利亚等地。