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1.VictorianEnglandtheBirthofModernSport
Tereismuchinnineteenth-centuryhistorythat
seemstodiminishthestatureofmanincomparison
withimpersonalprocessesoverwhichhehadlittle
control;butVictorianEnglandalsosuppliesmany
reassuringexamplesofman’sabilitytoorganizesome
sortofsocialorderlinessoutofapparentlyinevitable
chaos
G.D.Klingopulos
1.1.GeneralcharacteristicsoftheVictorianera
GreatBritain’smassivecontributiontomoderncivilizationbelongs
mainlytotheVictorianperiod,whichstartedin1837andendedin1901.
TefirstsignsofhugechangestheBritishIsleswereabouttofacebegan
tobediscerniblealreadyinthefirstdecadesofthenineteenthcentury.
BritishhistorianNormanVance,consideringtheimportanceofthe
beginningsofthenineteenthcenturyforGreatBritainandthetransi-
tioninperceptionofthetraditionalmodelofheroism,notes(referring
tosomeinfluentialworksofliterature):
Tenineteenthcenturybeganwithheroicactsonlandandsea.Welling-
tonandNelsonbetweenthemrefurbishedtheage-oldtraditionofmilitary
glory.Wordsworth’spoemCharacteroftheHappyWarrior(1805),inspired
bythedeathofNelson,helpedtowreathepatrioticdutyinamysticaura,
appropriatingreligiouslanguagetoassureeverytruesoldierofapplause
inHeavenandCcomfortinhimselfandinhiscause’
.Butthecircumstances
ofpeacerequiredadiferentheroism.[ł]TeVictoriansdevelopedmore