She took the throne amid calls to replace the royals with a republic. But Queen Victoria held power through ambitious reforms and imperialist policies, and her legacy endures today.

維多利亞女王是在共和政體取代王室的呼聲中登上王位的，但她通過雄心勃勃的改革和帝國主義政策掌權了，她的影響流傳至今。

BY ERIN BLAKEMORE

作者：艾琳·布萊克莫爾

The Famine Queen. The Widow of Windsor. Grandmother of Europe. Queen Vic. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria earned all those nicknames and more—testaments to the enduring influence of her 64-year (1837-1901) reign over the United Kingdom.

饑荒中的女王，溫莎的寡婦，歐洲的祖母，這些稱號都屬于維多利亞女王。在19世紀，維多利亞女王贏得了所有這些綽號和更多的頭銜，這也證明了她64年(1837-1901)間統(tǒng)治英國的持久影響力。

During the period now known as the Victorian Era, she oversaw her nation’s industrial, social, and territorial expansion and became known as a trendsetter who made over European attitudes toward the monarchy. An estimated one in four people on Earth were subjects of the British Empire by the end of her rule. But when Victoria took the throne, the British monarchy was deeply unpopular.

在如今被稱為維多利亞時代的那個時期，她管理著國家的工業(yè)、社會和領土擴張，她還被稱為改變歐洲人對君主制態(tài)度的潮流引領者。據(jù)估計，在大英帝國統(tǒng)治結(jié)束時，地球上四分之一的人都是大英帝國的臣民。但實際上，在維多利亞初即位時，英國的君主制極不受歡迎。

Ascension to the throne

女王登基

Victoria was the product of a succession crisis in England’s royal family that occurred when Princess Charlotte, the presumptive successor to King George, and her infant son died in childbirth. Charlotte’s brothers—all of whom were single and had given the monarchy a bad name with their profligate spending and messy personal lives—raced to produce an heir.

維多利亞是英國王室一場繼承危機的產(chǎn)物，當時喬治國王(King George)的假定繼承人夏洛特公主(Princess Charlotte)和她尚在襁褓中的兒子死于難產(chǎn)。彼時，夏洛特的兄弟們又都是單身，他們的揮霍無度和混亂的私生活給王室?guī)砹藟拿?，在這種情況下，英國王室急迫地想要一個王位繼承人。

One of those brothers, Edward, hastily married a widowed German princess and became the first to produce an heir. Born in 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was a direct successor to the crown.

于是這些王室兄弟中的一個，愛德華王子，匆忙地娶了一位寡居的德國公主，成為了第一個產(chǎn)下王室繼承人的人。生于1819年的亞歷山大·維多利亞是王位的直接繼承人。

Palace intrigue made for a miserable childhood. Victoria’s father died when she was a child, and her ambitious mother allied herself with the scheming Sir John Conroy, a member of the royal household who seized the chance to gain power and influence through the future queen. He created what became known as “the Kensington system,” an elaborate set of rules that isolated the young princess at Kensington Palace and put him in control of her education and upbringing. Designed to keep Victoria dependent and loyal to Conroy and her mother, the system resulted in an unhappy childhood—and a growing sense of resentment.

宮廷的勾心斗角使維多利亞的童年過得非常悲慘。維多利亞的父親在她還是個孩子的時候就去世了，她雄心勃勃的母親與老謀深算的王室成員約翰·康羅伊爵士結(jié)盟，他們抓住機會通過未來的女王獲得了權力和影響力?？盗_伊爵士還創(chuàng)建了后來被稱為“肯辛頓體系”的制度，這是一套精心制定的將年輕的公主隔離在肯辛頓宮，并讓他來控制她的教育和教養(yǎng)的規(guī)則。為了讓維多利亞對康羅伊爵士和她的母親保持依賴和忠誠，這個制度導致了她的不快樂的童年以及一種與日俱增的怨恨感。

Victoria broke free in 1837, when she turned 18 and rose to the throne. As soon as she became queen, she banned Conroy from her court and marginalized her mother. In 1840, she married her cousin Albert, a German prince. It was a genuine love match—she wrote that her wedding night was “bliss beyond belief”—and they went on to have nine children.

1837年，18歲的維多利亞女王登上了王位。她一當上女王之后就禁止康羅伊爵士入宮了，同時她也很排斥她的母親。1840年，維多利亞女王嫁給了她的表兄阿爾伯特，一位德國王子。這是一場真正的始于愛情的婚姻。她寫道，她的新婚之夜有著“難以置信的幸?！?，他們接著有了9個孩子。

Early reign

早期的統(tǒng)治

During her early reign, Victoria was heavily influenced by Lord Melbourne, the prime minister, and Albert, who was her closest political advisor and whom some historians believe was “king in all but name.” Together, they pursued an agenda of modernization and stability in an era of political upheaval. The monarchy’s reputation had been badly damaged by Victoria’s predecessors, and the British populace clamored to replace the monarchy with a republic. And in Ireland, the potato famine between 1845 and 1852 fomented outright rebellion.

在統(tǒng)治早期，維多利亞深受首相墨爾本勛爵和阿爾伯特的影響，阿爾伯特是她最親密的政治顧問，一些歷史學家甚至認為他是“實際意義上的國王”。 他們在一個政治動蕩的時代共同追求現(xiàn)代化和穩(wěn)定的議程。由于維多利亞女王之前的王位繼承人們嚴重損害了君主制的聲譽，當時英國民眾大聲疾呼要用共和制取代君主制。在愛爾蘭，1845年至1852年間的馬鈴薯饑荒引發(fā)了徹底的叛亂。

Together with her husband, Victoria faced those challenges head-on, working to strengthen the position of the monarchy in England and throughout Europe, where there was also a growing distaste for royals who expected the public to foot the bill for their lavish lifestyles. In contrast, Victoria expanded the monarch’s public role, supporting charities, the arts, and civic reform to counter the view that British royalty wasn’t worth the expense.

維多利亞和她的丈夫一起直面這些挑戰(zhàn)，努力加強英國和整個歐洲君主制的地位。在當時的歐洲，其他國家的民眾也越來越討厭王室成員希望公眾為他們奢侈的生活方式買單的行為。相比之下，維多利亞女王擴大了女王的公共角色，她支持慈善事業(yè)、藝術和公民改革，以此來反駁認為英國王室不值得花這么多錢的觀點。

As a result, the queen and her growing family became beloved celebrities and influenced popular culture, introducing England to everything from white wedding dresses to Christmas trees.

結(jié)果，女王和她日益壯大的家族成為了受人愛戴的名人。他們還影響了流行文化，在他們的影響下，英國引入了從白色婚紗到圣誕樹的一切新鮮事物。

In 1861, tragedy struck when Albert died at 42. Victoria was devastated and went into deep mourning. She wore black for the rest of her life and withdrew from the public eye for years. The republican movement grew during her isolation, and she was criticized for her absence from public life.

1861年，悲劇發(fā)生了，42歲的阿爾伯特去世了。維多利亞傷心欲絕，陷入了深深的悲痛之中。在她的余生中，她一直穿著黑色的衣服，并有好幾年遠離了公眾視線。在她與世隔絕的這個時期，共和運動在英國大肆發(fā)展，她因為從公眾視線缺席而招致批評。

Later years

晚年

Victoria resumed her public duties by the late 1860s. Her later reign was largely devoted to encouraging peace in Europe and expanding and consolidating her massive political empire. She became Empress of India in 1877 and influenced foreign relations closer to home through her children and grandchildren, many of whom married into European royalty.

維多利亞在19世紀60年代末恢復了她的公職。她后來的統(tǒng)治主要致力于促進歐洲和平，擴大和鞏固她龐大的政治帝國。她在1877年成為印度女皇，并通過她的子女和孫輩影響了與鄰國的外交關系，其中許多人嫁給了歐洲皇室。

At the beginning of her monarchy, Britain was seen largely as a trading power. But under Victoria, it became a mighty empire and the world’s most powerful nation. Over the course of the 19th century, it grew by 10 million square miles and 400 million people. Those gains came at a tremendous price: England was almost constantly at war during Victoria’s reign, and the colonialism practiced in her name involved brutal subjugation.

在君主制初期，英國在很大程度上被視為一個貿(mào)易大國。但在維多利亞統(tǒng)治下，它成為了一個強大的帝國，也是世界上最強大的國家。在整個19世紀，英國的土地增長了1000萬平方英里，人口增長了4億。不過這些成就也付出了巨大的代價:在維多利亞統(tǒng)治時期，英國幾乎一直處于戰(zhàn)爭狀態(tài)，以她的名義實行的殖民主義涉及了非常殘酷的暴力鎮(zhèn)壓。

Though Victoria was popular, her subjects still pushed to reform the monarchy. Ultimately, this led to an erosion of the monarch’s direct political power as ordinary British people gained the vote, the secret ballot, and other political reforms in the mid- to late 1800s.

雖然維多利亞很受歡迎，但她的臣民也仍在推動改革君主制。最終，由于普通英國人在19世紀中后期獲得了選舉權、無記名投票和其他政治改革運動的興起，君主直接政治權力受到侵蝕。

Legacy

遺產(chǎn)

By her death in 1901, Victoria was an institution, known for her willpower and the vast empire she ruled. The British Empire covered a full fifth of the Earth’s surface and had become the preeminent superpower of its day.

1901年維多利亞女王去世，彼時，維多利亞已經(jīng)成為一種標志，她的名字以她的毅力和她統(tǒng)治的龐大帝國而聞名。大英帝國曾覆蓋了地球表面的五分之一，成為當時最卓越的超級大國。

Victoria’s attempts to bolster European monarchies by marrying off her family members achieved short-term peace, but they sowed the seeds of some of the 20th century’s most destructive conflicts. By the onset of World War I in 1914, her grandchildren would turn against each other.

維多利亞試圖通過讓她的家族成員與其他國家的王室聯(lián)姻來鞏固歐洲君主制，這雖然實現(xiàn)了短期的和平，但也為20世紀最具破壞性的沖突埋下了種子。到1914年第一次世界大戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)時，她的孫輩們開始互相仇視。

Although the relentless colonialism of the empire she ruled and the devastating war she inadvertently helped seed now cast a shadow over Victoria’s reign, she believed British power and prosperity were paramount. As she wrote in 1899, “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.” For a woman born to rule, there was no room for doubt as to her historic destiny—or the might of the empire built in her name.

盡管她所統(tǒng)治的帝國殘酷的殖民主義和她無意中促成的毀滅性戰(zhàn)爭給維多利亞的統(tǒng)治蒙上了陰影，但她相信英國的權力和繁榮是至高無上的。正如她在1899年寫道:“我們對失敗的可能性不感興趣; 他們不存在?！?對于一個天生要當統(tǒng)治者的女人來說，她的歷史命運，以及以她的名義建立起來的帝國的力量是不容置疑的。