In 1851, the great Exhibition was opened at the Crystal Palace. In these days, it was claimed that the Exhibition was a symbol of a prodigious progress already made and the endless progress was the destined lot of the human kind. On the other hand, Free Trade had become a national dogma. That is to say, Victorians. believed that Free Trade was indispensable to Britain's prosperity. From these believes in progress and Free Trade, a very optimistic world view was deduced. Certainly, this world view is very optimistic at least within Britain. But, it included the argument about the obligation of the Britain to spread the advantages of advanced British civilization to non-european countries. In this theory, non-european countries are seen as "savage", and therefore they must accept the Western civilization.
In doing so, they lose their own calture and are controlled by "cultural imperialism". Thus, the optimistic world view in Victorian era suddenly changes its optimistic face beyond the limits of Britain.