English 2034 The West

War Becomes Deadly The First World War is caused by an assassination, but it is only the trigger for a European civil war caused by the buildup of professional standing armies and the growth of antagonistic alliances in Europe caused by nationalist sentiments. The war begins as a popular, Romantic movement until its unprecedented level of destruction become felt. The Ottoman and Austrian empires collapse.

War Becomes Deadly Twentieth century war was mechanized with tanks, railroads, poison gas, machine guns, and toward the war’s end, airplanes. The bloody medieval Battle of Agincourt (1415) resulted in about 8,000 deaths. Compare this to the Battle of the Somme in 1916, which saw over one million casualties. In 1918 much of Europe was in ruins, and its younger generation of men depopulated. Europe suffered some 40 million deaths.

The Modernist Death of Civilization Intellectual and cultural: Poets, thinkers, and leaders were shocked by the war and questioned Victorian and enlightenment ideas of progress. Some saw an end to the values of western civilization. What became known as the “Lost Generation” of poets and artists became centered in Paris where they responded to the destruction of the old Europe—these movements became tied to modernism, with sub-movements such as Dadaism (based on nonsense) and later existentialism and nihilism. T.S. Eliot, in The Waste Land, calls civilization “a heap of broken images.”

Charge of the Light Brigade (Tennyson, 1854) Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell. They that had fought so well Came through the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred. When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!

Suicide in the Trenches (Sassoon, 1918) I KNEW a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again..... You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go.

Consequences of war The decline of belief in unending progress: Science in the Victorian era had seen itself as a means to a better humanity and world, freed from the old burdens of religion and superstition. Although post-war destruction did not necessarily cause a return to organized religion, scientists were now often seen as “agents of death” for creating inventions that nearly destroyed the world. The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 not only caused many deaths but symbolized the failure of technological and scientific arrogance.

Consequences of war The rise of The United States. With European physical infrastructure ruined, its peoples depopulated and weakened by postwar diseases, and its values discredited, the USA began to become a world power and to overtake Europe. The Americans played a strong role in postwar talks and its economy and political influence hugely expanded through its participation in the war effort.

Consequences of war The early rise of globalization. Technological innovations in communications, such as telegraphs and then telephones, and movies and radio and then early television broadcasts, allowed faster communication. The growth of cars and railroads and advanced shipbuilding allowed trade and travel to become easier. The love affair with “the great god CAR” led to the growth of early suburbs and highway systems.

Jazz Era / Booming 20s

The Great Depression Triggered by a stock market crash in October 1929, followed by bank failures Massive unemployment in the USA (25%), Canada, and Europe Somewhat ended by the outbreak of WWII and the government war industry

The “Dust Bowl” of the “Dirty 30s” A series of ecologically disastrous dust storms which ravaged the American Midwest and Prairie Canada because of over-farming and bad farming practices Caused farm collapses and bankruptcies

Growing anger Steinbeck: “I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [Great Depression].” Over 500,000 homeless Massive migration to California Socialist movements and unrest Growth of modern labor unions

Storm Clouds, 1930s Fascism. Post-war Europe punished Germany heavily for its instigation of the war. This would be a mistake in that it pushed Germany into such ruin that in its chaos, strongmen came to power—Hitler and the National Socialists. Partly inspired by German Romanticism, the pseudo-science of race and Darwinian evolution of the fittest, and vague economic socialism, Hitler was an anti-Christian and anti-Jewish dictator who used the new tools of propaganda and technology to build a terror state.

Storm Clouds, 1930s Communism. In Russia communist rebels established a totalitarian state, The Soviet Union, also managed by the repressive use of industrial technologies. Lenin and then Stalin crushed dissent such as churches and intellectual elites, building prison camps. As western democracies fell into economic depression in the 1930s, many saw the world in a bad state where European nations were falling into dictatorial rule. Ford himself was no liberal democrat, endorsing the substitution of the engineer for the politician as “a very natural step forward.”

World War II ( ) Deadliest conflict in human history About 85 million deaths Involves 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia “Allies”: England, USSR, USA, China “Axis”: Germany, Japan, Italy Technological innovations of radar, computing; but also atomic bomb