A.P.E. The Cost of World War I: Impact on European Consciousness

Cost of War Nearly 10 million soldiers died and about 21 million were wounded (65 million men fought). 7.8 million men were taken prisoner or went missing in action. Germany lost 15.1% of its active male population, Austria–Hungary lost 17.1%, and France lost 10.5% $186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion in indirect costs Influenza epidemic killed million people worldwide Four empires collapsed: the Russian Empire in 1917, the German and the Austro-Hungarian in 1918, and the Ottoman in The Bolsheviks took power in Russia. Under the peace settlement, Germany was required to pay reparations eventually set at $33 billion; accept responsibility for the war; cede territory to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, and Poland; give up its overseas colonies; and accept an allied military force on the west bank of the Rhine River for 15 years.

Cost to European Consciousness Turning point in European history Technology and science, which had been seen as salvation of humanity and testament to European superiority, now used to kill and maim the youth of Europe War showed that civilized Europe was just a step away from barbarism Intellectuals demoralized and disillusioned Europeans lost confidence in power of reason, liberal doctrines of individual freedom, and parliamentary democracy  many turned to fascism and totalitarian movements

Intellectual Loss of Confidence Loss of confidence in Enlightenment ideas Freud argued that civilized life was forever threatened by the antisocial and irrational elements of human nature Carl Jung (Swiss psychologist): “…modern man has suffered an almost fatal shock, psychologically speaking, and as a result has fallen into profound uncertainty” Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West argued that civilizations were like living organisms, experiencing birth, youth, maturity, and death. He said Western civilization had entered its final stage and death could not be averted

Writers Express European Doubt T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”  collapse of European civilization APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Enrich Maria Remarque’s All Quite On the Western Front (1929) dealt with horrors of war

Writers Express European Doubt Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises (1926) describe a lost postwar generation William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming” (1919) Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everwhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand Surely the Second Coming is at hand

Artists Rebel Against War and Society that Produced It Dadaism viewed artistic and literary standards with contempt, rejected god, and glorified unreason War showed life is absurd, without meaning Anti-art movement that produced art that was deliberately senseless, purposeless and chaotic

Marcel Duchamp’s “Bicycle Wheel,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Fountain”

Artists Rebel Against War and Society that Produced It Surrealism replaced Dadism Shared contempt for reason Stressed fantasy and made use of Freudian insights and symbols Art of the unconscious; dreams Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali’s “Soft Construction With Boiled Beans”

Salvador Dali’s Persistence of Memory

Salvador Dali’s Hallucinogenic Toreador

Un Chien Andalou (16 minute silent film by Salvador Dali and Spanish director Luis Bunuel)