La Belle Époque [1871-1914]: “The Beautiful Era”
Characteristics of La Belle Epoch Advances in technology, democratic reform and creativity in arts Everything solved by the new ideas Mass Politics, Mass Society and Mass Production overwhelms individualism and nationality Outsiders use violence to be more included Intellectual trends stress struggle and violence Art movement changed
La Belle Epoch Mass Society Middle Class-Age of the Middle Class They created the ‘status quo’ and are the ‘arbiter of taste’ Not homogenous ‘white collar’ workers Paris, Vienna and Manchester urbanize better
La Belle Epoch 1. Second Industrial Revolution (1850-WWI) Steam electricity & Petroleum Internal combustion & diesel engines Britain “The World’s Industrial Workshop” Germany & U.S.-> surpasses Britain (1900) Corporations limited liability of investments. Cartels to control prices 2. Development “zones” Inner Zone Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, N Italy ,W Austria Outer Zone Ireland, Iberia, Italy, Eastern Europe Underdeveloped Zone Africa & Asia
New Inventions Larger factories Steamships Bessemer Steel Skyscrapers Chemicals Lighted cities Refrigeration TNT X-Rays ****ASSEMBLY LINES*** Cars Steamships Suez Canal (1869) Panama Canal (1914) Airplanes (1903) Subways Suburbs Transatlantic Telegraph cable laid Marconi’s Radio (1880)
La Belle Epoch 3. Free Trade & Protectionism 4. Economy ->World Markets -> Booms & Bust cycle 5. Advance of Democracy Extension of the vote to the working class. Creating a “welfare state.” 6. Materialism…Consumerism (consumer economy) Higher standard of living Department Stores created 1870 7. Migration from Europe 1850-1940 60 million left Europe Emigrate to US, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Australia
La Belle Epoch 8. Increased European Population 1/5th of worlds population ( 260-450 million from 1850-1914) Smaller families, improved health, living conditions & industrialization Rural people crowded cities Americas, Australia & South Africa 9. Growth of Cities & Urban Life More leisure time parks, dance and concert halls created 10. Medicine- Louis Pasteur- Joseph Lister- Medical schools developed
Mass Politics Governments used republicanism, public opinion, and mass communication Mass Communication influences public opinion Most countries controlled by a ruling elite Conflicts arise (social and ethnic)…outsiders bad! Mass politics Large Groups manipulation of public opinion generally against minority groups and ‘outsiders’
La Belle Epoch 10. 11. Education- Most of western Europeans became literate Maria Montessori (1870-1952) Nationalism and xenophobia spread 12. Family and Childhood- Distinct gender roles Use of Enlightened ideas to raise kids 13. Jews- Most have been liberated due to Enlightenment Marx, Freud, and Einstein famous Jews of this time…led to anti Semitism (accidentally) Anti-Semitism Darwinism…Pogroms…Dreyfus Affair Led to…Theodore Herzl 1896… “Father of Modern Zionism”
La Belle Epoch Women’s Movement- ‘Feminism’ They can work white collar jobs, but still raise the kids 1850-1914 Women gained rights such in legal system, property ownership, divorce and custody of kids Obscenity Laws- prohibited publications on birth control Right to vote occurs after WWI for most western countries Emmeline Pankhurst created (Women’s Social and Political Union) Florence Nightingale Maria Montessori
La Belle Epoch Faith in Science Alone Science at the core of industrialization. “New Wonders” of daily life. Positivism – Auguste Comte Father of sociology…3 Stages of history Charles Darwin - Darwinism Origin of Species [1859] “survival of the fittest” “Social Darwinism” Herbert Spenser Promote racism
La Belle Epoch Physics- Newtonian Science turned on its head Einstein “Theory of Relativity” Marie Curie -> discovered radium & said atoms emitted radioactivity William Roentgen -> x-rays “New” sciences ->anthropology, archaeology, sociology, psychology, etc.
La Belle Epoch Psychology Ivan Pavlov conditioned responses Sigmund Freud psychoanalysis The Interpretation of Dreams [1900] The role of the unconscious [id, ego, super ego]. Friedrich Nietzsche ->Übermensch “Super Man”->Morality is personal Internal Religious Struggles modernists vs. fundamentalists
La Belle Epoch Realism and Naturalism Literature movement that is opposite of Romanticism Attention to good and bad aspects of industrial states Charles Dickens Emile Zola George Bernard Shaw Leo Tolstoy- War and Peace
ART- Reflects economic, political and social problems Impressionism- ‘Capture what the eye sees’ Use of lights and shadows, visible brushstrokes and backgrounds Claude Monet Pierre August Renoir Edgar Degas Edmond Manet Monet
<- Degas Renoir ^
Manet
Moving away from lights and Postimpressionism Moving away from lights and shadow use Van Gogh George Seurat
Expressionism Distortion of color and use of color to capture problems in Europe
Cubism / Futurism Glorified the influence of technology Picasso