Chapter 28 The Age of Anxiety, ca 1900–1940

This colored photograph of the German philosopher was taken in 1882, when he was at the height of his creative powers. A brilliant iconoclast, Nietzsche debunked European values and challenged the optimistic faith in human rationality before World War I. Friedrich Nietzsche akg-images

Many of the fanciful visions of science fiction came true in the twentieth century, although not exactly as first imagined. This 1927cartoon satirizes a professor who has split the atom and unwittingly destroyed his building and neighborhood in the process. In the Second World War the professors harnessed the atom in bombs and decimated faraway cities and foreign civilians. Unlocking the Power of the Atom MaryEvans Picture Library

The factory’s sleek exterior is inspired by the revolutionary principles of functionalism. The striking glass façade creates a feeling of lightness and eliminates the traditional separation between interior and exterior. The glass facade also provides workers with healthy natural light—a practical, “functional” concern. Walter Gropius: The Fagus Shoe Factory, 1911 Vanni/Art Resource, NY

Van Gogh absorbed impressionism in Paris, but under the burning sun of southern France he went beyond the portrayal of external reality. In The Starry Night (1889) flaming cypress trees, exploding stars, and a comet-like Milky Way swirl together in one great cosmic rhythm. Painting an inner world of intense emotion and wild imagination, van Gogh contributed greatly to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh: The Starry Night Digital image ©The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by Scala/Art Resource, NY

Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany (right) leaves a meeting with Aristide Briand, his French counterpart Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany (right) leaves a meeting with Aristide Briand, his French counterpart. Corbis

This woodcut from a 1928 French book on cafés and nightclubs suggests how black musicians took Europe by storm, although the blacks are represented stereotypically. One French critic concluded that American blacks had attained a “pre-eminent” place in music since the war, “for they have impressed the entire world with their vibrating or melancholy rhythms.” American Jazz in Paris akg-images

These maps show that unemployment was high almost everywhere, but that national and regional differences were also substantial. With this inmind:1 In the United States, what in 1934 were the main channels of migration for workers?2 In Britain, why do you think unemployment was higher in south Wales than in the greater London area? Hints: First locate both regions on Map 22.1 on page 718; assume that Map 22.2 on page 725 provides clues regarding the kinds of work that might be available in 1932; and integrate this information with the discussion in the text on Britain’s changing economy in the 1920s and1930s.)3 Which European countries in 1932 had the highest rate of unemployment (usually considered a good indicator of the level of economic hardship)? The Great Depression in the United States, Britain, and Europe