1. La Belle Epoque [1871-1914]: “The Beautiful Era”
Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY
Adapted by Reiner Kolodinski
Glendale HS, Glendale CA

2. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
Materialism / Consumerism
Higher standard of living
Development “zones”
Inner Zone  Br, Fr, Ger, Belg, No. It,W. Austria
Outer Zone  Ire., Iberian Pen., most of Italy, Europe east of Ger.
Underdeveloped Zone  Afro-Asia

3. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
Increased European Population
Increased public education literacy
- Realism, Sci-Fi, Naturalism, Modernism, magazines, news
Redesign / Growth of Cities
- Urban / Suburban Lifestyle
Migration from Europe
 60 million left Europe
Went to  US, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Australia/ New Zealand

4. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
6. “Second” Industrial Revolution
Steam  electricity
Internal combustion & diesel engines.
Cars, planes, submarines.
Britain  “The World’s Industrial Workshop”
Corporations  limited liability of investments.
Mass production… cheaper goods

5. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
7. Free Trade [esp. in England]
8. World Markets [Global Economy, Part II]
9. Advance of Democracy
Extension of the vote (franchise) to the working class.
Creating a “welfare state.”

6. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
10. The Appeal of Socialism
By the 1880s, most socialist parties were Marxist based: Ger. & Fr.
Not very successful in England. Why?
Reforms gained by working class

7. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
11. Faith in Science Alone…
Science at the core of industrialization.
“New Wonders” of daily life.
Charles Darwin (Challenged by T.H. Huxley)
Origin of Species [1859], Descent of Man [1871]
“survival of the fittest” + “natural selection”
“Social Darwinism”  Herbert Spencer
Eugenics = Race Theory… nationalist roots?
Newtonian Science (fixed laws) turned on its head
Einstein  “Theory of Relativity”  nature & energy were separate & distinct.
Max Planck  Quantum Physics

8. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
12. Social Sciences established
Professionalization of “new” sciences [anthropology, archeaology,etc.]
Psychology
Ivan Pavlov  conditioned responses
Sigmund Freud  psychoanalysis
The Interpretation of Dreams [1900]
The role of the unconscious [the id, ego, super ego].

9. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
13. Social Sciences (cont’d)
Sociology
Max Weber
Bureaucratization = reality of modern life
Protestant Work Ethic.. Puritanism
Emile Durkheim / Georges Sorel
Collective Behavior… Society influences behavior

10. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
14. New Trends in Philosophy
Agnosticism: God MAY exist, no proof
Positivism: Human Development (Comte)
Theological = Divine explanation
Metaphysical = Natural explanation
Positive = Scientifically proven
Existentialism (Sören Kierkegaard)
Existence is unique, unexplainable
Choice + responsibility

11. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
14. Philosophy (cont’d)
Nihilism: Nothing is knowable or true
Friedrich Nietzsche
Übermensch  “Super Man”
Anti-Christian , anti-democracy
Irrationality, instinct, ecstasy, heroism, strength, pride

12. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
15. Internal Religious Struggles
Skepticism… Is Bible true?
Modernism vs. Fundamentalism
Secularism > Separation of Church / State
Bismarck Kulturkampf…State over Church
GB + F>> education
Roman Catholic Church
1st Vatican Council (Pius IX) = papal infallibility
Leo XIII = Faith + Reason > Thomas Aquinas / Rerum Novarum = marriage, education, property
Islamic Resistance > Mahdism, Wahhabism

13. Characteristics of La Belle Epoch
16. Anti-Semitism
Dreyfus Affair
Theodore Herzl  Der Judenstaat [The Jewish State], 1896
“Father of Modern Zionism”
17. Women’s Movement
Emmeline Pankhurst > Suffrage
Anti-feminism = traditional, nurture (misogynism?)
New Feminism: Legal / social / sexual =
Josephine Butler / Auguste Ficke