19th and Early 20th Century: Society, Culture, and World War I
Social Changes and Urban Growth
The 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed significant social transformations, largely driven by the growth of cities. Urban centers like Paris, Berlin, and London experienced improvements in infrastructure, including piped drainage, lighting, and transport. A distinct social stratification emerged, with a wealthier bourgeois class inhabiting more affluent areas, while workers often resided in less sanitary conditions.
Environmental Impact and Industrialization
The era saw the advent of the first automobiles and increased use of rail and bicycles. New materials like brick, iron, steel, and cement became prevalent. Industrial growth led to significant environmental degradation, altering rural landscapes as populations migrated from the countryside to urban centers. This shift also necessitated the relocation of cemeteries, prisons, hospitals, and other facilities outside city limits.
Population Growth and Social Reforms
Population growth spurred various social reforms aimed at reducing mortality, including advancements in child education, pensions, birth control, and vaccines. Key figures in advocating for women’s rights and population control included Marie Stopes and Thomas Malthus.
Migration Patterns
Significant migratory movements occurred, particularly from Europe to other continents. Over 90 million people emigrated, driven by economic crises, steam-powered ships, and population growth. This resulted in deforestation and other environmental changes.
Educational Advancements
Governments enacted laws to make primary education compulsory. Key educational reformers included Pestalozzi. By 1914, illiteracy rates had significantly decreased in countries like Scandinavia, Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands.
The Rise of Modern Sports
Modern sports originated in Europe during the 19th century. Thomas Arnold implemented reforms in organized games in 1830. In Sweden, P.H. Ling studied body movement, developing “gym” workouts to militarize Germany. In 1890, Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games, with the first modern Olympics held in Athens in 1896.
Artistic Movements
Impressionism
Impressionism, a French 19th-century movement, focused on everyday life, the laws of light refraction, the elimination of black, and the use of primary colors to capture changes in light.
Post-Impressionism
Emerging in France in 1880, Post-Impressionism utilized the color and light techniques of Impressionism but involved a grouping of individualistic painters who often worked outdoors.
Symbolism
Symbolism was a diffuse movement that glorified the symbolic value of the arts, emphasizing imagination, religious themes, and sometimes the satanic.
Modernism
Modernism was inspired by floral, wavy lines and spiral ornaments, often featuring excessive ornamentation.
Fauvism
Fauvism, known as “art from the wild beasts,” placed an arbitrary and violent emphasis on color, dominating form.
Cubism
Cubism rendered figures in geometric shapes, representing the same view from multiple points.
Futurism
Futurism sought to reproduce movement, breaking down lines individually and emphasizing machine speed, noise, and transport.
Dadaism
Originating in Zurich during World War I, Dadaism involved manipulating rags, iron, and wood, and creating collage pictures.
Expressionism
Expressionism, a German movement, conveyed discomfort and horror, prioritizing subjective experience.
Abstract Art
Abstract Art is characterized by the absence of concrete motives, relying on mental images without direct representation of reality, and emphasizing color, often inspired by music.
Scientific and Intellectual Developments
- Darwin (1809-1882): Developed the theory of the origin of species by natural selection, where the fittest survive and the weak disappear.
- Freud (1856-1939): Attempted to explain human behavior, suggesting that actions depend on the clash between biological and instinctual impulses. He contributed the concept of the unconscious, psychoanalysis, and the use of dreams for inner peace.
- Marx and Engels: Created historical materialism, interpreting the history of humanity through social and economic relations.
World War I
Causes
European countries fought for European supremacy, fueled by exaggerated nationalism and the production of long-range weapons. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered the war.
Alliances
- Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria (Italy later joined the Triple Entente).
- Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, Russia, and Serbia (later joined by the US, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Romania).
Phases
- First Movement (1914): The Schlieffen Plan aimed to form two fronts: the West, to dominate France through Belgium, and the East, to contain Russia. However, it failed due to Belgian and Russian resistance, as well as England’s involvement.
- Trench Warfare (1915-1917): A 700km front where both sides fought, resulting in civilian punishment through bombings and economic hardship.
- Second Movement (1917-1918): The US entered the war in 1917. The Russian Revolution led to Russia’s withdrawal and temporary peace with Germany. Germany aimed to divide the Entente nations. The Ottoman Empire surrendered in September 1918, followed by Austria-Hungary and Germany in November.
Treaty of Versailles
The treaty mandated the surrender of Alsace and Lorraine to France, and other border territories to Denmark and Belgium, granting sea access to Poland and Great Britain. Germany was required to provide financial compensation to the war’s victors, reduce its army, and disband its armed forces.