After the French-German war in 1870/71, Europe enjoyed a period of
interior peace for more than forty years until the start of the First World
War in 1914. During this period, many important developments took place
especially in those countries for which I have a particular interest: England,
France, Austria and Germany (and the United States as well).
The second wave
of the industrial revolution seized the world. Above all it concerned the
chemical industry and the electrical engineering, it was the start of the era of
the combustion engine and the mass production of steel, the machines became more
efficient and more powerful, the ships bigger and their construction less
expensive, the propulsion changed from the paddle to the screw, from the piston
to the turbine, and their speed doubled. The trains got steel rails on which
longer and heavier trains could drive one and a half times as fast as before;
therefore it became the most important mean of transport. At the same time began
the definite conquest of the air: The first planes were built, and the
airships of Zeppelin went down in history.
The industrialisation created
the possibility of numerous jobs without the necessity of owning land. As
a result, the population growth in Europe was more considerable than ever
(in England, this already took place in the first half of the XIXth century).
Because of the factories' location, more and more families moved to the
therefore rapidly growing cities developing into
conurbations.
Therefrom resulted new health problems, but at the same
time there was an enormous progress of hygiene and medicine. Formerly
mortal diseases could be healed, the infant mortality decreased considerably
while life expectancy increased.
However, the nature of work
had changed: The production proceedings were split, mechanised, rationalised
until the invention of the assembly line in 1903. As a result, work became
monotonous and the workers discontented. Partially, this could be compensated by
a considerable economic expansion and general prosperity; e. g. in
England, the salaries increased between 1850 and 1890 by more than 60 % whereas
consumer prices decreased by 6.5 %!
Under these circumstances, the working
class began to organise itself: Between 1868 and 1906, in all countries, the
foundation of trade unions and (socialist) labour parties, like the
French PSU, the German SPD, the British Labour Party, took place. Until 1914,
these parties got a considerable political influence and partly even
participation in power. Many states made great efforts to laicise their
institutions; e. g. in France, the worldly institution were completely freed
from any ecclesiastical influence in 1905.
Formation was promoted as
well; in the German Empire, there was an increasing number of students from the
lower middle class. During the seventies and eighties, for the first time women
got the right to study at universities in France, Belgium, Switzerland, the
Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries (in Germany, during the reign of
William II, the first woman was admitted in Baden in 1901 only).
Since as a
result of the industrialisation many women now also worked in factories, another
result of it was the beginning of women's liberation movement: Industrial
safety and equalisation were claimed for all professions. Besides this,
everywhere the right to vote and eligibility of women were claimed, too. The
first state conceding the right to vote to women was Wyoming in 1869, other
American states followed the example – in Europe, before the First World War,
only Norway in 1907 and Iceland in 1914 conceded to women the right to
vote.
A considerable merit of the scientific development and the cultural
heyday had the European Jews. The XIXth century was the period of Jewish
emancipation and assimilation. Whereas, however, in Germany under William II and
Austria under Francis Joseph, the military had a great political and social
influence so that together with the upper and middle classes they were able to
evoke a racist anti-Semitism, the Jews in France first had to suffer the
setback of the Dreyfus affair which nevertheless – after the publishing of the
scandal and the withdrawing of the verdict – resulted in a 'militant
anti-militarism' of the French society refusing any kind of
anti-Semitism.
The end of the XIXth and the beginning of the XXth century
marks also the transition to the century of masses: the mass transport (railway,
underground), the mass education, the mass production, the mass accommodation,
the mass distraction and media (circus, cabaret, cinema), but also art for the
masses.
In principle, people living in this period were materially confident
and culturally optimistic. Art of any genre prospered like never before:
From impressionism to Art Nouveau and cubism, from romantic until twelve-tone
music, from romantic and lyric until political and socio-critical literature.
All social classes were seized by the feeling of a new start into better times,
wanted to stop old-fashioned traditions, to participate in progress and to
profit of their income. So began, on this basis, the time which nowadays not
only the French call the Belle Epoque.
When speaking of the Belle Epoque,
everybody usually has his own ideas which exact period is meant. There's no
doubt that it concerns a period somewhere between 1871 and 1914. Historical
research has not fixed the term yet. So when did it really begin and how long
did it last?
In December 1877, William Morris gave his famous lecture about
"Decorative Arts" in London; the movement "Arts and Crafts" arose around 1880.
In 1882, Oscar Wilde contributed to disseminate the aestheticism by publishing
his papers about "House Decoration" or "Art and the Handicraftsman". In Paris,
the "Chat Noir" opened in 1881, the "Moulin Rouge" in 1886. In Nancy, Emile
Gallé produced his first works of glass art in 1883, and the Paris World Fair
inaugurating the Eiffel Tower was held in 1889. The foundation of the Munich
Secession took place in 1892, the foundation of the magazine "Die Jugend" (The
Youth) in 1896; in 1897 followed the foundation of the Vienna Secession.
Some
time ago, I have read in a historian's book that in his opinion the Belle Epoque
began in 1901 when Edward VII, a great admirer of the Art Nouveau, became King
of England which meant the end of the Victorian era. This seems to me much too
late and very arbitrary. By weighing those few before mentioned dates, one can
recognise two things: The Belle Epoque lasted about three decades and spread in
London, Paris, Munich, or Vienna at different moments; the enthronement of
Edward VII in 1901 took place at the heyday of this era.
Another aspect which
should not be neglected is the considerable influence of the Victorian England,
the French and German Empires as well as the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy on the
social and cultural changes which occurred during the two last decades of the
XIXth century – and from there to the Belle Epoque there are links like e.g. the
impressionism which for me is strictly spoken already a part of the Belle
Epoque.
To characterise the arising of the Belle Epoque, you will find terms
like satiety of the traditional in art, architecture and daily life, satiety of
the pomp and ostentation of the past. The joy of life awoke in all social
classes, the desire of new, extraordinary, sensational things. The afore
mentioned progress in science and technique, the improvements in social,
financial and political respect during a long period of peace together with new
constitutions in many countries caused for the rest an increasing prosperity and
wide-spread optimism and trust in future. Cultural life was now accessible for
all classes, people went out into cabarets to get distracted or for political
mockeries. Cheerfulness, permissiveness and flashy outfits ruled (English
aestheticism, French courtesans, music-halls, café-bordels, the Vienna waltzes).
Painting, arts and crafts, architecture were looking for new ideas as much as
music. Art entered the daily life. Another characteristic of the period is the
afore mentioned transition to the century of masses.
If it is already not
possible to determine the beginning of the Belle Epoque - by the way, what for?
-, however, it is clear that at the latest when World War I began, it was over.
Around 1910/11, Art Nouveau suddenly became old-fashioned, and Gustav Mahler
died. It is certainly not wrong to say that this marks the end of the Belle
Epoque.
But for me, there is an exact date which I consider having ended the
Belle Epoque once for all: the 15th April 1912 when the Titanic sank. With her
sank the imperturbable optimism, the naive trust in technique and the image of a
splendid and glorious future full of joy of life. The terror of two world wars
arose on the horizon, and confidence gave way to anxiety.
courtesy of M. Joachim Stein
Read more at http://members.fortunecity.de/jostein