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 As a result, work became monotonous and the workers discontented.
Partially, this could be compensated by a considerable economic expansion and general prosperity; e. Under these circumstances, the working class began to organise itself: Between and , 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 , these parties got a considerable political influence and partly even participation in power. Many states made great efforts to laicise their institutions ; e. 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 only.
In fact, perhaps the most violent of these forces was the anarchy movement. Envisioning a stateless society where men would be free to be good as God intentioned to be, the anarchists wanted to do away with government, with law, and with ownership of property, the root of all evil. The anarchists believed that once Property was eradicated, no man would live off the labor of another and then human nature would then be released to seek justice.
The role of the State would be replaced by voluntary cooperation among individuals, and the role of law by the supreme law of general welfare. For the anarchists, only a revolutionary overthrow of the existing systems would bring about a new society.
Consequently, between and six heads of state were assassinated at the hands of anarchists. Furthermore, anarchists acted, on the whole, as individuals on their own. Many revolutionaries began to feel that if they were going to be successful, they better organize. In order to create a more concerted effort that would galvanize others in the struggle against the privileged, many of the anarchists began to drift into trade unions where they could be more effective by educating others and directing them to strike against the capitalists.
Many of these anarchists transformed themselves into labor leaders who began to create class consciousness, and with it, the beginning of class warfare. Russian anarchist. Still another type of revolutionaries, albeit non-violent ones, were artists and intellectuals who, by challenging and questioning the values of those in power, worked for the liberation of the mind. Rather than admitting that their values and lifestyles had to evolve to meet the challenges of the new age, the tradition-bound elite embraced very rigid forms of behavior devoid of any authenticity.
Fundamentally, the only thing that the elite cared about was keeping up appearances and not being caught in their peccadilloes. Similarly, artistic organizations adopted rigid conventions that regulated the arts with a very strong hand. Like society at large, artistic critics and the directors of the academies stressed inflexible, strict rules over any kind of original personal expression.
In other words, the art establishment was more interested in how well artists would follow the imposed rules rather than allowing creative freedom. If they chose not to follow these criteria, these painters were not only rejected but derided for breaking with tradition.
This ostracism not withstanding, many artists were true to their convictions and pursued their own visions even if it meant banishment from the coveted acceptance of the art world.
Just as artists and intellectuals rebelled against what was acceptable, enlightened women also refused to play by the old rules. At this time, a woman was a piece of decorative property and was put on a pedestal to be worshipped. If she was rich, she received his guests and hired and fired his servants; if she was poor, she cooked his meals and darned his socks. Modern women rejected the roles and boundaries that had been created by authoritarians.
Wishing to have their own identities and control over their lives, women organized in order to win their civil rights and the right to vote. The suffragettes, as they were called, fought for social and economic equality of the sexes and the right to develop as they saw fit. Examples of belle epoque in a Sentence that 19th-century belle epoque when Paris seemed to be the artistic center of the universe. Recent Examples on the Web The opulent luxury of first class that now feels rather like a belle epoque for aviation is being replaced by a more understated desire, Kopola explains.
First Known Use of belle epoque , in the meaning defined above. History and Etymology for belle epoque French, literally, beautiful age.
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