Chapter 24: Age of MODERNITY and IMPERIALISM! By: Christopher S. Matthews

The way they thought Before 1900 Europeans embraced the Newtonian theory that everything has a purpose and was set into motion by some significant moment or more popularly God. But a few scientific discoveries and the thoughts of some “radicals” brought all of this into question.

The way they thought 2 The discoveries of the Curie’s, Plank, and Einstein ended the Newtonian theory and created the random universe theory. Nietzsche, Bergson, and Sorel embraced the irrational saying that Christianity was corrupt and that society was a waste. They believed that up rises against society were needed. Their beleifs went against the progress way of thought.

The way they thought 3 Sigmund Freud was very influential to many thinkers in the coming future on how the human mind was a constant unconscious battleground for decision making. The theories of Darwin were used to form Social Darwinism. This was the belief that societies were like organisms that live and die off based upon survival of the fittest. This was used to justify imperialism and racism.

Changes in society Women’s suffrage was strongly fought for before the war especially by the Suffragettes who became martyrs for their cause. No substantial ground was made in spite of their efforts. The Jews had always been discriminated but as they came into European society more it was far more aparent.

Changes in society 2 Jews were prosecuted unlawfully across Europe most famously was the Dreyfus controversy. This ant-semitism fired up Zionism. Jewish nationalism which was largly created by Herzl with his ideas of Jews fleeing to Palestine to create a Jewish nation of their own. Herzl’s plan found little success.

The rise of socialism Every government in Europe became more autocratic empowering labor unions and labor parties. England saw the rise of Labor based parties. Germany was dominated by a variety of socialist parties. Russia became radical because of oppression.

Revolution of 1905 The first Russian revolution of the twentieth century was a result of rapid industrialization and the loss of the war to Japan. It created the Duma and a short lived constitutional monarchy. This fueled the fires of many Russian radicals who would see their time in the near future.

New imperialism Competition created by social Darwinism was seen in the scramble for Africa which saw European leaders pick apart almost all of Africa. This caused many conflicts on the African continent. The biggest conflict in Africa was the Boer war. The Boers were Dutch settlers who had been in Africa sins the 1600s but were forced out by the English causing a series of wars.

Rivalry Europe was on the brink of war because of defensive alliances. The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. The countries also created massive standing armies with modern weapons. And to add to the craziness, Europeans wanted to go to war.

The Balkan Crisis Balkan nations rose up against the Ottoman Empire for their independence and won. But the countries were unhappy about their boundaries and went to war again. One side was supported by the Germans and Austrians while the other by the Russians. When war was started in the Balkans the Great war officially was started.

Summary Irrational thought, new discoveries, and psychoanalysis created a new mindset among Europeans. Competition, oppression, Darwinism, and racism drew the landscape of political Europe. By the end of this time segment we could see the “age of progress” coming to a screeching halt in the form of the Great War.