The Belle Époque: summary, outline and explanation of this period characterized by inventions, discoveries and a new lifestyle.
The term “ Belle Époque ” refers to the historical, artistic and cultural period from the end of the nineteenth century to the outbreak of the First World War .
A beautiful era because following a series of inventions and progress the lifestyle of the bourgeois classes changed . Already in the second half of the 19th century we have the beginning of various scientific studies and technological innovations.
We can talk about the so-called idea of progress, so much so that in 1889 the Universal Exhibition opened in Paris, where each country presented its new products of progress. On that occasion, the Eiffel Tower was erected , developed by Gustave Eiffel, which became the symbol of progress precisely because it was made of steel, an innovative material of the period, and then for its height as if to symbolize the ascent towards the sky.
The Belle Époque is also called the second industrial revolution because it followed the first in 1700 which, in a contemporary way with the American and French ones , had represented that century, that is the period called “Age of revolutions”. With this new industrial revolution we have the use of new sources of energy : to coal, oil and electricity were added and as a building material there was the introduction of steel (the applications of steel were many in the building field: railways, bridges, roads, buildings etc.). Oil, called black gold, covers a vast range of applications with a direct consequence of the birth of the internal combustion engine: an engine that uses petroleum derivatives to carry out combustion and produce energy, to this is added the birth of automotive industries, such as in 1889 the birth of FIAT (acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino).
The electricity of Edison , an American engineer and student who developed the first light bulb in 1879, which replaced gas and oil lighting. During the Belle Époque, electricity was also applied to factories. The electrification of factories or mechanization revolutionized the world of work: shift work was born, that is, the division of labor according to the manufacturing phases of the product, which would be called the assembly line . The assembly line, already tested in England in the 1700s in a pin factory, was now applied for the first time on a large scale. This was implemented by the American engineer Frederick Taylor in the Ford automobile factory, which is why we also speak of Taylorism .
In this period the first forms of specializations were born, the qualifications of the worker, in contrast to this in the assembly line a special qualification was not required but a generic preparation was more than sufficient since the task was always the same.
The electrification of factories also led to night work. Cities were also electrified: London was the first city in the world to have a public electricity grid, in Italy the first city was Milan in the 1920s, while Naples was the first city in Italy to have a gas lighting system.
Inventions and discoveries of the Belle Epoque
During the Belle Époque, a new metal was invented, the aluminum alloy, and chemical fertilizers for agriculture were developed, which drastically resulted in environmental pollution . In the pharmaceutical field, aspirin was born from Bayer; penicillin was discovered; the cure for tuberculosis was discovered by the doctor Cock. In the textile field, industrial colors began to be used. In the construction field, dynamite was discovered. Bakelite, the progenitor of plastic, was invented. Antonio Meucci invented the telephone and sold the patent to the Americans. Marconi from Bologna made a wireless radiotelegraph transmission for the first time. A new way of reporting news was also born with newspapers: “Corriere della sera”, “Il Messaggero”, “Washington post”. The two Wright brothers developed the airplane between the 19th and 20th centuries, so much so that at the beginning of the 20th century they made the first flight over the English Channel to test this new vehicle.
This new lifestyle has as a consequence on culture and society the birth of Design which is based on the “Liberty Style”, in Italy “Floreal”, in France “ Art Nouveau ”. This is the style of objects that become part of the daily life of the bourgeoisie. A new way of making art is “ Futurism ” which celebrates the myth of speed and war seen as purification of the world. Another new way of making art is born, “ French Impressionism ” where painters will begin to paint “en plein air” as the industry begins to produce colors in tubes. The three great mass sports are born (football, car racing and cycling) and the two largest events in the sector: the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
This is where free time, the idea of shopping and department stores were born (Milan was the first city to see the appearance of shops: Standa, Brambilla and Grandi Magazzini).
The famous French artist is known for his works in which he faithfully represents Parisian life at the end of the 19th century. He alternates paintings in which he depicts the nightlife of Montmartre, the center of the city’s bohemian life during the Belle Époque, with portraits of ordinary people.
Added to all this is the problem of the workers’ conditions: the struggles that will lead to the birth of organizations that already during the first industrial revolution were called “Trade Unions” began. The demands were: an increase in wages, a reduction in working hours and a holiday a week.
