Free Essay About Modern Europe Of The 20th Century

Discuss and analyze the interplay of events, institutions, ideas and personalities that produced modern Europe of the twentieth century. Define modernity and the analysis among other things should include. the scientific revolution , the enlightenment , the French revolution, industrial revolution , capitalism , imperialism, ideologies and the arts and sciences. relate the development of modern Europe to that of the other region of the world.
The Industrial Revolution was the creation of an industrialized state and the subsequent workforce which went with it and which radically changed the way industry was perceived. It practically eliminated the cottage industries and created a huge amount of labour and production especially in the cotton and iron industries. It also changed the way factories operated and also how the workforce was perceived in this respect.The scientific revolution went hand in hand with the Industrial revolution but this also created a new breed of capitalism which has continued to dominate the world to this day.
The Holocaust was probably the single most devastating event in world history where hundreds of thousands of innocent people who came primarily from the Jewish race ended up gassed or shot without compunction, This could be seen as the defining event of the 20th century which also changed the political world forever and also led to the rise of Communism across Eastern Europe.
The 20th century was also an important time for artistic development since the political movement of neo-impressionism influenced the art works created at the time. This is a type of art that involves large variety of distinguishable colours that are bright in contrast and tone in relation to the time where art was more historical. Other forums of mediums such as oil paint were very much natural in forums of colors and choices were skimmed. Artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky and more recent ones such as Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol had a profound effect on 20th Century art.
The Cold War was definitely a war which could be described as long and complicated without much of a final result in the end as it included belligerence in talk but little in result of action. The war perhaps reached its peak in the 1961 Cuban Missile crisis but could be said to have had its beginnings in the Berlin airlift of 1946 and in the immediate aftermath of Winston Churchill’s famous speech in Fulton, Missouri where he outlined the now legendary, ‘Iron Curtain’ phrase.
The period after the First World War was one where intense liberalism occurred across several European countries but most particularly in France, Italy and Germany. There left wing governments began redistributing wealth to a much larger degree than before. Socialist governments encouraged liberalism in these countries and there was also the election of a first Labour government in the 1920’s in the UK. This meant that the oligarchy of the aristocracy was drastically reduced accordingly and more liberal principles were adopted across the board.
The 1930’s saw an intrinsic reversal of liberal achievements in more ways than one. First of all the rise of Fascism in Italy and Germany was immediately apparent as a force for repression with the curtailment of the freedom of the press as well as similar restriction of other liberal ideas. Incidents of particular importance include the bloody repression against Communists in Germany, the repression of Jews in Germany as well as general warlike incidents in Japan against China. All this led to considerable conflagration which was eventually to foment itself into the Second World War accordingly.
All in all, liberal ideas failed in Europe in the 1930’s as the rise of strong right wing regimes was seen to be important to maintain stability against weak and ineffectual governments. This could be said of Germany’s Weimar Republic and France’s Second Republic, both of which were marred by lack of political backbone and petty infighting.