Political, Social, and Artistic Changes
Change was everywhere at the start of the 20th century. In just about every main field of human endeavor, new perspectives and discoveries were redefining the way people thought about their social and physical environments. Key political changes also helped shape society.
Political Changes At the beginning of the 20th century, imperialism was creating sometimes fierce competition among nations. Two world wars raised the conflict to the level of deadly force, although allies standing together developed a good working relationship and understanding of one another. The Cold War divided much of the world into camps, stressing differences rather than commonalities. After the Cold War, however, both economic and cultural barriers fell, bringing countries closer together. In some key ways, collaboration gradually replaced competition as nations formed cooperative regional organizations such as the European Union and NAFTA as well as global associations such as the United Nations for conflict resolution and the World Trade Organization to regulate international trade.
Social Changes Along with these changes came social changes. International organizations and collaboration brought people of different cultures into closer contact with one another, just as international exchanges had done in the past. Rights movements—civil rights and women’s rights especially—helped bring formerly marginalized voices into the mainstream conversation.
People were also questioning long-held beliefs about humans and their environments. Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and other scientists upended people’s understanding of physical reality. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) probed the invisible inner workings of the human psyche. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905– 1980) philosophized that nothing had meaning. Technological developments in communication, transportation, and medical and other scientific knowledge brought change after change—from horses to cars, from telegraph to radio, from antibiotics to vaccines.
Artistic Changes These changes were reflected in the visual arts, literature, and music of the time. Cubism, a style Picasso used in his famous painting “Guernica,” challenged traditional perspective in the visual arts (See Topic 7.4.) Stream-of-consciousness writing by such authors as Marcel Proust (1971–1922) and James Joyce (1882–1941) rebelled against traditional narrative forms, and atonal music such as that composed by Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) explored musical expression outside of familiar tonalities, to name just a few examples. Many scholars suggest these expressions were a response to the mechanized, urbanized society widespread in the early 1900s.
An especially vibrant expression of 20th century perspectives was the Harlem Renaissance, a “rebirth” of African American culture as it sought to distance itself from the stereotyped portrayal of African Americans in literature and onstage. During the Harlem Renaissance, writers, poets, musicians, and social activists made Harlem a thriving center of energy for black artistic expression. Jazz emerged and became an international language.