Modernism In World War 1

     World War I was the result of leaders' aggression towards other countries which was supported by the rising nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war prompted military alliances and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war. One cause of the World War was militarism, which is a policy in which military preparedness is of primary significance to a situation. Another cause of the World War was nationalism. Nationalism is the pride and devotion form one towards his/her country. It played a great part in the causes of World War 1 because citizens wanted to stand up for their country, and fight for them. The third

World War I led to post-modernism, because the world had a less optimistic view of things and the women’s suffrage movement had an impact on the women writers of that time (Modernism). Modernism was illustrated by many different types of characteristics. Modernists used a point of view never used by any other writers and they developed these views changes in psychology, sociology and anthropology (Modernism). Modernism/ Postmodernism had a great influence in the 1940’s and

World War I was a war that shocked the world and brought about new emotions that created a large wave of “-isms” as well as the “lost generation” of writers. Modern art was catalyzed by World War I and without a thorough study of the various forms of art that resulted from it, modern art and the tremendous effect that World War I had on the people of the world cannot be fully understood. This historical investigation will cover a few aspects of the art that resulted from World War I so that a general idea of the emotions shared by the people of the world can be known. A few paintings that represent specific movements will be studied to understand the artistic movement. A number of museum exhibitions will be studied along with government websites, databases, and museum websites, especially from the Museum of Modern Art.

Thesis: World War I is also known as The First International War, this war had helped the development of flight and aerial warfare, but with events and several countries planning on war this war had damaged all countries involved in it.

Through the course of American history, many great wars and battles have been fought but none have left a greater impact than World War I. World war I was known as the Great War, although America’s initial plan of action was to bring global peace. The tables unfortunately turned on them. The treaty of Versailles which was meant to be a conclusion to the madness, lead to an even greater bloodshed. The Great War span from 1914-1919, within this period of time around 10 million died and 20 million were injured worldwide. The progressive era took place during 1890-1920. The progressive era was a constitutional movement led by a group of citizens that believed that their struggles such as poverty, and violence would get resolved by the government and by education.

With World War I being the first modern war, armies could do nothing more than dig trenches in defense. What made World War I the first modern war is all the new technologies that came with it. Technologies like gas masks, powered flight, and U-boats affected the war in a major way. During the war, both sides used poison gas against their enemies. The gas could destroy organs, cause blisters, or even kill the soldiers. Gas masks filtered the air to help keep soldiers protected from the gas. At first, aircrafts were used for spotting enemy positions, however, as the war went on they became used for bombing and fighting. Lastly, German submarines called U-boats were used to sink supply ships and later used to sink Allied and neutral ships.

As people mature, their beliefs evolve; as a child it is easy to be guided by adults, to believe in adults. As adults, people have their own beliefs. It is the period in the middle that is the hardest. As children begin to grow, they begin to push limits and question authority. The modernist period in American literature is comparable to those teenage years. In the early stages of American literature, America looked to her mother England for guidance. The very traditional literature that resulted had a strong emphasis on religion, family, and country. In early literature it was scandalous to question God; the family was only to be portrayed as a supportive, loving community; and

A. Attention step: the change in the context and trend of war in terms of ferocity of the weapons and the increase in human/nations participation was occasioned by the industrial revolution and the French revolution.

Published in 1989, Modris Eksteins’ book, “Rites of Spring” argues that World War I, with Germany specifically as a catalyst, is the turning point of modernism. As Eksteins explains it, World War I was the final battle between the old world and the new, modern, world. To put it simply: England and her allies represented the old ways, while Germany and her allies represented new ways. Eksteins believed that the end of the nineteenth century was filled with urges for modernism with Germany leading the way as the “modernist nation par excellence of our century” Throughout the three acts of his novel, Eksteins continues to address how Germany, and both world wars, managed to battle the old ways of the nineteenth century and as a result continue into the twentieth century with humanity completely disillusioned as a whole.

The Enlightenment and World War I, are major influences on today’s world. Both eras in our history were controversial and doubtful, but both brought huge changes to the world we know today. I personally think the Enlightenment has the biggest influence on the world until 1918 as well as 2017. The Enlightenment was a extended movement that spread through parts of Europe during the 1700s, focusing on intellectual, philosophical, cultural ideas. (Spielvogel 500)

In today’s digital age, development of new technology and weapons are at an alarming rate, hence arises the need to stay ahead of advancements in order to properly defend the nation, as well as coalition forces and allies. In this period of warfare, the number one threat comes in the form of air breathing and ballistic missiles. During World War II, this threat was present, but was not thought to be prevalent.

The Bauhaus movement began shortly after the world war 1 in 1919 to re imagine the materialistic good to reflect how we perceive art works. It was a movement initiated by a German architect named Walter Groupius.The Bauhaus movement embraced and emphasized on the simplicity and the basis of a design. (Griffith 2007) The idea behind the movement was to design and manufacture beautiful and practical products using simple and economical techniques. The ideology of the school was not only to reflect society but improve it by combining simplistic beauty with productivity. (Naylor 1968) The Bauhaus implied form follows function which is created by a cross platform of functional craftsmanship in every field whilst experimenting and using different materials.

Right before the beginning of World War I and until the beginning of World War II, a form of modernity known as High Modernism was born. The term modernism comes from famous artist Charles Baudelaire, when he asked fellow artists to step away from neo-classicism and turn to modernity. He asked everyone to turn to something new, something unique. After Baudelaire coined this term, Early Modernism was formulated and as soon as Early Modernism died out, High Modernism began to develop. Although this era of High Modernism was produced, Early Modernism artists simply just took their own artistic ideas and expanded it into a different form of modernity. Movements in particular like Imagism, the 1913 Armory Show, Feminism and Dada & Surrealism were

WORLD WAR ONE      There has always been wars, and there will always be wars. Most wars leave a huge impact on the history of that nation, especialy if it involves more than one. In 1914, long-standing rivalries among European nations exploded into war. World War one, as it is now called, cost millions of lives. Such a war, has left a deep intentaion on the American history.

Approaching Puberty (The Pleiades) (1921) by Max Ernst would be an example of a work of Modernism that would displease the Nazis and is therefore important/significant, but to explain why let's look at a bit of History. Hitler's ascent to power which started in the early 1930's would eventually lead to his role as Reich Chancellor of Germany, leader of the Nazis. One of the factors that lead to his rise was that Germany was experiencing hard economics times and the German people were searching for a solution to their financial woes. I would also add that this was a time of great change both for Germany and the Western world putting strains on societies trying to adapt to modernization. Having been to Germany, I can say from direct experience that the German people are very into structure and order. “Being German means being clear,” Hitler declared; ambiguity was considered a form of cultural treachery, and modern art could definitely be ambiguous.