Belle Époque
The Belle Époque was a period of relative peace, prosperity, and cultural flourishing in France and parts of Europe, roughly from 1871 to 1914.
Fin de siècle: A late nineteenth-century mood marked by cultural experimentation, pessimism, and anxiety about social change. Its anxieties complicated the Belle Époque’s reputation for confidence and progress.
Eiffel Tower: A wrought-iron tower built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Built as an exhibition landmark, it became a lasting emblem of modern Paris.
Second Industrial Revolution: A phase of industrialization from the late nineteenth century characterized by advances in steel, chemicals, electricity, and engineering. Its technologies powered the period’s urban growth and new forms of production.
Naturalism: A literary and artistic movement that portrayed human life as shaped by heredity, environment, and social conditions. Its unsparing attention to poverty and determinism countered idealized images of modern life.
Parisian café: A public venue in Paris where people met to eat, drink, converse, and encounter art and politics. Cafés made urban sociability and artistic exchange visible in Belle Époque Paris.
Moulin Rouge: A Paris cabaret founded in 1889, known for its nightlife and association with the can-can. Its spectacle and nightlife embodied the commercial entertainment of Belle Époque Paris.
Electric lighting: Illumination produced by electric lamps rather than combustion-based lights. Electric light extended urban activity and changed streets, homes, and entertainment.
Socialism: A family of political and economic ideas advocating social ownership or control of productive resources. Socialist movements challenged the inequalities that prosperity left intact.
Art Nouveau: An international decorative style characterized by flowing lines, organic forms, and integrated design. Its sinuous forms became one of the period’s most recognizable visual languages.
French Third Republic: The French republican regime established in 1870 and lasting until the German invasion of 1940. Its political institutions framed most of the Belle Époque in France.