1. Universal chronology

2. Developments

3. Social influence

4. Environmental influence

5. International relations

6. Arts and architecture

7. See also

8. References

The Machine Age^[1][2][3] is an era that includes the early 20th century, sometimes also including the late 19th century. An approximate dating would be about 1880 to 1945. Considered to be at a peak in the time between the first and second world wars, it forms a late part of the Second Industrial Revolution. The 1940s saw the beginning of the Atomic Age, where modern physics saw new applications such as the atomic bomb,^[4] the first computers,^[5] and the transistor.^[6] The Digital Revolution ended the intellectual model of the machine age founded in the mechanical and heralding a new more complex model of high technology. The digital era has been called the Second Machine Age, with its increased focus on machines that do mental tasks.

Universal chronology

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  bar:Decades color:era   from:1880 till:1890 text:1880s  from:1890 till:1900 text:Gay Nineties   from:1900 till:1910 text:1900s   from:1910 till:1920 text:1910s   from:1920 till:1930 text:Roaring Twenties   from:1930 till:1940 text:Great Depression   from:1940 till:1950 text:1940s  bar:Movements color:era   from:1880 till:1940 shift:(10,5) text:Second Industrial Revolution  from:1880 till:1895 text:Gilded Age  from:1895 till:1925 text:Progressive Era  from:1895 till:1940 shift:(0,-10) text:Liberalism  from:1925 till:1940 shift:(25,5) text:New Deal  from:1925 till:1940 shift:(-25,0) text:Nazism  from:1940 till:1950 shift:(-25,5) text:World War II   from:1945 till:1950 color:filler text:Cold War   bar:  color:era   from:1880  till:1950 text:Machine Age  from:1945  till:1950 color:filler text:Atomic Age

Developments

Artifacts of the Machine Age include:

• Reciprocating steam engine replaced by gas turbines, internal combustion engines and electric motors
• Electrification based on large hydroelectric and thermal electric power production plants and distribution systems
• Mass production of high-volume goods on moving assembly lines, particularly of the automobile^[7]
• Gigantic production machinery, especially for producing and working metal, such as steel rolling mills, bridge component fabrication, and automobile body presses
• Powerful earthmoving equipment
• Steel framed buildings of great height (the skyscraper^[8])
• Radio and phonograph technology
• High speed printing presses, enabling the production of low cost newspapers and mass market magazines
• Low cost appliances for the mass market that employ fractional horsepower electric motors, such as the vacuum cleaner and the washing machine
• Fast and comfortable long distance travel by railroad, automobile, and aircraft
• Development and employment of modern war machines such as tanks, aircraft, submarines and the modern battleship
• Streamline designs in automobiles and trains, influenced by aircraft design

Social influence

• The rise of mass market advertising and consumerism
• Nationwide branding and distribution of goods, replacing local arts and crafts
• Nationwide cultural leveling due to exposure to films and network broadcasting
• Mass-produced government propaganda through print, audio, and motion pictures
• Replacement of skilled crafts with low skilled labor
• Growth of strong corporations through their abilities to exploit economies of scale in materials and equipment acquisition, manufacturing, and distribution
• Corporate exploitation of labor leading to the creation of strong trade unions as a countervailing force
• Aristocracy with weighted suffrage or male-only suffrage replaced by democracy with universal suffrage, parallel to one-party states
• First-wave feminism
• Increased economic planning, including five-year plans, public works and occasional war economy, including nationwide conscription and rationing

Environmental influence

• Exploitation of natural resources with little concern for the ecological consequences; a continuation of 19th century practices but at a larger scale.
• Release of synthetic dyes, artificial flavorings, and toxic materials into the consumption stream without testing for adverse health effects.
• Rise of petroleum as a strategic resource

International relations

• Conflicts between nations regarding access to energy sources (particularly oil) and material resources (particularly iron and various metals with which it is alloyed) required to ensure national self-sufficiency. Such conflicts were contributory to two devastating world wars.
• Climax of New Imperialism and beginning of decolonization

Arts and architecture

The Machine Age is considered to have influenced:

• Dystopian films including Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and Fritz Lang's Metropolis
• Streamline Moderne appliance design and architecture
• Bauhaus style
• Steampunk
• Modern art
  • Cubism
  • Art Deco decorative style
  • Futurism
  • Music

See also

• Second Industrial Revolution

References

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• Allondaz
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