This is from Steamboy, a movie that takes place in a fictional, 19th century London. Also a personal favorite of mine. Know that this is a work of fiction so not all the content in the story is accurate to the time of its invention or even real at anytime. (Such as light bulbs or that bizarre ,steam-powered unicycle the hero James rides)
What is going on in the nineteenth century?
When one thinks of the nineteenth century, anything can come to mind. The Industrial Revolution comes to my mind. Others might think of their ancestors escaping a potato famine. Maybe Victorian England comes to mind with the pomp and wealth of the most powerful nation in the world. The major political, economic, religious, social, intellectual and artistic affairs always make up the core of all happenings of any time and they dictate the legacy historians portray the times in. A mere thought could never begin to scratch the surface, or rather, peel off the first layer. So one is left wondering, what was going on during the nineteenth century?
In the political world of the nineteenth century we see many “–isms” come into the interpretation of history. The political ones include but are most unfortunately not limited to: communism, imperialism, liberalism, conservatism, and nationalism. Karl Marx, a radical theologian, proposed a Communist revolution of the working class. This would give rise to the Soviet Union during the next century. Imperialism was a means to fuel an industrial society via precious raw material. Liberalism is a movement towards improving society via new methods, policies and laws. Conservatism, liberalism’s exact opposite is the improvement of society via a transition to the methods, policies and laws of the past. In the Treaty of Vienna, The conservative powers of the Old Regime suppressed Napoleon’s attempts to spread the liberal ideas of the revolution. Nationalism is the willingness to fight for one’s nation. Many nations maintained a state of warfare by convincing their peoples that what they were fighting for would glorify their nation and themselves. In the Opium War, some British generals thought fighting China to engage in selling opium was a more than a little extreme of an option. However an opportunity for glory and a certain duty as a general prevented any real controversy over the issue. All these "-isms" define the trends of government policy that shaped nineteenth century.
The economic state of affairs in Europe was based around the Industrial Revolution and how it was utilized by Europeans. In order to allow factories to spit out finished goods, European nations had to fill them with raw materials acquired cheaply from other lands. Europe possessed few natural resources to feed its own factories and would build colonies in foreign lands, like the Balkins, rich in ore and lumber. Agriculture was also influenced by Imperialism, which could be said was more a reason to imperialize before the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Foreign goods were in high demand, such as tea from China or potatoes and corn from the Americas. Ireland, at the time an English colony growing potatoes, suffered an economic depression and famine, which forced many in to a massive migration out of the area to elsewhere. Such places included the grave for the unlucky ones or America for the luckier ones. It has been crippled by the Potato Famine and has never really caught up to the rest of the world. The Industrial Revolution produced many incredible products, and some could say it's still happening. During this century the world saw the creation of the telegraph which allowed for near instant communication between thousands of miles of land. The Bessmer process allowed iron ore to be converted to steel in about twenty minutes, which is much less than several hours. The economic golden age of Europe could be the most important one as it was one of wealth and prosper.
The nineteenth century is a more secularized world than the last. However, religion is still an important factor in the development of the century. In the Dreyfus Affair, a Jewish military officer in France was accused of selling military secrets to Germany. In an effort to prove they didn't hand out special treatment, not even to Jews for the sake of East European appeal. When evidence was found pointing to Dreyfus he was immediately arrested and convicted of treason. Later, more evidence was found after more through investigation on the matter that pointed away from Dreyfus's guilt and a spur of controversy came up over whether or not the French government was Anti-Semitic and prejudice against Jews. This was also a time of missionary activity. Many devout Catholics, devout Protestants, and devout con artists, traveled to every corner of the New World to spread the Faith.
As Europe set about creating empires to span the globe, they underwent great social change as the ideas of the world came closer in reach. European powers didn't make many close friends as they conquered. The result was general hostility and Europeans developed wide-spread xenophobia, a fear of foreigners and foreign objects. Literature like "The Monkey's Paw" and tales of barbarian cannibals pushed Europeans away from their conquered enemies. Events like the Boxer Rebellion (November 1899) only succeeded in scarring Europeans into treating foreigners with ignorance and chauvinism. Social Darwinism was an idea that came about in the nineteenth century to explain social evolution. The idea, "survival of the fittest" creates social advancements as old societies inspire newer, better ones, such as Greece to Rome to Europe in general.
Thinking was changed (as things tend to do any century) during the nineteenth century. Father of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud explored the ways of the human mind, including tendencies of repressing memories as a defense mechanism and the existence of the unconscious mind. The Enlightenment of the previous century continued to influence thinking as actions were based on common sense and reason. That came to affect the intellectual status of the time. One such idea was, during the industrial Revolution women could work along side their fellow man for less money doing the same thing as him. Not only that but despite their equivalent abilities in the subject of all things not requiring muscle, they lacked suffrage and the right to sue, testify in court, or hold office. This defied the reasoning of the day, and a movement for women's right would continue through the next century.
Art during the nineteenth century was for most of the time, Romantic Art. Romanticism was and is a movement in art to counter the Enlightenment. The cold rationale of the Enlightenment was seen as stifling to one's emotions. The art of the time focused on nature, strong emotion and smooth, curvy, natural lines. It includes famous artists and writers and musicians like Victor Hugo, Joseph Mallord William Turner and Frederic Chopin. While Romanticism started to counter the Enlightenment, it became more of a counter to the fading of nature in society as more advanced technology drew mankind away from the woods. Post-Romantic Art, which began towards the end of the nineteenth century, is more of a fusion of both the natural and the synthetic in harmony. It was lead by artists like Leonardo Pereznieto and writers such as Claudia Moscovici.
The times do change and the world was changing faster than the centuries that preceded it in the eighteen hundreds. Monarchy for the most part was over. An Industrial Revolution morphed society into a smaller world, be it the steam engine or the telegraph. Religion is questioned ever more and it has come down to the limit of Christianity's superiority in the Dreyfus affair as the world grows torn between conservatism and liberalism. Karl Marx picks up the pen and Communism is born, Freud picks up a notepad (and other questionable things) and modern psychology comes to light. Man is built his own house sometime in B.C., now he's built his own environment and writers like Victor Hugo are homesick while Leonardo Pereznieto and post-Romantic company, try to commute back home from that environment. And that readers, is what was going in the nineteenth century.
