Visual History of the World

(CONTENTS)
 

HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION & CULTURE From Prehistoric to Romanesque  Art Gothic Art Renaissance  Art Baroque and Rococo Art The Art of Asia Neoclassicism, Romanticism  Art Art Styles in 19th century Art of the 20th century Artists that Changed the World Design and Posters Photography Classical Music Literature and Philosophy Visual History of the World Prehistory First Empires The Ancient World The Middle Ages The Early Modern Period The Modern Era The World Wars and Interwar Period The Contemporary World Dictionary of Art and Artists

The Modern Era

1789 - 1914


In Europe, the revolutionary transformation of the ruling systems and state structures began with a bang: In 1789 the French Revolution broke out in Paris, and its motto "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite"—Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood—took on an irrepressible force. A fundamental reorganization of society followed the French Revolution. The ideas behind the revolution were manifest in Napoleon's Code Civil, which he imposed on many European nations. The 19th century also experienced a transformation of society from another source: The Industrial Revolution established within society a poorer working class that stood in opposition to the merchant and trading middle class. The nascent United States was shaken by an embittered civil war. The economic growth that set in following that war was accompanied by the development of imperialist endeavors and its rise to the status of a Great Power.

Liberty Leading the People,
allegory of the 1830 July revolution that deposed the French monarchy,
with Marianne as the personification of liberty,
contemporary painting by Eugene Delacroix.

see also:

Between Two Revolutions

(From David to Delacroix)

Napoleonic Domination
 

1792 - 1814