A Very Brief History of the World in the 21st Century - part 1 - How the West was Lost

Medieval Medicine

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Communications were difficult and dangerous, so ideas travelled slowly. During the Dark Ages, the monasteries alone managed to hang onto learning and knowledge, and even the ability to read and write. Many of the medical ideas of the Greeks and Romans were lost at this time, and survived only in the Muslim cities of the Middle East. Similarly, technology was limited, and much of the advanced technical knowledge of the Romans was lost.

Medieval Europeans believed in the Christian God, so politics and everyday life, as well as medicine, were dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Most peasants were extremely superstitious. The key aspect of the Middle Ages was the emphasis on authority - people would believe what they were told against the evidence of their own eyes, and people who questioned authority risked execution.

Another successful revolution occurred in the Low Countries. The Dutch found it hard to rule the Belgians, due to their Catholic religion and French language.

In the s, the Belgians successfully overthrew Dutch rule, establishing the Kingdom of Belgium. In a series of revolutions occurred in Prussia, Austria, and France. In France, the king, Louis-Philippe , was overthrown and a republic was declared. Louis Napoleon , nephew of Napoleon I was elected the republic's first president. Revolutionaries in Prussia and Italy focused more on nationalism, and most advocated the establishment of unified German and Italian states, respectively.

In the city-states of Italy , many argued for a unification of all the Italian kingdoms into a single nation. Obstacles to this included the many Italian dialects spoken by the people of Italy, and the Austrian presence in the north of the peninsula. Unification of the peninsula began in The powerful Kingdom of Sardinia also called Savoy or Piedmont formed an alliance with France and went to war with Austria in that year.

The war ended with a Sardinian victory, and Austrian forces left Italy. Plebiscites were held in several cities, and the majority of people voted for union with Sardinia, creating the Kingdom of Italy under Victor Emmanuel II. In , the Italian nationalist Garibaldi led revolutionaries in an overthrow of the government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. A plebiscite held there resulted in a unification of that kingdom with Italy. Italian forces seized the eastern Papal States in In , Italian troops conquered the Papal States , completing unification.

Pope Pius IX refused to recognize the Italian government or negotiate settlement for the loss of Church land. Prussia in the middle and late parts of the 19th century was ruled by its king, Wilhelm I , and its skilled chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. In , Prussia went to war with Denmark and gained several German-speaking lands as a result. In , Prussia went to war with the Austrian Empire and won, and created a confederation of it and several German states , called the North German Confederation , setting the stage for the formation of the German Empire. After years of dealing with Hungarian revolutionist, whose kingdom Austria had conquered centuries earlier, the Austrian emperor, Franz Joseph agreed to divide the empire into two parts: Austria and Hungary, and rule as both Emperor of Austria and king of Hungary.

The new Austro-Hungarian Empire was created in The two peoples were united in loyalty to the monarch and Catholicism. There were changes throughout the West in science, religion and culture between and Europe in differed greatly from its state in Most Western European nations had some degree of democracy, and two new national states had been created, Italy and Germany. Political parties were formed throughout the continent and with the spread of industrialism, Europe's economy was transformed, although it remained very agricultural.

The 19th and early 20th centuries saw important contributions to the process of modernisation of Western art and Literature and continuing evolution in the role of religion in Western societies. Napoleon re-established the Catholic Church in France through the Concordat of Pressure for abolition of anti-Catholic laws grew and in Parliament passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act , giving Catholics almost equal civil rights, including the right to vote and to hold most public offices.

Many Westerners became less religious in this period, although a majority of people still held traditional Christian beliefs. The publication of On the Origin of Species , by the English naturalist Charles Darwin , provided an alternative hypothesis for the development, diversification, and design of human life to the traditional poetic scriptural explanation known as Creationism. According to Darwin, only the organisms most able to adapt to their environment survived while others became extinct.

Adaptations resulted in changes in certain populations of organisms which could eventually cause the creation of new species. Modern genetics started with Gregor Johann Mendel , a German-Czech Augustinian monk who studied the nature of inheritance in plants. Geologists at the time made discoveries indicating the world was far older than most believed it to be.

Early batteries were invented and a telegraph system was also invented, allowing global communication. In Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev published his Periodic table. The success of Mendeleev's table came from two decisions he made: The first was to leave gaps in the table when it seemed that the corresponding element had not yet been discovered.

The second decision was to occasionally ignore the order suggested by the atomic weights and switch adjacent elements, such as cobalt and nickel , to better classify them into chemical families. In Europe by the 19th century, fashion had shifted away from such the artistic styles as Mannerism , Baroque and Rococo which followed the Renaissance and sought to revert to the earlier, simpler art of the Renaissance by creating Neoclassicism.

Neoclassicism complemented the intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment , which was similarly idealistic. Ingres , Canova , and Jacques-Louis David are among the best-known neoclassicists. Just as Mannerism rejected Classicism, so did Romanticism reject the ideas of the Enlightenment and the aesthetic of the Neoclassicists. Romanticism emphasized emotion and nature, and idealized the Middle Ages. Romantic art focused on the use of color and motion in order to portray emotion, but like classicism used Greek and Roman mythology and tradition as an important source of symbolism.

Another important aspect of Romanticism was its emphasis on nature and portraying the power and beauty of the natural world. Romanticism was also a large literary movement, especially in poetry. Some of the best regarded poets of the era were women. Mary Wollstonecraft had written one of the first works of feminist philosophy, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman which called for equal education for women in and her daughter, Mary Shelley became an accomplished author best known for her novel Frankenstein , which examined some of the frightening potential of the rapid advances of science.

In early 19th-century Europe, in response to industrialization , the movement of Realism emerged. Realism sought to accurately portray the conditions and hardships of the poor in the hopes of changing society. In contrast with Romanticism, which was essentially optimistic about mankind, Realism offered a stark vision of poverty and despair. Similarly, while Romanticism glorified nature, Realism portrayed life in the depths of an urban wasteland. Like Romanticism, Realism was a literary as well as an artistic movement.

Writers also sought to come to terms with the new industrial age. Leavis have described one or the other as the greatest novelist ever. In the second half of the century Anton Chekhov excelled in writing short stories and became perhaps the leading dramatist internationally of his period. American literature also progressed with the development of a distinct voice: In Britain's Australian colonies, bush balladeers such as Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson brought the character of a new continent to the pages of world literature. The response of architecture to industrialisation, in stark contrast to the other arts, was to veer towards historicism.

The railway stations built during this period are often called "the cathedrals of the age".

Architecture during the Industrial Age witnessed revivals of styles from the distant past, such as the Gothic Revival —in which style the iconic Palace of Westminster in London was re-built to house the mother parliament of the British Empire. Out of the naturalist ethic of Realism grew a major artistic movement, Impressionism. The Impressionists pioneered the use of light in painting as they attempted to capture light as seen from the human eye.

As a direct outgrowth of Impressionism came the development of Post-Impressionism. In Australia the Heidelberg School was expressing the light and colour of Australian landscape with a new insight and vigour. The Industrial Revolution which began in Britain in the 18th century brought increased leisure time, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased accessibility.

The bat and ball sport of cricket was first played in England during the 16th century and was exported around the globe via the British Empire. A number of popular modern sports were devised or codified in Britain during the 19th century and obtained global prominence — these include Ping Pong , [38] [39] modern tennis , [40] Association Football , Netball and Rugby. The United States also developed popular international sports during this period. English migrants took antecedents of baseball to America during the colonial period. American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby, most notably the rule changes instituted by Walter Camp.

Basketball was invented in by James Naismith , a Canadian physical education instructor working in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States. Baron Pierre de Coubertin , a Frenchman, instigated the modern revival of the Olympic Games , with the first modern Olympics were held at Athens in The years between and saw the expansion of Western power.

The Empire of Japan is the only one non-Western power involved in this new era of imperialism. Although the West had had a presence in Africa for centuries, its colonies were limited mostly to Africa's coast.

The period between and is often called the Scramble for Africa , due to the competition between European nations for control of Africa. In , France occupied Algeria in North Africa.

History of Western civilization

Many Frenchman settled on Algeria's Mediterranean coast. In Britain annexed Egypt. France eventually conquered most of Morocco and Tunisia as well. Libya was conquered by the Italians. Spain gained a small part of Morocco and modern-day Western Sahara. Germany also established two colonies in West Africa, and Portugal had one as well. Central Africa was dominated by the Belgian Congo.

At first the colony was ruled by Belgium's king, Leopold II , however his regime was so brutal the Belgian government took over the colony. The Germans and French also established colonies in Central Africa. The British and Italians were the two dominant powers in East Africa , although France also had a colony there. Southern Africa was dominated by Britain. Tensions between the British Empire and the Boer republics led to the Boer Wars , fought on and off between the s and , ending in a British victory.

The British established several other colonies in Southern Africa. The Portuguese and Germans also established a presence in Southern Africa. The French conquered the island of Madagascar. By , Africa had only two independent nations, Liberia , a nation founded in West Africa by free black Americans earlier in the 19th century, and the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia in East Africa. Many Africans, like the Zulus , resisted European rule, but in the end Europe succeeded in conquering and transforming the continent. Missionaries arrived and established schools, while industrialists helped establish rubber , diamond and gold industries on the continent.

Perhaps the most ambitious change by Europeans was the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt, allowing ships to travel from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without having to go all the way around Africa. Soon every major Western power as well as Russia and Japan had spheres of influence in China, although the country remained independent. One of the few independent nations in this region at the time was Siam. The British even built a new capital in India, New Delhi. Britain, however, established a sphere of influence in Persia and a few small colonies in Arabia and coastal Mesopotamia.

The Pacific islands were conquered by Germany, the U. In , the ruling class of colonists in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy of Queen Liliuokalani and established a republic. Since most of the leaders of the overthrow were Americans or descendants of Americans, they asked to be annexed by the United States, which agreed to the annexation in Latin America was largely free from foreign rule throughout this period, although the United States and Britain had a great deal of influence over the region.

Britain had two colonies on the Latin American mainland, while the United States, following , had several in the Caribbean. Other countries also faced American interventions from time to time, mostly in the Caribbean and southern North America. Competition over control of overseas colonies sometimes led to war between Western powers, and between Western powers and non-Westerners.

At the turn of the 20th century, Britain fought several wars with Afghanistan to prevent it from falling under the influence of Russia, which ruled all of Central Asia excluding Afghanistan. Britain and France nearly went to war over control of Africa. In , the United States and Spain went to war after an American naval ship was sunk in the Caribbean. Although today it is generally held that the sinking was an accident, at the time the U. Important resistance movements to Western Imperialism included the Boxer Rebellion , fought against the colonial powers in China, and the Philippine—American War , fought against the United States, both of which failed.

The Russo-Turkish War —78 left the Ottoman Empire little more than an empty shell, but the failing empire was able to hang on into the 20th century, until its final partition , which left the British and French colonial empires in control of much of the former Ottoman ruled Arab countries of Middle East British Mandate of Palestine , British Mandate of Mesopotamia , French Mandate of Syria , French Mandate of Lebanon , in addition to the British occupation of Egypt from Even though this happened centuries after the West had given up its futile attempts to conquer the "Holy Land" under religious pretexts, this fuelled resentment against the " Crusaders " in the Islamic world, together with the nationalisms hatched under Ottoman rule contributing to the development of Islamism.

The expanding Western powers greatly changed the societies they conquered. Many connected their empires via railroad and telegraph and constructed churches, schools, and factories. By the late 19th century, the world was dominated by a few great powers , including Great Britain, the United States, and Germany.

France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were also great powers. Western inventors and industrialists transformed the West in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The American Thomas Edison pioneered electricity and motion picture technology. Other American inventors, the Wright brothers , completed the first successful airplane flight in The first automobiles were also invented in this period.

Petroleum became an important commodity after the discovery it could be used to power machines. Steel was developed in Britain by Henry Bessemer.

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This very strong metal, combined with the invention of elevators, allowed people to construct very tall buildings, called skyscrapers. In the late 19th century, the Italian Guglielmo Marconi was able to communicate across distances using radio.

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In , the first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell , a British expatriate living in America. Unions continued to fight for the rights of workers, and by laws limiting working hours and outlawing child labor had been passed in many Western countries. Culturally, the English-speaking nations were in the midst of the Victorian Era , named for Britain's queen. In France, this period is called the Belle Epoque , a period of many artistic and cultural achievements. The suffragette movement began in this period, which sought to gain voting rights for women, with New Zealand and Australian parliaments granting women's suffrage in the s.

However, by , only a dozen U. Cities grew as never before between and This led at first to unsanitary and crowded living conditions, especially for the poor. However, by , municipal governments were providing police and fire departments and garbage removal services to their citizens, leading to a drop in death rates. Unfortunately, pollution from burning coal and wastes left by thousands of horses that crowded the streets worsened the quality of life in many urban areas.

Paris, lit up by gas and electric light, and containing the tallest structure in the world at the time, the Eiffel Tower , was often looked to as an ideal modern city, and served as a model for city planners around the world. After the war, the former Confederate States were put under federal occupation and federal lawmakers attempted to gain equality for blacks by outlawing slavery and giving them citizenship.

After several years, however, Southern states began rejoining the Union as their populations pledged loyalty to the United States government, and in Reconstruction as this period was called, came to an end. After being re-admitted to the Union, Southern lawmakers passed segregation laws and laws preventing blacks from voting, resulting in blacks being regarded as second-class citizens for decades to come.

Another great change beginning in the s was the settlement of the western territories by Americans. The population growth in the American West led to the creation of many new western states, and by all the land of the contiguous U. As whites settled the West, however, conflicts occurred with the Amerindians.

After several Indian Wars , the Amerindians were forcibly relocated to small reservations throughout the West and by whites were the dominant ethnic group in the American West. As the farming and cattle industries of the American West matured and new technology allowed goods to be refrigerated and brought to other parts of the country and overseas, people's diets greatly improved and contributed to increased population growth throughout the West.

America's population greatly increased between and , due largely to immigration. Immigrants often faced discrimination, because many differed from most Americans in religion and culture. Despite this, most immigrants found work and enjoyed a greater degree of freedom than in their home countries. The vast majority, at least by the second generation, learned English, and adopted American culture, while at the same time contributing to American culture.

For example, the celebration of ethnic holidays and the introduction of foreign cuisine to America. These new groups also changed America's religious landscape. Although it remained mostly Protestant , Catholics especially, as well as Jews and Orthodox Christians , increased in number. Despite this, most Americans were reluctant to get involved in world affairs, and American presidents generally tried to keep the U.

The years between and saw the rise of Germany as the dominant power in Europe. By the late 19th century, Germany had surpassed Britain to become the world's greatest industrial power. It also had the mightiest army in Europe. Prussia won the war and gained two border territories, Alsace and Lorraine , from France. After the war, Wilhelm took the title kaiser from the Roman title caesar , proclaimed the German Empire , and all the German states other than Austria united with this new nation, under the leadership of Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

During this time, France was increasingly divided between Catholics and monarchists and anticlerical and republican forces. In , church and state were officially separated in France, although the majority of the population remained Catholic. France also found itself weakened industrially following its war with Prussia due to its loss of iron and coal mines following the war. In addition, France's population was smaller than Germany's and was hardly growing.

Despite all this, France's strong sense of nationhood among other things kept the country together. Between and , Britain continued to peacefully switch between Liberal and Conservative governments, and maintained its vast empire, the largest in world history. Two problems faced by Britain in this period were the resentment of British rule in Ireland and Britain's falling behind Germany and the United States in industrial production.

The European populations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all continued to grow and thrive in this period and evolved democratic Westminster system parliaments. The colony of New Zealand gained its own parliament called a "general assembly" and home rule in In they were federated as an independent nation under the British Crown, known as the Commonwealth of Australia , with a wholly elected bicameral parliament. The Constitution of Australia had been drafted in Australia and approved by popular consent. Thus Australia is one of the few countries established by a popular vote.

From the s, Canada, Australia and New Zealand had become laboratories of democracy. By the s, they had already granted voting rights to their citizens in advance of most other Western nations. In , New Zealand became the first self-governing nation to extend the right to vote to women and, in , the women of South Australia became the first to obtain also the right to stand for Parliament. During the s Australia also saw such milestones as the invention of the secret ballot , the introduction of a minimum wage and the election of the world's first Labor Party government, prefiguring the emergence of Social Democratic governments in Europe.

The old age pension was established in Australia and New Zealand by From the s, the Heidelberg School of art adapted Western painting techniques to Australian conditions, while writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson introduced the character of a new continent into English literature and antipodean artists such as the opera singer Dame Nellie Melba began to influence the European arts.

The late 19th century saw the creation of several alliances in Europe. France and Russia also developed strong relations with one another, due to the financing of Russia's Industrial Revolution by French capitalists. Although it did not have a formal alliance, Russia supported the Slavic Orthodox nations of the Balkans and the Caucasus, which had been created in the 19th century after several wars and revolutions against the Ottoman Empire , which by now was in decline and ruled only parts of the southern Balkan Peninsula.

Franco-German relations were also tense in this period due to France's defeat and loss of land at the hands of Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War. Also in this period, Britain ended its policy of isolation from the European continent and formed an alliance with France, called the Entente Cordiale. Rather than achieve greater security for the nations of Europe, however, these alliances increased the chances of a general European war breaking out.

Other factors that would eventually lead to World War I were the competition for overseas colonies, the military buildups of the period, most notably Germany's, and the feeling of intense nationalism throughout the continent. When the war broke out, much of the fighting was between Western powers, and the immediate casus belli was an assassination. The victim was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand , and he was assassinated on 28 June by a Yugoslav nationalist named Gavrilo Princip in the city of Sarajevo , at the time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although Serbia agreed to all but one point of the Austrian ultimatum it did not take responsibility in planning the assassination but was ready to hand over any subject involved on its territory , Austria-Hungary was more than eager to declare war, attacked Serbia and effectively began World War I. Germany responded by declaring war on Russia as well as France, which it feared would ally with Russia. The war quickly stalemated, with trenches being dug from the North Sea to Switzerland.

The war also made use of new and relatively new technology and weapons, including machine guns , airplanes , tanks , battleships , and submarines. Even chemical weapons were used at one point. The war spread throughout the globe with colonial armies clashing in Africa and Pacific nations such as Japan and Australia, allied with Britain, attacking German colonies in the Pacific. Unable to secure an early victory in , British Empire forces later attacked from further south after the beginning of Arab revolt and conquered Mesopotamia and Palestine from the Ottomans with the support of local Arab rebels and supported an Arab revolt against the Ottomans centered in the Arabian Peninsula.

The United States had followed a policy of neutrality in the war, feeling it was a European conflict. However, during the course of the war many Americans had died on board British ocean liners sunk by the Germans, leading to anti-German feelings in the U. There had also been incidents of sabotage on American soil, including the Black Tom explosion.

What finally led to American involvement in the war, however, was the discovery of the Zimmermann Telegram , in which Germany offered to help Mexico conquer part of the United States if it formed an alliance with Germany.

In April, the U. The same year the U. Nicholas abdicated and a Liberal provisional government was set up. In October, Russian communists, led by Vladimir Lenin rose up against the government, resulting in a civil war. Eventually, the communists won and Lenin became premier. Feeling World War I was a capitalist conflict, Lenin signed a peace treaty with Germany in which it gave up a great deal of its Central and Eastern European lands. Although Germany and its allies no longer had to focus on Russia, the large numbers of American troops and weapons reaching Europe turned the tide against Germany, and after more than a year of fighting, Germany surrendered.

The treaties which ended the war, including the famous Versailles Treaty dealt harshly with Germany and its former allies. The Austro-Hungarian Empire were completely abolished and Germany was greatly reduced in size. Many nations regained their independence, including Poland , Czechoslovakia , and Yugoslavia. The last Austro-Hungarian emperor abdicated, and two new republics, Austria and Hungary , were created. The last Ottoman sultan was overthrown by the Turkish nationalist revolutionist named Ataturk and the Ottoman homeland of Turkey was declared a republic.

Germany's kaiser also abdicated and Germany was declared a republic. Germany was also forced to give up the lands it had gained in the Franco-Prussian War to France, accept responsibility for the war, reduce its military and pay reparations to Britain and France. France gained Syria and Lebanon. An independent kingdom consisting of most of the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia , was also established. The war had cost millions of lives and led many in the West to develop a strong distaste for war.

Few were satisfied with, and many despised the agreements made at the end of the war. Japanese and Italians were angry they had not been given any new colonies after the war, and many Americans felt the war had been a mistake. Germans were outraged at the state of their country following the war. Also, unlike many in the United States for example, had hoped, democracy did not flourish in the world in the post-war period. The League of Nations , an international organization proposed by American president Woodrow Wilson to prevent another great war from breaking out, proved ineffective, especially because the isolationist U.

After World War I, most Americans regretted getting involved in world affairs and desired a " return to normalcy ". The s were a period of economic prosperity in the United States. Many Americans bought cars, radios, and other appliances with the help of installment payments. Movie theaters sprang up throughout the country, although at first they did not have sound. Also, many Americans invested in the stock market as a source of income. Also in the s, alcoholic beverages were outlawed in the United States. Women were granted the right to vote throughout the United States.

Although the United States was arguably the most powerful nation in the post-war period, Americans remained isolationist and elected several conservative presidents in the s. Many lost their life's savings and the resulting decline in consumer spending led millions to lose their jobs as banks and businesses closed.

In the Midwestern United States , a severe drought destroyed many farmers' livelihoods. In , Americans elected Franklin D.

Roosevelt followed a series of policies which regulated the stock market and banks, and created many public works programs aimed at providing the unemployed with work. Roosevelt's policies helped alleviate the worst effects of the Depression, although by the Great Depression was still ongoing. Roosevelt also instituted pensions for the elderly and provided money to those who were unemployed. Roosevelt was also one of the most popular presidents in U.

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Europe was relatively unstable following World War I. Although many prospered in the s, Germany was in a deep financial and economic crisis. Also, France and Britain owed the U. When the United States went into Depression, so did Europe. There were perhaps 30 million people around the world unemployed following the Depression. Many governments helped to alleviate the suffering of their citizens and by the economy had improved although the lingering effects of the Depression remained.

Also, the Depression led to the spread of radical left-wing and right-wing ideologies, like Communism and Fascism. In Polish-Soviet War took place. After the Russian Revolution of Russia sought to spread communism to the rest of Europe. This is evidenced by the well-known daily order by marshal Tukhachevsky to his troops: Towards Wilno, Minsk, Warsaw go! Poland, whose statehood had just been re-established by the Treaty of Versailles following the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century achieved an unexpected and decisive victory at the Battle of Warsaw. In the wake of the Polish advance eastward, the Soviets sued for peace and the war ended with a ceasefire in October A formal peace treaty, the Peace of Riga , was signed on 18 March According to the British historian A.

Taylor, the Polish—Soviet War "largely determined the course of European history for the next twenty years or more. According to American sociologist Alexander Gella "the Polish victory had gained twenty years of independence not only for Poland, but at least for an entire central part of Europe. It is also during this period that the Scientific Revolution began and observation replaced religious doctrine as the source of our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

Copernicus up-ended the ancient Greek model of the heavens by suggesting that the sun was at the center of the solar system and that the planets orbited in circles around it. However, there were still problems with getting this theory to match observation. At the beginning of the 17th century, Kepler theorized correctly! So much for the ideal geometries of the Greeks!

Art historians study the Baroque style of the 17th century. It was a time when nations grew in size, wealth and autonomy and when national boundaries were hardened, prefiguring the countries we know today France, Spain and England for example. The American and French Revolutions date to this period. The emerging middle classes and later the working-classes began a centuries-long campaign to gain political power, challenging the control of the aristocracy and monarchy. Successive reform movements in this period and the 19th century and revolutions gradually extended the franchise the right to vote.

Previously suffrage had been limited to males who owned land or who paid a certain amount in taxes. It was only in the second half of the 19th and the 20th centuries that universal suffrage became the norm in Europe and North America. Capitalism became the dominant economic system during this period though it had its roots in the Renaissance. Individuals risked capital to produce goods in a currency-based market which depended on inexpensive, waged labor. Labor eventually organized into unions latter-day guilds and in this way, asserted considerable influence.

More broadly shared political power was bolstered by overall increases in the standard of living and the first experiments in public education. Steam-powered machines and unskilled laborers in factories began to replace skilled artisans. London, Paris, and New York led the unprecedented population growth of cities during this period, as people moved from the countryside or emigrated to find a higher standard of living. Where artists had previously worked under the instructions of wealthy patrons associated with the church or state, in this period, art became part of the market economy, and art itself came to be seen as personal self-expression.

The high value placed on the individual, which emerged in ancient Greece and Rome and then again in the Renaissance, became the primary value of Western culture. Where artistic styles for example, Baroque had once covered numerous artists working over broad regions and periods of time, in the late Nineteenth and through the 20th Century, successive styles of art change with increasing speed and fracture into a kaleidoscope of individual artistic practices.

Where do we fit in? We are immersed in our own time and it can be difficult to see the world around us objectively. One of the modern definitions of an artist, in fact, is someone who is particularly insightful about their own cultural moment. Thanks to global capitalism, social media and the internet, we are more interconnected and interdependent than at any other time in history.

Some see this as a utopian moment. With internet access, we can all contribute to and benefit from what is being called the Information Revolution. For others, the prevalence of technology in our lives threatens our individuality and privacy, and reduces us to a data point that can be monetized by corporations like Facebook, Google, and Apple.

One thing is certain, throughout the time periods sketched above, art has meant different things, and it is likely to be differently defined in the future.

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