Editing Belle Époque

{{Short description|Period in European history, 1871–1914}}
{{Other uses}}
{{See also|Concert of Europe}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox historical era
|name = Belle Époque
|start = 1871
|end = 1914
|image = Le Chateau d'eau and plaza, Exposition Universal, 1900, Paris, France.jpg
|caption = [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|1900 World's Fair]] in [[Paris]], France
|before = [[Romanticism#France|Age of Romanticism]]<br />([[French Second Republic|Second Republic]] and [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]])
|including = {{hlist|[[Revanchism]]|[[Scramble for Africa]]|[[Dreyfus affair]]|[[Affair of the Cards]]|Start of [[World War I]]}}
|after = [[World War I]],<br />[[Interwar France]],<br />''[[Années folles]]''
|leaders = [[Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta|Patrice de MacMahon]], [[Jules Grevy]], [[Jules Ferry]], [[Marie François Sadi Carnot|Sadi Carnot]], [[Georges Boulanger]], [[Raymond Poincaré]]
}}
{{History of France}}
The '''Belle Époque''' ({{IPA|fr|bɛlepɔk}}) or '''La Belle Époque''' ({{Langnf|fr||The Beautiful Era}}) was a period of [[History of France|French]] and [[European history]] that began after the end of the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914. Occurring during the era of the [[French Third Republic]], it was a period characterised by [[optimism]], enlightenment, regional peace, economic prosperity, [[nationalism]], [[French colonial empire|colonial expansion]], and [[Second Industrial Revolution|technological]], scientific, and cultural innovations. In this era of France's cultural and artistic climate (particularly in [[Paris in the Belle Époque|Paris of that time]]), [[the arts]] markedly flourished, and numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theatre and visual art gained extensive recognition.

The Belle Époque was so named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a continental European "[[Golden Age]]" in contrast to the horrors of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and World War I. The Belle Époque was a period in which, according to historian [[Robert Roswell Palmer|R.&nbsp;R. Palmer]], "[[Culture of Europe|European civilisation]] achieved its greatest power in global politics, and also exerted its maximum influence upon peoples outside Europe."<ref>{{cite book |title=A history of Europe in the modern world |last=Palmer |first=Robert Roswell |others=Colton, Joel, Kramer, Lloyd S. |isbn=978-0076632855 |edition=11th |location=New York, NY |oclc=882719311 |date = 20 September 2013}}</ref>

==Popular culture and fashions==
[[File:Grand-foyer.jpg|thumb|left|Grand [[foyer]] of the [[Folies Bergère]] [[cabaret]]]]

Two devastating world wars and their aftermath made the Belle Époque appear to be a time of ''[[joie de vivre]]'' (joy of living) in contrast to 19th century hardships. It was also a period of stability that France enjoyed after the tumult of the early years of the [[Third French Republic|Third Republic]], featuring defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the uprising of the [[Paris Commune]], and the fall of General [[Georges Ernest Boulanger]]. The defeat of Boulanger, and the celebrations tied to the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|1889 World's Fair]] in Paris, launched an era of optimism and affluence. [[French imperialism]] was in its prime. It was a cultural center of global influence, its [[educational]], [[scientific]] and [[medical]] institutions were at the leading edge of Europe.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Madame-Curies-Passion.html| title=Madame Curie's Passion| work=Smithsonian Magazine| author=Julie Des Jardins| date=October 2011| access-date=11 September 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127184144/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Madame-Curies-Passion.html| archive-date=27 November 2012| url-status=live}}</ref>

It was not entirely the reality of life in Paris or in France, however. France had a large economic [[underclass]] who never experienced much of the Belle Époque's wonders and entertainments.<ref>Reader, K. (2020). The Marais: The Story of a Quartier. United Kingdom: Liverpool University Press.p.74</ref> [[Poverty]] remained endemic in Paris's urban [[slums]] and rural [[peasantry]] for decades after the Belle Époque ended.<ref>Shaw, M. (2015). War and Genocide: Organised Killing in Modern Society. Germany: Wiley. p.10</ref><ref>Martin, B. F. (1999). The Hypocrisy of Justice in the Belle Epoque. United States: LSU Press. passim.</ref> Conflicts between the government and the [[Roman Catholic Church]] were regular during the period. Some of the artistic elite saw the [[Fin de siècle]] in a pessimistic light.

[[File:Jugendstilservice Theodor Grust 1902.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Art Nouveau]]'' style coffee service in [[Meissen Porcelain]], by Theodor Grust, 1902.]]
Those who were able to benefit from the prosperity of the era were drawn towards new forms of light entertainment during the Belle Époque, and the Parisian bourgeoisie, or the successful industrialists called the ''[[nouveau riche|nouveaux riche]]s'', became increasingly influenced by the habits and fads of the city's elite social class, known popularly as ''[[Tout-Paris]]'' ("all of Paris", or "everyone in Paris").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martin-Fugier |first=Anne |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34960131 |title=La vie élégante ou La formation du Tout-Paris : 1815–1848 |date=1993 |publisher=Seuil |isbn=2-02-018218-1 |location=Paris |oclc=34960131}}</ref> The [[Casino de Paris]] opened in 1890. For Paris's less affluent public, entertainment was provided by [[cabaret]]s, [[bistro]]s and [[music hall]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Isherwood |first=Robert M. |date=1981 |title=Entertainment in the Parisian Fairs in the Eighteenth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1877063 |journal=[[The Journal of Modern History]] |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=24–48 |doi=10.1086/242240 |jstor=1877063 |s2cid=144101254 |issn=0022-2801}}</ref>

The [[Moulin Rouge]] cabaret is a Paris landmark still open for business today. The [[Folies Bergère]] was another landmark venue. [[Burlesque]] performance styles were more mainstream in Belle Époque Paris than in more staid cities of Europe and America. [[Liane de Pougy]], [[dancer]], [[socialite]] and [[courtesan]], was well known in Paris as a headline performer at top cabarets. Belle Époque dancers and singers such as [[Polaire]], [[Mistinguett]], [[Paulus (singer)|Paulus]], [[Eugénie Fougère]], [[La Goulue]] and [[Jane Avril]] were Paris celebrities, some of whom modelled for [[Toulouse-Lautrec]]'s iconic poster art. The [[Can-can]] dance was a popular 19th-century cabaret style that appears in Toulouse-Lautrec's posters from the era.

[[File:LeFrou Frou1900Page128.gif|thumb|A 1900 cartoon by Jan Duch from the magazine ''Le Frou Frou'' satirising a Parisian style trend favouring small breasts ("Is she ridiculous, this woman, with her enormous bosom?" "It seems that it is still going in the provinces.").<ref>Source: ''Le Frou Frou'' 1900 Page 128</ref>]]

The [[Eiffel Tower]], built to serve as the grand entrance to the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|1889 World's Fair]] held in Paris, became the accustomed symbol of the city, to its inhabitants and to visitors from around the world. Paris hosted another successful World's Fair in 1900, the {{lang|fr|[[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]]|italic=no}}. Paris had been profoundly changed by the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]] reforms to the city's architecture and public amenities. [[Haussmann's renovation of Paris]] changed its housing, street layouts, and green spaces. The walkable neighbourhoods were well-established by the Belle Époque.

Cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the [[orchid]]<ref>"Incontestably the favorite flowers of the Belle Époque were orchids and [[Calla]]," (Gabriele Fahr-Becker, ''Art Nouveau'' 2007, p. 112; the fashion for orchids is narrated in Eric Hansen, ''Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy'', 2000.</ref> and made possible the perfection of fruits [[greenhouse|grown under glass]], as the apparatus of [[state dinner]]s extended to the upper classes. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as ''[[haute couture]]'' was invented in Paris, the center of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle. In Paris, restaurants such as [[Maxim's Paris]] achieved a new splendor and cachet as places for the rich to parade. Maxim's Paris was arguably the city's most exclusive restaurant. [[Bohemianism|Bohemian]] lifestyles gained a different glamour, pursued in the [[cabaret]]s of [[Montmartre]].

Large public buildings such as the [[Opéra Garnier]] devoted enormous spaces to interior designs as Art Nouveau show places. After the mid-19th century, [[Rail transport|railways]] linked all the major cities of Europe to [[spa]] towns like [[Biarritz]], [[Deauville]], [[Vichy]], [[Arcachon]] and the [[French Riviera]]. Their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but the [[ultra high-net-worth individual|super-rich]] now began to commission [[private railroad car|private railway coaches]], as exclusivity as well as display was a hallmark of opulent luxury.

==Politics==
[[File:Europe 1911.jpg|thumb|left|Europe during the Belle Époque (1911)]]

The years between the [[Franco-Prussian War]] and World War I were characterised by unusual political stability in [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]]. Although [[French–German enmity|tensions between France and Germany]] persisted as a result of the French loss of [[Alsace-Lorraine]] to Germany in 1871, a series of diplomatic conferences managed to mediate disputes that threatened the general peace: the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, the [[Berlin Conference|Berlin Congo Conference]] in 1884, and the [[Algeciras Conference]] in 1906. Indeed, for many Europeans during the Belle Époque, transnational, class-based affiliations were as important as national identities, particularly among aristocrats. An upper-class gentleman could travel through much of Western Europe without a [[passport]] and even reside abroad with minimal bureaucratic regulation.<ref>[[A. J. P. Taylor]], ''English History 1914–1945'', and ''The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848–1918''</ref> World War I, mass transportation, the spread of literacy, and various citizenship concerns changed this.

The Belle Époque featured a [[Social class|class structure]] that ensured cheap labour. The [[Paris Métro]] underground railway system joined the [[Bus|omnibus]] and [[streetcar]] in transporting the working population, including those [[servant]]s who did not live in the wealthy centers of cities. One result of this [[commuting]] was suburbanisation allowing [[Working class|working-class]] and upper-class neighbourhoods to be [[income segregation|separated]] by large distances.

[[File:J'accuse - Gallica - page 1.jpg|thumb|upright|A newspaper headline for [[Émile Zola]]'s open letter to the French government and the country, condemning the treatment of Captain [[Alfred Dreyfus]] during the [[Dreyfus affair]]]]
Meanwhile, the international workers' movement also reorganised itself and reinforced pan-European, class-based identities among the classes whose labour supported the Belle Époque. The most notable transnational [[Socialism|socialist]] organisation was the [[Second International]]. [[Anarchism|Anarchists]] of different affiliations [[Propaganda of the deed|were active]] during the period leading up to World War I. Political assassinations and assassination attempts were still rare in France (unlike in Russia) but there were some notable exceptions, including the killing of President [[Marie François Sadi Carnot]] in 1894. A bomb was detonated in the [[Chamber of Deputies of France]] in 1893, causing injuries but no deaths. Terrorism against civilians also occurred in 1894, perpetrated by [[Émile Henry (anarchist)|Émile Henry]], who killed a cafe patron and wounded several others.

France enjoyed relative political stability at home during the Belle Époque. The sudden death of President [[Félix Faure]] while in office took the country by surprise, but had no destabilising effect on the government. The most serious political issue to face the country during this period was the [[Dreyfus affair]]. Captain [[Alfred Dreyfus]] was wrongly convicted of treason, with fabricated evidence from French government officials. [[Antisemitism]] directed at Dreyfus, and tolerated by the general French public in everyday society, was a central issue in the controversy and the court trials that followed. Public debate surrounding the Dreyfus Affair grew to an uproar after the publication of ''[[J'Accuse…!]]'', an open letter sent to newspapers by prominent novelist [[Émile Zola]], condemning government corruption and French antisemitism. The Dreyfus affair consumed the interest of the French for several years and it received heavy newspaper coverage.

European politics saw very few regime changes, the major exception being [[Portugal]], which experienced a [[5 October 1910 revolution|republican revolution]] in 1910. However, tensions between working-class socialist parties, [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] [[Liberalism|liberal]] parties and landed or aristocratic [[Conservatism|conservative]] parties did increase in many countries, and it has been claimed that profound political instability belied the calm surface of European politics in the era.<ref>Arno J. Mayer, ''The Persistence of the Old Regime: Europe to the Great War''</ref> In fact, [[militarism]] and international tensions grew considerably between 1897 and 1914, and the immediate prewar years were marked by a general [[Arms race|armaments competition]] in Europe. Additionally, this era was one of massive overseas [[colonialism]], known as the [[New Imperialism]]. The most famous portion of this imperial expansion was the [[Scramble for Africa]].

===Conflicts and wars===
{{Main|International relations (1814–1919)}}
[[File:PithHelmetTruman.jpg|thumb|190px|left|The [[pith helmet]] is an icon of [[colonialism]] in the tropical areas of the planet.]]
[[File:WorldEmpires.png|thumb|upright=1.35|World Empires 1900. [[British Empire]] (pink) is the most powerful in the world at this time, thanks to the dominance of the [[Royal Navy]], among other reasons.]]

Most of the great powers (and some minor ones such as Belgium, the Netherlands, or Denmark) became involved in [[imperialism]], building their own overseas empires especially in Africa and Asia. Although there were numerous revolutions, civil wars and colonial insurrections, the most notable are: the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870–1871), the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]] (1877–1878), the [[War of the Pacific]] (1879–1884), [[Military history of South Africa#Boer Wars|two Boer Wars]] (1880–1881 and 1899–1902), the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895), the [[First Italo-Ethiopian War]] (1895–1896), the [[Greco-Turkish War (1897)|Greco-Turkish War]] (1897), the [[Spanish–American War|Spanish-American War]] (1898), the [[Philippine–American War|Philippine-American War]] (1899–1902), the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1905), and the [[Italo-Turkish War]] (1911–1912).

The [[First Balkan War]] (1912–1913) and the [[Second Balkan War]] (1913) are considered prologues to the [[World War I|First World War]] (1914–1918), whose level of material and human destruction at the industrial level marks the end of the ''Belle Époque''.

There were also notable diplomatic conflicts that could provoke world wars such as the [[1890 British Ultimatum]], the [[Fashoda Incident]] (1898), the [[First Moroccan Crisis]] (1905–1906), and the [[Agadir Crisis|Second Moroccan Crisis]] (1911).

==Science and technology==
[[File:1891 Peugeot Type 3 Vis à Vis photo 2.JPG|thumb|left|[[Peugeot Type 3]] built in France in 1891]]
[[File:Morsetaste.jpg|thumb|225px|A [[telegraph key]] used to transmit messages in [[morse code]].]]
[[File:Titanic in color.png|thumb|The [[Sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'']] in 1912 is the best-known tragedy of the era.]]
[[File:First flight2.jpg|left|thumb|The ''[[Wright Flyer]]'': the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled, heavier than air aircraft (1903).]]
[[File:Cinématographe Lumière.jpg|thumb|The world's first movie poster, for the comedy ''[[L'Arroseur Arrosé]]'', 1895]]

The Belle Époque was an era of great scientific and technological advancement in Europe and the world in general. Inventions of the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] that became generally common in this era include the perfection of lightly sprung, noiseless [[carriage]]s in a multitude of new fashionable forms, which were superseded towards the end of the era by the [[automobile]], which was for its first decade a luxurious experiment for the well-heeled.<ref>The first [[Ford Model T]], a car for the masses, rolled off the [[assembly line]] in 1908.</ref> French automobile manufacturers such as [[Peugeot]] were already pioneers in carriage manufacturing. [[Édouard Michelin (born 1859)|Edouard Michelin]] invented removable [[pneumatic]] [[tires]] for bicycles and automobiles in the 1890s. The [[scooter (motorcycle)|scooter]] and [[moped]] are also Belle Époque inventions.

A number of French inventors patented products with a lasting impact on modern society. After the [[telephone]] joined the [[telegraph]] as a vehicle for rapid communication, French inventor [[Édouard Belin]] developed the Belinograph, or [[Wirephoto]], to transmit photos by telephone. The [[electric light]] began to supersede [[gas lighting]], and [[neon light]]s were invented in France.

France was a leader of early [[film industry|cinema]] technology. The [[cinématographe]] was invented in France by [[Léon Bouly]] and put to use by [[Auguste and Louis Lumière]], brothers who held the first film screenings in the world. The Lumière brothers made many other innovations in [[cinematography]]. It was during this era that the [[Film|motion pictures]] were developed, though these did not become common until after World War I.

Although the [[aeroplane]] remained a fascinating experiment, France was a leader in [[aviation]]. France established the world's first national [[air force]] in 1910. Two French inventors, [[Louis Breguet]] and [[Paul Cornu]], made independent experiments with the first flying [[helicopters]] in 1907.

[[Henri Becquerel]] discovered [[radioactivity]] in 1896 while working with [[phosphorescent]] materials. His work confirmed and explained earlier observations regarding [[uranium]] salts by [[Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor]] in 1857.

It was during this era that biologists and physicians finally came to understand the [[germ theory of disease]], and the field of [[bacteriology]] was established. [[Louis Pasteur]] was perhaps the most famous scientist in France during this time. Pasteur developed [[pasteurisation]] and a [[rabies vaccine]]. Mathematician and physicist [[Henri Poincaré]] made important contributions to pure and applied mathematics, and also published books for the general public on mathematical and scientific subjects. [[Marie Skłodowska-Curie]] worked in France, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. Physicist [[Gabriel Lippmann]] invented [[integral imaging]], still in use today.

==Art and literature==
[[File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette.jpg|thumb|right|[[Auguste Renoir]], ''[[Bal du moulin de la Galette]]'', 1876, oil on canvas, 131 × 175 cm, [[Musée d'Orsay]]]]

In 1890, [[Vincent van Gogh]] died. It was during the 1890s that his paintings achieved the admiration denied them during his life; first among other artists, then gradually among the public. Reactions against the ideals of the Impressionists characterised visual arts in Paris during the Belle Époque. Among the [[post-Impressionism|post-Impressionist]] movements in Paris were the [[Les Nabis|Nabis]], the [[Salon de la Rose + Croix]], the [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolist movement]] (also in poetry, music, and visual art), [[Fauvism]], and early [[Modernism]]. Between 1900 and 1914, [[Expressionism]] took hold of many artists in Paris and Vienna. Early works of [[Cubism]] and [[Abstraction]] were exhibited. Foreign influences were being strongly felt in Paris as well. The official art school in Paris, the [[École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts|École des Beaux-Arts]], held an exhibition of Japanese printmaking that changed approaches to graphic design, particular posters and book illustration ([[Aubrey Beardsley]] was influenced by a similar exhibit when he visited Paris during the 1890s). Exhibits of African tribal art also captured the imagination of Parisian artists at the turn of the 20th century.

[[Art Nouveau]] is the most popularly recognised art movement to emerge from the period. This largely decorative style ([[Jugendstil]] in central Europe), characterised by its curvilinear forms, and nature-inspired motifs became prominent from the mid-1890s and dominated progressive design throughout much of Europe. Its use in public art in Paris, such as [[Hector Guimard]]'s [[Paris Métro]] stations, has made it synonymous with the city.

Prominent artists in Paris during the Belle Époque included post-Impressionists such as [[Odilon Redon]], [[Gustave Moreau]], [[Maurice Denis]], [[Pierre Bonnard]], [[Édouard Vuillard]], [[Paul Gauguin]], [[Henri Matisse]], [[Émile Bernard (painter)|Émile Bernard]], [[Henri Rousseau]], [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] (whose reputation improved substantially after his death), [[Giuseppe Amisani]], and a young [[Pablo Picasso]]. More modern forms in sculpture also began to dominate as in the works of Paris-native [[Auguste Rodin]].

[[File:Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]], ''[[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]]'' (1907), [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York]]
Although [[Impressionism]] in painting began well before the Belle Époque, it had initially been met with scepticism if not outright scorn by a public accustomed to the realist and representational art approved by the Academy. In 1890, Monet started his series ''[[Haystacks (Monet)|Haystacks]]''. Impressionism, which had been considered the artistic avant-garde in the 1860s, did not gain widespread acceptance until after World War I. The academic painting style, associated with the Academy of Art in Paris, remained the most respected style among the public in Paris.  Artists who appealed to the Belle Époque public include [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]], the English [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood|Pre-Raphaelite]]'s [[John William Waterhouse]], and [[Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton|Lord Leighton]] and his depictions of idyllic Roman scenes. More progressive tastes patronised the [[Barbizon school]] ''[[plein-air]]'' painters. These painters were associates of the Pre-Raphaelites, who inspired a generation of aesthetic-minded "[[The Souls|Souls]]".

Many successful examples of Art Nouveau, with notable regional variations, were built in France, [[Germany]], [[Belgium]], [[Spain]], [[Austria]] (the [[Vienna Secession]]), [[Hungary]], [[Bohemia]], [[Serbia]], and [[Latvia]]. It soon spread around the world, including [[Peru]], [[Brazil]], [[Argentina]], [[Mexico]], and the [[United States]].

[[European literature]] underwent a major transformation during the Belle Époque. [[Literary realism]] and [[naturalism (literature)|naturalism]] achieved new heights. Among the most famous French realist or naturalist authors are [[Guy de Maupassant]] and [[Émile Zola]]. Realism gradually developed into [[modernism]], which emerged in the 1890s and came to dominate European literature during the Belle Époque's final years and throughout the [[Interwar period|interwar years]]. The Modernist classic ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' was begun by [[Marcel Proust]] in 1909, to be published after World War I. The works of German [[Thomas Mann]] had a huge impact in France as well, such as ''[[Death in Venice]]'', published in 1912. [[Colette]] shocked France with the publication of the sexually frank ''[[Claudine (book series)|Claudine]]'' novel series, and other works. [[Joris-Karl Huysmans]], who came to prominence in the mid-1880s, continued experimenting with themes and styles that would be associated with [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] and the [[Decadent movement]], mostly in his book ''[[à rebours]]''. [[André Gide]], [[Anatole France]], [[Alain-Fournier]], and [[Paul Bourget]] are among France's most popular fiction writers of the era.

[[File:Vin mariani publicite156.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A French poster from 1894 by [[Jules Chéret]] that captures the vibrant spirit of the Belle Époque.]]

Among poets, the Symbolists such as [[Charles Baudelaire]] remained at the forefront. Although Baudelaire's poetry collection ''[[Les Fleurs du mal]]'' had been published in the 1850s, it exerted a strong influence on the next generation of poets and artists. The Decadent movement fascinated Parisians, intrigued by [[Paul Verlaine]] and above all [[Arthur Rimbaud]], who became the archetypal ''enfant terrible'' of France. Rimbaud's ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]'' was published in 1886, and subsequently his other works were also published, influencing [[Surrealism|Surrealists]] and [[Modernism|Modernists]] during the Belle Époque and after. Rimbaud's poems were the first works of [[free verse]] seen by the French public. Free verse and typographic experimentation also emerged in ''[[Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard (Mallarmé)|Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard]]'' by [[Stéphane Mallarmé]], anticipating [[Dada]] and [[concrete poetry]]. [[Guillaume Apollinaire]]'s poetry introduced themes and imagery from modern life to readers. ''[[Cosmopolis (magazine)|Cosmopolis: An International Monthly Review]]'' had a far-reaching impact on European writers, and ran editions in London, Paris, Saint Petersburg, and Berlin.

Paris's popular bourgeois theatre was dominated by the light farces of [[Georges Feydeau]] and [[cabaret]] performances. Theatre adopted new modern methods, including Expressionism, and many playwrights wrote plays that shocked contemporary audiences either with their frank depictions of everyday life and sexuality or with unusual artistic elements. Cabaret theatre also became popular.

Musically, the Belle Époque was characterised by [[salon music]]. This was not considered serious music but, rather, short pieces considered accessible to a general audience. In addition to works for piano solo or violin and piano, the Belle Époque was famous for its large repertory of songs (mélodies, romanze, etc.). The Italians were the greatest proponents of this type of song, its greatest champion being [[Francesco Paolo Tosti]]. Though Tosti's songs never completely left the repertoire, salon music generally fell into a period of obscurity. Even as encores, singers were afraid to sing them at serious recitals. In that period, waltzes also flourished. [[Operetta]]s were also at the peak of their popularity, with composers such as [[Johann Strauss III]], [[Emmerich Kálmán]], and [[Franz Lehár]]. Many Belle Époque composers working in Paris are still popular today: [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Erik Satie]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Lili Boulanger]], [[Jules Massenet]], [[César Franck]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]], [[Gabriel Fauré]]  and his pupil, [[Maurice Ravel]].<ref>[[Mario d'Angelo]] (2013) ''La musique à la Belle Époque.'' Paris: Éditions du Manuscrit.</ref> According to Fauré and Ravel, the favoured composer of the Belle Époque was [[Edvard Grieg]], who enjoyed the height of his popularity in both Parisian concert and salon life (despite his stance on the accused in the Dreyfus affair). Ravel and [[Frederick Delius]] agreed that French music of this time was simply "Edvard Grieg plus the third act of ''Tristan''".<ref>{{cite web|last=Nectoux|first=Jean-Michel|date=2009|title=Grieg. The Paris Stay of 1903|url=http://griegsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Jean-Michel-Nectoux-paper-2000.pdf|website=Griegsociety.com}}</ref>

[[Modern dance]] began to emerge as a powerful artistic development in theatre. Dancer [[Loie Fuller]] appeared at popular venues such as the [[Folies Bergère]], and took her eclectic performance style abroad as well. [[Sergei Diaghilev]]'s [[Ballets Russes]] brought fame to [[Vaslav Nijinsky]] and established modern ballet technique. The Ballets Russes launched several ballet masterpieces, including ''[[The Firebird]]'' and ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'' (sometimes causing audience riots at the same time).

==Belle Époque by country==
[[File:Colonisation 1885.png|thumb|400px|Map of the [[colonial empires]] (and their colonies) in the year 1885, when after the [[Berlin Conference]] of that year, the [[Partition of Africa]] between the colonial powers began.]]
[[File:Flag-map of the world (1900).png|thumb|400px|Flag-map of the world (1900).]]
[[File:Flag-map of the world (1914).png|thumb|400px|Flag-map of the world (1914), just before the start of [[World War I]] (1914–1918), which ended the stage of the ''Belle Époque''.]]

===Africa===
* In [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egypt]], with the reigns of [[Isma'il Pasha]], [[Tewfik Pasha]], and [[Abbas II of Egypt|Abbas II Helmy]].
* In [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]], with the reigns of [[Yohannes IV]] and [[Menelik II]].

===Americas===
* In [[Argentina]], with the period of the [[Generation of '80]].
* In [[Brazil]], it began with the end of the [[Paraguayan War]], during the [[Second reign (Empire of Brazil)|reign]] of [[Pedro II of Brazil|Pedro II]] (see [[Brazilian Belle Époque|Belle Époque in Brazil]]).
* In [[Canada]], it coincided with the beginnings of [[Canadian Confederation]].
* In [[Chile]], it coincided with the [[Liberal Republic]].
* In [[Honduras]], it coincided with the [[History of Honduras (1838–1932)|Liberal Reform]].
* In [[Mexico]], the period was known as the [[Porfiriato]].
* In [[Peru]], with the period of the [[History of Peru#Reconstruction, the Aristocratic Republic, and Leguía's 11-year rule (1884–1930)|Aristocratic Republic]].
* In the [[United States]], emerging from the [[panic of 1873]], ushering in the period known as ''[[Gilded Age]]'' and [[Progressive Era]].
* In [[Uruguay]], the period was known as [[José Batlle y Ordóñez|Batllism]].

===Asia===
* In [[Qing dynasty|China]], with the reigns of [[Tongzhi Emperor|Tongzhi]], [[Guangxu Emperor|Guangxu]], and the beginning of [[Puyi]].
* In [[Colonial India|India]], it coincided with the [[British Raj]]
* In [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], with the reign of [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]].
* In [[Joseon|Korea]], with the reign of [[Gojong of Korea|Gojong]].
* In [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]], with the reigns of [[Surendra Bikram Shah]], [[Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah]], and the beginning of [[Tribhuvan of Nepal|Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah]].
* In [[Qajar Iran|Persia]], with the reigns of [[Naser al-Din Shah Qajar|Naser al-Din Shah]], [[Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar|Mozaffar ad-Din Shah]], [[Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar|Mohammad Ali Shah]], and the beginning of [[Ahmad Shah Qajar|Ahmad Shah]].
* In the [[Insular Government of the Philippine Islands|Philippines]], with the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris]] that ceded the archipelago to the United States.
* In [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Thailand]], with the reign of [[Chulalongkorn]] and the beginning of [[Vajiravudh]].
* In [[Ottoman Empire|Turkey]], with the reigns of [[Abdulaziz]], [[Murad V]], and the beginning of [[Abdul Hamid II]].

===Europe===
* In [[Austria-Hungary]], with the reign of [[Franz Joseph I]].
* In [[Belgium]], with the reign of [[Leopold II of Belgium|Leopold II]] and the beginning of [[Albert I of Belgium|Albert I]].
* In [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], at the beginning of [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I]].
* In [[Denmark]], with the reigns of [[Christian IX]] and [[Frederik VIII of Denmark|Frederik VIII]].
* In [[France]], with the [[French Third Republic]].
* In [[German Empire|Germany]], it coincided with the reigns of [[William I, German Emperor|William I]], [[Frederick III, German Emperor|Frederick III]], and [[Wilhelminism]] of [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]].
* In [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]], with the reign of [[George I of Greece|George I]].
* In [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], with the reigns of [[Victor Emmanuel II]], [[Umberto I]], and the beginning of [[Victor Emmanuel III]].
* In [[Luxembourg]], with the reigns of [[Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg|Adolphe]] and [[William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg|William IV]].
* In [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegro]], at the beginning of the reign of [[Nicholas I of Montenegro|Nicholas I]].
* In the [[Netherlands]], with the reigns of [[William III of the Netherlands|William III]] and [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Wilhelmina]].
* In [[Portugal]], with the last period of the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and the [[First Portuguese Republic]].
* In [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], with the reign of [[Carol I of Romania|Carol I]].
* In [[Russian Empire|Russia]], with the reign of [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]], [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] and the beginning of [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]].
* In [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], with the reign of [[Peter I of Serbia|Peter I]].
* In [[Restoration (Spain)|Spain]], with the reigns of [[Alfonso XII]] and [[Alfonso XIII]].
* In [[Union between Sweden and Norway|Sweden-Norway]], with the reign of [[Oscar II]].
* In [[Switzerland]], it coincided with the beginnings of the Swiss federal state from 1848.
* In the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], with the [[Victorian era]] and [[Edwardian era]].
* In the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], with the reign of [[Pope Leo XIII]] and the beginning of [[Pope Pius X]].

===Oceania===
* In [[Australia]], it coincided with the period known as the [[Australian gold rushes]].
* In [[Hawaiian Kingdom|Hawaii]], with the reigns of [[Lunalilo]], [[Kalākaua]], and the beginning of [[Liliʻuokalani]].

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:XDSC 7288-29-av-Rapp-paris-7.jpg|[[Art Nouveau]] building in Paris by architect [[Jules Lavirotte]], sculptures by Jean-François Larrivé (1875–1928)
File:Henri Rousseau 011.jpg|''La charmeuse de Serpents (The Snake-Charmer)'' (1907) by [[Henri Rousseau]]
File:Loie Fuller.jpg|Modern dance (and modern stage lighting) innovator [[Loie Fuller]]
File:Jules Massenet & Jean Richepin auteurs du Mage.jpg|[[Jules Massenet]] and [[Jean Richepin]] (the latter as [[Apollo Citharoedus]]), authors of ''[[Le mage]]'', premiered at the [[Opéra-Comique]] in Paris on 16 March 1891
File:Egypt,_Giza.jpg|[[Autochrome Lumière]] was invented in 1907 as a pioneering method for color photography. Here the [[Giza pyramid complex]] photographed in 1914.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Paris in the Belle Époque]]
* [[Paris architecture of the Belle Époque]]
* [[Charles Ayrout]], Belle Époque architect in [[Cairo]], Egypt
* [[Second Industrial Revolution]]
* [[Fin de siècle]]
* [[Gay Nineties]]
* [[Gilded Age]]
* [[Edwardian era]]
* [[Succès de scandale]]
* ''[[Années folles]]''

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Dominique Kalifa|Kalifa, Dominique]]. ''The Belle Époque: A Cultural History, Paris and Beyond'' (Columbia University Press, 2021).
*{{cite book | title=La Belle Époque |url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/83813/rec/1 | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1982 | isbn=0870993291}} 
* McAuliffe, Mary. ''Dawn of the Belle Époque: The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and Their Friends'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011).
** McAuliffe, Mary. ''Twilight of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends Through the Great War'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014) [https://books.google.com/books?id=FDwfAwAAQBAJ&dq=BELLE+EPOQUE&pg=PR7 online].
* Rudorff, Raymond. ''Belle Epoque: Paris in the 1890s'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1972). 
* Wires, Richard. [http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ConspectusH&CISOPTR=319&REC=1 "Paris: La Belle Époque"]. ''Conspectus of History'' 1.4 (1977): 60–72.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Belle Époque}}
{{Wiktionary|Belle Époque}}
* [http://www.la-belle-epoque.de/ The ''Belle Époque'' in Europe] – many pictures of Art Nouveau architecture {{in lang|de|en|fr|it}}
* [http://paris1900.lartnouveau.com Paris1900.lartnouveau.com] – The ''Belle Époque'' in Paris through postcards and documents
* [http://dijon1900.blogspot.com Dijon1900.blogspot.com] – The ''Belle Époque'' in Dijon through postcards
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110811032647/http://actresscards.webs.com/ French Actress Postcards]

{{France topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle Epoque}}
[[Category:Belle Époque| ]]
[[Category:1871 establishments in France]]
[[Category:1914 disestablishments in France]]
[[Category:19th century]]
[[Category:20th century]]
[[Category:Art Nouveau]]
[[Category:Gold standard]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:History of Europe by period]]
[[Category:Modern art]]
[[Category:Periodization]]
[[Category:Cultural history of Europe]]
[[Category:Optimism]]