Contemporary Age: Origin and Background, Characteristics, Stages, Society, Conflicts and End

The Contemporary age it designates the historical period from the French Revolution to the present. After that event, historians agreed on the need to add a new name to the traditional historical division between Antiquity, Middle Ages and Modern Age.

Some historiographic schools, mainly Anglo-Saxon, add a Late Modern Age, limiting the use of Contemporary Age to the XX century. The changes produced in the Contemporary Age accelerated history, with the Industrial Revolution, technological development, the consolidation of the nation-state, the world wars and the Internet.

It should be noted that it is a period marked by the totalitarian ideologies that marked the 20th century, as well as by demographic changes. The economic division between the First and Third Worlds was accentuated during part of this era, in spite of the processes of decolonization that allowed the independence of many nations.

In the economic sphere, the capitalist system settled before the failure of other ideologies such as communism. Still, in Europe and other parts of the world that capitalism did not follow the full liberal theory, as other elements of control were provided to create welfare state.

Origin and background

The Renaissance was a change in the way of understanding the world. The Middle Ages were left behind and, with this, the power of the Church began to subside. This caused that the human being acquired more importance as an individual.

The later Illustration delved much more into that idea. Both in art and in society and in politics, the new humanist values ​​were imposed.

The idea of ​​equality between human beings and the preponderance of reason, contrasted with absolutist political systems and with the existence of a large mass of population in situations of poverty.

Causes

The propagation of this way of thinking caused revolutions to break out in various parts of the world. Although it is true that it is the French Revolution that has traditionally been considered as the one that started the Contemporary Age, many historians affirm that without American movements it might have been different.

The Independence of the United States reflected the influence of the Enlightenment and its Constitution spoke about equality and rights.

Other authors emphasize that, in the economic plane, the true beginning of this era was the Industrial Revolution in England, that was a rupture with the old economic systems. Together with this, the appearance of liberalism and technological development were also influential.

Characteristics of the Contemporary Age

The transition from the Modern Age to the Contemporary Era was not an abrupt process, but there were many gradual changes that occurred during some years that gave it its own characteristics. Given that it is a broad period (which includes the present) and very rich in events, historians point out numerous key points to understand it.

- The republican governments were consolidated all over the planet. The old absolutist kings disappeared. Today, although there are still monarchies, the royal government is exercised by parliaments and presidents.

- Along with these new systems of government, the concept of human rights also appeared. The maxim of the French Revolution,"Freedom, equality and fraternity", was reflected in numerous statements. This was important, for example, in the anticolonial movements that occurred in many countries, especially in Africa and Asia.

- Workers' organizations appeared. For the first time, workers are free men and, as such, they struggle to improve their situation.

Technology

Technological advancement is one of the most important aspects during the Contemporary Age. From the steam engine in the eighteenth century to the Internet and artificial intelligence today, the technique has not stopped producing great novelties.

However, several areas of the planet have not benefited from this development, remaining only as suppliers of raw materials.

Wars

Although it is not a characteristic that occurs only in the Contemporary Age, the war conflicts that occurred in this period have been the most destructive in history. Between these they emphasize, the two world wars, the one of Yugoslavia or the one of Rwanda.

Stages of the Contemporary Age

Historians divide the Contemporary Age into three main stages. However, it is necessary to highlight the difficulty of the historiographical study when talking about current events, so it is likely that some more stages will be added in the future.

High Age

It begins precisely with the Declaration of Independence of the United States, covering from 1776 to 1870. It is a stage in which many revolutions take place; they end in 1815, giving way to more peaceful years.

Low Age

This period, which comprises between 1870 and 1914, is characterized by being quite quiet, with an improvement in international relations. However, it ended abruptly.

War periods

In this stage the two world wars take place. It is one of the bloodiest in all history. In addition, the Great Economic Depression marks the interwar period.

Cold War

This is the name given to the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union from the end of World War II until the disappearance of the USSR at the beginning of the 1990s. It was not a direct armed conflict, but an antagonism that could be seen reflected in interposed war. During that time there was a real fear of the possibility of a nuclear conflict.

Society during the Contemporary Age

The end of pre-industrial society, plus the creation of a body of rights of individuals, caused a great transformation at the social level.

On the one hand, the bourgeoisie - called the middle class - became the axis of the new society. The upper classes, often also bourgeois, must yield part of their power, while the lower (workers) began to organize.

Another novel aspect was the emergence of ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism or different totalitarianisms. Nor should we forget the loss of influence of the formerly powerful Catholic Church.

City

During the nineteenth century there was the first great explosion of nationalist feelings throughout the world. For example, in Europe the revolutions of 1848 had a strong component of this nationalism.

Germany and Italy were unified and the nation-state established itself as the global structure on the continent.

Also in the twentieth century, nationalism played a fundamental role in the outbreak of the two world wars. Not in vain, the fascist ideology was impregnated with it.

New identities

In recent times another social change has appeared, this time centered on the individual. Gone is the common identity almost mandatory and now there is greater freedom to choose preferences: from religious to sexual.

Economy

The first outstanding aspect in the economy during the Contemporary Age is the strengthening of the capitalist system. Although before the Industrial Revolution there was already an incipient liberalism, after this capitalism was established as the most powerful economic system.

In the same way, it went from an agricultural and craft economy to an industrial one, with a large presence of machinery. On the one hand, this increased production remarkably, but on the other hand it caused the emergence of a working class that was exploited for decades.

Economic imperialism

Another point that characterizes this era is how the great powers took advantage of the less developed countries. During the time of the colonies, they obtained raw materials from them, without the producing country obtaining any profit.

After the decolonization processes, the situation was largely maintained. Instead of controlling territories directly, they did so through large corporations or corrupt governments.

Great Depression

Undoubtedly, one of the economic events that most marked the Contemporary Age was the Great Depression of 1929. It began in the United States, but soon it spread throughout the world.

It caused the loss of millions of jobs, as well as the pauperization of entire layers of society. Until the Second World War the world did not start to recover.

Globalization

The last great economic phenomenon has been globalization. The new communication technologies and the improvement of means of transport have caused everything to be interconnected. The fall of the stock market in New York affects the whole planet in a matter of hours.

One of the consequences, even if not fully assessed, is the relocation of companies in search of cheaper workers. This has caused many industries to have abandoned their factories in the West and moved to a country where production is more profitable.

Education

It is in the Contemporary Age when education becomes one of the foundations of society. Until then it had been reserved for an elite and controlled a great percentage by the Catholic Church.

With the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the proletariat, educational methods and laws began to change. Secular education was increased and pedagogy was modernized to reach more social sectors. Little by little, it becomes mandatory in the early stages.

Twentieth century

The first decades of the twentieth century, despite global conflicts, are important in the educational organization, although it is true that, until the 50s, they did not begin to see global results.

One of the aspects that new pedagogical methods wanted to achieve is to promote equal opportunities. In the same way, the teacher (who is no longer a priest) became a respected professional.

Literacy

Literacy levels increased very significantly. However, even today there are areas of the planet where schooling is very precarious, either because of the poverty of its inhabitants or because of wars.

Art

Contrary to what happens in other areas, art historians limit the contemporary adjective to works created during the 20th century.

Following that dating, they affirm that it began from the appearance of avant-garde currents at the beginning of that century. These currents were characterized by the rupture with the formalism of the previous art, giving a greater relevance to the conceptual.

Among those movements are Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaism or Futurism.

Cinema and television

If there is an art that is typical of the Contemporary Age, that is the audiovisual. The birth of cinema and television offered a new platform and a new language for artists.

Conflicts during the Contemporary Age

It would be impossible to make a detailed list of all the conflicts developed in this era. In the 19th century, internal or small-scale clashes between European nations were highlighted, with some exceptions; but the twentieth century left a list of the bloodiest wars in history.

The first World War

At the time it was known as the Great War and involved dozens of countries around the world. It began in 1914, following the murder in Sarajevo of the Austrian-Hungarian archduke Franz Ferdinand. It lasted until November 1918.

Spanish Civil War

Apart from the importance in itself of this war, the European fascist powers used it as training for the future world conflict. It lasted from 1936 to 1939.

Second World War

It was Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler the initiator of this new world war. It started in 1939 and the German attempts to conquer Europe caused millions of deaths. Together with Germany the Italians and Japanese fought.

Among the most horrible facts is the Holocaust committed against the Jewish population, with six million victims.

It ended in 1945, after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

Vietnam War

A great example of the kind of conflicts brought about by the Cold War already mentioned above. In this war, which lasted from 1964 to 1975, they faced South Vietnam with military support and US soldiers, with North Vietnam, with economic support and weapons from the USSR.

End of the Contemporary Age

There is no consensus on the possible end of the Contemporary Age. Some authors affirm that we are still in this, waiting for some great event that allows us to change the era.

Among those who support that has changed the era, some say that ended after the Second World War. Others, however, name some of the events that have taken place since the 1990s to affirm that the Contemporary Age has ended.

The end of history

It was the American political scientist Francis Fukuyama developed the theory that the end of the Soviet bloc marked a change of era. For him, the future without that rivalry was in the hands of the victor, the liberal society.

The attacks of September 11

Other historians believe that the end of this era occurred when the Twin Towers were demolished in the attacks committed on September 11. At that time, many pointed out that it was the authentic beginning of the 21st century.

The most catastrophists pointed out that they were entering a new historical age marked by the clash of civilizations.

Digital Age

The last contribution of those who affirm that the Contemporary Age has ended has been to place new technologies as the necessary inflection point. For these scholars, digitization has meant a global change important enough to speak of the beginning of a new era.

References

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