A.P.E.
A.P.E.The Cost of World War I:Impact on European
ConsciousnessCost of WarNearly 10 million soldiers died and about
21 million were wounded (65 million men fought). 7.8 million men
were taken prisoner or went missing in action.Germany lost 15.1% of
its active male population, AustriaHungary lost 17.1%, and France
lost 10.5%$186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion in
indirect costsInfluenza epidemic killed 25-50 million people
worldwideFour empires collapsed: the Russian Empire in 1917, the
German and the Austro-Hungarian in 1918, and the Ottoman in
1922.The Bolsheviks took power in Russia.Under the peace
settlement, Germany was required to pay reparations eventually set
at $33 billion; accept responsibility for the war; cede territory
to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, and Poland; give up
its overseas colonies; and accept an allied military force on the
west bank of the Rhine River for 15 years.
Cost to European ConsciousnessTurning point in European
historyTechnology and science, which had been seen as salvation of
humanity and testament to European superiority, now used to kill
and maim the youth of EuropeWar showed that civilized Europe was
just a step away from barbarismIntellectuals demoralized and
disillusionedEuropeans lost confidence in power of reason, liberal
doctrines of individual freedom, and parliamentary democracy many
turned to fascism and totalitarian movementsIntellectual Loss of
ConfidenceLoss of confidence in Enlightenment ideasFreud argued
that civilized life was forever threatened by the antisocial and
irrational elements of human natureCarl Jung (Swiss psychologist):
modern man has suffered an almost fatal shock, psychologically
speaking, and as a result has fallen into profound
uncertaintyOswald Spenglers The Decline of the West argued that
civilizations were like living organisms, experiencing birth,
youth, maturity, and death. He said Western civilization had
entered its final stage and death could not be avertedWriters
Express European DoubtT.S. Eliots The Waste Land collapse of
European civilizationAPRIL is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs
out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots
with spring rain.Winter kept us warm, coveringEarth in forgetful
snow, feedingA little life with dried tubers.Enrich Maria Remarques
All Quite On the Western Front (1929) dealt with horrors of
warWriters Express European DoubtErnest Hemingways The Sun Also
Rises (1926) describe a lost postwar generationWilliam Butler
Yeats, The Second Coming (1919)Mere anarchy is loosed upon the
world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everwhereThe ceremony of
innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.Surely some revelation is at
handSurely the Second Coming is at hand
Artists Rebel Against War and Society that Produced ItDadaism
viewed artistic and literary standards with contempt, rejected god,
and glorified unreasonWar showed life is absurd, without
meaningAnti-art movement that produced art that was deliberately
senseless, purposeless and chaoticMarcel Duchamps Bicycle Wheel,
Mona Lisa, and Fountain
Artists Rebel Against War and Society that Produced ItSurrealism
replaced DadismShared contempt for reasonStressed fantasy and made
use of Freudian insights and symbolsArt of the unconscious;
dreamsSalvador Dali
Salvador Dalis Soft Construction With Boiled Beans
Salvador Dalis Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dalis Hallucinogenic Toreador
Un Chien Andalou (16 minute silent film by Salvador Dali and
Spanish director Luis Bunuel)
