What happens when the world as we know it changes dramatically and long-held beliefs are shattered by new discoveries?
I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow..." –Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 19291
A phenomenon known as the Age of Anxiety is the result of uncertainty and unprecedented shifts in the understanding of our world. Spanning from 1914-1950, the Age of Anxiety left Europeans feeling they were in a constant state of crisis, whether it be political or economic. The end of WWI left people wondering if things would ever improve and whether they had any influence over world events. People saw governments try and fail to improve their circumstances. A combination of humanitarian and economic crises led to the decades known as the Age of Anxiety. New philosophies shaped the worldview of Europe, and all corners of life reflected these new perspectives.
Age of Anxiety Time Period: 1914-1950
WWI changed the worldview of many, and the new world order caused severe anxiety. Those who had survived WWI were left with a pessimistic conclusion that they as individuals had little to no control over world events. The political landscape of Europe had changed, and long-followed traditions were no more. Large empires collapsed, with the fall of the Tsar in Russia and the end of the Habsburg rule in Austria. Economic hardships resulted from both the lack of reparation payments from WWI and the effects on Germany from making the reparation payments.
Age of Anxiety: European History
In Europe, pessimistic attitudes spread following WWI, and belief in a brighter future was seen as unrealistic. After the end of WWI, Europe was left with little to no infrastructure, and people saw no avenues to better themselves. The chain of events that led to WWI left citizens feeling that they had no individual control over world events. People saw themselves as unwilling participants in decisions made by senior government officials who are unable or unwilling to relate. All of Europe had suffered terribly during WWI, and the previous romantic, heroic, depiction of war was rejected.
Scientific Discoveries in the Age of Anxiety
Along with political instability, people were unsettled due to several major scientific discoveries. These new discoveries shattered the previous understanding of how the world worked.
Scientific Discoveries in the Age of Anxiety: Marie Curie
Marie Curie succeeded in building on the discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel in 1896 by separating the radioactive residues from the radium. This allowed Marie to study the properties of radioactive substances and characterize their properties with a great deal of certainty. Through isolating the properties of radioactive residue, she was able to discover therapeutic applications of radioactivity. Marie's life work consisted of applying radioactivity to improve people's lives.
Marie Curie is the only person to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields, physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911.
Fig, 1 - Marie Curie
Her discovery of radium and polonium led to innovations in medicine in addition to chemistry. She pioneered the use of x-rays during WWI and even created cars equipped with x-ray equipment to travel to the war front.
Scientific Discoveries in the Age of Anxiety: Ernest Rutherford and Splitting of the Atom
Marie Curie's work enabled later scientists to reach for the impossible. Ernest Rutherford became the first to separate an atom in 1919. Previously, the atom was believed to be the smallest, unbreakable building block of all things. Rutherford designed and performed an experiment where he bombarded nitrogen with alpha particles. This bombardment caused what would be termed a proton to be ejected from the nuclei. The experiment showed that the atom is a combination of different particles and not a set solid.
While Rutherford's work is commonly referred to as "splitting the atom," it is not to be confused with the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938.
Fig. 2 - Ernest Rutherford
The Age of Anxiety in Great Britain & France
Great Britain needed a successful Germany in order for their post-WWI recovery to be possible. Reparations from Germany were slow to materialize and short of the specified amounts. The economic crisis was compounded by the huge loss of life in WWI. Great Britain was willing to work with Germany on adjusting the reparation payments, however, France was not. The reparation payments were crucial to both Great Britain and France's recovery. This led to the United States floating large loans to Germany, and those funds were paid to France and Great Britain. The economic situation was precarious–both France and Great Britain were in debt to the United States and required the funds to avoid defaulting.
The Age of Anxiety encompassed economic stress, and the rapid changes experienced at the beginning of the 20th century altered commonly accepted philosophic truths. New ideas regarding the purpose of life and the influence of the individual on world events. France gravitated to the idea that the individual is the key in times of helplessness and that the actions of individuals influence world events. In Great Britain, many returned from WWI and the reality of what they experienced was beyond the understanding of those on the home front. This led to disillusionment and a lack of faith in leadership. These ideas combined into an unsettled public permeated with the fear that things could only decline further. WWI had shown Great Britain and France that the world can change abruptly, and not always for the better.
Age of Anxiety in the 1920s: Reparation Plans
The political crises of the 1920s were compounded by the Great Depression starting in 1929. These events led people to believe they had no power or influence over world affairs. WWI compounded this helplessness and left Germans feeling that they were being used or unfairly penalized by the actions of Western governments, big businesses, and communists.
The Dawes Plan (1924)
By 1923, Germany was struggling with reparation payments. The US Government formed a committee of experts to resolve the situation. Charles G. Dawes and other officials came up with a plan to lend Germany $200 million dollars in order for Germany to pay reparations to France and the United Kingdom. In turn, France and the United Kingdom used these funds to repay their wartime debts to the United States.
Fig. 3 - Charles Dawes
The Young Plan (1928)
In the fall of 1928, another committee was formed in an effort to settle the German reparations problems. Under Owen D. Young, this new committee proposed to make a final loan payment to Germany of $300 million and to reduce the reparations owed by Germany. Reducing the German reparations to $29 billion dollars, payable over 58 years. This was intended to float the world economy and allow for recovery. However, the Great Depression beginning in 1929 upended all of these plans.
Fig. 4 - Owen Young
Across the globe, countries were defaulting on the loans extended by the United States. The United States had been supporting Germany, but the economic crisis at home led to a collapse of the German economy.
A final point of the Young Plan was a call to form a Bank of International Settlements to preside over war reparations.
Age of Anxiety: WWI
WWI produced changes in politics, the economy, and public opinion regarding the state of the world and the possibilities of the future. WWI resulted in more deaths than all preceding wars combined. This demonstrated the destruction possible in the new industrial age. The First World War not only shaped the leadership of Europe but also set the stage for WWII. The desperate economic situation of middle-class Germans enabled a campaign based upon placing blame on who was seen as responsible for their suffering. As shown in other times in history, when a large group of people suffers, it is easy to place blame on a group seen as an “other.”
German Reparations & the Ruhr Crisis
After the end of WWI, Germany was directed to pay almost $35 billion in reparations. The war had left Germany with a weak economy, and they did not have the funds to pay what they owed. Great Britain agreed to allow for a pause on payments. This led to great political pressure from France; France would not agree to postpone reparation payments while the German economy recovered. This would have allowed Germany to recover and ensure its citizens were cared for.
In 1923, Raymond Poincare of France began to occupy the Ruhr industrial region to seize the funds they were owed. The German government protested strongly and called for citizens to stop working and resist the French occupation. The call for passive resistance was answered by the German people and the situation escalated.
Fig. 5 - Raymond Poincare
The German government responded by printing money, which only increased inflation and worsened their economic situation. This led to the German people looking for someone to blame for the loss of savings in both the middle class and retirees. The middle-class saw Western government, big business, Jews, and the communists as responsible for their suffering.
Age of Anxiety - Key takeaways
A combination of political shifts, economic downturn, and scientific advancement left many Europeans feeling unsure of the future.
After WWI, people felt as though they had no control over world events, and were at the mercy of high-ranking leaders across the world.
Science reshaped the understanding of human existence and shattered the previous idea that the atom was the basis of life.
WWI left Europe in an economic crisis, and the attempts to alleviate the problem were unsuccessful.
While the economic recovery did not succeed, the creation of the International Bank of Settlements continues today.
References
- Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
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