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    • Source: Machine Age

      • The Machine Age is an era that includes the early-to-mid 20th century, sometimes also including the late 19th century. An approximate dating would be about 1880 to 1945. Considered to be at its peak in the time between the first and second world wars, the Machine Age overlaps with the late part of the Second Industrial Revolution (which ended around 1914 at the start of World War I) and continues beyond it until 1945 at the end of World War II. The 1940s saw the beginning of the Atomic Age, where modern physics saw new applications such as the atomic bomb, the first computers, and the transistor. The Digital Revolution ended the intellectual model of the machine age founded in the mechanical and heralding a new more complex model of high technology. The digital era has been called the Second Machine Age, with its increased focus on machines that do mental tasks.


      Universal chronology




      Developments



      Artifacts of the Machine Age include:

      Reciprocating steam engine replaced by gas turbines, internal combustion engines and electric motors
      Electrification based on large hydroelectric and thermal electric power production plants and distribution systems
      Mass production of high-volume goods on moving assembly lines, particularly of the automobile
      Gigantic production machinery, especially for producing and working metal, such as steel rolling mills, bridge component fabrication, and car body presses
      Powerful earthmoving equipment
      Steel-framed buildings of great height (skyscrapers)
      Radio and phonograph technology
      High-speed printing presses, enabling the production of low-cost newspapers and mass-market magazines
      Low cost appliances for the mass market that employ fractional power electric motors, such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines
      Fast and comfortable long-distance travel by railways, cars, and aircraft
      Development and employment of modern war machines such as tanks, aircraft, submarines and the modern battleship
      Streamline designs in cars and trains, influenced by aircraft design


      Social influence


      The rise of mass market advertising and consumerism
      Nationwide branding and distribution of goods, replacing local arts and crafts
      Nationwide cultural leveling due to exposure to films and network broadcasting
      Mass-produced government propaganda through print, audio, and motion pictures
      Replacement of skilled crafts with low skilled labor
      Growth of strong corporations through their abilities to exploit economies of scale in materials and equipment acquisition, manufacturing, and distribution
      Corporate exploitation of labor leading to the creation of strong trade unions as a countervailing force
      Aristocracy with weighted suffrage or male-only suffrage replaced by democracy with universal suffrage, parallel to one-party states
      First-wave feminism
      Increased economic planning, including five-year plans, public works and occasional war economy, including nationwide conscription and rationing


      Environmental influence


      Exploitation of natural resources with little concern for the ecological consequences; a continuation of 19th century practices but at a larger scale.
      Release of synthetic dyes, artificial flavorings, and toxic materials into the consumption stream without testing for adverse health effects.
      Rise of petroleum as a strategic resource


      International relations


      Conflicts between nations regarding access to energy sources (particularly oil) and material resources (particularly iron and various metals with which it is alloyed) required to ensure national self-sufficiency. Such conflicts were contributory to two devastating world wars.
      Climax of New Imperialism and beginning of decolonization


      Arts and architecture



      The Machine Age is considered to have influenced:

      Dystopian films including Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and Fritz Lang's Metropolis
      Streamline Moderne appliance design and architecture
      Bauhaus style
      Steampunk – Subgenre of science fiction
      Dieselpunk – Subgenre of science fiction
      Modern art
      Cubism
      Art Deco decorative style
      Futurism
      Music


      See also


      Second Industrial Revolution


      References

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