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The term La Belle Époque was coined after World War I when people realized how good life was before the disastrous conflict started in 1914. We are experiencing a similar situation today with the Russian aggression in Ukraine. While the physical damage has been limited to one country, the world’s economy has suffered a downturn, and it will be a long time before prosperity returns. The pre-Covid and pre-Ukraine epoch, which we didn’t fully appreciate while it existed, still needs a name.
By general agreement, the Belle Époque covers the last fifteen pre-war years (1899 to 1914) although some extend it to the entire period of growth after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. It was a time of groundbreaking technological and industrial inventions – aviation, automobiles, the telephone, or the cinema.
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Auguste and Louis Lumière began the first moving pictures experiments in the winter of 1894, and the following year the brothers had come up with a device which they called the Cinématographe
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During the Belle Époque, France’s manufacturing output tripled thanks to the effects and development of the industrial revolution. Successful colonization provided additional revenues. It was also a rich time for intellectual and artistic creativity, in architecture, painting, literature, and music.
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The Art Nouveau was the signature style of La Belle Époque
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While the rural world and the manual workers still had to fight for their place in the sun, a class of petty bourgeoisie, which would later be called the middle class, began to prosper. The population became more active as the bicycle brought increased freedom of movement to the benefit of the working class, teenagers, and women.
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Jean Béraud: The Chalet Du Cycle in the Bois De Boulogne, c.1900
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There was also a growing freedom of morals. In 1884, divorce was allowed again in France after its abolition in 1816. Sexuality became more permissive. All classes looked for fun. Popular music and new styles of performance introduced mass entertainment venues, such as the Moulin Rouge, the birthplace of choreographed can-can.
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The Belle Époque was an era of technical and cultural exuberance when optimism and trust in progress prevailed. It was a society that had fun and was confident about the future.
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Victorian Paris 
Great – very interesting illustrations.
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