Machine Age

The Machine Age^[1]^[2]^[3] 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,^[4] the first computers,^[5] and the transistor.^[6] 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.

Reciprocating replaced by gas turbines, internal combustion engines and electric motors

steam engine

based on large hydroelectric and thermal electric power production plants and distribution systems

Electrification

of high-volume goods on moving assembly lines, particularly of the automobile^[7]

Mass production

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 (^[8])

skyscrapers

and phonograph technology

Radio

High-speed , enabling the production of low-cost newspapers and mass-market magazines

printing presses

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 , cars, and aircraft

railways

Development and employment of modern war machines such as , aircraft, submarines and the modern battleship

tanks

designs in cars and trains, influenced by aircraft design

Streamline

Artifacts of the Machine Age include:

The rise of advertising and consumerism

mass market

Nationwide branding and distribution of goods, replacing local arts and crafts

Nationwide due to exposure to films and network broadcasting

cultural leveling

Mass-produced government through print, audio, and motion pictures

propaganda

Replacement of skilled crafts with low skilled labor

Growth of strong corporations through their abilities to exploit in materials and equipment acquisition, manufacturing, and distribution

economies of scale

Corporate leading to the creation of strong trade unions as a countervailing force

exploitation of labor

with weighted suffrage or male-only suffrage replaced by democracy with universal suffrage, parallel to one-party states

Aristocracy

First-wave feminism

Increased , including five-year plans, public works and occasional war economy, including nationwide conscription and rationing

economic planning

with little concern for the ecological consequences; a continuation of 19th century practices but at a larger scale.

Exploitation of natural resources

Release of synthetic dyes, artificial flavorings, and toxic materials into the consumption stream without testing for adverse health effects.

Rise of as a strategic resource

petroleum

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 and beginning of decolonization

New Imperialism

films including Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and Fritz Lang's Metropolis

Dystopian

appliance design and architecture

Streamline Moderne

Bauhaus style

– Science fiction genre inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery

Steampunk

– Science fiction genre

Dieselpunk

Modern art

Cubism

The Machine Age is considered to have influenced: