With the year slowly coming to an end, as well as many anxiously watching the shifting US presidential elections over the weekend, it is near impossible to not think to ourselves: “how did things end up this bad?” Arguably, the biggest source of worldwide suffering is the notorious COVID-19 pandemic, further worsened by governments mishandling the situation and ignorance. But on top of that was the resurfacing of the Black Lives Matter movement, which flared up with the deaths of multiple innocent lives at the hands of police brutality. Once a year that was anticipated with hopes of wealth and growth, the Tokyo Olympics, as well as the excitement of a new decade, is now remembered as a year of disasters. In such uncertain, dismal times, we try to search for answers, wondering how to escape such a banal reality. Though 2020 has been a period of much chaos, it is crucial to remember that a similar time took place after World War One (WWI). Old and irrelevant it may seem, post-WWI times offer a glimpse, or perhaps some guidance into dealing with modern calamity.
Prior to WWI (1914-18), the air was rife with excitement over developments in the arts and science. A distinguishing aspect was La Belle Époque, a period of cultural blossoming in Paris, France from 1871 to 1914. Translated as “the beautiful era,” the period witnessed a flourishing in painting, architecture, and new art movements including Impressionism and Cubism. At the same time, intellectuals and women also played a significant role. Women organized in order to win their civil rights and the right to vote. The rise of technology gave way to innovations such as the automobile, granting increased mobility and a feeling of prestige.
But such jubilance was crushed with the onset of WWI. Although history classes pinpoint the reasons for the war as the assassination of the royal heads of Austria-Hungary, the truth actually remains uncertain up to this day and is still debated. In the end, the war did not produce significant gains for either side, leaving millions dead and importantly, disillusioned. Disillusionment is a fitting description of the atmosphere that followed the war. Technological developments contributed to the rise of advanced weaponry, producing weapons deadlier than anything known before. Chemical warfare and improved machine guns came into the scene. What was initially seen as a sign of human progress only led to death and grief.
In response, academics and intellectuals desperately searched for reasons, trying to explain the unexpected disaster. The young men who were promised images of valiance and patriotism for fighting were left broken. During the war, an art movement known as Dadaism emerged. Characterized by seemingly nonsensical, or at times un-artlike creations, the movement was a collection of disillusioned artists disgusted with the war. Though the group lacked a unifying approach, it did share ideals on non-conformity and creating alternative visions of the world. The poet Tristan Tzara claimed that the origins of Dada “were not the beginnings of art, but of disgust.” Thus, Dadaism was a reflection or reaction towards the irrational calamity of the war as well as the corrupt factors that lead to it.
But with the war, another catastrophe came into the scene: The Spanish Influenza of 1918. One of the deadliest outbreaks in history, the flu claimed lives from 20 million to 50 million to 100 million deaths. The outbreak eerily feels similar to the pandemic of 2020, as both cases emerged suddenly, had a wide global impact, and were not fully understood at that time. Just when the destruction of war and a fatal disease were wearisome enough, The Great Depression struck in 1929. Again, like the economic woes we have witnessed this year, it caused steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid-off workers. As so, the period after WWI was a dismal succession of disasters, wreaking havoc in both social and economic spheres.
Now in 2020, disillusionment is inevitable. A seemingly endless global pandemic, the resurgence of racism, a faltering economy, challenging living conditions for struggling to-be adults – despair is felt on many social and economic levels. There is much uncertainty surrounding the future turn of events, especially the course of the pandemic and the US presidential elections. The question at hand remains as so: where do we go from here? Having seen the aftermath of WWI, we can only prepare for the worst possible outcomes. Disappointing it may sound, the year 2020 has taught us that human progress does not necessarily lead to positive advancements, no matter how “modern” we may have become. When well-educated and liberal minds uphold basic human values, others openly deny them. Naïve it may sound, hope is what is needed the most in a time when things appear to fall apart.