3.25. DBQ

Nineteenth Century Art DBQ

During the late nineteenth century, European art experienced many changes in style and subject. The first of these movements was realism, a style of art that presented its subject matter typically to be common people, performing normal tasks. This was a large change from the former paintings that were concerned with royalty and religion. This movement in art illustrates the movement of power from the economic and social elite towards the common people and the middle class of the time.

In figure two, this painting given represents the realist art of the nineteenth century. It portrays common people walking on a street, in the rain. This painting presents the people as proper and well kempt, going throughout the town. All of those walking are shown in a good light, as if they have enough money and no troubles to worry about. This painting does not accurately depict the real life scenarios of the common people. It shows them as having money, and being able to spend it somewhat luxuriously. They have new suits, bowties, dresses, and hats, all things that common people could not have with their small amount of money from their work.

The painting presented in figure one was created in a style that is more in line with impressionism, rather than realism. Impressionism, from an artistic standpoint, consisted of less precise lines and no finite borders. Those in the picture were somewhat blurry, and it gave a sense of confusion and disillusion, and the aim was to look at the world from a different perspective. This was far different from prior art, which was much more clear and finite in their work. In the subject matter of this art, it also portrayed the life of the common people, however, this tended to be more real than realism itself. Realist art did not show all of the aspects of a common person’s life, and presented them in a favorable light. Impressionism attempted to shine light on a greater truth, depicting the dank nature of common life, and also showing the changes that had occurred to them, such as machinery. In figure one; it illustrates a poor family on a train, crowded with many other people, in a somber mood. The family is disheveled and disorderly, the way typical lower middle class citizens were. Another point that is not thought of to stand out is the fact that the painting takes place inside of a train. Prior to impressionism, art did not generally concern mechanics and the advancements in machinery. Now, not only was a true portrait of a lower middle class family shown, but the painting also shows the advancement in technology present.

In these two paintings shown, they both attempt to depict the common people of their time, but only figure one successfully illustrates the way life really was for these people. Figure two attempts to present the middle class as something which the majority was not, wealthy. They could not afford the suits shown, or hats, or ties, or even umbrellas. The real common folk is similar to the family on the train, in crammed conditions and unkempt. This now realization of the genuine lifestyle of common people represents the shift in power to the middle class. Middle class citizens are now becoming organized and realizing that they are being wronged, and demanding that they see justice. They became inspired by the socialism movement and wish to be equals with the rest of society; no more poor, no more rich, only equals. These people had the manpower to rebel against those in control of them, and demand what they wanted.

During the late nineteenth century, these artistic movements not only affected the way art was depicted, but also represented a shift in power. The common people were now able to demand what they wanted, and began to unite together for equality. These works of art represented how the economic elite, such as kings and social elite were not longer in total control, but now sharing their power with the common people.

May 18, 2011 Free Response Question

Contrast Mazzini and Garibaldi's revolutionary views with those of revolutionaries in France.

During the period of Italian unification, revolutionaries in Italy differed from the revolution that occurred in France. The French people at the time wanted justice for their country, and an entire revamped system of government, through means of overthrowing the current system and those in power, while the Italians were striving for unification, with no true enemy involved in their revolution.

The time of the Italian unification was headed by two major players, Mazzini and his follower, Garibaldi, but also included Cavour, the Prime minister for Piedmont-Sardinia, speaking on behalf of its king. Mazzini and Garibaldi were centered in Southern Italy, while Cavour was in the north. At this time, Italy was a separated people, with Piedmont-Sardinia in the north, the Papal States below them, and the Kingdom of Naples in the south, below them. Mazzini began a movement for Italian unification, one which garnered a large following in Southern Italy. This did not go well with Cavour, who began to shut down this movement. Years later, after Mazzini had passed, Cavour began to rethink Italian unification, and asked Garibaldi for help. He did this because he now viewed this unification as a benefit to Piedmont-Sardinia. He asked him to rally up support for uniting southern and northern Italy together, excluding the Papal States, as they were ruled by the Pope at the moment. This movement prevailed, as the revolutionaries did not want persecution or war, but rather rights, such as voting. This differed with other revolution that had and were happening in Europe.

During the French Revolution, the people of France revolted for far different reasons than their Italian neighbors. The French people were being ruled unjustly, and under an autocratic rule, having tax after tax levied upon them. The current governmental system at place in France was corrupt, with the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. Taxes were never put on those most wealthy, with the burden of all of France’s debt going on the poor of the country. This grew to be too much for the French people, who began to openly rebel against their leader, and having a king in general. These Frenchmen were fueled by angst from the wrongdoings done to them over the years under rule of a king. The people then came together, and rebelled against their king, changing France for good.

These two revolutions that occurred are strikingly different in shape, reason, and outcome. The Italian revolution was two sides coming together; to unite into one singular power, while the French Revolution was rather a revolt against their king, demanding a change, for the better. The Italian people were fueled by promises of a better Italy, and better lives, similar to the French, but the French people were not adding to their domain. The French nation would remain the French nation, while the Italians would create a unified power that they have never experienced. They key difference for Italy was that there was no “enemy” in their revolution, but rather just promises of what could become of Italy if they unified. The French people were fighting for their beliefs, demanding their new system of government.

Both of these revolutions occurred to change two nations from being torn apart, separated, and desolate areas, to national powers that have remained to this day. Through both of these different means and thoughts of revolution these nations unified in a new form, allowing for more justice to come to these people, though not immediately and not without struggle. The French people were striving for justice from their tyrannical and unjust ruler while the Italians were attempting to unify themselves with their fellow Italians, who had become separated.

3.14 Free Response Essay

To what extent did Romanticism challenge Enlightenment views of human beings and the natural world and how did this challenge illustrate changes between the Enlightenment and Romantic views of the relationship between God and the individual?

The Romantic period that occurred was a spark that changed the way human thought is processed, and has rippled down into the current era, affecting the way things are looked at today. The Romantic period created a view that separated humans from God, no longer requiring the need for a higher deity. This change allowed humans to deviate from societies rules, with no threat of a punishment from a higher power, unlocking past potential that was deemed sacrilegious prior to this.

During the Enlightenment period, humans began to rationalize the way the world was, with a strong affiliation with mathematics and sciences. This period of thinkers looked at the world from a scientific and analyzed viewpoint. When the Romantic period came around, people began to think in a different variation, specifically illustrated through the artists and poets and musicians of the time. This movement was a revolt against the creations of norms for society, and the coherent thought put into nature, rather than abstract and new ideas. These people were much more free-minded, not tied down by past moral laws or beliefs, but rather separated themselves from them. This was a revolt against classical order. The Romantic period focused more on human emotion, instead of intellect, with artists of all variations expressing their emotions through their work.

One specific aspect of the many portions of the Romantic period is the newly embraced view on God. These thinkers believed that with the advancement of society, God was no longer necessary in human’s lives. Religion was grouped together with the other old-world ideas and viewed as obsolete by these thinkers, and left behind by them. They thought that if they separated themselves from God, they were no longer held back by laws that were associated with religion. This new outlook on life allowed them to create masterpieces that would not have been possible without this movement and separation from religion. Instead of looking towards God for inspiration for works, people now looked into themselves, allowing for pure inspiration to create their works, ranging from paintings to poems, to symphonies, and so on. Without the belief in an afterlife, these people would want to be remembered, and their way of doing so was to create works of art that would be cherished through generations, still alive once they were no longer here.

This entire movement can be seen as a new-age group of thinkers revolting against past ideas and trains of thought, replacing them with their own variations of such They removed the rational and planned-out way of looking at things and changed it one more focused on emotion and feeling, a person’s true self. They accused the Enlightenment thinkers as being illogical themselves by not involving human emotion in their works.

This Romanticism movement away from Enlightenment thought was a key factor to the change in the way of thought that has been passed down since that time. These thinkers dared to rebel against prior thought, and succeeded. They separated themselves from those in the past, creating a new sense and order, one that not only moved away from God, but moved away from all things they viewed as obsolete. In doing this, the Romantics released an entire new type of thought to humans, one that was blocked off before.

Outline for Term Paper

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Industrial Revolution and Nationalism Free Response Essay

Explain how the Industrial Revolution influenced the rise of conservative and liberal philosophies and explain how those philosophies competed with or related to nationalism in Greece and Germany.

The Industrial Revolution was a major factor in the rise and popularity of liberal and philosophies in European society. This resulted in a movement of people to cities forcing cooperation by the people, now having to depend on each other, to express their ideas politically for now they no longer were isolated farmers, but now city-dwellers who had constant contact with others on a daily basis. At the same time, German and Greek people were fighting and striving for independence from foreign nations, which was credited to, partly, the Industrial Revolution. Without the Industrial Revolution, these changes would not have occurred, and these movements of people and movements of ideas would not have affected Europe.

During the 18^th and 19^th century when the industrial revolution occurred, former farms that required many people to work on were now beginning to become more efficient, and require less workers to farm the land. This resulted in a mass of farmers losing their jobs, and moving to cities to find a new profession. When these large flocks of workers immigrated to the cities, many problems ensued, such as hygiene, workers right, the disparity in wealth, and much more. Because of this, these people now realized that they must involve themselves into political affairs so that their problems and requests may be answered or acknowledged. Prior to this, these people did not require much involvement from government, living as farmers, and being self sufficient. Now, with the movement into cities, commerce grew, and required regulation, along with work laws to protect their own people.

At the same time that this was occurring, the Germans are being overlooked, and used, without their consent by other nations. The German people are not represented, and are without power for much of this time, resulting in their minimal involvement in world affairs. This leads to a German sense of nationalism, which is played out in the German middle class. This nationalism is fueled by the fact that for years the Germans have been looked over, and mistreated, with no nation inquiring about the German people as to what they do, deciding their future for them. One specific nation that was controlling German affairs was the Austrian people, which did not set well for the Germans. The Prussians, on the other hand, were for a united German state, one which the Austrians did not want. This resulted in a war over German independence, one which resulted in Germany regaining its independence. This all was fuelled by its past, the other nations negligence of its existence. This fire inside the German people would eventually lead them to demand a position of prominence in European and world politics, but this did not occur until slightly pas these times.

Meanwhile, as this is occurring, the Greek citizens were under Turkish occupation and rule. The Turkish people had never been on good terms with Eastern Europe, involving numerous battles between Eastern and Western Europe. England, France, and Russia all were for Greek becoming an independent nation. Once they fight for Greece to become and independent nation, Russia begins to have a large influence within Greek borders. This results in the Greek people

All of these happenings occurring at the same time in Europe resulted in an uneasy time for the area, one that was going through many changes, economically, politically, and technologically. Without the Industrial Revolution, these changes may have not occurred, resulting in a far different looking Europe, and rest of the world.