USM Open Source History Text: The World at War: World History 1914-1945Main MenuIntroduction: A Mural as WindowOn Diego Rivera's Detroit IndustryThe World Around 1914, Part I: the Journey of Young GandhiThe World Around 1914, Part II: The Era of Nationalism and Imperialism (1848-1914)The First World WarThe Long Russian Revolution (1917 – 1929)The Decline of the West? Europe from 1919 – 1929A New Middle East: The Rise of the Middle East State SystemChina Between Qing Collapse and WWIILatin America Between Boom and Bust (1911-1929)Africa Under Colonial Rule: Politics and Race from 1914‐1939The United States from The First World War to the Great DepressionThe Great DepressionThree Varieties of Radicalism in the 1930s: Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, and Imperial JapanThree Responses to Modernity: Ho Chi Minh, Ibn Saud, and Getulio VargasThe Second World WarSeth Rogoff5f001fc099cd635507b143be056702764af6929c
Light of Progress
12017-12-22T06:10:22-08:00Seth Rogoff5f001fc099cd635507b143be056702764af6929c192372plain2017-12-22T06:14:38-08:00Seth Rogoff5f001fc099cd635507b143be056702764af6929cIf there was one country that seemed to fully embrace technology and the broader industrial revolution of the late 19th century, it was Germany. Here we see a poster for the German General Electric Company. The symbolism is powerful -- an angel holding the light aloft -- clearing away clouds, banishing night. Sparks fly out from behind an electrically-powered wheel, representing the force of technology. The implication of this piece is that human progress, begun in classical times, is now reaching a new stage -- a stage in which humankind is now in power, master of the forces of nature. The optimism of the poster is palpable.
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12017-08-14T22:00:40-07:00Seth Rogoff5f001fc099cd635507b143be056702764af6929cAdvertising Poster for the General Electric Company [AEG] (1888)1"In 1881, the Berlin entrepreneur Emil Rathenau (1838-1915) acquired the license to Thomas Edison’s patent for the electric light bulb. Two years later, Rathenau founded the German Edison Company, which went on to become Germany’s General Electric Company [Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft Berlin or AEG] in 1887. Electrical power provided the force behind Germany’s “second” industrial revolution, as cities and industries demanded ever larger amounts of power for electric lighting, electric trams, power tools, telephones, and other consumer products. In 1888, Louis Schmidt proposed this color lithograph as an advertising poster for AEG. Schmidt’s integration of classical and modern themes is striking: the goddess of light sits on a winged wheel that symbolizes the triumph of technological progress (just as it had in the early days of the railway). The image sought to convey AEG’s commercial solidity while also highlighting its cutting-edge technology."plain2017-08-14T22:00:40-07:00Seth Rogoff5f001fc099cd635507b143be056702764af6929c
