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The Musket; A New Level Of Accuracy
This illustration of an English Civil War manual gives a step by step explanation of the use of a Musket by a soldier in the "New Model Army" (1645-1660).
The Musket was an improvement in terms of accuracy when contrasted with the earlier Arquebus.
The "Military Drill" phenomenon is a direct product of this promotion of methodology in the use of weaponry. The original source for this illustration is unknown, it is fatured however in "A History of Warfare" by John Keegan; Published in 1993. -
The Canon; A Symbol Of War At Sea
'Dutch Attack on the Medway' June 1667 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest The Raid on the Medway took place between the 9th and the 14th of June 1667 (Second Anglo-Dutch War). In an age of gunpowder, the significance of war at sea in 17th century Europe is characterized by the crew's ability to employ "The Canon". -
Le Grand Divertissement Royal à Versailles
On July 18th 1668, Louis XVI organized one of the biggest events of his reign in order to celebrate the annexion of the Flandres and his victory over the kingdom of Spain. This luxurious celebration gathered the Court of Versailles and symbolized noble entertainment at the time. Le grand divertissement royal, 18 juillet 1668. Illumination du Palais et des Jardins de Versailles, Jean Le Pautre (1618-1682), Versailles, châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon -
The Mississippi Bubble Burst
This document is an engraving created by Bernard Picart in 1721, entitled ''Monument Consecrated to Posterity''. It effectively portrays the scale of the crisis and mayhem caused by the bursting of the Mississippi bubble in May 1720.
- Bernard Picart. ''Monument Consecrated to Posterity''. 1721. The South Sea Bubble Collection, Harvard Business School. -
Bach Composes "The Well-Tempered Clavier"
This seminal set of pieces of 48 preludes and fugues will become the "daily bread" of nearly all musicians for generations to come, laying the foundations for the new styles that followed. Glenn Gould plays Bach prelude in c minor:
https://youtu.be/_3MVZfLReo0 J.S. Bach: 'The Well-tempered Clavier',
British Library Add. MS 35021, f.14.
Copyright © The British Library Board
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/musicma
British Library Add. MS 35021, f.14.
Copyright © The British Library Board -
Discovery of The Electrical Conduction by Stephen Gray
Discovered by Stephen Grey in 1730 (shown against), the electrical conduction and many other electricity tools, were the origin of a new form of entertainment: the "electrical soirées" in England. The polite British society and others european societies enjoyed during those evening different types of electrical body shocks. -
Amsterdam Banking Crsisis of 1763
This source is an etching made by Jan Caspar Philips in 1763, entitled ''The Bankruptcies of Amsterdam in the Year 1763''. It symbolically depicts the immediate aftermath of the crisis in which over 30 Amsterdam banking and trading firms went bankrupt.
- Jan Caspar Philips, ''The Bankruptcies of Amsterdam in the Year 1763'', 1763. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. -
Haydn's Triumph In London
Franz Joseph Haydn, the musical face of the Enlightenment, arrives in London for a grand concert tour which will generate some of the most memorable pieces of the Classical period, and grant him international celebrity and wealth. Haydn, Symphony no. 104, "London"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imxw Hardy, Thomas, "Portrait of Joseph Haydn", 1791, Royal College of Music Museum of Instruments, http://www.cph.rcm.ac.uk/Virtual%20Exhibitions/Haydn/ -
The Bayonet: Bringing Duality To Firearms
The war of the sixth Coalition (1812-1814) is one of the many examples demonstrating how widespread the use of the Bayonet had become in early 19th century Europe. The Battle of Grossbeeren depicted here gives us an idea of the proximity in combat between Prussian and Saxon soldiers as they take advantage of the duality of this piece of weaponry. This illustration is of unknown origin however it is dated 1813 in Jesse Russel and Ronald Cohn's Book "War Of The Sixth Coalition", 2013 edition. -
The Financial Panic of 1825
This is an 1822 drawing by a man under the pseudonym 'Thomas Strangeways (K.G.C)'. It was part of a scam intended to advertise the non-existent land of Poyais to potential investers and settlers, and the success of this act of fraud played a significant role in causing the financial crisis of 1825.
- Thomas Strangeways (K.G.C), ''A Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, Including the Territory of Poyais''. 1822. John Carter Brown Library, Brown University. -
The Flintlock: A Revolutionary Mechanism
The Flintlock as a mechanism became widely popular throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe.
Aside from its military use it came to be adopted by the British as a mean to restore one's honour by challenging of one's opponent to a pistol duel (replacing the fencing sword). This practice was adopted accross Europe as this depiction (By an unknown painter) of the pistol duel between the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and French military officer Georges d'Anthès in January 1837 suggests. -
The Death of Chopin
Frederic Chopin was the ultimate symbol of the Romantic era. In his music, poetic, inventive and imbued with emotion, and in his tumultuous liaison with George Sand, he perfectly encapsulated the spirit of Romanticism. Fantaisie Impromptu, Arthur Rubinstein
https://youtu.be/75x6DncZDgI Delacroix, Eugene, "Frederic Chopin", 1838,Muse du Louvre
ttp://www.histoire-image.org/site/oeuvre/analyse.php?i=245&d=1&m=chopin -
The Great Exhibition of 1851
On May 1st 1851, the doors of the first Great Exibition of the world opened in the British capital, London. Symbolized by the Crystal Palace (shown against), the exhibition welcomed six million visitors and a quarter of the entire British population. The visitors were entertained by the modernity of the achitectures which represented the Golden age of Victorian's era. -
The Financial Panic of 1857
This document is a page of the manuscript of Karl Marx's ''Grundrisse'', which was not published until 1939, but was written by Marx during the financial crisis of 1857-8. The ''Grundrisse'' is generally considered to be a rough draft of ''Das Kapital'', and it most probably would not have been written were it not for the 1857 financial panic.
- Photo from: Marcello Musto, ''Karl Marx's Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy''. London: Routledge, 2008. p.139. -
Premiere of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde"
This musically groundbreaking opera is an important marker in the development of German nationalism. Wagner's works greatly influenced philosophy, political thought, and was even appropriated by the Nazis as the ideal of culture. Richard Wagner, "Tristan Und Isolde"- Prelude
https://youtu.be/J-qoaioG2UA Albert, Joseph, " Ludwig and Malwine Schnorr von Carolsfeld in the title roles of the original production of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in 1865", 1865, -
Inauguration of "Au Bon Marché" in Paris
On April 2nd 1872, one of the world's first departement store was inaugurated. This store created another type of consumption and induced another type of leisure: the conspicious leisure. Very appreciated by the middle-class Parisian women, the "Au Bon Marché" became a symbol of mass consumption, a new leisure in the middle of the Industrial era.
This etching illustrates the Bon Marché after its opening. -
The Financial Panic of 1873
This document is the Teaty of Frankfurt signed in 1871 to end the Franco-Prussian War. It is the primary cause for the financial crisis triggered on the 9th of May 1873. This financial panic was the beginning of the ''Long Depression'', which lasted until 1879, and had enormous repercussions in Europe.
- ''Treaty of Frankfurt'',1721, Otto-von-Bismarck Stiftung, Friedrichsruh, Germany. -
Claude Debussy, Musical Impressionism
Claude Debussy was the musical link to the broader symbolist movement that included poets such as Verlaine and Mallarmé. He was an active participatnt in the bohemian society of cafes that dominated French culture in the fin de siècle. Debussy, Reverie-
https://youtu.be/y5ot-88UV-Y Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918. Damoiselle élue . La damoiselle élue : autograph manuscript, 1893 May, The Morgan Library and Museum -
Demonstration of The Bioscop by Emil and Max Skladanowsky in Berlin
The end of the 19th century was a turning point in mass entertainment for Germany. The Bioscop (film projector) developed by the Skladanowsky brothers became the source of a new leisure for the working class in Imperial Germany. Film projections became so popular among the workers that it even competed with drinking places and circuses. They are an example of mass consumption and the popularisation of leisure for the workers. -
Chemical Warfare: The Dehumanization of Europe
Two German soldiers and their mule wearing gas masks in WWI, 1916 This photograph conveys the powerful idea that beyond the dehumanization of man, the wrath of warfare extends to all living creatures.
While both The Hague Declaration of 1899 and the Hague Convention of 1907 had forbiden the use of “poison or poisonous weapons” in warfare, over 124 000 tons of gas were manufactured by the end of World War I. http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/two-german-soldiers-mule-wearing-gas-masks-wwi-1916/ -
Birth of the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro, an Italian Fascist association for worker's leisure
With this association, Mussolini was able to follow his agenda: creating a new Man for a new Italy. The program included sport, tourism, popular culture: all of thing controled by the Fascist government. Poster of the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro from 1944, before the decline of Fascist regime. -
The Wall Street Crash
This source is a picture taken on Black Friday, the 24th of October, by an unknown photographer. It shows a crowd of people gathering on the steps of the building across from the New York Stock Exchange as the market first crashed. This was the beginning of the Great Depression, which would have enormous consequences in Europe, notably the rise of the Nazis.
- Christina D. Romer "Great Depression." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Mar. 2014. (Accessed April 6, 2015). -
Shostakovich: "Muddle Instead of Music"
In the wake of the "Great Terror", Dmitry Shostakovich was denounced following a performance of his opera, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk Distrct" for its dissonance and bourgeois "formalism". Censorship, imprisonment, or even death was a reality for many musicians and artists under totalitarianism. Dmitry Shostakovich, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"
https://youtu.be/Qdo9e6gOGyw Unknown, "Muddle Instead of Music", 28 January 1936, Pravda -
The Atomic Bomb: A Catalyst To The Apocalypse
Although Half way accross the world the events of Hiroshima and Nagazaki set the stage for 20th century Europpean history and beyond. Indeed, the nuclear threat to become at the heart of the cold war had never been so clear in history. "What has kept the world safe from the bomb since 1945 has not been deterrence, in the sense of fear of specific weapons, so much as it's been memory. The memory of what happened at Hiroshima"
John Hersey Enola Gay flies away from Hiroshima-unknown Photographer
