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Period: to
Modern Times
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Arnold Schoenberg composes Three Piano Pieces (Opus 11) and Five Orchestral Pieces (Opus 16)
Opus 11, No. 1
These pieces were considered atonal, meaning they had no home key; this differed from the traditional harmonic patterns most people were familiar with. Schoenberg also devised a 12-tone pattern that he used in his music, but his intention was to make sure no one would be able to identify it. Thus, his music was less accessible to the average person. -
South Africa gains indepedence from Britain
As South Africa was a major source of trade and labor, this event affected the finacial stability of Britain. As a result, the Union of South Africa forms, and racial segregation becomes the governing rule. -
Marcel Duchamp paints Nude Descending a Staircase
In this painting, Duchamp experimented with portraying motion through still images. This was typical of Cubism art, which tried to combine multiple perspectives and multiple time spans. His works were undecipherable to the average person. -
Pygmalion by G.B. Shaws is published
This is a rather comical play in which one character, Higgins, tries to teach another, Eliza, how to speak properly. The play touches on themes of language usage and the difference between the classes. -
Riot at Les Ballets Russes' premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
Rite of Spring
Rite of Spring was written with an aleatoric style, being composed of random sounds and notes with no pattern. The rhythmic and strange-sounding music, combined with violent and primitive dance steps, angered the audience and caused a violent riot in the theater. -
Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand is Assasinated
The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia. After Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, a series of treaties unfolded and caused other countries involvement. Eventually, Britain declared war on Germany. This event marks the beginnign of World War I. -
Bela Bartok composes String Quartet #2
String Quartet #2
One of Bartok's most famous compositions; it features irregular rhythms and tempos, strange sound effects, and atonalism. -
James Joyce publishes A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
The story centers on the growth of a young man, who among other problems, experiences religious conflict. Joyce himself converted to Catholicism late in his life, despite rejecting religion for much of his earlier years. -
Eastern Rebellion Occurs in Dublin
The rising was instigated by Irish Republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic. -
Voting rights extended to women over age 30 in England
This event accelerrated the feminism movement and gave women the opportunity to be more involved in society, socially and politically. Political groups showed women who were members to be competent in the political arena and as this became clear, secondly, it brought the concept of female suffrage closer to acceptance. -
World War I Ends
The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It led to the weakening of Germany in militaristic and finacial stability. Nearly 10 million people were killed in the war. -
The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot is published
This poem was written by Eliot while he was in a sanitorium, and references both Buddhism and and Christianity; it also touches upon sexuality and the empitness that existed after World War I. -
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster is published
An English woman visits India, and is taken to see some caves by an Indian doctor. While in the caves, she experiences a frightful event, and later accuses the doctor of raping her. The story centers on imperialism and racial conflict. -
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is published
The Great Gatsby Movie Trailer
A man named Gatsby works hard to achieve wealth, all for the purpose of wooing an old love. Despite his newfound riches, however, he ultimately fails. Many believe the theme of this book is the hopelessness of the so-called American Dream. -
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is published
The story talks about a soldier who falls in love during World War I; Hemingway portrays the characters' disillusionment with war, religion, patriotism, hedonism, work, and love. Hemingway himself had been portrayed as a hero for his service as an ambulance driver in World War I. -
United States stock market crashes
This monumental event triggered a worldwide depression. This created a larger strain on Britain finacially. -
Pablo Picasso paints Guernica
This was one of Picasso's most famous paintings and a political statement. It was Picasso's reaction to the Nazi's bombing of the small city Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The painting became a symbol of the destruction of war on innocent lives. Picasso experimented with collage and also drew from Cubist influences for this painting. -
Germany invades Poland
This event marks the beginnign of World War II. Again, a series of treaties causes British involvement in the war. -
Battle of Britain
The failure of Germany to achieve its objectives of destroying Britain's air defenses and forcing Britain to negotiate an armistice or an outright surrender is considered its first major defeat and a crucial turning point in the Second World War. -
Animal Farm by George Orwell is published
This famous allegory compares the Communist revolutions in the Soviet Union to an uprising by farm animals. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Soon after this, World War II ends. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union began a blockade of Berlin, which had been divided into occupation zones by the victorious Allies at the end of the war. The following month, British and American aircraft began to airlift supplies to West Berliners. In total, there were more than 277,000 flights to deliver food, fuel and medicine. -
India gains independence from Britain
India was regarded as the most valuable British imperial possession. World War II forced Britain to realize that it could not maintain a global empire and the British agreed to an Indian self-government. -
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is published
The novel presents a foreboding portrayal of the future, set in 1984, in which a dictatorial party controls all aspects of life. This was believed to be a commentary by Orwell on how he believed the future would turn out based on then-current events. -
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is published
This is a famous coming-of-age novel that focuses on a young man named Holden Caulfield. Holden, a cynical student, runs away from school and tries to discover his identity and connections. -
John Cage composes 4'33
This piece was John Cage's most famous and controversial work; a pianist sits at the piano in silence for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. His composition challenged the traditional definition of music: he believed it could include both silence and noise. -
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is published
Acebe portrays a Nigerian tribe whose culture is threatened by European imperialists. Okonkwo, a man who took pride in his tribe and culture, attempts to resist imperialism; he eventually recognizes the fuility of his actions, and commits suicide. -
Nigeria gains independence from Britain
By an act of the British Parliament, Nigeria became an independent country within the Commonwealth on October 1, 1960. The governor general represented the British monarch as head of state and was appointed by the crown on the advice of the Nigerian prime minister in consultation with the regional premiers.
