View source for Machine Age

{{Short description|Period of early 20th century history of rapid technological advancement}}
{{History of technology sidebar}}
[[Image:Poland Ustron - museum.jpg|right|thumb|Metalworking machinery]]
[[Image:UP 9000 2.jpg|right|thumb|A freight locomotive]]
[[Image:BonnevilleDam.jpg|right|thumb|[[Bonneville Dam]] (1933–1937)]]

The '''Machine Age'''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RgQ3pHd1d-UC&pg=PA219 Mentality and freedom By William Armstrong Fairburn. Page 219.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CwxAtq3LaLkC&pg=PA601 The Playground, Volume 15 By Playground and Recreation Association of America]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CwxAtq3LaLkC&pg=PA601 Public libraries, Volume 6]</ref> is an era that includes the early-to-mid 20th century, sometimes also including the late 19th century. An approximate dating would be about 1880 to 1945. Considered to be at its peak in the time between the [[World War I|first]] and [[World War II|second]] world wars, the Machine Age overlaps with the late part of the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] (which ended around 1914 at the start of World War I) and continues beyond it until 1945 at the end of World War II. The 1940s saw the beginning of the [[Atomic Age]], where [[modern physics]] saw new applications such as the [[Nuclear weapon|atomic bomb]],<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.capitalcentury.com/1944.html | title=1944: Princeton builds the A-bomb}}</ref> the first [[computer]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scl.ameslab.gov/ABC/Articles/First-computer.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519100021/http://www.scl.ameslab.gov/ABC/Articles/First-computer.html |archive-date=2011-05-19 }}</ref> and the [[transistor]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.cedmagic.com/history/transistor-1947.html |title = The First Transistor Invented in 1947}}</ref> The [[Digital Revolution]] ended the intellectual model of the machine age founded in the mechanical and heralding a new more complex model of [[high technology]].  The digital era has been called the [[The Second Machine Age|Second Machine Age]], with its increased focus on machines that do mental tasks.

== Universal chronology ==
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  from:1880 till:1890 text:[[1880s]]
  from:1890 till:1900 text:[[Gay Nineties]] 
  from:1900 till:1910 text:[[1900s (decade)|1900s]] 
  from:1910 till:1920 text:[[1910s]] 
  from:1920 till:1930 text:[[Roaring Twenties]] 
  from:1930 till:1940 text:[[Great Depression]] 
  from:1940 till:1950 text:[[1940s]]
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  from:1880 till:1915 shift:(10,5) text:[[Second Industrial Revolution]]
  from:1880 till:1895 text:[[Gilded Age]]
  from:1895 till:1925 text:[[Progressive Era]]
  from:1895 till:1940 shift:(0,-10) text:[[Social liberalism|Liberalism]]
  from:1915 till:1920 shift:(-5,5) text:[[World War I]]
  from:1925 till:1940 shift:(25,5) text:[[New Deal]]
  from:1925 till:1940 shift:(-25,-5) text:[[National Socialism]]
  from:1940 till:1950 shift:(-25,5) text:[[World War II]] 
  from:1945 till:1950 color:filler text:[[Cold War]] 
  bar:&emsp; color:era 
  from:1880  till:1950 text:Machine Age
  from:1945  till:1950 color:filler text:[[Atomic Age]]

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==Developments==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2022}}[[File:Yamato battleship under fitting-out works.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Japanese battleship Yamato|Yamato]]'' and other [[battleships in World War II]] were the heaviest artillery-carrying ships ever launched. They proved inferior to aircraft carriers and missile-carrying warships.]]
[[File:UP Big Boy 4014.jpg|thumb|Some [[locomotives]] built in the mid-20th century were the heaviest ever.]]
Artifacts of the Machine Age include:
* Reciprocating [[steam engine]] replaced by [[gas turbine]]s, [[internal combustion engine]]s and [[electric motor]]s
* [[Electrification]] based on large [[hydroelectric]] and thermal electric power production plants and distribution systems
* [[Mass production]] of high-volume goods on moving [[assembly line]]s, particularly of the [[automobile]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/pabacker/industrial.htm |title=Industrialization of American Society |publisher=Engr.sjsu.edu (College of Engineering, San José State University) |access-date=2013-08-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919085515/http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/pabacker/industrial.htm |archive-date=2010-09-19 }}</ref>
* Gigantic production machinery, especially for producing and working metal, such as steel rolling mills, bridge component fabrication, and car body presses
* Powerful [[Engineering vehicle|earthmoving equipment]]
* Steel-framed buildings of great height (''[[skyscraper]]s''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/300004.html |title=The Plan Comes Together - Encyclopedia of Chicago |publisher=Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org |access-date=2013-08-14}}</ref>)
* [[Radio]] and [[phonograph]] technology
* High-speed [[printing press]]es, enabling the production of low-cost newspapers and mass-market magazines
* Low cost appliances for the mass market that employ fractional power electric motors, such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines
* Fast and comfortable long-distance travel by [[rail transport|railway]]s, [[car]]s, and [[aircraft]]
* Development and employment of modern war machines such as [[tank]]s, [[aircraft]], [[submarines]] and the [[dreadnought|modern battleship]]
* [[Streamliner|Streamline]] designs in cars and trains, influenced by [[aircraft]] design

==Social influence==
* The rise of [[Mass marketing|mass market]] advertising and [[consumerism]]
* Nationwide branding and distribution of goods, replacing local arts and crafts
* Nationwide [[cultural leveling]] due to exposure to [[film]]s and [[radio network|network broadcasting]]
* Mass-produced government [[propaganda]] through print, audio, and motion pictures
* Replacement of skilled crafts with low skilled labor
* Growth of strong corporations through their abilities to exploit [[Returns to scale|economies of scale]] in materials and equipment acquisition, manufacturing, and distribution
* Corporate [[exploitation of labor]] leading to the creation of strong [[trade union]]s as a countervailing force
* [[Aristocracy]] with [[weighted suffrage]] or male-only suffrage replaced by [[democracy]] with [[universal suffrage]], parallel to [[one-party state]]s
* [[First-wave feminism]]
* Increased [[economic planning]], including [[Five-year plan (disambiguation)|five-year plan]]s<!--intentional link to DAB page-->, [[public works]] and occasional [[war economy]], including nationwide [[conscription]] and [[rationing]]

==Environmental influence==
* [[Exploitation of natural resources]] with little concern for the ecological consequences; a continuation of 19th century practices but at a larger scale.
* Release of synthetic dyes, artificial flavorings, and toxic materials into the consumption stream without testing for adverse health effects.
* Rise of [[petroleum]] as a strategic resource

==International relations==
* Conflicts between nations regarding access to energy sources (particularly oil) and material resources (particularly iron and various metals with which it is alloyed) required to ensure national self-sufficiency. Such conflicts were contributory to two devastating [[world war]]s.
* Climax of [[New Imperialism]] and beginning of [[decolonization]]

==Arts and architecture==
[[Image:Duchamp - Nude Descending a Staircase.jpg|right|thumb|180px|''[[Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2]]'' (1912) by [[Marcel Duchamp]] displays [[Cubist]] and [[Futurism (art)|Futurist]] characteristics.]]
The Machine Age is considered to have influenced:
*[[Dystopia]]n [[film]]s including [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s ''[[Modern Times (film)|Modern Times]]'' and [[Fritz Lang]]'s '' [[Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]''
*[[Streamline Moderne]] appliance design and architecture
*[[Bauhaus|Bauhaus style]]
*{{annotated link|Steampunk}}
*{{annotated link|Dieselpunk}}
*[[Modern art]]
**[[Cubism]]
**[[Art Deco]] decorative style
**[[Futurism]]
**[[20th-century music|Music]]

==See also==
* [[Second Industrial Revolution]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:History of technology]]
[[Category:Second Industrial Revolution]]
[[Category:19th century in technology]]
[[Category:20th century in technology]]
[[Category:Machines]]