# Machine Age

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{{Short description|Period of early 20th century history of rapid technological advancement}}
{{History of technology sidebar}}

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 [first](/source/World_War_I) and [second](/source/World_War_II) world wars, the Machine Age overlaps with the late part of the [Second Industrial Revolution](/source/Second_Industrial_Revolution) (which ended around 1914 at the start of World War I) and continues beyond it until 1 945 at the end of World War II. The 1940s saw the beginning of the [Atomic Age](/source/Atomic_Age), where [modern physics](/source/modern_physics) saw new applications such as the [atomic bomb](/source/Nuclear_weapon),<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.capitalcentury.com/1944.html | title=1944: Princeton builds the A-bomb}}</ref> the first [computer](/source/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](/source/transistor).<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.cedmagic.com/history/transistor-1947.html |title = The First Transistor Invented in 1947}}</ref> The [Digital Revolution](/source/Digital_Revolution) ended the intellectual model of the machine age founded in the mechanical and heralding a new more complex model of [high technology](/source/high_technology).  The digital era has been called the [Second Machine Age](/source/The_Second_Machine_Age), with its increased focus on machines that do mental tasks.

== Universal chronology ==
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Period     = from:1880 till:1950
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  bar:Decades color:era 
  from:1880 till:1890 text:[1880s](/source/1880s)
  from:1890 till:1900 text:[Gay Nineties](/source/Gay_Nineties) 
  from:1900 till:1910 text:[1900s](/source/1900s_(decade)) 
  from:1910 till:1920 text:[1910s](/source/1910s) 
  from:1920 till:1930 text:[Roaring Twenties](/source/Roaring_Twenties) 
  from:1930 till:1940 text:[Great Depression](/source/Great_Depression) 
  from:1940 till:1950 text:[1940s](/source/1940s)
  bar:Movements color:era 
  from:1880 till:1915 shift:(10,5) text:[Second Industrial Revolution](/source/Second_Industrial_Revolution)
  from:1880 till:1895 text:[Gilded Age](/source/Gilded_Age)
  from:1895 till:1925 text:[Progressive Era](/source/Progressive_Era)
  from:1895 till:1940 shift:(0,-10) text:[Liberalism](/source/Social_liberalism)
  from:1915 till:1920 shift:(-5,5) text:[World War I](/source/World_War_I)
  from:1925 till:1940 shift:(25,5) text:[New Deal](/source/New_Deal)
  from:1925 till:1940 shift:(-25,-5) text:[National Socialism](/source/National_Socialism)
  from:1940 till:1950 shift:(-25,5) text:[World War II](/source/World_War_II) 
  from:1945 till:1950 color:filler text:[Cold War](/source/Cold_War) 
  bar:&emsp; color:era 
  from:1880  till:1950 text:Machine Age
  from:1945  till:1950 color:filler text:[Atomic Age](/source/Atomic_Age)

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==Developments==
right|thumb|Metalworking machinery
right|thumb|A freight locomotive
[[Image:BonnevilleDam.jpg|right|thumb|[Bonneville Dam](/source/Bonneville_Dam) (1933–1937)]]
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2022}}[[File:Yamato battleship under fitting-out works.jpg|thumb|The ''[Yamato](/source/Japanese_battleship_Yamato)'' and other [battleships in World War II](/source/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](/source/locomotives) built in the mid-20th century were the heaviest ever.]]
Artifacts of the Machine Age include:
* Reciprocating [steam engine](/source/steam_engine) replaced by [gas turbine](/source/gas_turbine)s, [internal combustion engine](/source/internal_combustion_engine)s and [electric motor](/source/electric_motor)s
* [Electrification](/source/Electrification) based on large [hydroelectric](/source/hydroelectric) and thermal electric power production plants and distribution systems
* [Mass production](/source/Mass_production) of high-volume goods on moving [assembly line](/source/assembly_line)s, particularly of the [automobile](/source/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 [earthmoving equipment](/source/Engineering_vehicle)
* Steel-framed buildings of great height (''[skyscraper](/source/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](/source/Radio) and [phonograph](/source/phonograph) technology
* High-speed [printing press](/source/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 [railway](/source/rail_transport)s, [car](/source/car)s, and [aircraft](/source/aircraft)
* Development and employment of modern war machines such as [tank](/source/tank)s, [aircraft](/source/aircraft), [submarines](/source/submarines) and the [modern battleship](/source/dreadnought)
* [Streamline](/source/Streamliner) designs in cars and trains, influenced by [aircraft](/source/aircraft) design

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

==Environmental influence==
* [Exploitation of natural resources](/source/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](/source/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](/source/world_war)s.
* Climax of [New Imperialism](/source/New_Imperialism) and beginning of [decolonization](/source/decolonization)

==Arts and architecture==
[[Image:Duchamp - Nude Descending a Staircase.jpg|right|thumb|''[Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2](/source/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase%2C_No._2)'' (1912) by [Marcel Duchamp](/source/Marcel_Duchamp) displays [Cubist](/source/Cubist) and [Futurist](/source/Futurism_(art)) characteristics.]]
The Machine Age is considered to have influenced:
*[Dystopia](/source/Dystopia)n [film](/source/film)s including [Charlie Chaplin](/source/Charlie_Chaplin)'s ''[Modern Times](/source/Modern_Times_(film))'' and [Fritz Lang](/source/Fritz_Lang)'s '' [Metropolis](/source/Metropolis_(1927_film))''
*[Streamline Moderne](/source/Streamline_Moderne) appliance design and architecture
*[Bauhaus style](/source/Bauhaus)
*{{annotated link|Steampunk}}
*{{annotated link|Dieselpunk}}
*[Modern art](/source/Modern_art)
**[Cubism](/source/Cubism)
**[Art Deco](/source/Art_Deco) decorative style
**[Futurism](/source/Futurism)
**[Music](/source/20th-century_music)

==See also==
* {{anl|Second Industrial Revolution}}
* {{anl|Information Age}} (conjectured Third Industrial Revolution)

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{clear}}

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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Machine Age](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Age) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Age?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.