Modernism

Bloomsbury Socialist Society formed

On 20 May 1888, the parliamentary group of the Socialist League lost a vote on their proposal to contest elections. The group led by Edward Aveling, Eleanor Marx, A. K. Donald and others seceded from the Socialist League August 1888 to form the Bloomsbury Socialist Society. Image: Cover of the Manifesto of the Socialist League, 1885. Published prior to 1923, public domain. Digital image from the Tim Davenport collection, no copyright claimed.

Articles

Florence Boos, “The Socialist League, founded 30 December 1884″

Formation of the Bloomsbury Group

 The Bloomsbury Group, started by Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, was a group of writers dedicated to bringing literature out of Victorian styles and forms and into the modern era.  The Bloomsbury Group emphasized the creation of avant-garde writing styles, most notably stream-of-consciousness writing coined by Virginia Woolf.  This group gave way to newer styles such as imagism, the style used by Ezra Pound.  

Works Cited

Author Unknown, “A Group at Garsington Manor.” Wikimedia Commons, July 1915, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SomeBloomsburymembers.jpg. 

“Bloomsbury.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/b/bloomsbury. 

Start of World War I

A month after the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia beginning World War 1. This war involved countries across Europe, the central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) against the allied powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Romania, and the United States). WW1 caused a huge shift in society as it meant almost all capable men were sent off to fight in the war and the women were left at home to pick up the factory jobs and labor the men had left behind. This was the first great war and it brought destruction, carnage, and mass loss of life to everyone involved, it is estimated over 16 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives in World War 1.  This bloodshed on the battlefield inspired the work of soldiers such as Wilfred Owen who fought on the frontlines to create such historic poetry and works of art. 

End of World War II

On April 27, 1945, Benito Mussolini was captured and executed the following day. On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide, setting into motion once and for all, the collapse of the Nazi regime. On May 8th, 1945, Wilhelm Keitel along with several other German representatives surrendered to the Soviet forces shortly before midnight as witnessed by Georgi Zhukov officially ending World War II. This day was declared V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) and is recognized as the true end of World War II. On September 2, 1945, Japan also signs documents of surrender (pictured). President Harry Truman made a speech saying, “This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbor. This is the day when Fascism finally dies.” Celebrations broke out in the streets all over the world, one of which was caught on camera creating the iconic “Kissing the War Goodbye” photograph.

Works Cited

“Victory and Peace.” National Museum of American History, 8 Oct. 2021, americanhistory.si.edu/price-of-freedom/world-war-ii/victory-and-peace. Accessed 26 Apr. 2023.