Contemporary History In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Century

Contemporary history in the nineteenth and twentieth century

Introduction

The historical period that advances from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century, our first approach to what will be the true stage of study of this subject, is tremendously influenced by the development of nationalism and imperialism, direct consequences of globalization and also the development of the development of the development of thecapitalism. 

 The second industrial revolution becomes a key point as the second phase of the progress of this imperialism that already anticipated the first industrial revolution, where they had a very prominent role like Europe or the United States. However, there was also a very strong expansion in East Asia, so, then we will briefly highlight the behavior of China, Russia and Japan, focusing especially on Japanese expansion.

Developing

Before their speech at World War. Indeed, although China had a great fleet and a great army, these were quite outdated, which greatly facilitated their rapid defeat.

 Before his victory, Japanese troops committed great atrocities against Chinese and Koreans, considering them a lower race. Therefore, we also see a clear notion of race involved that is linked to imperial expansion and with the emergence and development of nationalisms. Finally, China was forced to sign the Shimonoseki Treaty and according to Xulio Ríos, director of the IGADI and the Chinese politics observatory, yielded to Japan "the dominance over Taiwan and the surrounding islands that he administered, among others the Diaoyu".

"The Chinese-Japan conflict".

The Russians, on the other hand, also had their ambitions in the Pacific, so they inevitably collided with Japan in what is known as the Russian war, a conflict that emerged before their rival imperialist ambitions in the territories of Manchuria and Korea. In this context, and according to historian Eduard Montag, it was convenient. However, before the Russian refusal, the conflict began. "The Russian-Japanese war".

In this way, in 1904, the Japanese attacked the Russian fleet and won, again, very quickly in what would be the first modern naval war in history. Given this disastrous situation for them, Russia had to give up and signed the Treaty of Portsmouth, where “Japan obtained Port Arthur, his rights over Korea and the north of the island of Sajalin was confirmed. On the other hand, Japan decided to leave Manchuria in Russian hands. "

In short, we are in a context in which Japan is imposed on the Pacific, and in which China and Russia are defeated and destabilized, as well as with various fiscal problems. And finally, as stated in the presentation information on this introductory topic, all these conflicts begin to affect some of the regimes before the First World War.

We often do not take it into account as it proceeds, but, in effect, the novels and paintings are for historians and for ourselves one more source of information that can contribute a lot to the enlightened historical time or period. For this same reason, then I will proceed to relate the work "The Prodigal are in Modern Life: The Return" and what transmits me personally, dated in 1882 and belonging to J. Tissot, with the events and transformations that happen in its time, in order to investigate and learn more about this.

Indeed, the work in question is at the end of the 19th century, therefore, we could say that it is between this and the next century, the 20th. This historical period is characterized in broad strokes for the development and globalization of capitalism, the emergence of nationalisms and the rise of imperialism;Precisely, we can observe some of these features in James Tissot’s work. Let us fully enter your interpretation.

In this representation, the reunion of what could be a father and a son, in my opinion, observed by the various people around. It is often said that Tissot lived in London when he did this work, and that as he liked spending time in the port of London, he used it used as a stage for his work. The interesting thing is that, precisely, the center of this new global system before the second industrial revolution is London.

 Since after this industrialization becomes more global, so countries like the United States or Russia that become industrial nations and begin to compete with Britain. In the background, we can also appreciate the presence of a ship with crew still on board and docked on the dock, which is an example of the clear improvements that occurred at technological and scientific level in that period of time, especially and attending toThe work, regarding the means of transportation.

To be Franca I confess that I am not entirely sure of my bet, but I consider that it is the hypothesis that can be closer to the reality that this scene illustrates, that is, it is a ship destined for trade. We must consider that we are at a time when trade was greatly favored by the development of the means of transport and the second industrial revolution, which was already preceded by the first industrial revolution. 

Therefore, the economic system of capitalism will end up expanding and involves a global market: regional specializations, relocation of labor and capital transfer. In addition, the free market begins to connect the world seeing economic protectionism with bad eyes. This has been my main reasoning from which I have formulated the hypothesis that it is a ship destined for trade, in addition to the clothes of the characters that appear on the scene and the absence of weapons.

conclusion

However, I have to confess that at first I contemplated if it could be a war or expedition ship, since in those years between 1880 and 1890 there is a territorial expansion process towards areas until then peripheral, where the army expelled from their landsAboriginal communities that lived outside the system and used to use violence to achieve that interconnection in the world, another of the characteristics of this period. 

Therefore, I thought it probable that, considering the date on which the work was executed, the son returned from one of those expeditions, or any other. What made me rule out this option was that the type of ship does not seem to be war, and the same thing that made me opt for the other: the costumes of the characters, and the absence of weapons.

What is unquestionable, and to end with this brief comment, is what transmit the colors, the stroke of the brushstroke and the moving scene of "The Prodigal are in Modern Life: The Return", a representation of a time of greatadvances, but full of uncertainty;Precisely, an uncertainty that will soon lead to what René Dumont describes as "a century of killings and wars", the twentieth century.