Belle Époque (jan 1, 1871 – jan 1, 1914)

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The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (French: [bɛlepɔk]; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is the term often given to a period of French and European history, usually dated to between 1871–80 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Third French Republic, it was a period characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations. In this era of France’s cultural and artistic climate (particularly within Paris), the arts markedly flourished, with numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theatre, and visual art gaining extensive recognition.

The Belle Époque was so named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a continental Europe "Golden Age" in contrast to the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. The Belle Époque was a period in which, according to historian R. R. Palmer: "European civilisation achieved its greatest power in global politics, and also exerted its maximum influence upon peoples outside Europe."

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