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As a result of the cumulative scientific, economic, and political changes of the preceding years, the idea took hold among literate people in the West that continuing growth and improvement was the usual state of human and natural life.

Darwin's theory of evolution and survival of the fittest (1859), defended by intellectual and scientists against theological objections, was taken as confirmation that progress was the natural course of life. The controversy helped give rise to the popular image of the dedicated scientist and the belief that human knowledge of and control over the world would continue to grow (as illustrated by Foucault's demonstration of earth's rotation in 1851 and Pasteur's germ theory in 1861).

The technological processes and managerial innovation of the English industrial revolution spread to Europe (especially Germany) and the United States, causing an explosion of industrial production, demand for raw material, and competition for markets. In fact, by the end of the century, industrial and technological proficiency characterized two new great powers in the world—Germany and the U.S. Coal and iron deposits enabled Germany to reach 2nd or 3rd place status in iron, steel, and shipbuilding by 1900. And Germany's electrical and chemical industries were world leaders. (Have you ever heard of Siemens?)

Inventions such as Bessemer steel (1856) and the sewing machine (1846) seemed to roll into people's lives at an quickening rate. The Kodak camera (1888), linoleum (1860), the motorcycle (1885), and the telephone (1876) are a few of the modern conveniences that entered the lives of people in the 19th century and are still with us today. Life as we know it in the present was born during the latter portion of the 19th century. Developments in transportation and communication, as well as mass population movements, helped create an awareness of an interdependent world. The birth of the automobile, the airplane, phonographs, and motion pictures forever connected the nations of the world, for better or worse.

A growing awareness and social consciousness developed worldwide, with a desire for reform across the board. Significant developments included the abolition of slavery (Great Britain in 1833, United States in 1865, and Brazil in 1888), improved social conditions for women, the mentally ill and prisoners, and the extension of the vote to the middle and lower classes, Catholics Jews and women (New Zealand - 1893, Australia - 1901, Finland - 1906, Norway - 1913, Denmark/Iceland - 1915, Russia - 1917, U.K./Austria/Canada/Ireland - 1918, Netherlands/Luxembourg/Germany - 1919, and lastly the U.S. - 1920). This consciousness spilled over into Utopian social thought, the desire for anarchy, and the growing Marxist belief in the inevitable triumph of socialism.

Like everything else, art and literature changed to showcase new (or rediscovered) ideas. The Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Vienna Opera were built. Impressionists such as Monet, Pissaro, and Renoir rejected formalism in art; in turn, post-impressionists like Cézanne and Gauguin moved into uncharted artistic waters. Where they left off, unprecedented experimentation in art occurred. Just look at Matisse and Picasso. Realist novelists such as Dickens, Eliot, and Tolstoy gave way to Freud, Wilde, Nietzsche, Gorky, and Sinclair. As universal education and global literacy increased, the previously denied masses found information at every juncture.

While the United States struggled with the aftermath of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, anti-Semitism, peppered with a new racist rationale, became a significant political force in Germany, Austria, and France. Much of this burgeoning racism was brought about by mass emigration from crowded European centers. Some 70 million Europeans emigrated in the century prior to 1914, with 9 million migrating to the United States and millions more going to Siberia, Canada, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, and Algeria. Several million Chinese, Indians, and Japanese migrated into Southeast Asia, where their urban skills often enabled them to take a predominant economic role.

Such was the world as it stood on the threshold of World War I. In a mere 100 years, humanity saw more changes and advancements than in the previous 500. Social conditions, religion, and day-to-day living had evolved into a pattern of life that we in the 21st century can recognize and appreciate.