Belle Époque

The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (French pronunciation: ​[bɛlepɔk]; French for ""Beautiful Era"") was a period of Western European history. It is conventionally dated from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic (beginning 1870), it was a period characterized by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and culture innovations. In the climate of the period, especially in Paris, the arts flourished. Many masterpieces of literature, music, theater, and visual art gained recognition. The Belle Époque was named, in retrospect, when it began to be considered a ""golden age"" in contrast to the horrors of World War I.In the newly-rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In Great Britain, the Belle Époque overlapped with the late Victorian era and the Edwardian era. In Germany, the Belle Époque coincided with the reigns of Kaiser Wilhelm I and II, in Russia with the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II and in Mexico with the period known as the Porfiriato.