Summary of Charles Emmerson's 1913

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 In 1913, it was Belgium where the force fields of European integration most overlapped. The medieval Flemish city of Ghent hosted the Exposition Universelle et Internationale, as had Brussels a few years before.

#2 The age of empire, and Belgium’s role in it, can be seen in the 1913 World’s Fair in Ghent, which was hosted by a Belgian king. The gold and white exhibition buildings were set in extensive, well-ordered gardens. At night, the whole place was lit up with electric lights.

#3 Europe was not just a geographic description for those of a certain class, but a lived reality for those who could travel across it. The continent was filled with palace hotels, from the newly opened Carlton in St Moritz to the gold and marble gaudiness of the Negresco in Nice.

#4 Europe’s aristocrats, leisured classes, and middle classes all had their sense of commonality forged through common social experiences. Europe’s working classes had their sense of solidarity enshrined in the doctrines of socialism and workers’ internationalism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822533516

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Insights on Charles Emmerson's 1913

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1913, it was Belgium where the force fields of European integration most overlapped. The medieval Flemish city of Ghent hosted the Exposition Universelle et Internationale, as had Brussels a few years before.

#2

The age of empire, and Belgium’s role in it, can be seen in the 1913 World’s Fair in Ghent, which was hosted by a Belgian king. The gold and white exhibition buildings were set in extensive, well-ordered gardens. At night, the whole place was lit up with electric lights.

#3

Europe was not just a geographic description for those of a certain class, but a lived reality for those who could travel across it. The continent was filled with palace hotels, from the newly opened Carlton in St Moritz to the gold and marble gaudiness of the Negresco in Nice.

#4

Europe’s aristocrats, leisured classes, and middle classes all had their sense of commonality forged through common social experiences. Europe’s working classes had their sense of solidarity enshrined in the doctrines of socialism and workers’ internationalism.

#5

The Ghent world fair in 1913 was threatened by a Belgian general strike, which was caused by the threat of war. However, the threat of war was not the biggest threat to the fair. The biggest threat was the threat of a Belgian general strike.

#6

European tastes in art and music were not only defined by national publics, but by an active class of international collectors and critics. While there were definable national composers over the last few decades of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth, nationality was not an insuperable obstacle to transferability.

#7

The apex of society was the European monarchs, who were the head of the dynastic web of kinship thick with common European blood. The three cousins who personified the European family of nations gathered in Berlin in 1913 for a royal wedding between Princess Victoria Luise and Prince Ernst August.

#8

The wedding of King George and Queen Mary was a sign of the value of monarchy as a conciliatory force in European politics. The presence of the three rulers confirmed the value of monarchy, and reinforced trust.

#9

The sun still rose over Europe from behind the Urals in 1913, and the stars above remained fixed in the firmament. The universe continued on its steady, silent course.

#10

London was the capital of a small group of islands off the north-western coast of the European landmass, and by 1913, it had become the most populous city in the world. It was the center of global order, and the core of global finance.

#11

London was home to many people who had been part of the British empire. The sight of a visiting colonial premier or an Indian maharajah was a commonplace for Londoners. The city’s bus routes advertised themselves by imperial analogy.

#12

London was home to many different colonies and dominions, and it was easy for students from these places to feel at home in London.

#13

The summer months were the best time to visit London, according to Baedeker. The city was becoming more and more international, and the over-titled British aristocracy was socializing with German and French aristocrats.

#14

In London, Ramunajaswami explored the city first from the upper deck of a London bus, traveling from his lodgings in Bayswater to Marble Arch and Oxford Street. He went to a lecture by Mrs Ellen Terry on Shakespeare’s women and went several times to the theater.

#15

London was the Empire’s greatest symbol, and Ramunajaswami was impressed by its orderliness and politeness. But he was also unsatisfied by London, as it lacked a culminating point where all its different aspects came together.

#16

Lord Curzon, former Viceroy of India, argued that London did not play the same role for England as Paris did for France. While Frenchmen dreamed of becoming Parisians, Englishmen rarely dreamed of becoming