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The Age of Ideologies

Secularism and Progress in the Nineteenth Century

Apr 30, 2009 Jeanie Turner

The nineteenth century witnessed more rapid change than any other in history. Such drastic change left mankind struggling to adapt and searching for new meanings in life

The nineteenth century was the first century in which western civilization had the freedom to express their ideas, but were uncertain as to where these ‘ideas’ would take them. The absence of religion as the final authority on all matters left mankind with a void they were unsure how to fill, but they also discovered a new intellectual freedom in which progress abounded as never before. Many people were liberated and found inspiration in the idea that since the world was not preordained by God, then most of the world had yet to be discovered. Others lived in fear of such a rapidly changing world and they were afraid of what man would do with his new opportunities and endless choices.

The Power of Knowledge

Influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, the nineteenth century became an ‘age of revolutions’ though rarely violent in nature. The revolutions were directed against the nobility, the church, and the monarchies and were often intellectual and verbal attacks as opposed to physical ones. This was partly due to an astounding increase in the percentage of literate Europeans during this century. Literacy enabled the masses to read the Bible, the laws, political works, or whatever else and decide on their own what they wished to believe. Knowledge is surely power, and power was on the rise as never before in this tumultuous century.

Positive Revolutions

The Scientific Revolution that began with Newton and Locke gave rise to amazing technological advances, new products, and rapid progress. By the nineteenth century (first in Britain, then continental Europe) the First Industrial Revolution was well underway. There was still an alarming percentage of the population that was extremely impoverished, but there was a huge rise in the population of Europe indicating a great increase in wealth. The Industrial Revolution made the extensive fortunes of millions of across the world who, otherwise, would not have had many opportunities outside of their local communities.

Ideological Ages

The nineteenth century was the first ‘age of ideologies’, though certainly not the last. The twentieth century was the culmination of this ‘age of ideology’ (i.e. totalitarianism, fascism, socialism, communism, nazism). The ideologies of the nineteenth century were formed out of man’s uncertainty as to his place in this new world. As life and society was drastically altered in the course of one century as never before in history, the nature of man and his ‘sense of self’ was left lagging behind. Friedrich Nietzsche’s works showed how far in society religion had sunk when he questioned the traditional notions of good and evil in a world where secular authority (not religious authority) ruled the day.

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