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Science and Culture, 1914–1930s

The years between the First World War and the late 1930s were a time of fast change. Physics found new rules for atoms (quantum mechanics) and for the universe (relativity, expanding galaxies). Medicine gained insulin and penicillin. Radio and cinema created mass culture. Artists broke old rules (cubism, abstract art, surrealism), writers tried new styles, and in the USSR the freedom of the 1920s gave way in 1934 to one official style, socialist realism. Indian scientists such as S. N. Bose and C. V. Raman won world respect.

🎬 Step-by-step story

  1. New physics. On the left the atom, with electrons around a tiny nucleus. On the right, galaxies moving apart. Quantum mechanics and an expanding universe were new ideas.
  2. Medicine and machines. Insulin, penicillin, television and the aeroplane arrive. Watch Lindbergh's aeroplane cross the sky in 1927.
  3. Mass culture. One radio tower reaches many homes at once, and cinema draws crowds. The golden rings are the broadcast, and the houses light up as it reaches them.
  4. New art breaks the rules. A realistic house, then cubism (many sides at once), then abstract art with only shape and colour.
  5. Books and ideas. New novels in Europe, a freer 1920s then one official style in the USSR, and famous Indian scientists.
  6. Your turn. Slide the year from 1914 to 1938. Blue is science, purple is art and books, gold is radio and film.

Tip: drag the 3D scene to turn it. Use two fingers to zoom.

🤔 Common doubts, cleared

What is "expanding universe" in simple words?

Far galaxies are moving away from us, and farther ones move faster, as if the space between them is stretching. Watch the golden dots spread.

Was penicillin used as medicine right after 1928?

No. Fleming noticed the mould in 1928, but it became a usable medicine only in the 1940s.

Why was radio so powerful?

It reached many homes at once, even where people could not read. See the rings reach more houses.

Why did artists stop making realistic pictures?

Photography and film could show things exactly, and the war shook faith in the old order. Artists turned to ideas and feelings, as in the cubist and abstract frames.

How did Soviet culture change?

The 1920s were free and experimental. In 1934 one official style, socialist realism, was set. Compare the USSR pillar with Europe's.

What was happening at the same time in science, art and media?

Slide through 1914–1938 and compare the three coloured tracks.

A new picture of the world: physics

Before 1914 scientists thought of atoms as tiny solar systems. In the 1920s quantum mechanics (Heisenberg 1925–27, Schrödinger 1926) said that tiny particles follow rules of chance: we can only say where an electron is likely to be.

Einstein's general relativity (1915) said that gravity is the bending of space and time by matter. In 1919 an eclipse expedition saw starlight bend near the Sun as predicted, and Einstein became world-famous. In 1922 the Russian scientist Alexander Friedmann showed that the equations allow an expanding universe, and in 1929 Edwin Hubble found that far galaxies are moving away from us. In 1932 Chadwick found the neutron, and in 1938 Hahn and Strassmann split a uranium nucleus (fission).

Medicine and technology

Many countries also ran big campaigns for reading and writing. The USSR, for example, held a mass literacy drive in the 1920s.

Mass culture: radio, cinema, sport and jazz

For the first time millions of people could hear the same voice or music at the same moment (radio) or watch the same story on a screen (cinema). This is called mass culture. Cinema moved from silent films to sound in 1927, with stars like Charlie Chaplin. Jazz music spread from the USA, and sport and cheap newspapers also built shared habits. Leaders learned to use radio and film to reach crowds, and some used them for propaganda (one-sided messages).

Modern art and new writing

Modernism means breaking old rules and trying new forms. The war had shaken confidence in the old order, so many artists did not want to copy the world exactly.

Culture in the USSR and in India

USSR: In the 1920s artists, poets and film-makers experimented freely (Mayakovsky, Malevich, Eisenstein). Education spread fast. From the early 1930s the state wanted art to serve the party; in 1934 the Writers' Congress made socialist realism the one official style: realistic pictures of workers and builders, with a hopeful message. Many experimental artists lost their freedom.

India: Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in literature (1913). S. N. Bose (1924) gave a new way to count light particles, later called Bose-Einstein statistics, and C. V. Raman found the Raman effect (1928), winning the Nobel Prize in physics in 1930, the first Asian to win a science Nobel.

Key formulas and definitions

Worked examples

1. What did quantum mechanics change in the picture of the atom?

Earlier models showed electrons moving on fixed tracks like planets. Quantum mechanics said we can only give the chance of finding an electron in a region, not an exact path.

2. Why are radio and cinema called "mass media"?

One broadcast or one film can reach millions of people at the same time, so they shape shared tastes and news for a whole country, and can also be used for propaganda.

3. Why did many artists after 1914 stop painting realistic pictures?

The war and fast change shook faith in old rules. Artists also had photography and film to show things exactly, so painting turned to ideas, shapes, colours and dreams (cubism, abstract art, surrealism).

4. What changed for Soviet art in 1934?

The 1920s had been a time of free experiment. In 1934 the Writers' Congress made socialist realism the official style, so art had to show workers and builders in a realistic, hopeful way and serve the party.

Common mistakes

Practice quiz

1. Who found in 1929 that distant galaxies are moving away?
2. Penicillin was noticed in 1928 by:
3. Which is an example of mass culture in the 1920s?
4. Socialist realism became the official Soviet style in:
5. C. V. Raman won the Nobel Prize in physics for:

Practice: answer these yourself

Type or choose your answer, then press Check. Use a hint if you are stuck; the full solution appears after you answer.

Frequently asked questions

What was modernism in art?

A movement of the early 20th century that broke old rules of painting, writing and building, and tried new forms such as cubism, abstract art and surrealism.

Which scientists were important between the world wars?

Einstein (relativity), Heisenberg and Schrödinger (quantum mechanics), Hubble (expanding universe), Fleming (penicillin), Chadwick (neutron), and Indian scientists S. N. Bose and C. V. Raman.

Is this topic in Class 10?

Yes. It is part of the General history 1914–1945 unit in the Russian Grade 10 history course. It is also useful for any student of 20th-century world history.

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