La Belle Époque, or "beautiful era", was a period in France's history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. History is a term for information about the past. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Missing image Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Occurring at the midpoint of the Third Republic, the Belle Époque was considered a golden time of beauty, innovation, and peace between France and its European neighbors. New inventions made life easier at all social levels, the cultural scene thrived, cabaret, cancan, and the cinema were born, and art took new forms with Impressionism and Art Nouveau. Art and architecture in the style of this era in other nations is also sometimes called "Belle Époque" style. The French Third Republic, (in French, Troisième Republique, sometimes written as IIIème Republique) ( 1870/ 75- 1940/ 46), was the governing body of France between the Second French Empire and the Fourth Republic. ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue - a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... The Can-can (also spelt Cancan, Can Can) is regarded today primarily as a music hall dance, perfomed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings, harking back to the fashions of the 1890s. ... Although today the word art usually refers to the visual arts, the concept of what art is has continuously changed over centuries. ... Impressionism was a 19th century art movement, that began as a private association of Paris-based artists who began publicly exhibiting their art in the 1860s. ... Alfons Mucha, lithographed poster, 1898 Art Nouveau (French for New art) is an art and design style that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century. ... Architecture (in Greek αρχή = first and τέχνη = craftsmanship) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ...

While art and innovation flourished, this time period also saw the rise of working-class militancy and organized socialist movements. These conflicts as well as various political scandals began to polarize the country between the "Left" and the "Right." Regardless, this time period is remembered in France as a golden time of the past that was shattered by the outbreak of World War I. The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... For information on mainstream political parties using the term Socialist, see Social democracy and Democratic socialism, For the governments of the USSR, the PRC, and others, see: Communist state, Other variants of Socialism include Marxism, Communism, and Libertarian Socialism. ... For the direction left, see left and right. ... For the direction right, see left and right or starboard. ...