EXPO 2005

History of EXPO

A Short Excursion into the History of World Expositions

World expositions are a peculiar phenomenon of industrial society. The form they evolved into in the 20th century is unparalleled in the history of humankind.
Over the 150 years of their existence, world expositions have always featured new knowledge for their era and reflected trends in the development of human civilization. From the simple display of artefacts in the 19th century, the organization of expositions progressed in the 20th century to ever more refined and comprehensive presentations of exhibits displayed in the context of all their connections and relations.

The History of World Expositions - Part I

The idea of world expositions originated in the environment of Europian civilisation. The transformation of the concept of expositions from the one of expositions held on national level to those involving nations from all over the world was essentially influenced by ambitions of the British Empire supported by its superiority, which later together with the emergence of steam engine made England Nthe workshop of the worldi. The EmpireYs rivalry with France, eager to stay in step, triggered off on the verge of the 18th and the 19th century a series of national expositions (1798 on Champs de Mars, 1802 in Louvre) held to celebrate the viability of first the republic and later the empire (1806 in Esplanades des Invalides). The organizers of expositions set it their main target to enliven the competition among participants by allowing them to introduce their products, with best products anunciations system.

The History of World Expositions - Part II

The 1930s were marked by the Great Depression and the increasing aggressivity of totalitarian states, but also by a belief in a better tomorrow encouraged by the successes of scientific and technological developments. Each of these trends was reflected in a world exposition opened on May 27, 1933 in the city of Chicago by former President Herbert Hoover called "A Century of Progress."

The History of World Expositions - Part III

The idea of inviting the countries of the world to the Belgian kingdom’s capital to compete against each other without weapons came just two years after the most monstrous hetacomb in the history of humanity. This post-war euphoria however soon passed away as the world became irrevocably polarized. The beginnings of the Cold War almost destroyed the plans for a world exposition and the event had to be postponed from 1955 to 1958. The invitations sent out by the Belgian government in 1954 emphasized the role of individuals in the world and everything was to be first and foremost looked at in human scales. The main theme of the Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles (unofficially Expo ’58) was "A World View – A New Humanism." Almost fifty countries and various international organizations (including the United Nations, the Vatican, the Order of Malta, the International Red Cross, the European Coal and Steel Community, the Council of Europe and the European Payments Union) came together in one of the centers of European culture, one from which would come the impulse for European integration (the European Economic Community and Euratom).

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