Although the theories in existentialism were present before the 1990's, existentialism was at its peak during the 20th century. Three major events of the 20th century explain the reason for existentialism's popularity. Those three events were World War I, World War II and the Cold War. .
During the first World War, methods of warfare used were more devastating than any other previous war in European history. With the use of mustard gas, trenches, and the invention of the machine gun, more soldiers than ever were wounded and killed. The reason for these new types of warfare lay in technological advances made, through the use of math and science. Although the application of math and science were used in the creation of new weapons, the theory of rationality made it all possible. At the conclusion of the war, people??? Realized the toll the war took on lives. With that realization came the understanding that it was the largely accepted theory of rational thinking that created the weapons that destroyed many lives, as a result, people??/ began to denounce the rational thought process. These people??? Turned to existentialism, which as one of its main universal themes, diminishes the importance of rationalism. Soren Kirkegaard and Nieztche both claimed that the!.
most important questions in life couldn't be answered through science and reason. In addition, both argued that not even science is as rational as one is led to believe. Therefore, because of the violent nature of World War I, existentialism became more popular.
World War II also boosted the popularity of existentialism. During the war anti-Semitism was at a high point, and both the Nazi's and the allies used theories of existentialism to support their side. In addition, Heidegger's work was also used to protest the Nazi's persecution of minority groups throughout Europe. Heidegger proclaimed that first a human is born, without any pre-constructed personality or traits, it is only after the human has experiences that he or she begins to develop a personality.
