Editing Belle Epoque

The "'''Belle Epoque'''" refers to a period in the [[Timeline|future history]] of the overall [[Revelation Space universe]]. The era was considered the pinnacle of economic, social, cultural, technological and scientific development of the [[Demarchists|Demarchist]] colony on the planet [[Yellowstone]], as well as its vicinity (particularly the [[Glitter Band]] of orbital habitats). 

The ''Belle Epoque'' of Yellowstone and Yellowstone Demarchists was cut short by the outbreak of the mysterious [[Melding Plague]], a nanotechnological disease that severely damaged and affected a myriad of advanced technologies in Yellowstone's settlements, such as the famous metropolis of [[Chasm City]] on the planet's surface, or the vast majority of orbital habitats, turning the Glitter Band into the [[Rust Belt]].

The outbreak of the Melding Plague in 2510 and its devastating technological and social aftermath form the endpoint of ''Belle Epoque'' and the beginning of the post-[[Melding Plague]] era of the human-settled [[Epsilon Eridani]] system. 

== Timeline of events ==

'''''Pre-Belle Epoque'''''

* '''2110 – 2140''': period of turmoil; solar system convulsed by more wars. Emergence of [[Demarchist]] states in 2141 signals new era of peace and prosperity. Solar luminosity begins to drop, heralding a new ice age on Earth.

*(...)

* '''2155''' – first Demarchist settlements around [[Jupiter]]. Great freeze sets in on Earth.

* '''2161''' – [[Sandra Voi]] leads first human expedition into [[Europa]]’s ocean

*(...)

* '''2182''' – first phase of [[Great Wall of Mars (structure)|GWOM]] completed. Demarchists distance themselves from the more radical factions.

*(...)

* '''2191''' – ceasefire in Conjoiner-Coalition war brokered by Sandra Voi.

*(...)

* '''2205''' – [[Galiana]]’s Conjoiners escape from Mars. [[Sandra Voi (ship)|First relativistic starship]] constructed and launched from [[Mars]] orbit.

'''''Belle Epoque'''''

* '''2205 – 2250'''; period of great expansion; numerous interstellar colonies established; recontact with surviving settlements from [[Amerikano era]].

*(...)

* '''2340''' – [[Denizen]] uprising; fall of the Europan cities.

* '''2338''' – [[Bernsdottir]] discovers first [[Shroud]].

* '''2351''' – [[Dan Sylveste]] born in [[Chasm City]], [[Yellowstone]].

* '''2358''' – [[Shiva-Parvati cordon crisis]].

* '''2372''' – [[the Eighty]].

* '''2373''' – [[Philip Lascaille]]’s encounter with the Shroud in the [[Trans Tau Ceti]] sector.

* '''2378''' – Hostage crisis around [[Fand]].

* '''2405''' – Departure of Sylveste expedition to [[Lascaille’s Shroud]].

* '''2415''' – Departure of Galiana and Clavain’s expedition into deep space.

* '''2441''' – Return of Sylveste’s expedition to Lascaille’s Shroud.

* '''2460''' – Dan Sylveste vanishes from Yellowstone for 30 days.

* '''2491''' – departure of [[Resurgam]] expedition.

* '''2510''' – [[Melding Plague]] afflicts Chasm City; effective end of Demarchist era. <ref>[http://www.alastairreynolds.com/rs-universe/revelation-space-universe-timeline/ Revelation Space universe timeline at the official website of A. Reynolds]</ref>

== Notable figures of the period ==
*[[Voi family]] - descendants of Demarchist co-founder and early leader [[Sandra Voi]], specifically those who settled on Yellowstone 
*[[Lorean Sylveste]] - the father and grandfather of later famed scientists, [[Calvin Sylveste]] and [[Dan Sylveste]], respectively
*[[Jane Aumonier]] - Supreme Prefect of the [[Panoply]], during a certain timespan around the middle of the Belle Epoque (ca 2427 and earlier)
*[[Tom Dreyfus]] - a notable prefect, serving for many years under Supreme Prefect Aumonier
*[[Roland Childe]] - interactive maze and puzzle designer, amateur archaeologist and collector
*[[Dr. Trintignant]] - infamous for research into the cyberniticisation of the human body

== Stories set in this era ==

*''[[:Category:A Prefect Dreyfus Emergency|A Prefect Dreyfus Emergency]]'' novel series - main setting
**''[[Aurora Rising]]'' (2007)
**''[[Open and Shut]]'' (2018) - short story
**''[[Elysium Fire]]'' (2018)
*''[[Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days]]'' novella anthology
** ''[[Diamond Dogs]]'' - pre-Plague Chasm City features in the early chapters

In turn, the novels of the [[:Category:Inhibitor trilogy|Inhibitor trilogy]], the standalone novel ''[[Chasm City (novel)|Chasm City]]'' and many of the later-set short stories cover the post-''Belle Epoque'', post-Plague era of Yellowstone and Chasm City.

== Historical allusion ==

The ''Belle Epoque'' is an apparent Demarchist revival of an existing term from Earth history, ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_%C3%89poque (La) Belle Époque]''. This moniker is frequently used to describe the period in the history of France, between 1871 (the end of the Franco-Prussian War) and 1914 (the outbreak of the First World War), when the French Third Republic experienced an almost unprecedented period of peace, economic prosperity and expansion, and a flourishing of the arts and public life. The mostly Francophone-descended Demarchist leadership intended the revived use of the term as a generally flattering comparison of [[Yellowstone]]'s period of prosperity to a period of prosperity from older Earth history.

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==
*[[Canasian]] - A language of the Revelation Space universe, typical for the upper classes of the Yellowstone Demarchy. It traces its roots primarily to Quebecois French and Cantonese. The name seems to be a play on the terms "Canadian" and "Asian".
*[[Timeline]] - General official overview of the future history of the Revelation Space universe, provided by [[Alastair Reynolds]] on his official website.
[[Category:Future history]]