In 1908 Wilbur Wright gave public flying demonstrations near Le Mans, France. European scepticism about the Wrights rapidly collapsed as spectators saw controlled turns, circles, and sustained flight. The demonstrations accelerated aviation development across Europe and made the aeroplane an international sensation.

These demonstrations altered the imaginative climate of Europe just before modernism. Writers, painters, and journalists gained a new emblem of speed, perspective, and technical confidence, helping prepare the cultural ground for Futurism and other avant-garde movements.