'Edwardian era' is a useful shorthand for historians to describe a particular era and set of circumstances, and last years of 'old Europe' before the First World War radically changed these societies.

The unification of Germany was a seismic shift in the European balance of power, but it took some time for Germany to consolidate, then from the early 1890s Bismarck was forced into retirement and a reactionary monarchist element held power. At the same time, it was the high tide of the British Empire with a late resurgence in the power, both cultural and political, of the monarchy and aristocracy. By the early 1900s this power was again conflicting with the wishes of modernists and free marketeers, as it had about 80 years earlier only with more at stake.

So, given the unique set of circumstances applying in Europe at this time, as seemingly-entrenched established power structures were close to being swept away by radical social, political, economic and technological changes, even this short period deserves its own title.