At the same time these acquitted years were characterized by increasing disintegration, instability, rebellions and a financial crisis with bailout programs. This era before the Great War starting in 1914 was characterized by euphoric ‘futurism’ based on groundbreaking innovations like ‘long distance messaging’, ‘penny post’, ‘animated films’, Ford’s assembly line, ‘Olivetti typewriter’, ‘feature film’, ‘large ships’ and ‘air transportation’ – the ingredients of the short story as I argue. I built the argument by original quotes from Forster and by portraying the years 1906–9, when Forster developed the short story. I argue instead, that the main theme of the short story is – in Forster’s own words – the closing of a civilization in times of transition and facing major challenges.

Also management literature reviewed the short story with regard to centralized decision making, rationality and totalitarianism. EM Forster’s short story “The Machine Stops” from 1909 is widely reread and discussed again for some ten years as it portrays a science-fiction world resting on similar technological advancements as today in the digital era.

The machine stops 1909