The 1920s were a decade sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or the "Roaring Twenties," usually applied to America. In Europe the decade is sometimes referred to as the Golden Twenties (see 1920s Berlin).
Events and Trends
Since the closing of the 20th Century, the 1920s has drawn close associations with the 1990s,especially in the United States. This is due to the fact both decades were considered very economically prosperous times, and a prosperity which lasted throughout almost the entire decade following a tremendous event at the closing of the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the late 1910s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s). In the United States, this decade was known as the Roaring Twenties.
Despite the comparisons, however, there were a number of differences. First of all, Weimar Republic Germany, like many other European countries, had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade, due to the enormous debt caused by the war as well as the one-sided Treaty of Versailles. Such a crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Mark in 1923, eventually leading to severe economic problems and the rise of the Nazis.
Second, the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political movements, especially in regions that were once part of empires. Communism began attracting large numbers of followers following the success of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' determination to win the subsequent Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks would eventually adopt semi-capitalist policies-- New Economic Policy-- from 1921 to 1928. The 1920s also experienced the rise of the far-right in Europe and elsewhere, starting with Fascism in world as an antidote to Communism.
The Stock Market collapsed during October 1929 (see Black Tuesday) and drew a line under prosperous 1920s.
Technology
Replica U.S. M1928 Thompson with 20-round stick magazine
Science
According to the
Big Bang theory explaining the birth of an expanding universe, the
Universe originated in an extremely dense ball of pure energy. Since then, space itself has expanded with the passage of time, carrying the galaxies with it.
War, peace and politics
Vladimir Lenin in 1920. He was leading figure of the Communist movement until his death in
1924
Economics
"Community Camp", a depression era shantytown in
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. Among the most obvious effects of the Great Depression
Culture, religion
Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol.
- Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in Canada, the USA, and Finland
- Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, the Charleston, and bobbed hair
- "The Jazz Age" — jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular
- F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes some of the most enduring novels characterizing the Jazz Age. This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, and The Great Gatsby, as well as three short story collections, were all published in these years.
- Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in the United States in 1920, in Denmark in 1921, and in England in 1928; and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers
- In the US, gangsters and the rise of organized crime, often associated with bootleg liquor, in defiance of Prohibition.
- Rum rows are established to import bootleg alcoholic beverages into U.S.
- First commercial radio station in the U.S. goes on air in Pittsburgh, in 1920, and radio quickly becomes a popular entertainment medium
- Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals defends alcohol prohibition in U.S.
- Start of motion pictures with sound tracks in 1927
- Beginning of surrealist movement
- Beginning of the Art Deco movement
- Fads such as dance marathons, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular
- The height of the clip joint
- The Harlem Renaissance
- The Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) which questioned evolution, creationism, and the right to teach
- Bishop James Cannon, Jr. becomes a U.S. temperance movement leader.
- The Group of Seven (artists)
- Repeal organizations organized to fight national prohibition in U.S.
- Minister Daisy Douglas Barr heads Women's Ku Klux Klan (WKKK).
People
World leaders
Entertainers
Sports figures
References
