Cost of reconstruction & war debts Cost of War France to Russia, homes, factories, roads, churches, etc. Shelled into ruble Reconstruction 38 million casualties, flu Cost of reconstruction & war debts

Return to Normalcy Postwar 1918, bitter sweet victory 1920, US elected Warren Harding Return to Normalcy

Postwar Women & African Americans confront new realities End of war ended new opportunities Competitive work market Violence in N. cities Race riots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAeVozZwAco

WWI shifted economic power of world from London to New York Economy Inflation People rushed to buy goods after the war, scarce Farmers hurting But US grew as world power Economic giant, despite domestic problems Riches most industrialized country in the world Creditor nation WWI shifted economic power of world from London to New York

Impact of the Automobile Mass production, assembly line More goods produced in less time Henry Ford didn’t invent m.p. but brought it to new heights

Government in the 1920s Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Rejected Wilson’s idealist … America did too, won a landslide Tariff war Reduced taxes and gov’t regulation Died from heart attacked Calvin Coolidge Eliminated corruption “the business of America is business” Period of activism followed by laissez-faire approach would repeat in the 1950s & 1980s

America’s Place in a New World

America’s Place in the World Old world order toppled 1921-1922, Washington Naval Disarmament conference Designed to avoid another arms race 1928, Kellogg-Brand Pact Treaty to outlaw war as an instrument of national policy …unenforceable $$$ US insisted Britain & France pay them back They get their money from… Dawes Plan US loaned $ to Germany