Postwar Social Changes and Trouble for Democracy

Postwar Social Changes:  WWI shattered the optimism in the West; in reaction, its society and culture experienced many changes  Changes include: New technology Women’s freedom Jazz New literature New scientific theories Modern art

Postwar Social Changes:  New Technology Automobile Radio Consumer Appliances ○ Dishwasher ○ Toasters.  Women’s Freedom Labor-saving devices lightened the burden of household work ○ This freed women to pursue work outside the home The Flapper ○ Symbol of the liberated woman ○ Represents the rejection of old ways in favor of new, exciting freedom

Postwar Social Changes:  Jazz Western harmonies combined with African rhythms 1920s = The Jazz Age  New Literature Works that reflected disgust with war Stream of consciousness writing Harlem Renaissance ○ African American cultural awakening in Harlem, NY

Postwar Social Changes:  New Scientific Theories Einstein’s Theory of Relativity ○ Space and Time absolute They are determined by the relative position of the observer Discovery of Penicillin ○ Alexander Fleming accidently discovers it ○ Later, other scientists use Fleming’s work to develop antibiotics

Postwar Social Changes:  Modern Art Western artists began to reject traditional styles and explore color, line and shape Cubism Three-dimensional objects painted as complex patterns of angles and planes Looks very fragmented Abstract Composed only of lines, colors, shapes, sometimes with no recognizable subject matter at all Dada Rejects all traditional conventions Some paintings and sculptures were intended to shock or disturb viewers Some of the art was made from thrown away items Surrealism Attempts to portray the workings of the unconscious mind Favors irrational ideas

Postwar Social Changes: CubismAbstractDadaSurrealism

Trouble for Democracy:  Problems: Postwar politics Postwar foreign policy Postwar economics Great Depression

Trouble for Democracy:  Postwar Politics Britain ○ Political parties fighting for control Ireland ○ Irish war against Britain for independence France ○ Political parties fighting for control US ○ “Red Scare” Suspected foreign born radicals (communists) were expelled from the US Limited immigration

Trouble for Democracy: Arguing Allies ○ France Wanted strict enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles Goal = to keep German economy weak ○ Britain Wanted loose enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles Goal = keep German economy strong Search for Peace ○ Kellogg-Briand Pact Called for a renouncement of war for national policy ○ League of Nations Encouraged cooperation and commitment to stop aggression ○ Neither had enforcing power Postwar Foreign Policy

Trouble for Democracy:  Postwar Economics Britain ○ Deep debt ○ Factories out of date ○ Worker unrest/ strikes France ○ Unstable political scene

Trouble for Democracy:  The Great Depression Cause ○ Falling Demand and Overproduction Demand falls and prices decline after WWI As demand slowed, factories cut back on production ○ Crash and Collapse To slow the risky investments of the 1920s, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates - This made people nervous about borrowing money and investing Fear about the economy caused many people to sell their stocks at once - Financial panic set in stock market crash

Trouble for Democracy:  The Great Depression Effect ○ Investors $ wiped out, bankruptcy, unemployment, etc. ○ Depression spreads The economic problems spread quickly around the world because the US was keeping Europe financially afloat after the war - Without US support, world economies decline - Result = Loss of faith in democracy and a turn to radical solutions