Economics, Modernism, Technology, Disillusionment

Economics  Inflation  Unemployment  Failure of National Economies  Decline of Capitalism/Rise of Communism  Overproduction

Economics “in the years between WWI and WWII Germany’s economy experienced hyperinflation (extreme devaluation of money) that caused panic and uncertainty towards the future. Money had lost so much value that it was used as kindling and...was litter on the street.”

Economics  GERMANY:  Why might Germany’s economy be in shambles following World War I?  Discuss with your neighbor

Economics  Hyperinflation  Super-intense inflation  Inflation  Prices increase, while the value of money decreases  Reparations ruined Germany’s economy.  France and Britain relied on Germany’s payments to back U.S. loans

Economics  Britain slow to recover  Out of date factories  Deeply in debt  France recovered relatively fast  Thanks to reparations and gaining territories  In Europe unemployment seemed to remain an issue

Modernism  Jazz  Changing Social Classes  Loosening of Victorian Ideals  Speakeasies  Changing Role of Women  Flappers  Suffrage

Modernism—Django Reihardt

Modernism  Django Reihardt  Often regarded as one of the greatest guitarists  Important to European jazz  Developed new style of jazz  Hot jazz  Today often referred to as, “Gypsy Jazz”

Modernism  Why did these changes happen in the United States following World War I?  Discuss!

Modernism  United States emerged as the leading economic power  United States loans to European countries helped recovery  Middle-class Americans celebrated  Americans go on spending spree  Relatively easy access to credit  Women right to vote

Technology  Popular Media  Radio, Movies, and the Automobile  Radioactivity and the Theory of Relativity  Popular Technology  Electricity, Toaster, and Telephone  Psychoanalysis  Impact of WWI Advancements

“Back in , the family who cued up a record for the first time heard performers they could not see and music they could not normally bring into their homes. They could listen to that music over and over again. And they were the ones to decide what they wanted to hear, when they wanted to hear it, and who they wanted to hear it with.” -Mark Katz, Capturing Sound

Disillusionment  Disillusionment-a feeling of disappointment when things aren’t as good as they should be  WWI deaths and injuries  Shell shock  Lost generation  Surrealism  DaDa—art movement born from the horrors of WWI, from Europe  Rise of The State vs. the Individual  Loyalty to the state (Mussolini in Italy)

Disillusionment  “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp  What is this? Is this art?  Why is this not in the Modernism category?

Disillusionment  “Duchamp has been compared to Leonardo da Vinci, as a profound philosopher-artist. But there is also a comparison to be made with Buster Keaton, another handsome deadpan clown whom Duchamp somewhat resembled. He valued humor, telling a New York newspaper that, “People took modern art very seriously when it first reached America because they believed we took ourselves very seriously. A great deal of modern art is meant to be amusing.”  -Martin Gayford, The Telegraph (U.K.), 2008

Musicians by Pablo Picasso

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?