1. The Lost Generation
Expressed anxiety about the future and criticized the brutality of WWI and the shallowness of consumerism
Examples include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.
Many Lost Generation writers spent a great deal of time out of the US

2. Philosophy and Science
Nietzsche - Led the existentialism moment which held that there was no universal meaning to life
Freud - Stated that humans driven by their own desires
Einstein - Scientist who was known for his theory of relativity

3. 1920s Art, Music, Movies
Surrealism, a new art movement that showed the inner world of emotion and imagination, reflected postwar uncertainty
Jazz music became popular
Radios and phonographs connected people through shared entertainment
Silent films were popular in the 1920s. Charlie Chaplin was a major star.
Talkies replaced silent films in the late 1920s when synchronized sound was introduced.

4. Cultural Trends
After their involvement in WWI, more women were granted suffrage
Though most women weren’t flappers, women’s fashion and lifestyles became less restrictive
Increasing accessibility of automobiles connected people and made it easier to travel
Labor-saving devices transformed housework and increased consumerism

5. Germany’s Challenges
Weimar Republic was blamed for Germany’s defeat in WWI
Germany’s economy suffered due to war reparations set by the Treaty of Versailles
Inflation became a major problem
Dawes Plan was created to help Germany pay back her war debts

6. Long-Term Causes of the Worldwide Depression
Economies were connected as Europe relied on US loans and investments — bad news if anything happens to the US economy!
Many countries had war debts
People bought what they couldn’t afford — consumers bought goods on credit, and investors bought stocks on margin, making it easy to get into debt
Wealth was unequally distributed among classes of people

7. Short-Term Cause: Stock Market Crash
After a series of minor crashes, the US stock market had a severe crash on Black Tuesday — October 29, 1929
People lost fortunes within minutes, banks shut down due to running out of cash when panicked consumers rushed to pull out their savings, and businesses and factories closed
Global Depression began when the US reduced loans and foreign trade

8. Immediate Impact
Banks closed, businesses went bankrupt, and there was high unemployment
Some people lost faith in capitalism and democracy and turned to communism
Some nations turned to authoritarian leaders

9. Solutions World gov’ts created jobs and welfare programs
In the US, Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the New Deal, a series of programs for public works, welfare, and regulations of the banking system and stock market
Many historians say that US involvement in WWII helped pull the US officially out of the Depression

10. Lasting Impact
Helped lead to the rise of Hitler, Mussolini, and other totalitarian dictators
The Great Depression is often cited as one of the causes of World War II