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Published byOliver Pearson Modified over 9 years ago
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The Roaring Twenties
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Armistice Day 1918: Crowds in London's Tralfalgar Square celebrating the end of the first world war
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When the 1920s arrived, there was excitement in the air! ◦Why? Things seemed to be changing very rapidly for the better: ◦WWI was over and Canada was victorious! ◦People were trying to find things that would help them forget the horrors of war.
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How do you forget about the past? ◦If you change the world, it will not remind you of the past. ◦Canadians started listening to new music (jazz). ◦They started wearing shocking new clothes! ◦New inventions were completely changing life at home (electricity, washing machines, dishwashers, cars, movies, telephones…).
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Although many people were enjoying these new luxuries, for many others this new wealth was only an illusion: When soldiers came back in 1919, they found: ◦No special medical services for the wounded. ◦Very few jobs ◦No pensions for veterans ◦Lower wages ◦Higher prices ◦The factory owners who had stayed home were richer than ever! ◦The soldiers who had risked their lives had gained nothing!
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Wounded Soldiers
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Result: Confrontations between workers and employers became inevitable. What did the workers do? They began to form unions. ◦This resulted in strikes across Canada. ◦Many times, the strikes became violent! ◦In March of 1919, workers from western Canada formed the One Big Union (OBU).
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What was the purpose of the OBU? ◦To represent all Canadian workers. ◦Their main weapon was the general strike. How did the government respond? ◦They were afraid that the OBU would give workers too much power. ◦Some feared it would lead to a communist revolution. ◦Result: The OBU was quickly broken up by the government and declared illegal.
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