1. Chapter Fifteen Years of Crisis 1919-1939
Section One
Postwar Uncertainty

2. Impact of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
Albert Einstein- A German-born physicist who offered startling new ideas on space, time, energy, and matter.
Theory of Relativity- Albert Einstein’s ideas about the interrelationships between time and space and between energy and matter.
Einstein’s new ideas changed how people viewed the world.

3. Influence of Freudian Psychology
Sigmund Freud- Austrian physician who treated patients with psychological problems.
He developed a theory that human behavior is irrational and influenced by the unconscious mind.
His ideas weakened faith in reason and by the 1920’s had developed widespread influence.

4. Literature in the 1920’s
The brutality of World War I had caused people to question ideas about reason and progress.
Authors such as T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats wrote books and poems about lost spiritual values and a dark, dismal future.

5. Writers Reflect Society’s Concerns
Horror novels and stories of people caught in threatening situations struck a chord with readers in the uneasy postwar years.
Many novelists incorporated Freud’s ideas of the unconscious.

6. Thinkers React to Uncertainties
Existentialism- A philosophy based on the idea that people give meaning to their lives through their choices and actions.
Existentialists believe that there is no universal meaning to life.
Friedrich Nietzsche- A philosopher who in the 1880’s wrote that Western ideas such as reason, democracy, and progress had stifled people’s creativity and actions.
His ideas influenced politics in Italy and Germany in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

7. Artists Rebel Against Tradition
Artists rebelled against realistic styles of painting.
They wanted to depict emotion and imagination in their art.
Expressionists used bold colors and distorted exaggerated forms.
Surrealism- An art movement that sought to link the world of dreams with real life.
This movement was inspired by the writings of Freud.

8. Composers Try New Styles
In both classical and popular music, composers moved away from traditional styles.
Jazz- 20th century style of popular music developed mainly by African-American musicians.
Jazz swept the United States and Europe with its lively, loose beat.

9. Society Challenges Convention: Women’s Roles Change
World War I had disrupted traditional social patterns.
Major changes were evident especially in the lives of women.
The war had allowed women to take on new roles.
Their work in the war effort had helped them win the right to vote.
Women’s suffrage became law in many nations following WWI. Including the United States in 1922.
Women change the way they dressed, wearing shorter hair styles, makeup, and shorter garments.
Women began to drive cars as well as smoke and drink in public.
Most still followed traditional paths of marriage and family, but some sought new careers in medicine, education, and journalism.

10. Technological Advances Improve Life: The Automobile Alters Life
Automobiles improved in a variety of ways following WWI.
Cars had electric starters, air-filled tires, more powerful engines, headlights, and chrome bumpers.
Auto production in Britain soared from 34,000 made in 1913 to 511,000 made in 1937.
Average families could now afford cars and this led to lifestyle changes.
New businesses opened to serve the mobile tourist.
People moved to suburbs and commuted to jobs in the cities.

11. Airplanes Transform Travel
In 1919 two British pilots made the first successful flight across the Atlantic.
In 1927, an American pilot named Charles Lindbergh made a 33 hour solo flight from New York to Paris.
In 1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
Most major airlines were established in the 1920’s.
At this point in history only the rich could afford to travel by air.

12. Radio and Movies Dominate Popular Entertainment
Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio in 1895.
In 1920, the world’s first commercial radio station began broadcasting in Pittsburgh.
Soon every major city had a radio station and most families owned a radio.
News, plays, and sporting events were broadcast by radio.
Motion pictures were also a major industry in the 1920’s.
Movies were produced in Japan, Cuba and Europe.
The center of the motion picture industry was in Hollywood California where 90% of all films were made.
English born Charlie Chaplin became a comedic hit in the 1920’s.
In the late 1920’s sound was added and transformed movies even more.