1) Ernest Hemingway penned the phrase “The Lost Generation” to describe the time after WWI—discuss why the Roaring Twenties held such
promise but can also be considered the Lost Decade in US history.
Modernism
Jazz Age
Roaring 20s
Consumerism
new modes of comm/tran, scientific theories, morality, culture
pseudonym given to the 20s; an age of excess; refers to music, open attitude ; center was in Harlem
title given to the 20s reflecting on its change from WWI austerity
the unleashing of the American buyer; new inventions; compounding of tech with $$$
(automobiles; electricity; chemicals; film; radio; aviation; printing)
Hollywood
center of movie making; first movies very risqué; brought about censorship
NBC/RCA
centers of new radio/movie business
Radio
new age of mass production
Impact of radio
national networks; advertizing; family gatherings; sports; politicians; music; brought events into the home; broke
down regionalism
Nativism
a new wave in the face of greater immigration (800,000 in 1920-21 from S & E Europe)
Sacco & Vanzetti
tried for murder; Italian immigrants; seen as part of anti-anarchist wave of 1920
Anarchists
those who tried to overthrow the govt
Bolshevik Revolution
commie revolution in Russia; seen as a threat to the US
Red Scare
wave of anti-commie hysteria 1919-20; gave excuse to repress unions
Palmer raids
Attorney General led raids on possible commies; jailed or drove out +6000 “commies”— only 556 were true commies;
response were mail bombings; 1919 in the “Soviet Ark” 249 alleged commies were deported
Emergency Immigration Act 1921
restricted European immigration to only 3% of 1910 census total (quota system-abolished in 1965)
Immigration Act 1924
further reduced it to 2% based on 1890 census; Japanese prohibited; Canada & Latin America
exempted—needed them for low paying jobs
“Stoop” Labor
refers to the migrant farm labor
KKK
revitalized in 1920s—branched out in its hatred; peaked at 4m; anti-Catholic, immigrant, black, Jewish, pacifist,
commie, feminist; pro Prot, “native” Am
Wm. Simmons
founder of the new KKK
Horace Kallen
believed the US should be a multi-cultural area where cultures should be valued
Randolph Bourne
stressed US becoming a vanguard of world globalization
Scopes Monkey Trial
sensational trial pitting Christian fundamentalism against modern thinking
Wm. Jennings Bryan
trial lawyer representing anti-evolution; sought to “educate” the public
Clarence Darrow
represented Scopes & ACLU; wanted a show also
Einstein
theory of relativity—space, time, & mass were not absolutes but relative to location and motion of the observer
Planck
quantum physics
Heisenberg
human knowledge had limits
Ruth Benedict
anthropologist who valued the culture of all groups; warned against ethnocentricism
Margaret Mead
(same)
Prohibition/18th Amendment
Volstead Act
Anti-Saloon League
Jubilee Convention 1913
Bootlegging
Rumrunners
Speakeasies
Al Capone
result of movement against immigration, urban problems, etc…; no sale, making, trans.
sought to enforce the 18th Amendment
most effective anti-booze organization
ASL endorsed the idea of prohibition
illegal making, selling, trans of booze
People from Canada or Caribbean who brought alcohol to the uS
illegal bars
Chicago gangster; aka Scarface; 1927 made $60m; brought down by tax evasion charges; sent to prison, served 11
years then released—had syphilis
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre 1929
Capone’s men killed 7 rival gang members; none convicted
Sinclair Lewis
Main Street (1922); portrayed small town life as unbearable; Babbitt (1922) man turns toward
materialism
HL Mencken
attacked the “booboisie” cultural landscape of a hypocritical America
F Scott Fitzgerald
dubbed the period the Jazz Age; This Side of Paradise (1920); “petting parties”; The Great Gatsby
(1925) on the illusions of the self-made man who destroys himself
Freud
European psychologist with “modern” ideas on human behavior; sexual repression at the root of society’s problems
Flapper
The Jazz Singer
Greenwich Village
Picasso
TS Eliot
Gertrude Stein
James Joyce
Ernest Hemingway
Southern Renaissance
pseudonym given to loose girls; new feminism; take on the way boots flapped
first talking movie
NY city area—cultural hub
modernist painter
The Waste Land; poem expressing post-war disillusionment; burned out society
Am. Writer, poet, & art collector in Paris
Ulysses; Father of Modernist literature
Farewell to Arms (1929); the “lost generation”
pseudonym referring to the beginning of Southern literature
Thomas Wolfe
Wm Faulkner
Babe Ruth
Jack Dempsey
Charles Lindbergh
Amelia Earhart
Henry Ford
Lincoln Highway
Impact of automobile
Look Homeward; SR writer
The Sound & the Fury; SR writer
baseball player; set home run record 714; primarily played with Yankees
1919-26 world heavyweight champion; first boxer to get 1 m
flew across Atlantic in 33 hours; $25,000 prize; later a Nazi sympathizer
tried to fly around the world
perfected automobile manufacturing; Model T; by 1929 one auto for every 5 Americans
started around 1910; linked the continent; over 3000 miles
employment; supporting industries; RR decline; change diets; paved roads; tourism; women less
dependent; leisure hours; less isolation; rise of suburbs
1920 Election
returned to laissez faire Republicanism of the Gilded Age
Isolationism
US turned inward
Five Power Naval Treaty
limited the number of ships (U.S., Britain, Japan, France, and Italy)
Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928
signed by 62 nations; outlawed war—provided a false sense of security
Merchant Marine Act of 1920
allowed US merchant ships used in WWI to be sold or decommissioned
Warren Harding
opposed LoN; wanted low taxes, high tariffs, immigration restrictions, & aid to
farmers; tended to be more Progressive
Normalcy
Charles Evan Hughes
Andrew Mellon
Herbert Hoover
Wm Taft
Ohio Gang
name given to Harding’s tenure as president—return to conservative values
Sec of State
Sec of Treasurer; 3rd richest man in US behind Rockefeller & Ford
Sec of Ag
appointed Chief Justice
Harding’s group of Ohioan cronies; brought scandal
Bureau of the Budget
General Accounting Office
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
Teapot Dome Scandal
1921; assist the president in preparing a budget to prevent excessive spending
created to audit govt spending
increased the tariff; overtime resulted in other nations doing the same
naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming and Elk Hill, California; Sec of Interior found guilty of bribery &
sentenced to one year in jail (first cabinet member ever sent to jail)
Calvin Coolidge
Election of 1924
Federal Communications Commission
Kelly Act of 1925
Air Commerce Act of 1926
Veteran’s Bureau
American Legion
Agriculture
Federal Farm Board
Yellow Dog Contracts
William Green
Railway Labor Act of 1926
Gastonia Strike of 1929
Election of 1928
tended to be a laissez faire president deferring to Congress; took over after Harding died
Coolidge won with Democrats in disarray
est 1927 to regulate growing communication industry
Federal govt began to subsidize aircraft industry through airmail contracts
federal funds to aviation projects, such as airports
created in 1921 to assist returning soldiers
created in 1919 by Teddy Roosevelt Jr.
weakest sector of the economy; mechanization & efficiency hurt small farmers
1929; created to stabilize process
contracts that forced workers to stay out of unions
leader of United Mine workers; less of a firebrand than Samuel Gompers
established a mediation board to settle railroad worker disputes
prolonged strike in textile mills that turned violent
Hoover vs. Smith—Democrats offered very little different from Rep; Hoover won;
wanted to stabilize agriculture & continue Prohibition
Hawley Smoot Tariff of 1930
Speculation
Bull/Bear Market
Buy on the Margin
Black Thursday
Oct 29, 1929 “Black Tuesday”
Hoovervilles
Reconstruction Finance Corp
Glass-Steagall Act 1932
Emergency Relief Act 1932
Muscle Shoals Bill
Hoover Dam
Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act
Bonus Marchers
highest tariff in US history
refers to the buying of stock hoping it would go up
stock marker rise and fall
to buy stock paying only a small amount and getting loaned the rest
initial plunge of the market after reaching a peak of 381 points
most devastating single day up to that time; within a few days the market lost almost half its value
temporary slums of poor/unemployed; by 1932 12 million unemployed; GDP dropped almost 50%
offered money to banks, insurance companies, etc…
released $750 m in gold & offered more money
gave money to the states for relief
public works project in TN area for electricity
1930-36; hydroelectric dam
outlawed anti-union contracts (1932)
farmers & veterans who marched on Washington to get payment of veteran’s money; 20,000 converged;
troops brought in to disperse
2) The US emerged from the 1930s drastically changed from what it was in 1930—discuss the challenges the US faced, the attempts to meet
those challenges, & how FDR helped to define the overall character of the decade.
FDR
Pres. during Depression; elected in 1933; favored providing jobs over giving money; fireside chats
+30; “Brain Trust”; 3 R’s incl Relief, Recovery, & Reform
Fascism
ultra-nationalism; was rising in Germany, Italy, & Japan
Communism
had solidified under Stalin in Russia
New Deal
name given to FDR’s approach to the Depression (Progressivism on steroids)
Norman Thomas
socialist candidate
20th Amendment
pres would take office earlier (Jan 20th rather than March 4th)
Economy Act
granted the pres ability to slash pay & reorganize agencies to reduce spending
Beer Wine Revenue Act
permitted sale of beverages with 3.2% alcohol or less
21st Amendment
overturned prohibition in 1933
100 Days
March 9th – 16th June; Alphabet agencies; Congress mainly Democrats
Civil Works Admin
put people on govt payroll for 4 months (over 4 m)
CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps; planted over 200 m trees
Gold
abandoned the gold standard in 1933
Federal Emergency Relief Act
headed by Henry Hopkins; expanded aid to unemployed
Agri. Adjustment Act
gave pres power to expand money supply; sought to pay farmers to reduce supply
Henry Wallace
Sec of Ag
John Steinbeck
Grapes of Wrath; told the story of displaced farmers (okies) heading west
Dust Bowl/black blizzards
Dry farming techniques
Soil Conservation Act
provided payments for conserving soil
Emergency Farm Mortgage Act
provided for refinancing farm loans
TVA Act
provided Federal funds for hydroelectricity in TN (2 in KY); inexpensive electricity
Banking Act
established FDIC
Farm Credit Act
reorganized Federal farm subsidies
Works Progress Admin
also headed by Hopkins; replaced FERA; provided public works projects
Federal Writer’s Project
under the WPA; provided jobs to writers
Nat. Youth Admin
provided part-time employment to the youth
Public Works Admin
$3.3 billion for buildings, infrastructure
National Recovery Admin
sought to set industrial wages & prices; provide jobs, workplace standards
Mexican Americans
Native Americans
Indian reorganization Act ended the Dawes Act by restoring land to Natives
African Americans
Scottsboro Case
9 AA youths convicted of raping 2 white women (1931)
Norris v Alabama
S Ct ruled not allowing AA on juries denied due process
Richard Wright
Native Son (1940); told the story of a black man moved to actions beyond his control
2nd New Deal
Wagner Act
helped workers form unions & investigated actions of anti-unionism
John Lewis
head of the United Mines Workers; rebuilt the union
Walter Reuther
led auto workers on strike
Social Security Act of 1935 pension to those over 65
Revenue Act
raised tax rates on annual income over $50,000; was attacked by wealthy
John Maynard Keynes
economist whose ideas included priming the pump with govt spending (deficit spending)
Eleanor
took an activist approach to helping AA, women; distant relationship to FDR
Frances Perkins
first woman cabinet member; Sec of Labor
Pearl Buck
female novelist; The Good Earth (1931)
American Liberty League
opposed ND based on ind & property rights
Huey Long
the Kingfish; gov of LA; Share the Wealth program—confiscate wealth & redistribute assassinated in 1935
Francis Townsend
wanted govt pensions for the elderly
Father Coughlin
called for the coinage of silver & made anti-Semitic attacks on bankers
Election of 1936
FDR vs. Landon
Court Packing Plan
FDR saw a threat to his plans by the S Ct; sought to increase justices by 6 plan backfired in the short term; in the
long term FDR replaced justices & the courts became more friendly to the ND
Late 1930s
by 1936 unemployment down 10% to 15%; increased the debt—resulted in recession
Pros:
Roosevelt did something
pushed the idea that govt was tied to the welfare of the people
total economic collapse was avoided
resulted in a more equitable distribution of wealth
preserved democracy
citizens had the ability the regain self-confidence & self-respect
Cons:
Resulted in waste & employed those not suited for particular jobs
Did things without studying options first
Created a bureaucracy
Raised the federal debt
Increased the power of the federal govt over state govts
Increased reliance of Am on welfare
Too much govt interference in business
Did not cure the Depression
3) The US emerged from WWI in no mood to be part of the world order—
and the reluctant entrance into WWII.
discuss the efforts to maintain isolation, how those efforts failed,
From isolationism to involvement
post-WWI isolationism w/ US not in LoN
Debt repayment controversy
two POV on debt (Europe vs US); tangled web of money
transferring b/t European countries & the US; issue
Johnson Debt Default Act (1934)
no private loans to a country who had defaulted
Disarmament
Increasing tensions w/ Japan
Five Power Treaty (1922)
limited naval size (2 spheres—US, Brit, Japan)
Four Power Treaty
countries would respect other’s territories
Nine Power Treaty
agreement to maintain Open Door to China
treaties provided false hope & not enforceable
1928 K-Briand Pact
treaty that outlawed war
Sen Gerald Nye
conducted hearings from 1934-37 that blamed WWI on
& the arms industry
Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937
limited the ability to aid Allies in the face of war
WWII: The Sequel
Who’s Who:
of tariffs
bankers
Axis Powers—Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Thailand
Allied Powers—Britain, France, US, USSR, Canada, Australia, India
Causes:
Long-Range Causes:
--Failure of the League of Nations
--part of Wilson’s 14 points to peace; US did not join; opens a vacuum
--Failure of inter-war isolationism and pacifism
--Naval size was limited in 1921
--1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact officially outlawed war to solve conflicts
--Impact of world-wide Great Depression
--Rise of ultra-nationalism (Fascism) in Italy, Germany, and Japan
Fascism--generally people who wanted to restore the greatness of a previous time period by means
of a strong authoritarian ruler; ie. ultra-nationalism exalting the nation over the
& suppressing all opposition
Italy: Benito Mussolini--started the fascist movement in Italy in 1922.
--symbol of fascism came from a Roman bundle of sticks (fasci) representing the band of thugs
--causes--WWI which left many former soldiers w//o jobs & a feeling of humiliation—as a result
many banded together to form fighting units demanding action & using intimidation
--“Black Shirts”--against socialists, labor movements, democracies, & Jews.
--labor strikes, peasants seizing land, & worker occupation of factories; fear of commies
--Mussolini appointed Prime Minister & appointed fascist members in the gov’t., crushed all
opposing pol. parties, reduced unemployment, & used propaganda to influence the
--negotiated the Lateran Treaty of 1929--established Vatican City
--joined Hitler in the 1930s as part of the Axis powers & begin a period of expansion
--invaded Ethiopia in 1935 to avenge a humiliating defeat in 1896
Germany: Bismarck—in 1870 united them under the one state of Prussia & then Germany
--causes: internal turmoil from Red Guards (pro-commies)—post-WWI revolutionaries from Russia and Freikorps—paramilitary group wanting to overthrow the gov’t.
--After the war, a wave of new inflation swept across the country wiping out the middle class—money became worthless &
all savings were lost.
individual
tactics.
people
--rise of the National Socialist German Workers Party or Nazi party led by Hitler in 20s
--Fueled by the
desire to reverse the humiliating Versailles Treaty that was forced on Germany at the end of WWI w/ its
harsh reparations, Hitler wanted Germany to regain its military glory & started a wave of new expansionism
(militarism)
--Beer Hall Putsch: 1923 revolt led by Hitler; imprisoned for nine months
--Reichstag fire—Hitler became leader/chancellor in 1933 w/ the Enabling Act
--Hitler promised to guide the state & incorporate all German speaking people
--appealed to mid/upper class businessmen who feared communism & socialism.
--Hitler had withdrawn from the League of Nations in 1933
--suspended reparation payments
--introduced conscription
--created an air force (the Luftwaffe) in 1935 led by Hermann Goring
--tactics: fear & propaganda
--Josef Goebbels—chief propagandist
--Gestapo—secret police; created in 1936 to frighten & kill
--Night of the Long Knives--1934 purge of the ranks of Hitler’s pol. enemies.
--Article 48--Hitler suspended all civil liberties; arrested thousands; Nazi Party became
the only legal party & purged the gov’t. & military.
--Heinrich Himmler--leader of the SS; arrested thousands & spread a reign of terror
--Nuremberg Rallies--ultra-nationalistic pro-Hitler “feasts” or rallies
--Women were urged to return to the home & produce strong children (given medals)
--Economic--Hitler also began a massive economic program that restored employment.
--attacked modern art & promoted sports in the name of nationalism.
--use Jews as a scapegoat:
--Nuremberg Laws--excluded Jews from civil service in 1933, deprived them of
citizenship & civil rights, prohibited intermarriage, made them
wear special emblems, encouraged the boycott of Jewish
businesses, & increasing sent them to
concentration camps.
--Kristallnacht (1938)--Jewish businesses & synagogues vandalized & massive
round-ups of Jews began.
Short Range Causes:
--Spanish Civil War (1936)--king was deposed in 1931 & a weak gov’t. coalition broke down in ‘36
--General Francisco Franco—conservative leader; established a right-wing dictatorship until ’75
--both Germany & Italy sent men to fight for Franco & the USSR sent men to help the leftists.
--US declared its neutrality; many volunteers fought against Franco (Abraham Lincoln Brigade)
--In all 600,000 people died & in the end Franco.
--Gradual takeover of areas:
--Rhineland--between Germany & Fr.; Hitler sent troops in 1936; protested but did nothing
--Austria (1938); demanded annexation; part of unification of German speaking peoples.
--Sudentenland: in Czechoslovakia; a German minority was located; was annexed
--Munich Conference—(1938) called to solve European crisis; Br. PM Neville Chamberlain-- gave
Hitler what he wanted (the Sudentenland); “Appeasement”—policy of giving in to the
bully
hoping it satisfies him
--Europe feared another war, the rise of communism, & lacked preparedness for war-gave in to Hitler
--Czechoslovakia—invaded in 1939
--Poland—invaded in 1939 using his blitzkrieg tactics (airpower/tanks first then infantry)
--Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact—to prevent a 2 front war & to split Poland w/ the Soviet Union
--Br & Fr. declared war on Germany
--the Soviet Union invaded Finland, eastern Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, & Latvia.
Phony War (Oct 1939-Apr 1940)
period b/t fall of Poland & Germany’s next move;
general disbelief in what was happening
Fall of Finland
USSR invaded
Invasion of Denmark and Norway (Apr 1940)
Denmark falls in one day to Germany
Invasion of Netherlands and Belgium (May 1940)
both fall in about 5 days
Invasion of France (May 19, 1940)
invade; victorious; establish Vichy France proGerman govt; led US to increase defense
spending to a level more than all of
WWI
Blitzkrieg tactics
Battle of Britain, 1940
air attacks Britain to prepare for land attack
Election of 1940
FDR wins a third term; why?
Lend-Lease Act of 1941
provision of supplies/arms to the Allies; led US Navy
to protect convoys against wolf packs
Arsenal of Democracy
name given to FDRs method of aiding the Allies
Operation Barbarossa
largest land invasion in history (Germ into USSR)
Atlantic Charter
US & UK agreement call for self-determination,
equal access to raw materials, economic
cooperation, freedom of the seas, & a
new system of international security
Amau Doctrine
Japan's equivalent to the US Monroe Doctrine
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
area Japan wanted to control for resources
Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 1941)
1940 embargo; 1941 froze assets in US; attack KIA
2400 w/ 1200 MIA, 300 planes, 21 ships
damaged w/ 8 battleships sunk; no
aircraft carriers destroyed
Declaration of war on 8 December
Japan: by 1938 Japan was spending 70% of its budget on the military, Germany 52%, & Russia at 33%.
Causes: --effects of the worldwide depression when China & the US placed tariffs on
Japanese imports & threatened access to raw materials; market for silk &
rice collapsed, ruined farmers
--ultra-nationalists & the zaibatzus resented dependency on foreigners & opposed
westernization
--promoted Shintoism & pushed for an authoritarian regime
--wanted Japan to expand & gain access to raw materials & pushed for an imperial
foreign policy
--Amau Doctrine—told world to stay out of its area (similar to the Monroe Doctrine)
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere—area
that Japan would dominate for raw
materials
--1936 Anti-Comintern Pact united Japan, Germany, & Italy
--Expansion:
--Korea & Taiwan—annexed prior to 1914
--Manchurian Incident--1931 a railroad explosion in Japanese controlled
Manchuria was blamed on the Chinese & this became the excuse
to move into China;
Manchukuo—new name for Manchuria;
installed a “puppet” leader (the former emperor Puyi); invaded in
1937
--Unit 731—operated in Manchuria; carried out medical
& biological
experiments on humans;
estimated that tens of thousands died.
--Panay Incident, 1937: Japan sunk US ship in China; apologized & paid reparations