e greatest f its time. itS f> NO orcu, ore ' year to the ;uage and ds gain new pplement to s published in IT more sup- volumes were ;tween 1972 rte Second fas published, jnal edition ipplementary I thousand >90s, three litions were >rk is being .tion of the > be published

L-volume ref- ng 21,730 out $1,500 US suitable for •e is a_minis- of om- mt uous The Roaring Twenties editions of dictionary, Marc Skulnick looks at a vibrant decade of peace, prosperity and social change tations, con- withnew AFTER THE DARK times of the previous decade, the The Roaring Twenties was the decade of the US's led all the 1920s offered a welcome respite, a time to kick back failed attempt at Prohibition, of speakeasies and boot- ms of John- and enjoy the prosperity and promise that was evi- leggers — when it was illegal to drink but only if you Iso still avail- dent in nearly every facet of society. got caught. Organized crime, borne out of the wide- Technological innovation and advancement meant spread lawlessness of Prohibition, saw the age of the and specialist that more "life-improving" products than ever before gangster — of Al Capone and Bugs Moran — thrust .ous publish- were available. The economy was booming, the stan- itself into the mainstream of a nervous American public. nted as every- dard of living was improving, jobs were plentiful and It was the decade that saw the rise of Lenin and writers consumers were looking to buy: from cars and houses Communism in Russia, the rise of fascism and Mus- word. to fridges and radios. Industrialization and mass pro- solini in Italy and the disturbing popularity of the Ku duction made many goods — previously considered a Klux Klan in America, which saw the secret society's luxury — affordable. And if they couldn't afford it, membership hit an all-time high. It was a time of Life of Samuel banks and businesses were more than willing to let treaties, most notably the Washington Naval Treaty, rmondsworth, people buy on credit. Not only were people spending, which attempted to quell an arms race, in this period but the stock market had them investing as well, so of uneasy peace, by limiting the size of the naval The Meaning much so, that throughout the decade, the Dow Jones armaments. y of the Oxford climbed to record highs. A collapse, some of the more Politically, the suffrage movement scored a long ford: Oxford pessimistic experts warned, was all but inevitable. overdue victory at the beginning of the decade when This vibrancy was evident in the bold jazz music, women were given the right to vote (Canadian women '')• The Professor and fancy night clubs that inspired everything from had been allowed to vote federally since 1918). It soon e of Murder, the controversial fashions of the flappers to the movie became obvious that women weren't afraid to flex '.g of the stars of the silver screen. The entertainment medium their new power, both politically and socially. ary (Oxford: — radio and movies — came to the fore, as did sports Unaware of the hardship and poverty that was to and literature. The '20s were the decade of Valentino follow, the Roaring Twenties, allowed people to forget and Hemingway, of a mouse named Mickey and a about the Great War and look to the future with a rare baseball player called Babe. sense of optimism.

History Magazine October/November 2005 —11 1920 - The US Government's 18th Mickey Mouse Amendment prohibiting the mak- "Mickey Mouse is the symbol of good- Disney took full advantage. He ing, selling, possession and con- will, surpassing all languages and quickly added sound to Mickey sumption of alcoholic beverages cultures. When one sees Mickey Mouse's previously ignored silent goes into effect, ushering in fee Mouse, they see happiness." cartoons and began production on era of Prohibition. — Former US President Jimmy a fourth Mickey Mouse feature, Carter The Barn Dance. Soon audiences Arthur Meighen is sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada, replacing Robert Borden. MICKEY MOUSE, the cheerfully ani- mated rodenirsynonymous with- Republican Warren Harding Disney for over 75 years, made his becomes president of the United silver screen debut on 18 Novem- States of America. ber 1928 in Steamboat Willie. According to popular legend, Fourteen British officers are exe- Walt Disney came up with Mickey cuted by the IRA, sparking a day of violence and murder Mouse as he was returning, via throughout Ireland. train, from a business meeting in New York to his home in Los United States passes the 19th Angeles, California. Disney had Amendment, giving women the just lost the rights to his most right to vote. recent creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and the crestfallen 26-year- : . 1921 "^0:^ Canadians Frederick Banting and old cartoon artist was determined Charles Best discover insulin. to come up with a replacement character to work on back at his The Russian navy mutinies to small studio. protest food shortages and the By the end of the journey, Dis- '*— 11.1 ^ -.. f - - . • -••--."-. ..: -.---•'. ongoing economic crisis. The Bol- ney had come up with a red velvet STEAMBOAT WILUE shevik government crushes the clad mouse he christened Mor- revolt, which leads to Lenin's timer Mouse. However, Disney's Mickey Mouse made his silver screen debut in Steamboat Willie. economic policy reforms. wife, Lillian, hated the name Mor- Oklahoma race riots erupt, as timer and recommended Mickey across the US couldn't get enough many as 300 people are killed instead. The name stuck and it of Mickey and over the next year, and 35 city blocks are destroyed. wasn't long before Disney's 12 more Mickey Mouse cartoons newest creation starred in Plane would be released. Britain's post-war recession wors- Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho. Steamboat Willie also heralded ens, with unemployment at 18 The only problem was,*Al Jolson's the introduction of Minnie Mouse, percent (two million people). The Jazz Singer, the first feature Mickey's eventual girlfriend. An ••.; ; '"'.;.' ',.: 1922 : . '•'. . -: film to have synchronized sound, interesting bit of trivia is that James Joyce's Ulysses is published. has just been released and nobody Mickey — voiced by Disney him- wanted silent cartoons anymore. self until 1946 — did not speak Pope Benedict XV, who reigned Not only could Disney not find a until The Karnival Kid in 1929, as pope of the Roman Catholic studio willing to finance his ani- although purists can note that Church since 1914, dies and is mated shorts, but audiences didn't Mickey Mouse does whistle in replaced by Pope Pius XL seem all that impressed with his Steamboat Willie. Even back then, it The German mark begins to mouse to begin with. Disney and didn't take long for the Disney devalue due to heavy WWI repa- his team of animators went back merchandising juggernaut to ration demands, ushering in a to the drawing board. swing into action and the first period of hyperinflation. In late November 1928, Disney Mickey Mouse merchandise — a — who had invested everything children's school book — hit the The Washington Treaty is signed he had into a mischievous dancing shelves by the end of the decade. by the US, Britain, Japan, France mouse — screened Steamboat The first Mickey Mouse Club start- and Italy. The agreement limits Willie, complete with sound, for a ed around that time also. the size of the naval armaments group of film exhibitors. Three Mickey Mouse would go on to of the nations involved. weeks later, Mickey Mouse was become the world's most famous Andrew Bonar Law becomes running at the Colony Theater and cartoon character, starring in more Prime Minister of Britain. taking New York cinema-goers by than 120 animated features and storm. Although sound was still a helping to spawn a multi-billion Vladimir Ilych Lenin proclaims relatively new development in fea- dollar animation and theme park the formation of the Union of ture films, most theaters in the US empire. Talk about the mouse that Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR): had installed sound systems and roared! 12 — History Magazine October/November 2005 Prohibition Ivantage. He WHEN THE 18th Amendment to the ed offenses. In Chicago alone, the hard-earned wages on alcohol. nd t~ Mickey US Constitution went into effect first six months of Prohibition saw Even the seemingly lawful use of y i id silent on 16 January 1920, it became ille- over 600 liquor violation charges. alcohol for medicinal purposes n p Auction on gal to manufacture, sell or trans- In short, the legal system was col- was being abused; in 1928 alone, it .ouse feature, port alcohol of any kind, any- lapsing under the weight of the is suspected that doctors pre- on audiences where in the United States of apparent lawlessness and blatant scribed over one million gallons America. America was officially disregard for Prohibition. Orga- and earned as much as $40 million dry and the era of National Prohi- nized crime was rampant in New US by illegally prescribing medici- bition-would soon usher in a York and Chicage-and in-the-first - nal-alcohol'to thirsty patients. For - vibrant but deadly subculture of three years, more than 30 prohibi- a law that was aimed at reducing organized crime, speakeasies crime and other illegal behav- and bootleggers. ior, it was proving to do any- However, the seeds of thing but. prohibition were sown In the late 1920s, an decades earlier during the increasing number of Ameri- aggressive temperance (anti- cans, politicians included, drinking) movements of the began to find the idea of mid 19th century. In an effort repealing Prohibition attrac- to reduce the widespread tive. Not only was it expen- public drunkenness that was sive to enforce, but the federal becoming problematic, a num- and state governments no ber of states had passed tem- longer had the tax from the perance laws. Temperance sale of alcohol. This meant as groups, promoting strict absti- much as half a billion dollars 1nence from booze, blamed annually was no longer avail- alcohol for the widespread An FBI agent inspects a cache of illegal booze seized able. More importantly, anti- degradation of society, for the in a raid during Prohibition. Prohibition groups, such as poverty and crime that seemed to tion enforcement officers were the Association Against the Prohi- ade his silver settle around the saloons and tav- murdered. Gangsters simply bition Amendment (AAPA) — •amb^t Willie. erns. One of the most powerful bribed government officials, who which happened to be made up of n' enough and influential temperance groups conveniently ignored any illegal the nation's wealthy and elite — the next year, was the Woman's Christian Tem- activity. Of course, not all officials started to spring up and pressure >use cartoons perance Union (WCTU), which were corrupt and people like Elliot their friends in high places about was founded in 1874. It was Ness, Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith the inconvenience of not being also heralded groups such as the WCTU and the became popular for their dogged able to drink. Of course, every- Minnie Mouse, Anti-Saloon League, led by the determination to uphold the law, body was drinking; they were prlfriend. An likes of Frances Elizabeth Willard however futile it seemed. simply doing it illegally and via is that and Carry Nation and working Since Prohibition in Canada behind closed doors. Prohibition f Disney him- with the small but powerful Prohi- was left up to the individual tried to eliminate the supply with- i not speak bition Party, that successfully lob- provinces, rum runners did brisk out reducing the demand and by :d in 1929, bied the US government for a business smuggling legally pro- the end of the decade, it became i note that National Prohibition law. duced booze into the US. This led obvious it wasn't working. Crime whistle in The 18th Amendment was to violence and crime at many of rates were nearly double that of ;n back then, it passed in conjunction with the the US-Canada border crossings. pre-Prohibition. the Disney Volstead Act, an act which legally In 1921 — the first full year of In 1932, Presidential candidate ernaut to defined an alcoholic beverage and Prohibition — there were 34,175 Franklin D. Roosevelt wisely . id the first gave authorities the power to individual arrests and over 30,000 advocated a repeal of the coun- handise — a investigate and prosecute those illegal distilleries and stills were try's costly Prohibition laws. The ok — hit the who proved to be in violation of seized. By 1928, over 75,000 arrests country was in the throes of the if the decade, the anti-liquor laws. were being made and more than Depression and not only did Pro- use Club start- Prohibition, despite the best 280,000 illegal stills had been shut hibition deprive people the oppor- also. efforts of the police, proved down. Authorities estimated there tunity to (legally) drown their sor- vould go on to impossible to enforce. Bootleggers were between 200,000 and half a rows in a drink, but it also most famous (makers and distributors of illegal million speakeasies operating ille- deprived people of desperately airing in more booze) and speakeasies (an estab- gally across the country. The needed jobs. Prohibition was matures and lishment that sold illegal alcoholic saloons and taverns had closed repealed in 1933 with the adoption nulti-billion beverages) openly defied the (just like the Anti-Saloon League of the 21st Amendment and one of 1 th park country's anti-alcohol laws and had wanted), but were now the most disastrous eras of law ie .ise that courtrooms across the US were replaced by the speakeasy and enforcement in US history came to snowed under with alcohol-relat- people were still spending their an end. History Magazine October/November 2005 —13 (1922 continued) The Jazz Age Benito Mussolini becomes Prime Minister of Italy. ; IF THE WAR years were about cut- monized, became hugely popular. ting back, the 1920s were about Not only did the music anger the 1923 cutting loose; they didn't call it the establishment, it led to controver- Hyperinflation is rampant in Ger- Roaring Twenties for nothing. Also sial dance moves like the many. In an effort to rescue the known as the Jazz Age, the 1920s Charleston and the One Step, economy, the Reichsbank intro- signified a time of prosperity, tech- which took the younger generatioj duces a new German mark, called nological innovation and social by storm and further threatened ; the rentenmark, which is worth a change; it was a time to be young, the morals of society. trillion existing marks. a decadeoLunbridled optimism America's, vibrant music and i King Tut's tomb, discovered the The most noticeable change in nightclub scene influenced the stylja, previous year by George Carnar- North America after the Great War and fashion that reflected a von and Howard Carter, is opened. was the widespread woman's increasing prosperity; there power in society. ; Ku Klux Klan claims membership was an improved Women not only of one million people across standard of living America and targets anyone who had the vote, but : is not white and Protestant. and after scrimping they could drink, and saving through smoke, dance and UK Prime Minister Andrew the lean years of carouse with the Bonar Law is diagnosed with WWI, people were best of them. These throat cancer, resigns and is looking to spend. brash females, with' replaced by Stanley Baldwin. The industry of their bobbed hair, US President Harding dies in mass production short dresses and office and is replaced by vice- that had manufac- heavy make-up president Calvin Coofidge. tured the necessi- became known as ties of war had now flappers, due in paA , . 1924 ' expanded to pro- „ . _ ,, to the way in whichi: Flappers of the Roaring Twenties. ., . J a , Lenin dies; Joseph Stalin becomes duce the necessities their arms flapped ; his successor. of life and then some. This meant when they danced. James Ramsay MacDoriald that former luxuries — which had It was during the '20s that the becomes the first Labour Prime existed prior to this period — such age of the "movie star" was born. Minister of Britain. He is defeated as telephones, refrigerators, radios Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer was the later that same year by the very and cars were now affordable. first "talkie" and stars like RudolpJ man he replaced, Baldwin. Coupled with more spending Valentino and Clara Bow were power (the result of a booming earning a fortune starring in featuri Republican Coolidge is elected as economy), advertisers had no films. Movies like The Mad Whirl, president of the US. problems attracting customers to a The Plastic Age and Walking Back The US stock market hits a five- range of life improving products. helped to define an era. By the end year high with 2.33 million shares Radio came to prominence dur- of titie decade, over 100 million peo traded on the New York exchange ing the '20s and by 1923 there were pie a week went to the movies. inoneday. over 500 radio stations broadcast- The '20s also saw an unprece- ing everything from news and dented period of literary excellenc Nellie T. Ross becomes the first: sports to music and comedy shows. that introduced both coveted and female governor in the US! In fact, by the end of the decade, controversial works by the likes oi Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five over 10 million homes in the US Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott years for his part in the failed would boast at least one radio. Fitzgerald and William Faulkner. "Beer Hall Putsch" of the previ- Radio's success was helped by Fitzgerald and Hemingway were ous year. During his time in the overwhelming popularity of part of a group of writers known prison, he composes Mein Karnpf. jazz music. Musicians such as as the "Lost Generation", eschew- Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and ing America's rampant materialise :•• . .'• 1925..;. • •. ;. Sidney Bechet ushered in a new for Paris and living there for much Tennessee bans the teaching of era of musical expression. Jazz of the '20s and '30s. Fitzgerald's evolution. School teacher John music seemed to sum up the mood The Great Gatsby is said to be a clas Scopes is later arrested for teach- ing the theory of evolution and of the decade: it was bold, modern, sic depiction of the Jazz Age. found guilty stylish and exuberant. Nightclubs Not everything about the — where patrons could dance, Roaring Twenties was positive. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Grea t smoke and drink illegal hooch There was Prohibition, the rise of Gatsby is published. from hip flasks — dedicated to this the Ku Klux Klan, and of course, new type of music sprang up the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Part one of Hitler's Mein Kampf • is published. across America. Scatting, in which which would usher in the Great nonsensical words are sung or har- Depression of the '30s.

14 — History Magazine October/November 2005 The Washington Naval Treaty hugely popular.; IN THE YEARS following WWI, it France covered each respective around the main Five-Power nusic anger the became obvious that one way of nation's naval bases in the Pacific, Treaty, working to figure out ways ad ntrover- avoiding another war was to limit with the countries involved basi- to have the fastest, lightest and lik .e the size of each nation's arma- cally agreeing to continue to run deadliest ship under the treaty. For e One Step, ments. existing naval bases but making it most of the navies, this involved unger generatior This, however, appeared to fly illegal to build new fortifications in retrofitting existing ships. her threatened in the face of the naval arms race specified areas around' the Pacific. Although the treaty appeared sty. that was brewing between the vic- The Five-Power Treaty which to be effective, critics argued that it rant music and torious, allied nations, not to men- included Italy, essentiaEyJimited-- kcked-sufneient-enforeement - --—- fluenced the style tion the mounting tensions sur- the total capital ship tonnage of authority to ensure the nations :flected a rounding the strategically impor- each of the signatory nations. A stuck to its regulations. It could man's increasing tant Pacific. The goal of the Inter- ratio which took into account the also be argued that the treaty had /ver in society, national Washington Naval Con- balance of military power at the the biggest adverse affect on the men not only ference, which was held between time was established between the US, who, along with Britain, had 1 the vote, but November 1921 and February nations. For every five US and UK the largest area to defend but had y could drink, 1922 in Washington, DC, was to battleships, Japan was allowed its shipbuilding program halted by oke, dance and establish an agreed upon set of three ships and France and Italy the agreement. For most of the ause with the regulations among the naval were allowed 1.75 ships. While nations that had signed the Wash- t of them. These forces of the nations involved. allowing certain exceptions for ington Naval Treaty, battleships sh females, with The resulting Washington ships in current use, a ship build- had become so valuable that by the ir bobbed hair, Naval Treaty was signed on 6 Feb- ing moratorium was declared for a start of WWII, they were seldom >rt dresses and ruary 1922 by representatives from period of 10 years. used for fear they would be sunk. .vy make-up the US, Britain, Japan, France and Finally, the Nine-Power Treaty A further agreement — called ame known as Italy. The agreement actually incor- saw the Big Four, plus Italy, Bel- the London Treaty — would fol- >pers, due in parl porated three separate treaties: the gium, the Netherlands, Portugal low in 1930. Japan, unhappy with he way in which Four-Power Treaty, the Five-Power and China formally agree to the treaty from the start, would be ir arms flapped Treaty and the Nine-Power Treaty. respect Chinese territorial integri- the first nation to terminate its The Four-Power Treaty, signed ty and independence. involvement in 1936, effectively •he '20s that the by the US, Britain, Japan'and The nations attempted to get ending the treaty. star" -as born. : S' was the :arb -jOctober 1929 it did just ; ensuing Great Depression or sim~. th coveted and 1America as new life-improving that, as more than 12 million ply a contributing factor has been- ;•; 5 by the likes of jtechnology and industrialization shares were liquidated by pan- debated for decades. Regardless, i.t r, F. Scott I had the US economy booming. icked investors desperate to : i ":• ;:;;•;; left millions of people broke; and y"; liam Faulkner. f Millions of Americans were unload the soon-to-be worthless jobless, forcing the formerly well ningway were investing heavily in the stock mar- stocks. Ln the days after Black : off to struggle to make ends meet. writers known ket and from 1921 to 1929, the Thursday, a further 30 million : Poverty was rampant and it would ation", eschew- Dow Jones Industrial Average shares —- which were now worth- •be almost 30 years before the Dow pant materialism jumped from 60 points to over 350. less, were sold —wiping out over : • Jones would return to the heights ; there for much Self-made millionaires were every- $5 billion worth of investments. it reached during the Roaring (and i. -Fitzgerald's where and eager investors were By the end of the year, another booming) Twenties. said to be a clas- doing everything from mortgaging $16 billion worth of shares would One good thing to come out of Jazz Age. their homes to investing every last devalue an4the results were dev- • : the crash were safety measures ;about the penny of their life savings to get astating. People were left both that would temporarily halt trad- vas positive, into the stock market. As a result, penniless and homeless, as banks, ing in the event of sudden decline, ion, the rise of this drove share prices up to artifi- desperate to recoup some of the : preventing the mass panicked sell- and of course, cially high levels, which in turn, money they lent out, repossessed ing that caused Black Thursday, !ras> 1929, encouraged more and more people homes and businesses. Making This helped to ensure that subse- r i . Great to invest, causing stock prices to matters worse was the fact that the quent crashes were never as severe 30s. skyrocket .even further. Of course, banks themselves had ploughed V financially • : ^ '. . '-.'-". '. V ' ' • • • . - History Magazine October/November 2005 —15 1926 Canadian Prime Master William Charles Lindbergh's Flight Lyon Mackenzie King resigns in WHILE WORKING AS a mail pilot in the question. Lindbergh even cut the wake of the King-Byng Affair St. Louis, Missouri, Charles Lind- his navigational papers down to and subsequent customs scandal. bergh heard about the lucrative size, keeping only what was need- $25,000 US reward being offered ed for his journey. Striken with acute peritonitis, by Raymond Orteig, a wealthy When The Spirit of St. Louis silent film star Rudolph Valentino hotel baron, to the first person(s) to was finished two months later, it dies suddenly at age 31. fly non-stop between New York, weighed a mere 2,150 Ibs and had Leon Trotsky is expelled from the USA and Paris, France. The offer a flight range of 4,000 miles, more "Soviet CoTErmffivtsf Party,; leaving had been-on the table for well over- than enough to-getfrom Paris to- .,. Stalin with, undisputed control of five years, without any takers. New York. the Soviet Union Lindbergh decided he was just the On 20 May 1927, after waiting person to claim the prize. eight days for favorable weather Emperor Taisho (Yoshihito) of With the financial support of a conditions, Lindbergh and his tiny, Japan dies. He is succeeded by group of local businessmen, Lind- silver plane took off from Roo- his son, Hirohito. bergh set about designing V . ' 1927' '' ••''-. •;•.;". his customized plane, which Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer he called The Spirit of St. -• becomes the first feature ;film to Louis in their honor. With a have synchronized sound. modest budget of $15,000 US, Lindbergh's design, First transatlantic commercial tele-. which was centered on a sin- phone service goes into operation. gle engine, appeared to fly in A three-minute call between New the face of conventional air- York and London costs $75 US. plane ideology, which was One thousand people a week die all about multiple engines in Britain from widespread and improved power. influenza epidemic. Lindbergh, on the other hand, reasoned that a single Charles Lindbergh stands in front of The Spirit • :-'• ".-/.'-• : 1928 ';-, .• •;:; ---:;.;'-'-.; . engine meant less weight, of St. Louis prior to takeoff. A map shows Penicillinis discovered by which would ultimately the historic route. Alexander Fleming. mean increased fuel efficiency. sevelt Field in Long Island, New Stalin's first five-year plan is Never mind that flying over the York bound for Paris, France. Over announced, calling for develop- Atlantic Ocean with one engine 33 hours and 3,600 miles later, after ment of heavy industry, seizure left him no room for error. battling ice, fog and fatigue, "the of farms and collectivization of all The only problem was, Lind- flying fool" as he was known in '.'- ;•'.. ..".'••• workers. : ; •: '.',. bergh couldn't find an airplane some me'dia circles, was standing manufacturer willing to construct safely on Le Bourget Field in Seventy years in the making, the Oxford English Dictionary is his plane. Worse still, with airplane France surrounded by over 100,000 ^completed. technology slowly improving, oth- rapturous well wishers. Lindbergh, ers were making well publicized a fool no more, had become the plans to take a run at the as yet first person to fly solo, non-stop The New York Stock Exchange unclaimed prize. across the Atlantic Ocean. "Lucky crashes, ushering in what will be Lindbergh hit pay dirt when Lindy" as he was now known, a world-wide economic crisis. he was contacted by the Ryan Air- became a global media darling. Ramsey MacDonald again lines Corporation of San Diego, After touring Europe as the replaces Baldwin as Prime California. Not only could they guest of various governments, Minister of Britain. build Lindbergh's plane, but it Lindbergh returned to a hero's would only cost him $6,000 of his welcome back in America, where Herbert Hoover, a republican, total budget, minus the engine. he was presented with both the becomes 31st president of the US. Scheduled to be airborne with- Congressional Medal of Honor and More than two million people die in two months, the tiny plane was the Distinguished Flying Cross by of starvation in China and contin- built strictly to get from New York the United States government. ued famine threatens millions to Paris without stopping and as a Many credit "Lucky Lindy" with more. result, features such as additional helping to commercialize the glob- fuel tanks were incorporated into al aviation industry. In fact, even The Academy of Motion Picture the design. To keep the plane's today, many airlines still use the Arts and Sciences gives out its weight down, every item was care- same commercial routes that Lind- first Academy Awards of Merit, fully scrutinized for its heft, which bergh helped chart in the years fol- later dubbed "the Oscars", meant that necessities such as a lowing his famous trans-Atlantic parachute and radio were out of flight. 16 — History Magazine October/November 2005 ight The Growth of Communism in Russia iergh even cut COMMUNISM, the belief that every Bolscheviks would wage a long, tated by years of civil war and pers A nwn to individual in a society should be hard civil war before they could unrest, recovered. However, the vb s need- considered equal and share their claim victory. NEP would be faced with increas- wealth, with property held by the From 1918 until 1921, a period ing opposition from within the t of St. Louis state, became popular in Russia in which became known as war com- party in the years following lonths later, it the early 20th century and a politi- munism, banks, railroads and Lenin's death in 1924. 50 Ibs and had cal juggernaut in the 1920s. shipping were nationalized and A power struggle followed 00 miles, more However, the roots of commu- the economy was restricted. Not Lenin's passing, between Leon from Paris to nism can be traced back to the mid suTprisingry;lt did- Trotsky, Lenin's" " 19th century with the formation of n't take long for right-hand man and 7, after waiting the Communist League in 1848. opposition, includ- leader of the Soviet :able weather The League, an organization of ing strikes and Red Army, and •gh and his tiny, German emigre workers based in mutinies, to begin. Joseph Stalin, a f from Roo- London, asked Karl Marx and The workers, who high-ranking gov- .— ., ."- Freidrich Engels to help them wanted to be paid in TLANTIC OCEAN, ernment official. write a document that summed up cash for their prod- Trotsky was defeat- their beliefs. Marx and Engels ucts, didn't like hav- ed and fled, leaving would go on to write the Commu- ing to turn over Stalin to adapt nist Manifesto. Lenin's existing Modern Communism in communist policies Russia, however, started to his liking. Stalin with the split, in 1903, of the would become dic- Russian Social Democratic tator and prove to Labor Party (also known as be a ruthless leader. the Marxist Party) into fac- In 1929, Stalin tions of Bolshevism (mean- ended the existing NEP and •ont of The Spirit ing majority) and Menshe- replaced it with the first of A map shows vism (meaning minority). many five-year plans, under :e. The more radical Bolshe- which heavy industry was to viks, led by Vladimir Ilych be expanded. In rural areas, the ; t ., New Lenin, advocated revolution peasant farmers were forced to is, France. Over • and violence to bring about join together in collective, miles later, after? the downfall of capitalism farms. Many peasants objected . fatigue, "the and the establishment of an Vladimir Ilych Lenin, top right, led the Bolsheviks to to Stalin's new co-op policy. as known in international socialist state. victory and established Russia as a Communist state. Workers destroyed their crops was standing Lenin further believed that and slaughtered their animals :t Field in the workers should control the their surplus grain to the govern- in protest rather than conform. by over 100,000 means of production and'that soci- ment as a part of its war policies. The resulting Great Terror, lers. Lindbergh, ety should be for the working Making matters worse was the would see millions of protesters become the class, not just the wealthy. devastating food shortage that murdered for opposing Stalin's >lo, non-stop Russia's defeat in WWI left the killed tens of thousands of Russ- Communist vision. Not even }cean. "Lucky country with nothing and the ian peasants. Faced with growing widespread famine in 1932, which 3W known, Russian people were ready to sup- peasant opposition, Lenin began a saw Stalin continue to export dia darling, port another uprising. The triumph retreat from war communism grain even though it was needed irope as the of the Bolsheviks in the Russian known as the New Economic Poli- to feed the Russian people, could merriments, Revolution of 1917, also called the cy (NEP) in 1921. get him to alter his hardline ' to a hero's October Revolution, gave them the As part of the NEP, workers stance. It is estimated that five nerica, where leadership in socialist action, and were permitted to sell any surplus million Russians perished, with ith both the they created the Communist party production for profit in the open millions more murdered in il of Honor and in 1918. Not everyone, however, market. However, the state contin- "purges" ordered by the Russian lying Cross by supported Lenin and the fractured ued to be responsible for trans- dictator. ivernment. support gave rise to the Russian portation, banking, public utilities Stalin would go on to terrorize • Lindy" with Civil War in 1918. and heavy industry. Around the his own people until his death in ialize the glob- The civil war, between the Bol- same time as the implementation 1953. Proponents of Communism In fact, even sheviks (also called "Reds") and of the NEP, the Union of Soviet — choosing to overlook Stalin's ; still use the the liberals, conservatives and Socialist Republics (USSR) was murderous and inhumane meth- utes that Lind- moderate socialists (also called the established as a federation on 30 ods — point to the fact that from in P ars fol- "Whites") who opposed Lenin December 1922.. 1929 to 1941, Russian industry ra, xdantic resulted in widespread suffering Lenin's program was highly grew rapidly as proof that for millions of Russians. The successful and the economy, devas- Communism can work. History Magazine October/November 2005 —17