1920s 1 1920s From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In 1927, Charles Lindbergh embarks on the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris, France on the Spirit of St. Louis; A crowd gathering on Wall Street after the 1929 stock market crash, which led to the Great Depression; Benito Mussolini and Fascist Blackshirts during the March on Rome in 1922; the People's Liberation Army attacking government defensive positions in Shandong, during the Chinese Civil War; The Women's suffrage campaign leads to the ratification of the 19th amendment in the United States and numerous countries granting women the right to vote and be elected; Babe Ruth becomes the most iconic baseball player of the time. Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s – 1920s – 1930s 1940s 1950s Years: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 Categories: Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments The 1920s was a decade that began on January 1, 1920 and ended on December 31, 1929. It is sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, when speaking about the United States and Canada. In Europe the decade is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age Twenties"[1] because of the economic boom following World War I. Since the end of the 20th century, the economic strength during the 1920s has drawn close comparison with the 1950s and 1990s, especially in the United States of America. These three decades are regarded as periods of economic prosperity, which lasted throughout nearly each entire decade. Each of the three decades followed a 1920s 2 tremendous event that occurred in the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the 1910s, World War II in the 1940s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s). The 1920s marked the first time in the United States that the population in the cities surpassed the population of rural areas. This was due to rapid urbanization starting in the 1920s. However, not all countries enjoyed this prosperity. The Weimar Republic, like many other European countries, had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade, because of the enormous debt caused by the war as well as the Treaty of Versailles. Such a crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Mark in 1923, eventually leading to severe economic problems and, in the long term, favour the rise of the Nazi Party. The 1920s were characterized by the rise of radical political movements, especially in regions that were once part of empires. Communism began attracting larger amounts of support following the success of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' determination to win the subsequent Russian Civil War. To move the backward economy of Russia towards a more developed economy in which socialism would become possible, the Bolsheviks adopted a policy of mixed economics, from 1921 to 1928, and also created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the end of 1922. The 1920s also experienced the rise of the far right and fascism in Europe and elsewhere, being perceived as a solution to prevent the spread of Communism. The knotty economic problems also favoured the rise of dictators in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, such as Józef Piłsudski in the Second Polish Republic and Peter and Alexander Karađorđević in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The devastating Wall Street Crash in October 1929 drew a line under the prosperous 1920s. In the 1920s foreign oil companies operated throughout South America. Venezuela, for instance, became the second world oil producer. Social history The Roaring Twenties is a term characterizing new highly visible social and cultural trends. They were most visible in major cities, especially New York, Chicago, Paris, Berlin and London, and took place in an age of sustained economic prosperity. French speakers called it the "années folles" ("Crazy Years"), emphasizing the era's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism. "Normalcy" returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional patriotism during World War I, jazz blossomed, and Art Deco peaked. Towards the end of 1921, standard fashion was skirts or dresses that reached knee length, and bobbed hair with a marcel wave. Women involved in these actions were known as flappers. The flapper redefined modern womanhood. Economically, the era saw the large-scale diffusion and use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures and electricity, unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media focused on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars, as cities rooted for their home teams and filled the new palatial cinemas and gigantic stadiums. In most major countries women were given the right to vote for the first time. War, peace and politics Wars • Turkish War of Independence • Greco–Turkish War (May 1919 – October 1922) • Turkish–Armenian War (September 24 to December 2, 1920) • Franco-Turkish War (May 1920 – October 1921) • Polish-Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1922) 1920s 3 Internal conflicts • Irish Civil War (June 28, 1922 – May 24, 1923) • Castellammarese War (1929 – September 10, 1931) Major political changes • The rise of Communism following World War I. Decolonization and independence • Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. • Egypt officially becomes an independent country through the Declaration of 1922, though it still remains under the military and political influence of the British Empire. International issues See also Social issues of the 1920s • Rise of radical political movements such as communism and fascism, amid the economic and political turmoil after World War I and after the stock market crash • Kellogg–Briand Pact to end war • Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in New Zealand (1893), the Grand Duchy of Finland (1906), Denmark (1915), the United Kingdom in 1918 (women over 30) and in 1928 (full enfranchisement), and in the United States in 1920; women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers. United States • Prohibition of alcohol occurs in the United States. Prohibition in the United States began January 16, 1919, with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S.Constitution, effective as of January 17, 1920, and it continued throughout the 1920s. Prohibition was finally repealed in 1933. Organized crime turns to smuggling and bootlegging of liquor, led by figures such as Al Capone, boss of the Chicago Outfit. • The Immigration Act of 1924 places restrictions on immigration. National quotas curbed most Eastern and Southern European nationalities, further enforced the ban on immigration of East Asians, Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol. Indians and Africans, and put mild regulations on nationalities from the Western Hemisphere (Latin Americans). • The major sport was baseball and the most famous player was Babe Ruth. • The Lost Generation (which characterized disillusionment), was the name Gertrude Stein gave to American writers, poets, and artists living in Europe during the 1920s. Famous members of the Lost Generation include Cole Porter, Gerald Murphy, Patrick Henry Bruce, Waldo Peirce, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson. • A peak in the early 1920s in the membership of the Ku Klux Klan of 4 to 5 million members (after its reemergence in 1915), followed by a rapid decline down to an estimated 30,000 members by 1930.[2] 1920s 4 • The Scopes Trial (1925), which declared that John T. Scopes had violated the law by teaching evolution in schools, creating tension between the competing theories of creationism and evolutionism. Europe • Polish-Soviet war (1920–21). • Major armed conflict in Ireland including Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) resulting in Ireland becoming an independent country in 1922 followed by the Irish Civil War (1922–23). • The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) is created in 1922. • Benito Mussolini leader of the National Fascist Party became Prime Minister of Italy, shortly thereafter creating the world's first fascist government. The Fascist regime establishes a Benito Mussolini and Fascist Blackshirts during the March on Rome totalitarian state led by Mussolini as a dictator. The in 1922. Fascist regime restores good relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Italy with the Lateran Treaty, which creates Vatican City. The Fascist regime pursues an aggressive expansionist agenda in Europe such as by raiding the Greek island of Corfu in 1923, pressuring Albania to submit to becoming a de facto Italian protectorate in the mid-1920s, and holding territorial aims on the region of Dalmatia in Yugoslavia. • In Germany, the Weimar Republic suffers from economic crisis in the early 1920s and hyperinflation of currency in 1923. From 1923 to 1925 the Occupation of the Ruhr takes place. The Ruhr was an industrial region of Germany taken over by the military forces of the French Third Republic and Belgium, in response to the failure of the Weimar Republic under Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno to keep paying the World War I reparations. The recently formed fringe National Socialist German Workers' Party (a.k.a. Nazi Party) led by Adolf Hitler attempts a coup against the Bavarian and German governments in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, which fails, resulting in Hitler being briefly imprisoned for one year in prison where he writes Mein Kampf. • Turkish War of Independence (1919–23). • The United Kingdom general strike (1926). Asia • The Qajar dynasty ended under Ahmad Shah Qajar and Reza Shah Pahlavi formed the Pahlavi Dynasty, which later became the last monarchy of Iran.