Wartime and Recovery: America in the 1920s and the Greatest Generations
The Roaring Twenties, often referred to as the Roaring ’20s, signifies the vibrant cultural and musical landscape of the 1920s in Western society. This era of economic prosperity particularly flourished in major cities like Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, and Sydney. In France, it was called the *années folles* (“crazy years”), reflecting the artistic and social energy of the time. The rise of jazz, the emergence of the flapper style that revolutionized fashion for women in Britain and America, and the peak of Art Deco defined the decade.
The cultural trends of the Roaring Twenties began in large urban centers and spread rapidly in the post-World War I period. The decade was characterized by a sense of modernity and breaking with traditional norms, spurred by new technologies like automobiles, movies, and radio, which brought “modern life” to the masses. Practicality replaced formality in daily living and architectural design, while jazz music and dance surged in popularity as an antidote to the somber mood of the war years, leading to the era’s nickname, the Jazz Age.
Technological advancements in the 1920s brought widespread adoption of automobiles, telephones, film, radio, and electric appliances into households across the Western world. Aviation grew into a commercial industry, while industrial growth and consumer demand fueled economic expansion. The media, bolstered by mass-market advertising, turned its attention to celebrities, celebrating movie stars and sports heroes as icons. People flocked to massive movie palaces and sports arenas, and in many countries, women gained the right to vote, marking another significant shift in societal norms.
The 1930s, often referred to as “the Thirties,” spanned from January 1, 1930, to December 31, 1939, and were marked by global economic turmoil and political upheaval. In the United States, the Dust Bowl, a severe drought, contributed to the nickname “the Dirty Thirties.”
This decade was defined by the Great Depression, triggered by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which was the largest stock market collapse in U.S. history. The economic crisis rippled worldwide, leading to mass unemployment and poverty, particularly in the U.S. and Germany, where reparations from World War I worsened the situation. The Dust Bowl further compounded the hardships for American farmers. In response, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal, a series of social and economic reforms aimed at reviving the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s second five-year plan prioritized heavy industry, positioning it as a leading steel producer and improving infrastructure. During this time, women gained the right to vote in countries like South Africa (1930, whites only), Brazil (1933), and Cuba (1933), advancing first-wave feminism.
Politically, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933 led to widespread discrimination against Jews and ethnic minorities in Germany. The country pursued an aggressive foreign policy, remilitarizing the Rhineland in 1936, annexing Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938, and invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II. Italy also pursued expansionist policies, conquering Libya, Ethiopia, and Albania. Both Germany and Italy were deeply involved in the Spanish Civil War, backing Francisco Franco’s Nationalists, while the Soviet Union supported the Republicans.
Elsewhere, China halted its civil war to resist Japanese imperialism in the Second Sino-Japanese War, while other regional conflicts included the Colombia–Peru War, the Chaco War, and various internal uprisings in Latin America and British Palestine. These conflicts further demonstrated the turbulent nature of the 1930s.
The first half of the 1940s was dominated by World War II, which profoundly impacted nations and people across Europe, Asia, and beyond. The war’s effects extended into the latter half of the decade, as a war-torn Europe became divided between the competing spheres of influence of the Western world and the Soviet Union, setting the stage for the Cold War. To some extent, both internal and external post-war tensions were mitigated by the creation of new institutions such as the United Nations, the welfare state, and the Bretton Woods system. These helped foster the post–World War II economic boom, which continued well into the 1970s.
In the wake of the war, the process of decolonization accelerated, leading to the emergence of newly independent nations like India, Pakistan, Israel, and Vietnam, though their paths to independence were often marked by conflict. The 1940s also saw the early development of transformative technologies, including computers, nuclear power, and jet propulsion, many of which had roots in wartime research and were further refined in the post-war period.
During this decade, the world’s population grew from approximately 2.25 billion to 2.5 billion, with around 850 million births and 600 million deaths overall.
Throughout the 1950s, the world continued to recover from the devastation of World War II, aided by the post-war economic boom. This period saw significant population growth, driven by high birth rates and the rise of the baby boomer generation. However, the global recovery was overshadowed by the escalating Cold War, which evolved from its early stages in the late 1940s into a fierce ideological and geopolitical rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States by the early 1960s. The conflict between communism and capitalism dominated global affairs, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the United States, anti-communist sentiment surged during the Second Red Scare, or McCarthyism, leading to Congressional hearings aimed at rooting out suspected communists. Meanwhile, the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953 marked the start of “de-Stalinization” under Nikita Khrushchev, a period of political reform that also strained relations between the Soviet Union and China.
The Cold War also sparked the Space Race, beginning with the Soviet Union’s launch of *Sputnik 1* in 1957. In response, the U.S. established NASA in 1958. The decade was also marked by the arms race, with both superpowers intensifying their nuclear weapons testing, contributing to a tense geopolitical climate and a politically conservative atmosphere.
The 1950s saw the beginning of decolonization across Africa and Asia, which accelerated in the following decades but also sparked numerous conflicts. Wars of the period included the First Indochina War, the Korean War, the Algerian War, and the Malayan Emergency, while revolutions and coups erupted in countries like Egypt, Iran, Guatemala, Iraq, and Pakistan.
In the U.S., television became a staple of American households, ushering in the Golden Age of TV and fueling mass consumerism, as people sought to upgrade their homes and lifestyles. This innovation, however, took longer to become widespread in other parts of the world.
A major medical breakthrough of the decade was the development of the polio vaccine, which dramatically reduced the incidence of poliomyelitis in industrialized nations and gradually in developing countries, saving countless lives.
By the end of the 1950s, the global population had grown from 2.5 billion to 3 billion, with approximately 1 billion births and 500 million deaths during the decade.
While the achievements of space exploration, such as launching humans into space, orbiting Earth, and landing on the Moon, were groundbreaking, the 1960s are best remembered as the “countercultural decade” in the United States and other Western nations. This period saw a revolution in social norms, including changes in fashion, music, drug culture, sexuality, civil rights, military expectations, and education. Some hailed the era for its progressive ideals, while others criticized it for excess, social decay, and the breakdown of traditional values. Musically, the decade was diverse, ranging from the British Invasion led by The Beatles, to Bob Dylan’s poetic folk music. In the UK, especially in London, the 1960s were known as the “Swinging Sixties.”
The U.S. saw four presidents in office during the 1960s: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. Eisenhower’s term ended in January 1961, followed by Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Kennedy had sought to implement Keynesian economic policies and anti-communist reforms, many of which were passed under Johnson, including landmark civil rights legislation and health care programs for the elderly and poor. Despite his Great Society initiatives, Johnson faced growing opposition from the New Left, both domestically and internationally. The protests of May 1968 signaled the decline of traditional collective action and the rise of new social movements.
The Cold War intensified during the 1960s, particularly after the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. The U.S. attempted to overthrow Castro by training Cuban exiles for an invasion, pushing Cuba to ally with the Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought the world to the brink of nuclear war as Soviet missiles were stationed in Cuba, but diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and USSR averted disaster, with both countries agreeing to remove their missiles.
After Kennedy’s assassination, Cold War tensions escalated into proxy wars, insurgencies, and puppet governments, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 symbolized the division of the world. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War drew increasing opposition, sparking a global anti-war movement that peaked with the massive protests of 1968.
In China, the Great Leap Forward ended in 1962 after causing the deadliest famine in history. Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution began in 1966, aiming to purge capitalist and traditional influences from Chinese society. This violent movement resulted in mass arrests, the deaths of millions, and the destruction of cultural heritage, continuing until Mao’s death in 1976.
Post-war Europe experienced an economic boom by the end of the 1950s, which continued into the 1960s. Social classes shifted, with the remnants of feudal gentry disappearing and a newly defined middle class emerging in Western Europe, capable of affording modern conveniences like radios, televisions, and cars. The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations also saw rapid growth during their recovery from World War II, with global GDP rising by an average of 6% annually. The 1960s marked a period of economic prosperity, middle-class expansion, and the rise of new domestic technologies worldwide.
