1920s

The 1920s (pronounced "nineteen-twenties"; often shortened to the "20s" or the "Twenties") was a decade that began on January 1, 1920, and ended on December 31, 1929. Primarily known for the economic boom that occurred in the Western World following the end of World War I (1914–1918), the decade is frequently referred to as the "Roaring Twenties" or the "Jazz Age" in America and Western Europe, and the "Golden Twenties" in Germany, while French speakers refer to the period as the "Années folles" ('crazy years') to emphasize the decade's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism.Paul Sann, The Lawless Decade Retrieved 2009-09-03

The devastating Wall Street crash in October 1929 is generally viewed as a harbinger of the end of 1920s prosperity in North America and Europe. In the Soviet Union, the New Economic Policy was created by the Bolsheviks in 1921, to be replaced by the first five-year plan in 1928. The 1920s saw the rise of radical political movements, with the Red Army triumphing against White movement forces in the Russian Civil War, and the emergence of far-right political movements in Europe. In 1922, the fascist leader Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy. Other dictators that emerged included Józef Piłsudski in Poland, and Peter and Alexander Karađorđević in Yugoslavia. First-wave feminism made advances, with women gaining the right to vote in the United States (1920), Albania (1920), Ireland (1921), and with suffrage being expanded in Britain to all women over 21 years old (1928).

In Turkey, nationalist forces defeated Greece, France, Armenia, and Britain in the Turkish War of Independence, leading to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), a treaty more favorable to Turkey than the earlier proposed Treaty of Sèvres. The war also led to the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate. Nationalist revolts also occurred in Ireland (1919–1921) and Syria (1925–1927). Under Mussolini, Italy pursued a more aggressive domestic and foreign policy, leading to the nigh-eradication of the Sicilian Mafia and the Second Italo-Senussi War in Libya respectively. In 1927, China erupted into a civil war between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China (ROC) and forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Civil wars also occurred in Paraguay (1922–1923), Ireland (1922–1923), Honduras (1924), Nicaragua (1926–1927), and Afghanistan (1928–1929). Saudi forces conquered Jabal Shammar and subsequently, Hejaz.

A severe famine occurred in Russia (1921–1922) due to the combined effects of economic disturbance because of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War, exacerbated by rail systems that could not distribute food efficiently, leading to 5 million deaths. Another severe famine occurred in China (1928–1930), leading to 6 million deaths. The Spanish flu pandemic (1918–1920) and Russian typhus epidemic (1918–1922), which had begun in the previous decade, caused 25–50 million and 2–3 million deaths respectively. Major natural disasters of this decade include the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake (258,707~273,407 deaths), 1922 Shantou typhoon (50,000–100,000 deaths), 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (105,385–142,800 deaths), and 1927 Gulang earthquake (40,912 deaths).

Silent films were popular in this decade, with the highest-grossing film of this decade being either the American silent epic adventure-drama film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ or the American silent war drama film The Big Parade, depending on the metrics used. Sinclair Lewis was a popular author in the United States in the 1920s, with his books Main Street and Elmer Gantry becoming best-sellers. Best-selling books outside the US included the Czech book The Good Soldier Švejk, which sold 20 million copies. Songs of this decade included "Mack the Knife" and "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

During the 1920s, the world population increased from 1.87 to 2.05 billion, with approximately 700 million births and 525 million deaths in total.

Social history

The Roaring Twenties brought about several novel and highly visible social and cultural trends. These trends, made possible by sustained economic prosperity, were most visible in major cities like New York, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, and London. "Normalcy" returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional patriotism during World War I, jazz blossomed, and Art Deco peaked. For women, knee-length skirts and dresses became socially acceptable, as did bobbed hair with a finger wave or marcel wave. The women who pioneered these trends were frequently referred to as flappers.

The era saw the large-scale adoption of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures, radio, and household electricity, as well as unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture, mostly in the urbanized areas of the Western World. The media became increasingly more important and began to focus on celebrities like sports heroes and movie stars and began to include women. Some film historians call this distribution of images and invention a "frenzy of the visible." Large baseball stadiums were built in major US cities, in addition to palatial cinemas.

Many independent countries passed women's suffrage after 1918. Academics such as Arthur Marwick have argued that this occurred because countries wanted to reward the role women played on the home front. However, some scholars like Ellen Dubois have argued that this perspective is incorrect, pointing out some belligerent countries like Italy did not grant suffrage. Meanwhile, some countries like the Netherlands which did not participate in the war did grant suffrage to women.

Politics and wars

Wars

Turkish War of Independence (May 1919 – July 1923) Greco-Turkish War (May 1919 – October 1922) Turkish–Armenian War (September – December 1920) Franco-Turkish War (December 1918 – October 1921) Royalist and separatist revolts (1919–1923) Unification of Saudi Arabia Rashidi–Saudi War (1903–1921) Kuwait–Saudi War (1919–1920) Hejaz–Saudi War (1919–1925) Transjordan-Saudi War (1922–1924) Polish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) Irish War of Independence (January 1919 – July 1921) Third Anglo-Afghan War (May – August 1919) Iraqi Revolt (1920) Rif War (1921–1926) Vlora War (1920) Second Italo-Senussi War (1923–1932) Great Syrian Revolt (1925–1927) United States occupation of Nicaragua (1912–1933) United States occupation of Haiti (1915–1934) United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–1924)

Internal conflicts Russian Civil War (November 1917 – October 1922) Tambov Rebellion (August 1920 – June 1921) Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918–1925) Patagonia Rebelde (1920–1922) Mahmud Barzanji revolts (1920–1922) Irish Civil War (June 28, 1922 – May 24, 1923) Cristero War in Mexico (1926–1929) Chinese Civil War (first phase 1927–1936) Ararat rebellion (1927–1930) Kongo-Wara rebellion (1928–1931) Afghan Civil War (November 14, 1928 – October 13, 1929)

Major political changes

Rise of radical political movements such as communism led by the Soviet Union and fascism led by Italy. League of Nations and associated bodies as experiments in international cooperation and prevention of wars

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.

Prominent political events Peace and disarmament Washington Naval Conference of 1922 followup treaties for the Limitation of Naval Armament Geneva Protocol 1925, outlaws poison gas Geneva Naval Conference 1927 Kellogg–Briand Pact (1928) signed by most nations promising not to declare war. London Naval Treaty, 1930 Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments 1932–1934

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in the United Kingdom in 1918 (women over 30) and in 1928 (full enfranchisement), in the United States in 1920. Also : full or partial gains in Uruguay 1917; Canada, 1917–1925 except Quebec (1940); Czechoslovakia 1920; Irish Free State, 1922; Burma, 1922; Italy, 1925 (partial); Ecuador 1929.June Hannam et al. International encyclopedia of women's suffrage (2000).

United States

The Osage Indian murders of the 1920s lead to the federal government launching the first large scale investigation by the recently formed Bureau of Investigation, which would later become the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Baugh, L. Sue. "Osage murders". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Osage-murders . Accessed 6 November 2023. 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, South Asians, and Southeast Asians, 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 four to five million members (after its reemergence in 1915), followed by a rapid decline down to an estimated 30,000 members by 1930. and The Scopes trial (1925), which declared that John T. Scopes had violated the law by teaching evolution in schools, creating tension between the competing viewpoints of creationism and evolution.

Europe

Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921); Poland defeats Soviet advance; Ukraine and Belarus are divided. Major armed conflict in Ireland including Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) resulting in part of Ireland becoming an independent country in 1922 followed by the Irish Civil War (1922–1923). Russian famine of 1921–22 claimed up to five million victims.Famine in Russia: the hidden horrors of 1921. International Committee of the Red Cross. 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 totalitarian state led by Mussolini as a dictator. The 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.