Effects of the War

1. Effects of the War 19.4

2. Objectives • Describe the problems Americans faced immediately after the war. • Analyze how these problems contributed to the Red Scare. • Understand how the war changed America;s role in world affairs

3. Key Parts • America Adjusts to Peace • The Red Scare • Americans Embrace Normalcy

4. Introduction • Read 19.4 • Answer Critical thinking questions 4&5

5. America Adjusts to Peace • World War I produced significant economic, social, political, and cultural changes in America. • Another big issue was in 1918 influenza virus was originally a bird flu that mutated to spread to humans. • This virus spread like wildfire and killed millions worldwide. • The virus took hold right at the end of the Great War.

6. Cont. • Women and African Americans made significant advances during the war. • However after the end of the war also spelled the end of wartime economic opportunities for both groups. • The post war recession created a competitive job market. • Also race riots began in the cities in one city the white rioters burned down 35 African American city blocks to the ground.

7. Cont.. • During the war inflation or rising prices had been held in check. • After the war Americans began to buy more consumer goods rather than war bonds. The scarcity of these goods coupled with widespread demand caused inflation. • Industrial workers felt the pain of this because their wages no longer bought as much. • In 1919 4 million or 20% of the work force went on strike.

8. The Red Scare • The emergence of the Soviet Union in 1917 and the ideas of Vladimir Lenin of spreading revolutions and putting and end to capitalism and rise to communism gave a scare to the people. • The Red Scare was a thought that there was going to be a communist uprising in the United States.

9. Cont. • Authorities discovered bombs mailed to important industrialists and government officials. • Radical political groups exploded bombs across several cities in the United States. • The leading Law Enforcement Official Palmer, mounted several raids to put an end to this radical movement. (Palmer Raids) • With these raids there were several mistrials that were based almost solely on race. (Sacco and Vanzetti)

10. Americans Embrace Normalcy • With Warren G. Harding running for president after Wilson, the Wilsonian Ideas were put to an end. • He didn’t want any more progressive reforms or foreign crusades, he wanted to return America to how it was before Wilson was President. • He won the 1920 election by a landslide with this concept.

11. Cont. • The only problem with this concept was that The United States had become an economic giant, it was the richest and most industrious country in the world. • European countries counted on American production of goods and often had to borrow money from the United States just to buy US goods. • We became the largest creditor nation.