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post war Spanish flu Paris lost 1920's before depression <br>
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Lost Generation & Roaring twenties Post WWI, Spanish Influenza, Paris & New York City after the War
America WWI • During World War I, Progressives strongly promoted Americanization programs, designed to modernize the recent immigrants and turn them into model American citizens, while diminishing loyalties to the old country. • The American Expeditionary Forces helped turn the tide in favor of Britain & France, leading to an Allied victory over Germany and Austria in November 1918. • By the time of the armistice, more than four million Americans had served in the armed forces and 116,708 had lost their lives.
As the war ended another tragedy of global proportions began
1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic • Soldiers coming home from WWI were thought to spread the virus • At least 40 million people died worldwide and about 500,000 people died in the US • 20-40% of the world population became ill because of the pandemic • Because they held national quarantines, Western Samoa and Iceland avoided the 1918 flu
1918 influenza killed between 2% and 20 % of those infected mostly killed young adults with more than half of the deaths in people between 20 - 40 years old due to novel surface proteins on the virus.
Factors that contributed tothe spread of the 1918 -1919 flu • Global war movingpeople great distances • Crowded conditions ontroop ships
1918 Flu Pandemic Facts: • May have killed as many people as the Black Death- bubonic plague • The majority of deaths were from a secondary infection such as bacterialpneumonia
European disillusionment • Political instability was present everywhere with competing political parties, a lack of democratic tradition, weak leadership and volatility from changing forms of government. • Economic trouble caused complications as unemployment and inflation rose resulting in national bankruptcy. • The Versailles treaty blamed the war on Germany and imposed a huge fine causing profound economic instability.
postwar disillusionment & the lost generation • The generation was “lost” in the sense that its inherited values were no longer relevant in the postwar world and because of its spiritual alienation from a consumer oriented United States • postwar disillusionment refers to the pain of readjusting to life after war. ...for many Americans, this resulted in an isolationist viewpoint towards Europe and the rest of the world
Paris after the War • color and creativity seemed more vibrant in Europe after the war than it did in American cities such as New York & Chicago, Many American writers and artists migrated to live more freely Paris. The term Lost Generation was shared first by writer and art collector Gertrude Stein with her friend Ernest Hemingway.
The Lost Generation • Term used to describe the generation of writers active immediately after World War I (post 1920s) • Gertrude Stein became famous for the using the phrase, borrowed from a car mechanic’s criticism of twenty-year-old slackers • The phrase signifies a disillusioned postwar generation characterized by… • Lost values • Lost belief in the idea of human progress • A mood of futility and despair leading to hedonism
What makes something a “Lost Generation” story? • Simple sparse style of expression - Economy of Language • Presence of effects of War (overt or implied) • Symbolism – colors, nature, etc. • Alcohol • Jazz • Influence of European culture, art, etc. • Rejection of Victorian era style
The Roaring Twenties A Revolution in Styles and Manners
Popular Entertainment • Radio, movies, and sports became the focus of American popular culture. • Radio • KDKA- 1st radio station in Pittsburgh went on air in November 1920 • Movies • Before WWI, silent movies were shown in small cinemas where admission was only 5¢ • The Jazz Singer was the first talking picture released in 1927 • Sports • To arouse interest in upcoming sports events, promoters billed every big event as the most thrilling in history • In 1920 Babe Ruth of the NY Yankees set a new record for home runs. People began pouring into the new Yankee Stadium to watch him break his own record
Culture and Style • The most important musical development of the 1920s was jazz. • 1920s became known as the “Jazz Age” • Rooted in black spirituals and African folk rhythms • Popular dances • Fox-trot, the camel-walk, the tango, and the Charleston • Flappers • A new woman was born • “modern” and “rebellious” • She cut her hair, wore make-up, went to petty parties, smoked, drank, danced, and voted
Fads and Fancies • Americans in the 1920s amused themselves with an assortment of games and fads. • Mah Jong • Chinese game played with colored tiles • Crossword puzzles • The idea started in Sunday newspapers • Magazines • The magazines founded in the 1920s had a more lasting effect on American popular culture • Life • Time • Reader’s Digest
The Literary Life • American writers were discontent with society. • The Lost Generation • Group of American writers who rebelled against the post-war America which had become increasingly materialistic • Ernest Hemingway • F. Scott Fitzgerald • Ezra Pound • Gertrude Stein
F. Scott Fitzgerald • Born 1896; Died in 1940 • Named after creator (and relative) of “The Star Spangled Banner” • Lieutenant in WWI after war) • Married Zelda (she was interested in money & power; refused to marry Fitzgerald unless he had these qualities)
The Great Gatsby Overview • Published in 1925 • Nick Carraway (narrator); Jay Gatsby • Only sold 20,000 copies in first year -many female readers -more well-known during WWII (150,000 copies sent to the American army) • Fitzgerald inspired to write about old vs. new money after moving with family in 1922 to Great Neck, NY (Long Island)
Jay Gatsby’s mansion was inspired by real ones such as Oheka Castle (New York).
