Post World War I Chaos

After WWI

• 14 million people dead, 7 million permanently disabled

• 600,000 Americans dead from the flu

• War cost $280 billion

In Europe

• Politically– Monarchies overthrown in Russia, Austria-Hungary,

Germany, Ottoman Empire– Bolsheviks rose to power in 1917

• Economically– Devastated European economies, made US #1– Britain lost power of world’s financial center– Reparations imposed on Germany crippled them

• Socially– A whole generation of men died

• Culturally:– France was in ruins

In the U.S.

• Politically:– Wilson failed to join League of Nations

• Economically– Huge increase in demand for consumer goods

• Led to inflation

– Farmers had less demand, big surplus– Available jobs attracted African Americans northward

• Socially– Women went to work– 19th Amendment passed in 1919, ratified 1920– African American population shift caused uneasy race relations

What might happen in the 1920’s?

What problems/opportunities might arise?

Prosperity and Intolerance

PROSPERITY• New products• New industries• New ways of doing

business• Expanded the

economy

INTOLERANCE• Flu - medical crisis• Reduced demand in

farms and factories• Returning soldiers

struggle to find jobs• Hatred towards the

Germans

100% Americanism

• World War I stirred strong patriotic feelings

• Gave rise to 100% Americanism– Celebrated all things

American– Attacked foreign ideas

and people

The Bolsheviks• 1917 Bolsheviks

revolutionized Russia– Led by Vladimir Lenin

• Established communism– No economic classes, no

private property

• Called for the overthrow of capitalism

• Lenin predicted workers would rise up and crush capitalism

How might Americans react?

U.S. Reaction to Communism

• Shock and fear• Fear shifted from

Germans to “The Reds”

• “Red Scare”– Widespread fear of

communism gripped the nation

• Do you think the media had influence?

The Palmer Raids

• A. Mitchell Palmer - Attorney General • Leader in federal government’s anti-communist

campaign• Led attacks on suspected radicals

– “Palmer raids”– Justified his actions with wartime laws

• Aliens, just belonging to certain groups meant deportation

• Arrested thousands of people in suspected radical groups

Labor Strife

• In 1919, over 4 million workers involved in 3,000+ labor strikes

• War ended - economy sank– Demand declined– Hurt many industries– Soldiers returned to lack of jobs– High turnover

• Red Scare made people fear that workers would rise up, overthrow the government

Labor Strikes

• Seattle General Strike, Feb. 6-11, 1919– Nations first major general strike

• Workers of all industries• Nothing gained by workers

• Boston Police Strike, Sept. 9-13, 1919– Police force went on strike

• Governor Calvin Coolidge brought in state militia to end the strike

• Nothing gained

• United Mine Workers Strike, Sept. 1919– Very few gains

• Strikes damaged reputations of Unions

• Connection with communism

• Not the time for laborers to advance their cause

Limiting Immigration

• Scarce jobs, Red Scare did not favor foreigners in the U.S.

• Rise of nativism– Distrust of foreigners– Clash between earlier immigrants and newer ones

• Nativists were often Protestants from N and W Europe immigrated pre-1900

• New immigrants often Jews, Catholics from S and E Europe

• Citizens, laborers favored restrictions

Limiting Immigration

• 1921 - Fed. Gov. established quotes of immigrants to be allowed into U.S.

• National Origins Act - 1924– Set quotas for each country at 2% of the

number of people from that country who lived in the U.S. in 1890

– Huge limitations on E and S Europeans– Almost all immigration from Asian countries

Ku Klux Klan

• Revival in 1920’s• Targeted Jews,

Catholics, all types of radicals

• “Native white, Protestant supremacy”

• Moved beyond the south

Sacco and Vanzetti

• Massachusetts court case in 1920• Two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and

Bartolomeo Vanzetti, arrested for armed robbery and murder– Self proclaimed anarchists

• Very little evidence against them– On trial for political beliefs

• Convicted, sentenced to death • Executed in 1927

Review

• What were the causes and effects of the first Red Scare?

• How did labor strife grow during postwar years?

• How did the U.S. limit immigration after WWI?

For next class…

• Read up on current events

• Read Chapter 9

• Briefing to President Harding