Historical Events that Changed the World Essay -- World War 2 II Two

Historical Events that Changed the World Between World War I and World War II America went through events in the political, economical and social areas that would change the face of the nation forever. The various eras- World War I, the Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression & the New Deal, and World War II each had separate issues that caused changes in relation to class, gender, domestic and international affairs. Although many of these events were only effective temporarily, others still show a strong influence today. Movements such as woman suffrage, events such as dropping the atomic bomb, and social eras such as The Harlem Renaissance still play an important role in the lives of Americans today. World War I laid the foundations for the political and economical crisis that was soon to follow. Even before the end of the war, Allies claimed reparations from Germany, whose economy was destroyed. Wilson, after meeting with the Big Four, slowly began to accept the idea of reparations. Once implemented, the American banks were now beginning to profit greatly from loaning to both Germany and the Allies- Germany who had to pay their reparations and fix the infrastructure of the country, France whose infrastructure was destroyed and Great Britain, who had to pay back America for all the ammo and weapons they had bought. Germany entered a never-ending debt cycle- repaying the allies by taking out loans, then repaying the loans by taking out even more loans. Germany’s devastated economy as a new democratic nation that was used to monarchy led to poor democratic governments that always failed. These issues eventually caused the Nazi party to become dominant- and Hitler became lead er. The Bolshevik revolution in the 1917 started hatred towards the Communists in America (Eventually leading to the Cold War). The Red Scare that followed the war was a good example of the psychotic mind of the average American. The fear of being overthrown by communists was everywhere. Anyone who publicly opposed the war was immediately thrown into jail. â€Å"Subversive† books were removed from the shelves; feminists were attacked because of their opposition of American intervention in Europe. It was a time of chaos. Once Wilson was out of office, and Harding elected, however, things started to change- The 19th Amendment that was ratified in 1920 marked the end of 100 years o... ... morning of August 6th, 1945, Hiroshima was bombed, over 80,000 casualties, and Nagasaki was bombed 3 days later, with over 100,000 casualties. September 2nd, 1945 was the surrender date of the Japanese. Fourteen million troops and over 35 million civilians had perished in this devastating war. The era between World War I and World War II changed the face of America greatly. From the traditional world of religion, hands-off capitalism, modesty, white-male supremacy, emerged a new world- where evolution was taught, radio and movies became the main source of entertainment, where blacks were treated more as equals and less as scum, where women received voting rights and labor benefits, where California became the economic powerhouse. The era has set the economic and social values of which we live by today, as well as many political issues that have recently ended (Cold War) or issues that are still going on today-for example the Mexican illegal immigrant work force. All in all, I believe that the individual triumphs, or collapses, in the class, gender, domestic and international affairs of those times have changed the face of America and set the basis for our everyday lifestyle.