1920's Economic Effects

The First World War created massive growth opportunities on the economic front in America when she joined the war in 1916. The need for industrial production on a massive scale to provide arms for the war effort, gave rise equally to employment.

With most able bodied men away at the war in Europe, it fell to women and African Americans to fill those jobs and meet the rising demands. (As a direct result of this, Wilson, president of USA during this period, recommended and supported that woman be given the right to vote). With all the work opportunities, “African American’s” and woman flooded to the cities. Money was suddenly in good supply and not since the previous recession in 1897 had the general public enjoyed such economic prosperity. (This prosperity however, had a direct effect on consumer prices which went up drastically.)

However, with the ending of the war in 1918, many men returned home victorious, full of fervor from the war to end all wars, only to find themselves unemployed due to the now lower demand for production and the fact that many
Whilst new countries were formed, old empires were destroyed, some nations lost territory and resources and of course there was a massive death toll (estimates range between 13 and 19 million lives). Displaced citizens (as a result of the war and also those fearful of the new revolutionary movements such as the Bolsheviks of Russia) of Europe became migrants. The influx of an estimated 15 million immigrants to the US (about 20% of the estimated 76 million population of 1900) would further pressurize the now highly competitive work environment. Tensions began to rise. These factors played a vital role in destabilizing the global economic landscape which surely contributed to the unsustainability of the USA’s changing economic