In the 20th century, public faith in democratic nations declined at a steady pace. Partly due to the Great War, loss of Christian faith, and the Great Depression, people began to look towards other systems of government. These factors, coupled with the growing unrest among the people, gave way to what is known as The Age of Anxiety.
Although the Age of Anxiety historically began in 1900, the Great War was a major contributer to the sense of displacement and chaos present during that time. The Great War, also referred to as World War One, began in 1914 and lasted until 1918. The main players in this war were Russia, Serbia, Germany, Austria- Hungary, France, Britain, Italy and the United States. Prior to the outbreak of war, there was increased tension and hostility between the great European powers over militarism, imperialism, and nationalism. In particular, the European nations were in rivalry with each other over their armies and navies. Germany’s military, especially, became a growing threat; a threat that increased when it formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy. As a result, Britain, France, and Russia were brought together in alliance. Although there were several factors that caused the war, the war immediately broke out after the July Crisis of 1914 in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated. The Great War was the very first extensive war, or total war, in which the weapons used were extremely deadly and horrible.
The end of the war gave rise to new empires and states, as well as signified the end of other empires. As this happened, public faith in democratic institutions began to decline as new systems of government came to be, including Communism in Russia and Facism in Italy ...
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... able to capitalize on the anxiety felt by Germans as a consequence of the revolution in the early 1930s. In his Reichstag speech, Hitler attempted to unite the German nation together, and eventually even convinced the German people that the Jewish people were to blame for their troubles. As the slaughter of the Jewish people took place in German nations, the world was on the edge of its seat, waiting to see who would be dragged into the new world war, and this, without a doubt, increased the chaos and anxiety felt during The Age of Anxiety.
The Age of Anxiety between 1914 and 1950 was a time of great unrest among the people, as well as period of extensive change among countries. Highly influenced by The Great War, loss of faith, and the Great Depression, the public faith in democratic institutions declined, a trend that is still evident in Western civilizations.
With this in mind, the era of disillusionment after World War I is completely different from the Progressive period before it. People
...ed. As quoted by Nash, “it produced the greatest flow of energy since the Puritan Movement a century before”. Followers believed a new source of authority was needed, and the actions many took led to revitalization of mind and body. Inadvertently, this led to the creation of new branches of religion, and each citizen was able to make the individual choice to believe what they wanted to believe. This led to a more extensive sense of individualization. The masses had, over time been building up a sense of needing something new, a restoration of how they lived their lives. They knew that in order to obtain change, they needed to take action themselves, determined by the ideology of democracy. Gary Nash’s essay entitled “The Transformation of European Society” delineated how the “democratic personality” effectively impacted social, economic, and religious conditions.
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
In conclusion, religions not being accepted by other people and unequal distribution of land led to a small decline in a democracy being formed. Although, there were many small and minor improvements, they did not make that period more democratic. In fact, in the Connecticut Gazette, it showed that the people were yearning and in many ways begging for a democracy and wanted independence (Doc L). Even though that happened, the democracy they wanted did not get as far as they hoped for. Yet, it created doors for more to be done later.
This paralysis is the product of both the long peace and the great war. The period extending from Waterloo to 1914 lulled the West into believing that the age of Man's aggression had passed. Because the "hard decisions" of taxation, prohibition, and war were not often faced in these years, the Jacobin concept of the desirability of weak government was instilled in the West. When the first world war did come about, the West was unable to deal effectively with its costs. The new technologies spawned by the industrial revolution, as well as the greater populations involved, had made war infinitely more costly than in the past. Consequently, the executive aspects of Western governments were forced to "democratize" the appropriation of men and money by handing their power to the representative assemblies. The assemblies too were forced to cede their power to "the People," who channeled them to media powers and party leaders. The result was "Disastrous and revolutionary. The democracies became incapacitated to wage war for rational ends or to make a peace which would be enforced."
World War I, also referred to as the Great War, was global conflict among the greatest Western powers and beyond. From 1914-1918, this turf war swept across rivaling nations, intensifying oppositions and battling until victory was declared. World War I was immediately triggered by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, however several long-term causes also contributed. The growing development of militarism, the eruption of powerful alliances, as well as the spread of imperialism, and a deepening sense of nationalism, significantly promoted to the outbreak of the Great War.
It was during the 1920’s to the 1940’s that totalitarian control over the state escalated into full dictatorships, with the wills of the people being manipulated into a set of beliefs that would promote the fascist state and “doctrines”.
After the end of the World War I in 1920, the United States entered in a period where great changes were made. During this period known as the New Era of the 1920’s, many innovations were taking place as well as many economic developments, which were stimulating the way through a change in America’s society. However, while for some Americans this was an era of better opportunities for living, some others were suffering the consequences. Later on, with an unequal distribution of wealth and low incomes, America’s economy was in a vulnerable point of a catastrophic collapse. And so it was. By the end of the 1920’s, when the stock market crashed, the prosperity of that period disappeared and the nation was sunk into an economic catastrophe known as the Great Depression. Many factors constituted the reasons for this collapse, for example, the Wall Street crash, the oligopolies domination over American industries, the weaknesses in some industries (textile, coal and agriculture), and also the government policies and international economic difficulties. Then, by the early 1930 with the depression spreading and affecting the entire society, the policies, philosophy and optimism that Herbert Hoover had brought to his presidency was being challenged. As a result, by the time of the elections in 1932, Hoover lost the presidency against the candidate of the Democratic Party, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his campaign of what he called the New Deal. Based on this, FDR pushed towards many solutions for the “crises of a collapsing financial system, crippling unemployment, and agricultural and industrial breakdown” (Goldfield, Page 704). Even thought when various changes were made, it was during the period right after the elections of 1936 that polit...
The first decade of the 21st century was a particularly eventful time in history. Recent studies have shown that ...
The 1920s were known as carefree and relaxed. The decade after the war was one of improvement for many Americans. Industries were still standing in America; they were actually richer and more powerful than before World War I. So what was so different in the 1930’s? The Great Depression replaced those carefree years into ones of turmoil and despair.
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Germany was experiencing great economic and social hardship. Germany was defeated in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles forced giant reparations upon the country. As a result of these reparations, Germany suffered terrible inflation and mass unemployment. Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party who blamed Jews for Germany’s problems. His incredible public speaking skills, widespread propaganda, and the need to blame someone for Germany’s loss led to Hitler’s great popularity among the German people and the spread of anti-Semitism like wildfire. Hitler initially had a plan to force the Jews out of Germany, but this attempt quickly turned into the biggest genocide in history. The first concentration camps in Germany were established soon after Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933.“...the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew.” –Adolf Hitler
World War 1 World War 1 was called “The Great War”, “The war to end all wars”, and “The first modern war”. It has many causes and a few repercussions and I will describe them in detail. The most widely known reason for the start of World War 1 was the assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in the Serbian capital of Sarajevo. The ArchDuke was there to talk to the Serbian leaders about peace on the Balkan Peninsula. After a Serbian was arrested for the assassination, Austria-Hungary pulled out of the peace talks and declared war on Serbia.
During the 1930s the world experienced many hardships just as the United States. The Great Depression was not only a problem in the United States, but it was a global problem. In nineteen thirty-two, six million people were unemployed in Germany and three million in Britain (Freeman 3). These depressions may have led to the increase in dictatorships. Both Hitler and Stalin came into power in the 1...
Anxiety: “Now I am wearing this smile I do not believe in! Inside, I feel like screaming!”