Even though America sent its soldiers into battle only 17 months before the war's end, the First World War had a major impact on the social, economic, and political landscape of the US. Tens of thousands of American men left for war zones, leaving the women to assume responsibility for all aspects of economic and social life, including working in the industries that provided goods and services for both the fighting forces and the families back home. Therefore, so as to get a clear picture of the effects and the social, political, and economic changes in America in the 1920s following the end of the First World War, it is important to analyze the events before the war, especially beginning 1905 to 1915.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, American faced many challenges as a result of urbanization and industrialization. These two elements were landmark occurrences which significantly affected the American economy. The business entities and significant economic holdings at stake were supported by the private sector, especially the middle class, who championed the progressivism movement hence directly controlling the mainstream of public commerce. The politics of the US then were very polarized, volatile, and compromised by many internal forces. The democrats and the republicans were the primary drivers of the American political arena; nevertheless, the progressives had a significant niche through which they breached neutrality between the two large political parties. The era was characterized by two republican and one democrat presidents, Roosevelt, Howard, and Woodrow respectively, and they all affiliated themselves with the progressive movements. The muckrakers were social activists who enlightened the Americans about the social failures and areas of interest to approach for change. Child labor in the US was on the increase then, and the women had most of their rights curtailed. The females had been disenfranchised, and their lives in the society were centered on getting married and looking after their husbands and children.
After the First World War, beginning the 1920s, America faced many changes in social, economic, and political segments. The US had lost approximately 116, 708 military officers in the feuds. This was a big blow to the social stability of America, and by extension for the economy as well. Many children became orphans and thousands of women widowed. The women become the sole breadwinners of their families. Mothers and their daughters became destitute, life became challenging, and many were forced to take up the otherwise masculine jobs, including working in the factories and industries for a living. The economy faced many challenges as well, due to the lost workforce, both skilled and semi-skilled. The youth had joined new programs to support the war, and the elderly had no desirable workforce to keep the country`s social and economic systems stable, considering that equal to or greater than 4,355,000 Americans in number were actively involved in the war. The war had been the center stage of life, as all efforts in the cities, corporations, farms, and communities were focused toward the battlefield. Millions of Americans were obliged to engage in war-related jobs, and others joined nongovernmental organizations like Red Cross. Americans were determined to win the war, and so a large percentage of money, resources, ammunitions, and food supplies were geared toward the same. This resulted in economic failures in the immediate period (the 1920s) after the war.
Nevertheless, the period after the First World War would later turn into a new twist of political economic and social events. For instance, the black Americans took a new dimension in the American political landscape. Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican propagandist and human rights activists, founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) movement which sought to enlighten black Americans in the foreign land and shipped them back to their motherland, Africa. The effect, as would later be realized, was that political controversies both in the black American political turf and the rest of America, as well as the affected labor force for the American industries, factories, and farms, hence affecting the economy negatively. Nevertheless, beginning 1922, the American history would change for the better. The economy began to grow at a faster rate, and the social segment became changed, and the era was characterized by names like The Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age. The booming economy led to escalated consumer consumptions, due to fallen prices, and increased wages. Nevertheless, all these events would result in the great depression, which began in 1929 August following the Wall Street crash and hence the onset of the economic recession. Even though it was unfortunate that the American woman witnessed no significant changes in their social and suffrage rights, the young females changed in culture, traditions, and dress code, elements that shook the whole country and would later change the country. The mass media that had motion pictures and recorded paraphernalia were a pivotal role player in the social changes.
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