The Lost Generation

After the Civil War, plantations and farming on that grand scale had forever ended. The Industrial Revolution began bringing in businesses left and right and society was now supporting factory jobs over field work. However it wasn’t until World War 1 that America finally gained some international headway in the industrial world. The Economy of the 1920s was much different than it is today; that may seem a little redundant and obvious but nonetheless true.. Britain was no longer the banker of the world, Britain and France had contracted monumental debts during the war and were both depleted. Since the United States didn’t enter the war till later on, the economic damage was not severe. The American economy was actually stimulated by the war. Exported goods had increased by three fold, by 1928 America made over about a third of the worlds’ manufactured goods and four fifths of new industries were based in the States.

When World War 1 broke out, Britain was the world leader in Industrial work; and by reading anything by Charles Dickens, life working in this new industry was hard. The war effort quickly depleted the Allies of money and workers. America didn’t enter the war until 1917, and by the time the war ended America had become the world leader in industry. Since the United States was mass producing equipment for the army, they quickly converted that technology to make things to sell for the public. Cars, household appliances, and much more was being sold by the masses to the public.

After World War 1 made a truce on November 11th in 1918, politics began to take a more global turn. France and Britain wanted Germany to foot the bill whereas America was trying to be a referee and compromise a middle ground. The Treaty of Versailles failed in trying to give Germany some kind of dignity. It was a universal thought that the point of the Treaty was to prevent another World War. In the moment, it seemed like the perfect solution to the ‘victors’ of the first World War. Of course in hindsight, it was a ticking bomb; and the resulting explosion would result in the next World War.

France is run by a Prime Minister who demands that Germany start paying immediately. Eventually, Britain tried to help Germany with their payments but it didn’t pay off in the long run. Germany's final payment for World War 1 was just paid in 2010.

When France elected a new Prime Minister after the war, the people didn’t seem to really care what happened next. Hemingway wrote several articles between 1922 and 1924 where he talks about the political climate of France while he lived there with his wife and daughter. That’s where Clemenceau comes in, he’s a “tiger” and he starts to take aggressive steps to make Germany start paying for their part in the war. That’s when the French invade and occupy the Ruhr Basin. “They believe that they can get all the money they wish out of Germany if they only threaten her enough and cannot see that they will only produce utter bankruptcy and get nothing.”

What a strange world it would be if someone owed us money and it would be legal to just move into their house and live there for free until they paid us back. They’d pay for food, rent, parties, utilities; all for someone that they owed money to. Is it any wonder that the Germans looked for an aggressive leader of their own? I DO NOT condone what happens next in Germany, but what do you really expect when you push someone to the edge of a cliff?