What Does the 1920s Mean to Me?

The 1920s have the awkward privilege of being right in between the misery of World War I and the misery of the Great Depression and World War II. As such, people usually see the 1920s as this bright spot where everyone was happy and everything was great. It is definitely one of the most romanticized decades. But is this really the case? I’m not so convinced.

A lot of people tend to view the 1930s as where the build up to World War II happens. There is definitely many reasons to believe that. Things like Hitler taking power in Germany, the Japanese invasion of China, and the Great Depression all happen in the 1930s. However, these things just do not come out of nowhere. Most of them are set up by things that happen in the 1920s. The 1920s are the post-World War I era that is often ignored. World War I does cast a long shadow, as World War II would not have happened without it, but many do not consider the short term effects of World War I. “The War to End All Wars” ended nothing and it itself did not end in a way that was satisfying for anyone. No one really gained anything from this war, but a lot was lost, especially for the losers of war, more specifically Germany. Many in Germany, especially in the military, felt that they did not really lose the war and that they were betrayed by their government. This included a certain young corporal in the German army whose ideas and actions would be having an impact sooner that what might be thought.

These two fairly standard images of the 1920s might seem like they disprove my point that the 1920s are not what they are chalked up to be, but I believe that they do. The first image is a typical city in the 1920s, London specifically is depicted in this photo. The photo shows the typical buildings of the time, many people of bicycles, and most importantly, a lot of cars. Now cars were nothing new in the 1920s, they had been around for a good number of years, and also cities had looked like this since the turn of the century. So why is this important for the 1920s? Not only are there way more cars than there would have been 20 years prior, but people are used to it by now. Cars are part of the new norm of society. It can be equated to the internet with its impact and how people adjusted to it. Cities are getting bigger and bigger. Industry is becoming more and more automated. The industrial power of the 1920s is often overlooked. It is not a coincidence that the automobile industry actually does fairly well in the Great Depression.

The second image shows pretty much what anyone thinks of when the 1920s are mentioned. Parties, flappers, jazz, etc. But my question is: how important is this really? I’m talking big picture. Does anything in this image go post this decade? Not really. So why is everyone obsessed with it? I blame popular culture. The same stuff that has given people a false impression of the American West has also, in my opinion, given people a false impression of the 1920s. I am much more interested in the things that are happen in the 1920s that have a lasting impact going forward, things that really do not get enough credit.

If anything I would consider the 1920s to be not necessarily misunderstood, but rather misinterpreted. The common images of the 1920s are all well and good, as they are things that definitely did happen at the time, but there is more going on with this decade, especially if the focus is taken away from the United States.