An Age of Uncertainty
 Science: two remarkable thinkers made a huge impact on
the 20th Century
 Part of a scientific revolution as important as the first one
 Albert Einstein:
 German born physicist
 Theory of Relativity- space & time are not constant
 Sigmund Freud
 Austrian Physician
 Irrational part of the human mind is the unconscious
 The Interpretation of Dreams: 1900 book
 Weakened people’s faith in reason
Great Thinkers
An Age of Uncertainty cont’d
 Literature: people questioned ideas
about reason, progress & religion
 People feared the FUTURE
 T.S. Elliot: American poet who
wrote about a loss of spiritual
values (1922)
 William Butler Yeats: Irish poet
who in 1924 wrote about dark
times ahead
An Age of Uncertainty cont’d
 Thinkers
 Existentialism: philosophy that
there is no universal meaning to
life
 Friedrich Nietzsche
 1880’s German philosopher
who influenced existentialism
 His ideas had great impact on
politics in Italy & Germany in
1920’s & 1930’s
An Age of Uncertainty cont’d
 Writers
 Horrors of war influenced Franz Kafka
(Czech) 1924
 Freud influenced James Joyce (Irish) 1922
 Arts
 Painters
 Moved away from Realism & towards
Expressionism
 Cubism: 1907 Pablo Picasso (Spanish) used
genometic forms to display natural shapes
 Surrealism: try to link dreams to the real world

Salvador Dali (Spanish) 1931
An Age of Uncertainty cont’d
 Architects
 Functionalism: design reflects building’s
function or use
 Frank Lloyd Wright (American)
 Composers
 Jazz: new musical style from the United
States
 Developed by African-American in New
Orleans, Memphis, Chicago
 Led to dances like the Charleston
An Age of Uncertainty cont’d
 Technology:
 Pace of invention increased
 Automobile
 Middle Class could afford them
 Changed family lifestyles: travel
for pleasure, new businesses
developed, people moved to the
suburbs & commuted to work
An Age of Uncertainty
cont’d
 Airplanes
 1918: 1st airmail flights
 Charles Lindbergh: US pilot
who flew from New York to
Paris in 1927 (33 hours solo)
 Most major passenger airlines
began during the 1920’s
 Amelia Earhart: American
woman who was the first to
fly solo over the Atlantic
 Radio
 Research for development increased
 1920 world’s first commercial station started broadcasting
from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 Many European nations kept broadcasting under government
control
 Radio was very popular & most families owned a radio
 Movies
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1920’s motion pictures became a major industry
90% of films made in Hollywood
Dramas starred Mary Pickford & Rudolph Valentino
Comedy: Keystone Kops (slapstick)
Charlie Chaplin
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Comic genius
Known for portrayal of a lonely little tramp bewildered by life
Late 1920’s: added sound to movies
Mid1930’s: millions of Americans went to the movies weekly
Europe After the War
 European Countries
 Bankrupt because of fighting
 Dominance in world affairs ended
 US & Japan
 Only countries in better financial shape after the war &
expanded trade
 New Democracies Unstable
 1914-1918: Absolute rulers overthrown
 Newly created democracies have no experience in ruling
Europe After the War cont’d
 Coalition Government : temporary alliance of several
parties to govern when no single party has won a
majority
 Did not last long
 Hard to have strong leadership & work for long-term
goals
 A major problem when in a crisis
 Voters willing to give up democracy for strong,
totalitarian leaders
Europe After the War cont’d
 Germany/ Weimer Republic (established
1919)
 People blame new government for WWI loss
& Treaty of Versailles
 High Inflation
 During WWI Germany didn’t raise taxes to
pay for war (just printed more money)
 To pay reparations to Allies for WWI
(printed more money)
 Money is WORTHLESS & people blame
new government
Weimer Republic is Weak (1919)
 Serious weaknesses
 Germany had no democratic tradition
 Many political parties
 Germans blamed the Weimer Govt. for their defeat &
postwar humiliation because they had signed the Treaty
of Versailles
The Weimer Republic
Inflation Causes Crisis in
Germany
 To pay war expenses Germany printed more money
 To pay reparations they printed even more money
 Money became worthless
 People questioned the value of their new, democratic
government
Attempts at Economic
Stability
 International committee headed by Charles Dawes
(American banker) helped Germany recover
 Dawes Plan (1924)
 $200 million loan from US banks
 Stabilized currency & strengthened economy
 More realistic schedule for reparation payments (owe
$33 million instead of $55 billion)
 Worked by 1929
Efforts at Lasting Peace
 German foreign minister Gustav Stresemann & French
foreign minister Aristide Briand signed a treaty (1925)
promising to never make war on each other again in
Locarno, Switzerland
 Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact
 1928 US secretary of State Frank Kellogg & France’s Briand
pledged to “Renounce war as an instrument of national
policy”
 Almost all nations sign
 No way to enforce (no army to back it up)
 U.S. signs, but not part of League of Nations- which weakens
it.
The Great Depression
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Late 1920’s world economy was tied to U.S. prosperity
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1929 U.S. economy collapsed
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A Flawed U.S. Economy
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Over production by business & agriculture
Wealth NOT distributed equally
Less demand for consumer goods
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Most American families too poor to buy goods leading to massive layoffs
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Farmers could not pay bank loans, forcing banks to close
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STOCK MARKET CRASHES Oct. 29,1929
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Stock prices were unnaturally high & people decided to sell stock, believing rates would go
down. No one wanted to buy stocks, prices dropped quickly.
Billions of dollars in “paper wealth” vanished
Stocks bought at high price are worthless
Unemployment up, drops in industrial production, prices & wages
STOCK MARKET CRASHES
Oct. 29,1929
 1929- Wall Street in New York City was financial
capital of the world
 Stock prices were high due to booming economy
 Many people bought stocks “on the margin”- put
in a little $ and took a loan from stockbroker for
the rest
 Tuesday Oct. 29,1929- market crashed because
everyone wanted to sell, nobody wanted to buy
& stock prices fell quickly & are worthless
 Great Depression- long business slump with high
unemployment
 Banks failed and people lost all savings
 1933- ¼ of Americans unemployed
The Great Depression
Global Depression
 Collapse of American Economy Affects the World (chart on pg. 805)
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Americans no longer bought European goods
No more American investments in Europe
Conditions in U.S. got worse, panic in Europe
Germany & Austria
 Hit hard because of dependence on U.S. loans & investments
 Japan
 Farmers suffer because of 1931 crop failure
 Value of exports drop by half
 3 million city workers lost jobs & returned to villages for work
 Latin America
 Tied to global economy because of cash crops & raw materials
 Can’t pay debts to other countries
World Responds to the Crisis
 Britain
 Depression hit them severely
 National Gov’t: Coalition group made economic policies that
worked
 Nation had avoided political extremes & preserved democracy
 France
 More self-sufficient, agricultural economy
 Unemployment rose & crisis led to political instability
 Popular Front: coalition gov’t 1936 of Moderates, Socialists, &
Communists
 Reforms did not work but they did keep a democratic gov’t.
World Responds to the Crisis
cont’d
 Socialist Governments Find Solutions
 Denmark, Sweden, Norway built successful recovery
programs using cooperative community action
 Taxed all citizens to fund massive public works
projects & welfare benefits
Recovery in the U.S.
 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt elected
 New Deal- his program of reforms
 Believed gov’t spending would create jobs & start
recovery
 Public works projects, $ to businesses & farms, welfare
& relief programs
 Regulated stock market & banking
 Slow recovery