The Roaring 20's: USA, 1919-1929 Flashcards
How was the economy in the USA after WW1
It flourished: the industry expanded rapidly due to mass production being introduced, the economy prospered and people’s lifestyles greatly improved.
Why did people look to the USA for leadership after WW1?
They looked for leadership to prevent future wars and for financial assistance
Was life better for everyone in the US in 1920s
No, farmers and African Americans did not have an easy life
What is isolationism?
Avoiding European/world affairs and interests of others, and keeping yourself to yourself
What are 4 of the 14 points?
- a ban on secret treaties and reduction in arms
- self-determination for countries that were once part of the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian Empire
- independence for Belgium
- France to regain Alsace-Lorraine
What is self-reduction?
The right of nations to rule themselves
Who was Woodrow Wilson replaced by in 1920?
Warren Harding, 1920
What did Warren Harding want the US to return to?
‘Return to normality’, ie as though the war had never happened
Were the US for or against the war?
Against it. Many lives had been lost - but no-where near as close as the deaths in France and GB
How did the USA profit from WW1?
During the war, the US lent out loans to Britain and France, which they then had to pay back
Did the US join the League of Nations? Who made the decision?
No they didn’t, and it was Warren Harding that refused to join
What was the advantage for the US of not joining the League?
They could still trade with countries that were in crisis
What was the disadvantage for the US of not joining the League?
The League collapsed because they weren’t in it
Why did the Americans not want to join the league?
- They didn’t want their country involved in disputes taking place further away
- They believed the US would have to bear the cost of keeping the peace
What was the Fordney-McCumber tariff?
Where the American government put a tax on foreign goods and made them more expensive then the American goods
Why was tax put on American goods?
So that foreign goods were more expensive then the same American products so that the US could make a profit and to protect American industry
What year was the Fordney-McCumber tariff started?
1922
Was the Fordney-McCumber tariff effective in the long-term?
No, because it encouraged foreign governments to retaliate and put tariffs of American goods.
In the early years of WW1, how did US profit?
- American industries supplied arms and equipment
- American firms were able to take over much of the export Business of the European powers while they caught up in the fighting
Name a mass production technique
Assembly line, pioneered by Henry Ford before WW1
Who founded the Ford Motor Company and in what year?
Henry Ford
1903
What year was the assembly line used at the Ford Motor Company?
In 1914
What did the assembly line mean?
- a car could be produced one-tenth of the time previously taken
- the price of cars came down
- wages for the production-line workers went up
By 1930, how many cars were in the US?
30 million