World War I: The Aftermath

World War I: The Aftermath

Economy in Turmoil

- Although the soldiers of WWI returned as heroes to their homes, they also returned to large unemployment.

- Government ended controls over the economy, so businesses raised the prices of goods that they had been forced to keep down during the war.

-Result: Rapid inflation Cost of living was greatly increased.

Inflation Leads to Strikes

- Workers wanted wages raised to keep up with inflation, but companies hesitated because their costs of operation were also increasing.

Seattle General Strike 🡪 35,000 shipyard workers walked off the job demanding higher pay and shorter hours.

General strike 🡪 involves all workers in a community, not just workers in the particular industry.

- 60,000 workers stopped working, which paralyzed the city for five days.

Inflation Leads to Strikes

Boston Police Strike 🡪 75% of the police forced walked off the job.

- Rioting and looting began and the governor, Calvin Coolidge, called in the National Guard.

- When the striking workers tried to return to work, they were fired and replaced by a new police force.

- Coolidge: “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anyone, anywhere, anytime” 🡪 Gained widespread support from the American public

Inflation Leads to Strikes

Steel Strike 🡪 350,000 steel workers went on strike for higher wages, shorter hours, and recognition of their union.

- Elbert H. Gary, head of U.S. Steel refused to acknowledge the strikers.

- Used anti-immigrant feelings to divide the workers as many were immigrants.

- Companies hired Mexicans and African Americans to replace the workers.

- Strike collapsed in 1920, and the steel industry remained unorganized until 1941.

Racial Unrest

- Many African Americans moved north to take factory jobs.

- Returning soldiers blamed African Americans for their inability to find work and affordable housing.

- Summer of 1919 🡪 25 race riots broke out across the nation.

- Angry whites burned shops and homes in an African American neighborhood in Longview, Texas.

Racial Unrest

- Groups of African Americans and whites fought for four days in Washington, DC.

- In Chicago, a group of young African American boys went to a whites-only beach and one was killed by a rock.

- Full-scale riot broke out in the city, lasted for almost two weeks 38 people were killed, 500 injured.

Red Scare

- Americans became fearful that communists were trying to take over the nation.

- Since 1800s, Americans had accused immigrants of importing radical socialist and communist ideas.

Red Scare 🡪 nationwide panic of the spread of communism in America.

- April 1919, the US postal service intercepted 30 homemade bombs June 1919, eight bombs in eight cities exploded within minutes of each other.

- One of the bombs destroyed the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.

The Palmer Raids

- Palmer established a special division with the Justice Department 🡪 The General Intelligence Division.

- This division was headed by J. Edgar Hoover and eventually became the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI.

- November 7, 1919 🡪 Palmer ordered a series of raids on the offices of the Union of Russian Workers in 12 cities.

- January, 1920 🡪 another set of raids on radical headquarters; resulted in 6,000 arrests.

- Nearly 600 people were deported as a result of the Palmer Raids.

The Palmer Raids

- Palmer’s agents ignored the civil liberties of the suspects.

- However, Palmer was regarded as a national hero.

- Red Scare prompted people to link radical thoughts and ideas with immigrants; eventually led to Congress limiting immigration.

The Election of 1920

- A great sense of disillusionment resulted from economic problems, labor unrest, racial tension, and memories of World War I.

- Campaign of 1920:

James M. Cox 🡪 Progressive ideals

- Wilson tried to convince Democrats to make about the Treaty of Versailles.

- Warren G. Harding 🡪 Republican candidate, called for a return to “normalcy”.

- Harding won by a landslide of over 7 million votes.

Multiple Choice

What resulted from American demobilization after WW1

• an economic boom

• an economic recession

• a period of strict economic regulation

• a period of increased industrial production

Multiple Choice

Millions of Americans were suddenly thrown out of work because of the demobilization of troops after WWI.

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

Which answer choice best explains the sudden rise in unemployment from 1918-1921?

• The United States was in a period of demobilization after WWI.

• More Americans moved from rural areas to cities.

• Europe was recovered from WWI and competed strongly with U.S. business.

• The United States experienced a devastating drought in the Midwest that impacted employment.

Multiple Choice

^{When WW1 ended, the U.S. government no longer need to buy vast quantities of guns, bullets, and other war materials. Factories, temporarily shut down to convert from wartime to peacetime production and farmers could no longer sell the same amounts of food to the military.}

The above can best be defined by which of the following?

• Imperialism

• Industrialization

• Mobilization

• Demobilization

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes the economic impact of demobilization in the U.S. after World War 1?

• Demobilization -------> increase in prices of goods

• Demobilization ------->lack of European trade partners

• Demobilization -------> drop in demand for American crops led to falling prices and the closure of farms.

• Demobilization -------> increase in demand for agricultural products and rising profits for farm operators.

Multiple Choice

Which choice best describes the term demobilization relating to World War 1?

• Increased production of armaments

• preparation of supplies and materials made on the homefront for wartime

• The process of moving all of these troops and equipment where they would best serve European allies during WW 1.

• restoring people and supplies into a post war society & economy

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was a cause of the economic downturn that accompanied the United States' demobilization after World War I?

• the rising prices of food and other necessities

• the lack of available foreign markets in which to trade

• the returning of servicemen accompanied by a lack of available jobs

• the political instability that resulted from antiwar sentiment among the public

Multiple Choice

Post WWI Foreign Policy in America was __________________ in the attempts to not get involved in world affairs. 

• Isolationism 
• I'm Not Touching You
• You're Not Touching Me
• Interjectionism 

Multiple Choice

Returning to a peace time economy

• demobilization

• xenophobia

• anarchy

• recession

Multiple Choice

People who want to abolish all forms of government

• communists

• socialists

• anarchists

• xenophobia

Multiple Choice

Americans created a Red Scare due to the communist revolution that had taken place in

• Germany

• France

• Russia

• Poland

Multiple Choice

The July 1919 riot in Chicago was

• started by anarchists

• caused by a strike

• the only urban riot that summer

• the result of increased racial tensions

Multiple Choice

The Palmer raids

• were always conducted with search warrants

• led to deportations of hundreds of immigrants

• gathered much evidence against the people arrested

• broke the power of the Central Labor Council

Multiple Choice

What was the Red Scare?

• a widespread fear of Communists and other radicals in the US

• a series of race riots

• a tactic used by mill owners

• a rumor about spoiled meat

Multiple Choice

Boston police went on strike for the right to

• party

• speak to President Wilson

• replace the police commissioner

• form a union

Multiple Choice

The steelworkers strike of 1919

• ended in a compromise between owners and workers

• had much support in the press

• broke the power of the union

• lasted less than a week

Multiple Choice

In 1919 a general strike took place in

• San Francisco

• Chicago

• New York City

• Seattle

Multiple Choice

Demobilization led to unemployment and

• recession

• xenophobia

• epidemics

• low inflation

Multiple Choice

After WWI, government officials and union leaders asked women workers

• not to quit their industrial jobs

• to give up their industrial jobs

• to increase industrial production

• to support legislation that would ban women from holding industrial jobs

Multiple Choice

How did the public often perceive unions as the result of events like the Haymarket riot and the Homestead strike?

• The unions were viewed as champions of the common man

• The unions were viewed as persecuted victims

• The unions were viewed as promoting violence and anarchy

• The unions were viewed as being treated unfairly by the government