Introduction

World War I precipitated so many major changes that it is widely regarded as a watershed in modern history. The enormous significance of the conflict as well as its inherent drama have attracted the attention of many scholars, popular writers, and artists. The First World War ruined the Hohenzollern (German), Habsburg, and Ottoman empires; gave the Bolsheviks their opportunity to seize power in Russia; and set the stage for the subsequent rise of fascism and the outbreak of World War II.

Some of the other changes are less tangible but no less significant. The grim and costly slaughter of the First World War led to massive disillusionment. Pessimism, irony, and doubt supplanted the optimism and belief in progress that had characterized prewar European attitudes. Romantic ideas about military glory and gallantry lost much of their appeal. The bright enthusiasm with which young men naively marched to war in 1914 seemed pathetic in retrospect. Although militarism, nationalism, and the glorification of war persisted after 1918, the European peoples had lost some of their innocence.

The glittering promises of a new world order that Allied and American leaders popularized during World War I in an effort to justify and sustain the costly campaign for victory had the unintended consequence of aggravating the subsequent disillusionment. The peace settlement fell far short of expectations. Although various regions and groups enjoyed years of prosperity during the 1920s, problems of runaway inflation and lagging farm income were ominous signs of trouble. Many middle-class German families saw their savings evaporate, as the government printed so much money that it virtually ceased to have any value. In the United States, dazzling profits on the stock market and booming industrial growth masked weaknesses in the economy such as lagging incomes among farmers and workers.

At the end of the 1920s, general economic depression compounded the problems confronting governments. Democracies during this period often seemed to be struggling against overwhelming challenges. In some countries the economic doldrums lasted through the 1930s. Responses varied widely, but a noteworthy trend was a strong impetus toward using government to relieve suffering and stimulate economic activity.

Meanwhile, new scientific concepts-some of them developed before the First World War-began to have a wider impact. Albert Einstein's theories displaced fundamental assumptions of Newtonian physics that had prevailed for two centuries. The relativistic implications of Einstein's theories also influenced philosophers and artists. Indeed, the first few decades of the twentieth century constitute a period that featured much ferment and experimentation. Moreover, some of the new forms and concepts came to be widely known and accepted, e.g., the paintings of artists such as Pablo Picasso or the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud.