American History

World War I remains among the most brutal and garish of all wars as typified by the massive destruction on land, sea, and air. Additionally, the war saw the debut of weapons of mass destruction in the form of gas warfare and nerve agents. Surprisingly, the attitudes in America prior to the onset of the war gave no indication that dealing with such conflict was forthcoming. America was primarily isolationist towards Europe and was enjoying a rather calm period in its history. Of course, national security and world stability required the United States to enter the fray. The end result of this was that America would radically change in its attitudes and outlook on the world in the aftermath of The Great War.

Probably the greatest change in American attitudes in the years after the war was the American people looked towards a totally isolationist policy. In prior years, America had greatly expanded its territorial boundaries and spheres of influence throughout the world. But, the battles of World War I made the nation weary and the high amount of casualties led the populace to look away from interventionist or expansionist policies. It could be said that America turned itself inward and was no longer paying attention to the world stage. Whether or not this was a proper attitude to take has been debated by historians ever since.

Fueling the inward trend was the amazing economic boom periods that were leading to unprecedented growth. With the economy so prosperous, American culture began to absorb itself culturally in the innovations that such growth was delivering.

Technologically, one of the greatest developments was the growth of the automobile industry. While this industry still had many years to go before emerging into the powerhouse that it has become, the advent of a horseless carriage created a sense of wonder because mobility of the population had been enhanced.

The great growth of the motion picture industry also led to numerous amazing cultural impacts. Popular genres such as comedy and horror would lead to a sense of wonder in the population. For the first time, a visual representation of whimsy and fantasy was available and it certainly altered the way people approached life. Some could even say that the roaring 20s were born of the populations desire to escape from reality in the same way people seek such escapes in the cinema. It also would not be far from reality to assume that forgetting the misery of the war also contributed to the hedonistic attitudes of the populace.

Even more influential than technological developments, certain literary movements in the post World War I era greatly impacted American society. Without a doubt, F. Scott Fitzgeralds THE GREAT GATSBY captured the imagination of a nation and inspired them to weigh their place in the world. Other visionary authors such as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot would become enormously popular in this era as they promoted a sense of realism and insight into the human condition that did not exist to the same degree in works of prior decades or centuries. In many ways, these literary achievements would set the stage for social change in the coming years.

In conclusion, a sense of isolationism combined with technical achievements in media and transportation forever altered the way America looked at its culture. This is most evident in the literature of the time which started to embody a very serious tone. Some may argue that this led to the development of a sense of whimsy and carefree behavior that resulted in the Great Depression. This is really not the case because the American people may have been whimsical in some ways but the technological and societal trends of the era clearly show that the people were inward thinkers. Superficial would certainly not be an apt description of the populace in the 1920s.