Context

• The war ended in the late 1910s

• Germany suffered due to having to adhere to the terms set by the Treaty of Versailles

• For other countries, it brought economic prosperity

The 1920s around the world

• Hope, optimism, and economic prosperity after the war brought about new technology and social changes

• Production of cars and household appliances rose

• Mass production increased

  • Assembly lines

  • Machinery

• Easier production meant that these were no longer luxury products

  • People had regular work

  • Money to spend

• Advertisement campaigns emerged

  • Toasters

  • Vacuums

  • Fridges

  • Irons

The 1920s in Australia

• Electrical lighting installed in houses

• Many people didn’t have power points

• Appliances didn’t get widely spread until the 40s

• Cars were imported from overseas until Ford and General Motors established factories in 1925 in Australia

• 100,000 → 560,000 cars (1921 → 1939)

Media

• Radios became an influential innovation

• Advertising proliferated, airing to radios to families every night

• Radios helped bring the Jazz Age of the 1920s

• The Hollywood motion picture industry rose

  • The first talking movie was released in 1927

Fashion/Social

• Youth and freedom celebrated

• Boyish flapper style with short skirts, low waists, and short hair with bell hats popularised

• Women danced, smoked, and drank alcohol in public

• They went out without chaperones

• Flappers flaunted disregard for traditional codes of behaviour

• Conservatives provided resistance

• Flappers were rebelling against roles placed on women during the war

Jobs for women

• During the war, jobs were made available for women

• Many girls leaving high school were now expected to work

• Pay rates for women were still half of what men got

• Male work unions argued they put the working class men at risk

• The government was opposed to women working

Indigenous people

• Indigenous people still suffered despite social and economic changes

• The Stolen Generation began around this time

• Assimilation was present

The Great Depression

A period of severe economic downturn and hardship around the world

• The economy started to slow in the late 20s

• Work became harder to find and mass-production companies had less demand

• Prices for goods dropped around the world

• Unemployment in industrialised nations

• The New York Stock Exchange plummeted

• Many people were involved in investing money in shares bought on credit

• By late 1920 the number of investors grew and prices became inflated

• Some shareholders lost confidence and sold their shares

• Prices dropped and the market crashed

• Many investors lost everything

• Confidence in the economy sank, and businesses closed, causing unemployment

• People bought less stuff, causing a never-ending cycle

Australia in The Great Depression

• Australia was highly dependent on other countries during the 30s

• When the American economy collapsed, two-thirds of trading ceased

• People lost jobs overnight, and 32% were unemployed by 1932

• Without an income, many people lost their homes and lived in shabby housing

• Shanty towns sprang up around major cities

• People desperate to find work

• Charities attempted to feed the poor

• Ex-soldiers hit the hardest

  • Unable to find work

  • Families broke down

  • Homeless

  • Suicide rates among soldiers grew

The susso

• The government provided relief payments through sustenance payments

• By 1932 more than 60,000 people relied on susso

• The susso was granted to the truly destitute who had been unemployed for a long time and had no assets

• It consisted of food rations and coupons

• Fathers often deserted homes to become itinerant workers

• Men took to drink

• People engaged in petty crimes and all sorts of desperate measures to survive and pass the time