Bristol Stout

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The Essay That Has Been Tweeted About, Cried Over, and Caused Mental Breakdowns The 19th and 20th century brought about great change and precedence events that would be building blocks for modern day life. These events include Imperialism, the Progressive Reform Era, World War I, the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, and World War II. These events brought about social, political, and economic change that has shaped life today. Three major trends among these events are the evolution of womens role in society, United States foreign intervention, and nationalism. The Progressive Reform Era was a period of social activism and political reformation, starting from the end of the 18th century flourishing until the 1920s. This period of reform tackled womens suffrage and equality, federal reform, social welfare, workplace reforms, labor unions and movements, along with many other issues pressed for change by progressives. Although not all progressives agreed, many felt the same on the following topics; government should be more accountable to its citizens, government should curb the power and influence of wealthy interests, government should be given more flexibility with its powers so it can improve the lives of citizens, and that government should become more efficient and less corrupt. During the 19th century continuing into today, the role of women has significantly changed, and has had a detrimental impact on society. This change was sparked by the progressive era. Womens groups played a monumental role in many of these reform movements. For example, the National Consumers League formed in 1899. This womens group formed to unite local consumers leagues, and investigate that factories pass all state regulations, including minimum wage. However, not all women groups and women activist shared the same beliefs. Some would support prohibition, while others healthier working conditions. Overtime, these women realized to ignite change they must not only become politically and socially involved and educated, but have the right to vote as well. Social worker Jane Addams, in reference to the gaining complexity of modern city life, said, Women who live in the country sweep their own dooryards and may either feed the refuse of the table to a flock of chickens or allow it innocently to decay in the open air and sunshine. In a crowded city quarter, however, if the street is not cleaned by the city authorities-no amount of private sweeping will keep the tenement free from grime; if the garbage is not properly collected and destroyed a tenement house mother may see her children sicken and die of diseases Jane Addams, along with many other women activist during this time, believed without the right to vote, the government reform needed to protect their families wouldnt happen. Groups, such as, the National Women Suffrage Association formed with leaders like, Susan B. Anthony, took the fight for womens suffrage by storm. Over years of battles with the Senate and Congress, women had won many rights. However, they had yet to win their right to vote. With all their support, organization, and activism put into their reform groups, women showed the world they deserved the right to vote, and would eventually win this right. Although, it is not until after WWI and into the Roaring 20s that the nineteenth amendment is ratified. During WWI, womens roles changed, and their responsibilities increased. With many of men at war, women and minorities were the ones who took over for these men on the home front. Businesses who needed workers, especially war related businesses, couldnt afford to discriminate women and minorities like normal. About 400,000 women joined the industrial work force while, some 500,000 African Americans migrated from the south to the north in look

for work; known as the Great Migration. Not only did womens help at home help the war effort, but many women helped by being nurses in the war. These major social changes would later be pivotal in the argument for womens suffrage. The Roaring 20s is considered one of the greatest times of social change for women. This was a time of radical social change, a booming economy, with an energetic attitude, and luxurious lifestyle for the US, Canada, and Britain. This lifestyle was filled with glamour, the kind where people would drink champagne when they were thirsty. With writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway glorifying this lifestyle in their novels and short stories, many strived to live it. This would later become a problem during the Great Depression when people find themselves having mass amounts of personal debt. Due to the war, womens role in the work force increased, and women moved into better, high-paying jobs. This, combined with womens suffrage had inspired women to change. The flapper symbolized this change and revolution for women. A flapper is a term used to describe the bold, energetic, rebellious nature of the women of this time. Flappers were often known for having bobbed hair, wearing short dresses, and many drank and smoked. This behavior and look, although more convenient, was very new, shocking, and even frowned upon by traditional people. However, this change was soon welcomed and accepted, along with the many other social changes and advances of this time. Women didnt only change their appearance and role in the work place, but many became known as American heroes. For instance, Amelia Earhart became an American hero after breaking many records in the flying field. One of these records was being the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic. Earhart helped open the field of aviation to more women. Another famous woman of this time was Kathleen Thomas. Thomas was a famous swimmer, who crossed the treacherous Bristol Channel before any man could. Thomass success along with the success of many other female swimmers during this time helped the unconventional idea of competitive women swimmers become more accepted. This time of luxury and change would soon end as America falls into the greatest economic crisis in United States history; The Great Depression. During the 20s the stock market was viewed as invincible, therefore many people invested all they had into it. On October 29, 1929, panic selling caused the US stock market to crash. This crash would ultimately start the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a time many women had to work again to help provide for their families and selves. Providing for families was extremely difficult, and jobs were scarce. However, the poor-paying jobs, like nursing, were considered womens work. Majority of the struggles for Americans during the Great Depression were blamed on President Hoover, and with women having the right to vote, majority of their votes went to Franklin Roosevelt in the 1932 election. Roosevelt won this election by a margin of 7 million popular votes. Another major war hits America hard; WWII. This war brings about the need for major increases in production, conservation, and investments. WWII helps end the Great Depression by creating more jobs, and boosting US morale. Womens role in WWII is similar to that in WWI. Women help with the war effort through producing war related materials, food, investing in liberty bonds, and conserving what their families and them use. These efforts helped supply soldiers with necessities, and helped fund and support the Allies. If it wasnt for this fighting on the US home front, there is no doubt that the Allies would have lost WWII.

All these major events have a commonality; the role women played had a detrimental impact on the success and outcome. From the Progressive Era to today, it has been made clear that women play a major role in politics and have socially evolved. If this evolution never occurred, and women stayed in their traditional outline, these events wouldnt have played out the way they did. The survival of families during WWI, WWII, and the Great Depression would have been near impossible, if women didnt break tradition and work beyond the standard womens work type of jobs. The Roaring 20s was a time that showed women can do almost anything a man can do, with inspirations such as Emilia Earhart. If these women didnt show their abilities, equality would be nothing more than a mere fantasy for the common house wife, and the fight for womens suffrage wouldnt have been a success. However, the evolution of womens role in society and politics is still a continuing process. Toda y, women are fighting for things such as equal wages and the same opportunities, as men. On the political stand point, women are fighting for the same positions as men, with women running for president and vice president. Inspirations such as Hillary Clinton seem to be modern examples of political women like Eleanor Roosevelt. The monumental election of African American president, Barack Obama, shows that change in social behavior and beliefs have truly taken place. With this historical election, there is no telling when a women will be elected president, but that this is not as absurd as it would have been in the 19th and 20th century. Some of the greatest events and most impacting in history are WWI and WWII. However, these events would have had a completely different ending if the US didnt get involved. US foreign intervention has had a monumental impact on history and life today. After the US victory in the Spanish-American War, our view on foreign affairs changed dramatically, leading the US into a century of intervening in foreign affairs. Although the US claims neutrality, often this is broken and the United States steps into world conflicts, or provides aid to countries in these conflicts. The US officially entered World War I in 1917, after a time of neutrality. WWI was caused by many things including imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and alliances. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Militarism is the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests. Nationalism is devotion to ones nation. The alliances of WWI were Germany and Austria-Hungary, Russia and France, and Great Britain and France. These alliances bound the great powers to come to each others aid, causing the conflict to thicken. Propaganda in the US against the Central Powers flourished. Public opinion was swayed in the favor of the Allies, and even though the US preached staying neutral, soon the US began to slowly get more and more involved. This began with the Preparedness Movement. The Preparedness Movement was when the US government set up training camps, and began to train soldiers to be ready for war. After this was the Peace Movement. The Peace Movement swept across the nation when the war broke out. Advocates of this movie insisted the Preparedness Movement be paid with taxes, in hopes to deter citizens from wanting the Preparedness Movement. However, the movement still remained strong. Germans began to use submarine warfare that eventually caused the deaths of US citizens. The Germans promised to stop sinking merchant ships without warning. This was known as the Sussex Pledge. But, the Germans didnt follow this pledge long. This built up animosity between the US and the Central Powers. Next, the Zimmerman note caused a huge shift in the United States thoughts on staying neutral. The Zimmerman Note was a note from

Germany to Mexico asking them to start a war with the United States, in return Germany would give them US land. Even though Mexico wouldnt be able to do this, the United States did not take this lightly. The Russian Revolution was a factor that deterred the US from going to war, because they didnt want to be aligned with an unstable country. This factor soon disappeared when the Russian monarchy was replaced with a republican government. Between March 16th and 18th German U-boats sank two US ships. This was the last straw for the US president. War was declared on April 6th; the United States had officially joined in WWI on the side of the Allies. After years of fighting, and deaths the war ended. If the United States had not gotten involved in WWI there is no saying the Allies would have lost. This loss would have a life changing impact on every country. The powerhouse countries would be completely different, WWII would not have happened the way it did, and war on the US would have at some point been declared. The Great Depression also would have been impacted, considering debt from the war played a factor in it. In the 1920s and 1930s, fascism swept across Europe, with dictators corrupting countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain, and the Soviet Union. One of the most notorious of these dictators was Adolf Hitler. Head of the Nazi Party, Hitler did not start off immediately as a dictator. His rise to power started with his gaining popularity in the Nazi party, later he would be elected as Chancellor, and soon the chancellor and president calling himself, Der Fuhrer. Germany began secretly improving all sectors of the country, and transforming into a powerhouse country. With an increasing, well developed military, Germany starts expanding and taking over European countries, but Britain continues to successfully defend them. During this time the Japanese military was expanding Japans power across Southeast Asia and China. FDR soon goes against the Neutrality Acts and creates the Lend-Lease, which allows the US to aid Great Britain during the war. Britains need for help from the US is detrimental in their survival in the war. The US pushes the ideas of investing, producing, and conserving to help the war effort, on to their citizens. It becomes easily noticed that the US is no longer a neutral country when their foreign aid soon becomes complete involvement in the war, when the attacks on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese lead the US to declaring war on Japan and later with Germany and Italy. Fighting alongside Great Britain and Russia, the Allies ultimately win the war against Germany, Japan, and Italy. If the US didnt get involved in WWII, Great Britain would not have had the resources needed to survive Germanys attacks, and Germanys expansion would not have been stopped. The consequences of this would be life changing, and have an impact on a worldwide scale. Lastly, nationalism played a part in almost every aspect of the major events that shaped the world today. Nationalism is defined as the devotion to ones nation. This does not restrict nationalism to the devotion of a country, but that to any group of people united by a commonality. Nationalism role in imperialism was a major one. Imperialism is when a stronger nation takes over a weaker one; politically, economically, or socially. The reasons for this are economic factors, military factors, humanitarian factors, and nationalism. Conflicts between nations over land were on the rise. In order to protect their nations ideals and reputation, competition between European for land began to increase. For example, when France acquired colonies in West Africa, Great Britain and Germany tried to stop this expansion by claiming nearby land. For the most part, America followed the Monroe Doctrine, and avoided foreign entanglements, but after

the Civil War the US decided it was in America's best interest to increase foreign interaction. Factors that influenced this change included promoting the economy, protecting American security, and perserving American spirit. After winning the Spanish-American war, the United States earned the status of being a world power. The US displayed this power by intervening in the Cuban Rebellion. With the use of Yellow Journalism, persuading the public with half truths and exaggerations, the US felt sympathy for Cubans. This combined with the explosion of the USS Maine pushed the US into war. The United States dominated the Spanish-American war and ended it with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. This treaty granted Cuba independence, a payment of 20 million dollars from Spain to the US, and Spain giving up the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Island of Guam to become unincorporated territories of the United States. In order to protect US interest, a military government was established in Cuba. This angered cubans and led to the Platt Amendment. The Platt Amendment prohibited Cuba from entering in any foriegn agreements, must allow the US to establish naval bases on island as needed, and give US right to intervene whenever deemed necessary. This caused mass tension between the US and Cuba, and is a reason for the problems between the two countries today. After gaining Hawaii, the US gained easier access to China, and president McKinley started the Open Door Policy to make sure the US had equal access to China. The Panama Canal was built as an easier access between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. President Roosevelt conducts the idea of Big Stick Diplomacy, which becomes the United States new foreign policy. Big Stick Diplomacy is the idea that the United States should speak softly and not start conflict, but carry a bid stick incase conflict arrises. Nationalism played a huge role in both WWI and WWII. There were two kinds of nationalism involved in WWI; the tendencies for countries to act in their own interest and diverse ethnic populations within large countries longing for independence. The first kind of nationalism is demonstrated when France demanded Germany grant them land Germany had conquered from them due to a matter of national pride. The second kind is demonstrated when Czechs and other nations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire long for self government. Both these kinds of nationalism can, and often do, lead to war related conflict. In WWII nationalism was prevalent in almost every country involved, but mainly in the US, Japan, and Germany. The United States used nationalism as a tactic to get it citizens to invest in liberty bonds, conserve, and produce more to help the war effort. This tactic is still used today. In Japan during this time, several radical nationalists groups formed because they thought their government was weak. In Germany, Hitler used nationalism to boost his popularity and support his disturbing cause .Hitler saw expansion as a way to boost national pride. Hitler was very concerned about national pride, and saw all his actions as a way to preserve it. Nazism is described as a form of fascism shaped by Hitlers fanatical ideas about German nationalism and racial superiority. Hitler believed that Germans were superior to many other races. His persuasive public speaking swayed public opinion in his favor. This idea of racial superiority was his reasoning behind the holocaust. The holocaust is was a time of mass genocide of Jews, gypsies, the mentally handicapped, homosexuals, and anyone else deemed inferior by the Nazis. This disturbing time in history accumulated a death toll of 11 million. Hitler saw expansion as a way to boost national pride. Hitler was very concerned about national pride, and saw all his actions as a way to preserve it. These events show how much of an influence nationalism has on a country. Nationalism is the push that sends a country into war, or into invading another for land. Nationalism not only influences political and economic decisions on the government's behalf, but also sways public

opinion. Nationalism can be used for good, or for bad. It appears in almost every major event in history, especially major wars like WWI and WWII. In conclusion, many events from the 19th and 20th century shaped the world we live in today. Countries want to expand lead to the boundaries we have today and created not only alliances, but also rivalries between countries. The competition for land lead to many wars and conflicts that still have a lasting effect on countries foreign relations today, such as, conflicts between the United States and Spain. The Progressive Era brought about a time of much needed reform in the US. This era of monumental labor unions, activists, organizations, and strikes, caused a series of laws and acts that are still in place today, and still play a huge role in our economy; with laws against child labor and minimum wages. This time started an era of protest and organizations fighting for things such as equality, better working conditions, and so forth. This time period was the start of women and minorities fight for equality, and the start of their changing roles in society; a fight that is still continuing today. WWI created alliances that have lasted till today. During this time women began to shift in their roles in the workforce, and new organizations were formed like the League of Nations. WWI also led to the formation of new countries, and abolishment of old ones. For example, the Ottoman Empire was split into many different countries that are still around today. The Roaring 20s brought about a time of great social change, especially for women. This time has impacted today because it was a huge break through for women breaking from tradition. It also brought about many great American heroes, and some of the greatest American literature that is still studied today. The Great Depression taught the US many lessons about our economy, and is similar to the economic crisis of 2008. WWII had a significant impact on the relationships between countries. Not all bad blood from this war has healed, even into today. WWII helped boost women rights, due to women working while most men were at war. This war also put the US as a major world power, again. Both WWI and WWII brought about advances in military fighting tactics, and technology. If it wasnt for womens evolving role in society, US foreign intervention, or nationalism, none of these major, life changing events would have played out the way they did. Different outcomes would completely change everything known about the world today.