Term Papers on The 1920s

Term Paper Title	The 1920s
# of Words	1166
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.66

The 1920's

“Tradition, that old ogre, lies dead in the dust”
To what extent were the 1920s a break form the traditions of the pre-war era?

The 1920’s sandwiched as they were between the horror of World War 1 and the untold misery of the great depression, remain firmly in peoples mind as the period of prosperity and where life was free and easy owing to modern technological advances in Australia.

After the war we achieved a great sense of national pride. This was mainly seen through what we had accomplished as a young country. We survived the depression of the 19th Century, the influenza epidemic, federation and finally the war. In the 1920’s the cities had electricity for the first time, motor cars replaced the old horse and carriage, the odd plane flew overhead, and the role of women radically changed. The greatest change taking place was the way people dressed and behaved which was a break from the traditions of the pre-war era. The great suffering of the war was over and gave way to a new era of materialism and consumerism resulting in people enjoying themselves

After WW1 Australians saw the need to expand and grow. This idea can be best described in the words of the Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce, “Men, Money, Markets”. Australians saw the need to increase the population to stop the traditional fears of Asians (“the Yellow Peril”) and Bolshevism (Communism). The population increase was for defensive purposes. Another slogan aimed at the great fear of communism was “Keep the Reds Out of Australia”. So great was the fear of communism that the church had stood against it and said that it was Godless and attacked the principles of democracy. “…Money, Markets” was seen by the improving and expanding of our country infrastructure and also to start using our primary industry to it’s full potential.

Once the excitement of both the war and influenza epidemic had died down the 1920’s was a release of tensions and traditions. Both the employer and the worker had more money and were willing to spend. Through technological advances life was getting much better for most Australians. The use of electricity brought new appliances such as washing machines, fridges, stoves, irons, radios, gramophones and also vacuum cleaners. These while revolutionary were quite expensive.

Transport was another major change. Automobiles had increased form 37,000 btw to an incredible 300,000 in the 20’s. Aviation had also been furthered due to brave pioneers such as, Charles Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith, Hinckler, and Flysh and McGuinness who had started Qantas. Another improvement in transport was that of electric trams. This made travel from town to town easier and therefore changed family life.

The role of women had changed dramatically in the 1920s. They were now able to, in some degree, express themselves and have a greater say in society. This gravely changed traditions. Australia was once a very male orientated society and women were not held in high regard to make decisions. However during the war women proved themselves by carrying out the male jobs in factories and ensuring the functioning of the country. They unfortunately did receive less pay than their male counterparts. In 1921 with the induction of Edith Cowan into the parliament women were taken seriously. Her induction onto parliament was great because women were only allowed to vote in 1902. The common trend btw (before the ...

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