Golden Twenties
Golden Twenties or Happy Twenties is a term, mostly used in Europe, to describe the 1920s, in which most of the continent had an economic boom following the First World War and the severe economic downturns that took place between 1919–1923, and before the Wall Street Crash in 1929.
It is often applied to Germany, which during the early 1920s, experienced, like most of Europe, record-breaking levels of inflation of one trillion percent between January 1919 and November 1923. The inflation was so severe that printed currency was often used for heating and other uses, and everyday requirements like food, soap, electricity cost a wheelbarrow full of banknotes. Such events, among many other factors, triggered the rise of fascism in Italy, as well as the ill-fated Beer Hall Putsch, masterminded by a young Adolf Hitler.
Before long, the Weimar Republic (under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann) managed to tame the extreme levels of inflation by the introduction of a new currency, the German rentenmark, with tighter fiscal controls and reduction of bureaucracy, leading to a relative degree of political and economic stability.
1920s Berlin
- Wikipedia article: 1920s Berlin
The Golden Twenties was a vibrant period in the history of Berlin, Germany, Europe and the world in general. After the Greater Berlin Act the city became the third largest municipality in the world and experienced its heyday as a major world city. It was known for its leadership roles in science, the humanities, music, film, higher education, government, diplomacy, industries and military affairs.
At the same time, crime, prostitution, alcoholism, open homosexuality and fetishism was rampant.
See also
- Roaring Twenties, the equivalent in North America
A Personal Note from Robin
- Wikipedia article: 1920s Berlin
Wikipedia 1920's Berlin is the story/history of Berlin and how the 1920s and its values led to the Rise of Hitler and the beginnings of World War II. It is a "must read" as it shows the seeds of today.
External links
- Fashion of the Golden Twenties (1920-23)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s_Berlin
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch Wikipedia article on Munich Beer Hall Putsch