1920s – Republican Decade

The Russian Revolution

Vladimir Lenin promised to end Russian participation in WWI

Bolsheviks gain control in November 1917

Soviets placed property, industry, transportation etc. under government control

Civil War 1918-1920 - Mensheviks vs. Bolsheviks

Cold War begins - U.S troops helped Mensheviks

Mensheviks lose – Soviet Union created

The Red Scare Communism terrified Americans

1. Government owned all land & property

2. One political party controlled government

3. Individuals had no rights

4. Vowed to stir revolutions and spread

Red Scare – fear of communism

spreading to the U.S

Gov’t sought out & expelled suspected

communists

Schenck vs. The United States

Palmer RaidsRed Scare returns after WWII

Palmer Raids• June 1919—Bombs

exploded in several U.S. cities

• Including one at the home of A. Mitchell Palmer, the Attorney General

Palmer Raids• Palmer was convinced that radicals were

trying to overthrow the gov’t• He went on a campaign to root out anyone

that posed a threat to the U.S.• Targets included Communists, Socialists, &

anarchists• “Any movement, however, cloaked or

dissembled, designed to undermine the gov’t, will be met w/ unflinching, persistent, aggressive warfare.”

Palmer Raids• Jan. 2, 1920—Agents in 33 cities arrested

thousands of suspected radicals w/o evidence– Most were immigrants– Many were completely innocent– 500+ were deported

• Americans, including Palmer, expected the worst on May 1, 1920 (an annual Socialist holiday), but nothing happened & the press turned on Palmer

Labor Strikes Post-WWI Labor Unrest

Myth - communists organized strikes

Fact - doubling in the cost of living w/o wage increases

Boston Police Strike – 1919

No pay increase since 1914

19 officers fired for union activity

Police force went on strike causing riots

Nat’l Guard sent to stop rioting & end strike

Strikes ended as 1920’s boom began

Steel/Coal Strikes• 350K workers walk off job at U.S. Steel

Corporation (1919)– 65 hr/week on average; wanted 8-hr day

• Blamed on Communists

• Private police force killed 18 strikers & injured hundreds

• African American workers brought in to break strike

• Strikers give up after 10 weeks

Strikes Decline• Most Americans opposed strikes

– Seen as un-American & likely to violence

• Distrust of labor unions• Linked to radicalism and communism• Union membership peaked in 1920, then dropped

– 5 million workers in 1919-1920 (height of Red Scare)

• Economy improved over course of 1920s– Higher wages

Nativism

Foreigners could never be fully loyal to the U.S.

Slums, corruption & crime blamed on immigrants

Workforce feared loss of jobs to lower paid immigrants

Increase in:

– Patriotism

– Anti-Catholicism; Anti-Semitism

– Fear of losing jobs

– Red Scare & radicalism

Quotas placed on annual immigration

350K foreigners per year

Immigrants from SE Europe (Italy, Poland and Russia) had lower quotas

Asian immigrants were banned entirely

Republican Leadership Public turned to Republican Party amidst Red Scare, strikes,

overseas revolution etc.

1921-1933 - Republicans dominated all 3 branches of government

Republicans united in basic goals

Favored business & wanted economic growth

Desired social stability

Harding & Coolidge Presidencies

Isolationism

Avoid foreign political & economic alliances (no League of Nations)

Disarmament – call on nations to voluntarily give up their weapons

Laissez Faire approach to business

Government should not interfere &

regulate business/economy

Approach fueled the business boom

of the decade – The

Roaring Twenties

The End