From War to Peace

Chapter 19

Ch. 19.1 Postwar Havoc

• OBJ: SW explain what problems faced American society after WWI and how we attempted to solve them

• WU: Primary Sources/Political Cartoon p 624 no.s 1 & 2

I. The Red Scare

• During WWI, Russia was knocked out of the war through internal strife – A revolutionary group called “Bolsheviks” took over the Russian government.

• Bolsheviks advocated a social/economic system called “communism” that advocated a classless society &elimination of private property

• More importantly, they advocated worldwide revolution to achieve their goals

• Since most Americans, even poorer ones embraced the idea of capitalism, the idea of worldwide revolution to end private property frightened them.

• While there was never much of a threat within the US, fear of such a threat, known as the “Red Scare” led the government to take action, which led to the “Palmer Raids.”

• The Palmer Raids : Government officials used wartime laws to round up suspected communists and socialists, their only offence being that they belonged to “radical” groups.

Labor Strife

• Once the war was over, workers reacted to the working conditions they experienced during the war

• In 1919, more than 3000 labor strikes took place nationwide. In almost every case, labor lost. Why?– The Red Scare associated labor movements with

communism– Wilson was more focused on foreign policy issues– Returning war veterans meant that there was a surplus

of workers, so strikers were replaced

Limiting Immigration

• High postwar unemployment and the Red Scare created a backlash against immigrants called “nativism.”

• Labor leaders joined in, seeing new immigrants as a threat.

• Immigrants that they focused on were those coming from the Eastern European areas, who were primarily Catholics and Jews

• Immigration Act of 1921 set quotas of immigrants to be allowed in each year.

• National Origins Act of 1924 limited immigration to 2% of the number of people from that nation living in the US as of 1890

• Nativism also sees a rise in groups like the KKK