The Lost Generation was the first rebellious youthful generation. Impacted by the horrors of WWI, they could not avoid a second world war, but their new ideas and stances caused changes decades later.
The Lost Generation was one of history’s first—if not even the very first—youthful movements. It had all the characteristics of later youthful movements but also one very distinct trait.
*The interwar years were the crucible of Modernism, a movement fundamentally about rejecting the past and fervently seeking new ways of creating and understanding life.*
Women gained the right to vote in many Western Nations after WWI in response to their help in the war. Yet, their participation in their countries’ political life was often limited by their traditional roles.
Post-war societies were inclined to suffer violence rather than suppress or avoid it. Martial behaviours were considered healthy masculinity
Urbanism characterised the interwar years. In the 1920s, a large part of the population moved to the city, seeking a better life.
The Lost Generation was basically a shell-shocked generation. Whether they had been in the war or not, these youth suffered from the unreconcilable clash between what society traditionally expected of them and what they had to deal with in the new world.
The Great War indelibly marked the Lost Generation. Everything they did or said was directly or indirectly affected by the war experience.
The Roaring Twenties were everything and the opposite of everything. The trauma of the recent past and the relief and hope for the future characterised it
Not surprisingly, the Great War was a test of faith for all believers in the trenches and on the homefront.
The Lost Generation lived their prime in the interwar years – especially the 1920s – a time that can be considered ‘in-between’. They were, in fact, a perfect incarnation of it.
It was a World War because it directly or indirectly affected nations and populations worldwide. Though less obvious than those of the Second World War, the Great War’s repercussions were felt by people across the globe.