World War I The big event that affected people all over the world was World War I 1914 1918 About 8 5 million people were killed and more than 21 million wounded 2 It was the first industrial war though people had thought that new technologies would stop wars Instead technological advances and mass production made World War I one of the most brutal and horrific wars the world had ever seen The war changed the way people thought The social restrictions in place before the war now seemed less important When people were dying what did it matter what style of jacket one wore to a formal dinner The general public wanted to be freer from these restrictions and this was displayed in various ways from the way people dressed to the kind of music they enjoyed Fight for the right to vote Women around the world had been fighting for their right to vote since the nineteenth century particularly in the United States and United Kingdom However other countries gave women the right to vote earlier than the United States and United Kingdom did For example New Zealand granted the right in 1893 Australia in 1902 Finland in 1906 and Norway in 1913 3
Bicycles became a symbol of new freedom and rights for women see page 47 Campaigners for women’s rights would often hold demonstrations and perform militant actions in order to draw attention to their plight In the United Kingdom campaigners chained themselves to railings refused to pay taxes and went on hunger strike if they were imprisoned One suffragette Emily Davidson died after she threw herself under the king’s horse 4 World War I sped up the franchise of women because while men were away fighting women did many of the jobs that the men had left
Time to travel This was an exciting time for technical advances in transportation Previously travel had only been for the very rich but transportation was becoming more affordable In the late nineteenth century the main way to travel was by horse and cart or horse-drawn carriages 5 As the twentieth century progressed the options for travel increased Public transportation also grew with the opening of subway systems in cities around the world Train travel became more accessible as the rail networks in the United States and Europe neared completion Ocean travel became faster and people were taking to the air in the first planes These developments in travel also influenced popular culture especially for the middle classes An increase in prosperity meant that people had more time available for leisure activities including going on vacations The railways made it possible for people to travel larger distances in a shorter time Seaside vacations if only for a day became very popular especially in the United Kingdom
Traveling trends The accessibility to travel meant that popular trends spread farther and more quickly For example the expanding train system and the riverboats of the Mississippi River helped the popularity of ragtime and early jazz spread up from New Orleans Louisiana in the south to the northern cities of the United States 6 Sinking of the unsinkable The Titanic was hailed by its owner White Star Line as being unsinkable However on its first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank killing around 1,490 people This tragic loss of life led to new regulations about the number of lifeboats ships would carry The events of the Titanic have inspired numerous stories movies songs and works of art and the story continues to fascinate people today
