The 1920s was a decade that began on January 1, 1920 and ended on December 31, 1929. In North America, it is frequently referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, while in Europe the period is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age Twenties"[1] because of the economic boom following World War I. French speakers refer to the period as the "années folles" ("Crazy Years"),[2] emphasizing the era's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism.
The economic prosperity experienced by many countries during the 1920s (especially the United States) was similar in nature to that experienced in the 1950s and 1990s. Each period of prosperity was the result of a paradigm shift in global affairs. These shifts in the 1920s, 1950s, and 1990s, occurred as the result of the conclusion of World War I and Spanish flu, World War II, and the Cold War, respectively.