With the close of World War I came the Roaring Twenties. That element that fueled the Roar was deep sense of cynicism that clung to the philosophy that all was futile:
"As hopes died, faith crumbled. How could anyone now believe in anything? Nothing was solid... [this malaise] affected all classes. The young, and by now, not-so-young. They grew hard and cynical. Folly to bring children into such a miserable world. The birth rate went down as the unemployment rate went up (in Britain).
Recalling this bitterness during the Forties, a former member of the British Parliament asked whether we should expect the same after an even larger world war:
"For the second time in a generation the world is plunged into catastrophe. It is possible to compare now with then. Now looks like then because, once more, Germany has brought this frightfulness upon the world. But now is not then. Now need not see the Lost Generation that then endured. In Britain, anyhow, we are quite sure that this time our young people are to find, not lose, themselves."
An article about the disenchantment that followed W.W. I can be read here...
