Golden Twenties

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The Golden Twenties (German: Goldene Zwanziger), also known as the Happy Twenties (German: Glückliche Zwanziger Jahre), was a five-year time period within the decade of the 1920s in Germany. The era began in 1924, after the end of the hyperinflation following World War I, and ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

The German term is often applied to the country's experience of healthy economic growth and spurt in experimental and creative efforts in the field of art. Before this period, the Weimar Republic had experienced record-breaking levels of inflation of one trillion percent between January 1919 and November 1923. The inflation was so severe that printed currency was often used as domestic fuel, and everyday requirements such as food, soap and electricity cost a wheelbarrow full of banknotes. It was only after radical economic reform measures initiated by the Weimar Republic, such as introduction of a new currency, the Rentenmark, tighter fiscal control and a reduction in bureaucratic hurdles led to an environment of economic stability and prosperity in Germany.

In the United States, the corresponding period was called the Roaring Twenties; in France, it was known as Les Années folles.^[1]