Editing Lost Generation (section)

===As young adults===
====Military service in the First World War====
The Lost Generation is best known as being the cohort that primarily fought in World War I.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Simpson |first=Trevor |date=17 January 2014 |title=WW1: Can we really know the Lost Generation? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/24526419 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024123740/https://www.bbc.com/news/24526419 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |access-date=21 May 2021 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> More than 70 million people were mobilized during the First World War, around 8.5&nbsp;million of whom were killed and 21&nbsp;million wounded in the conflict. About 2&nbsp;million soldiers are believed to have been killed by disease, while individual battles sometimes caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Herbert |first=Tom |date=11 November 2018 |title=World War 1 in numbers: The mind-blowing scale of WW1 |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/ww1-soldiers-in-numbers-how-many-died-world-war-one-facts-for-armistice-day-a3986761.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521110112/https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/ww1-soldiers-in-numbers-how-many-died-world-war-one-facts-for-armistice-day-a3986761.html |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=www.standard.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:French trench battle.jpg|thumb|French [[poilu]]s on a battlefield during the First World War]]

Around 60 million of the enlisted originated from the European continent,<ref name=":1" /> which saw its younger men mobilized on a mass scale. Most of Europe's great powers operated peacetime conscription systems where men were expected to do a brief period of military training in their youth before spending the rest of their lives in the army reserve. Nations with this system saw a huge portion of their manpower directly invested in the conflict: 55% of male Italians and Bulgarians aged 18 to 50 were called to military service. Elsewhere the proportions were even higher: 63% of military-aged men in Serbia, 78% in Austro-Hungary, and 81% of military-aged men in France and Germany served. Britain, which traditionally relied primarily on the Royal Navy for its security, was a notable exception to this rule and did not introduce conscription until 1916.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Recruitment: conscripts and volunteers during World War One |url=https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/recruitment-conscripts-and-volunteers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517104804/https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/recruitment-conscripts-and-volunteers |archive-date=17 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=The British Library}}</ref> Around 5 million British men fought in the First World War out of a total United Kingdom population of 46&nbsp;million including women, children, and men too old to bear arms.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland – British Empire {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/united-kingdom-facts |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521110112/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/united-kingdom-facts |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=nzhistory.govt.nz}}</ref>

Additionally, nations recruited heavily from their colonial empires. Three million men from around the British Empire outside the United Kingdom served in the British Army as soldiers and laborers,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Commonwealth and the First World War |url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/commonwealth-and-first-world-war |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727022235/https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/commonwealth-and-first-world-war |archive-date=27 July 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=www.nam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> while France recruited 475,000 soldiers from its colonies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=French Army and the First World War |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWfrenchA.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323211505/https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWfrenchA.htm |archive-date=23 March 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=Spartacus Educational}}</ref> Other nations involved include the United States which enlisted 4 million men during the conflict and the Ottoman Empire which mobilized 2,850,000 soldiers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War Losses (Ottoman Empire/Middle East) |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_losses_ottoman_empiremiddle_east |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521163750/https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_losses_ottoman_empiremiddle_east |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net}}</ref>

Beyond the extent of the deaths, the war had a profound effect on many of its survivors, giving many young men severe mental health problems and crippling physical disabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexander |first=Caroline |title=The Shock of War |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-shock-of-war-55376701/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418065816/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-shock-of-war-55376701/ |archive-date=18 April 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=14 August 2020 |title=What happened to the 8 million people who were disabled during WW1? |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/world-war-one-first-disabled-disability-history-plastic-surgery/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304131605/https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/world-war-one-first-disabled-disability-history-plastic-surgery/ |archive-date=4 March 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en}}</ref> The war also unsettled many soldiers' sense of reality, who had gone into the conflict with a belief that battle and hardship was a path to redemption and greatness. When years of pain, suffering, and loss seemed to bring about little in the way of a better future, many were left with a profound sense of disillusionment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scott |first=A. O. |date=20 June 2014 |title=A War to End All Innocence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/arts/the-enduring-impact-of-world-war-i.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521162246/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/arts/the-enduring-impact-of-world-war-i.html |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=7 April 2020 |title=The Lost Generation: Who They Are and Where The Name Came From |url=https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/who-is-the-lost-generation/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830204820/https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/who-is-the-lost-generation/ |archive-date=30 August 2020 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=FamilySearch Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

====Young women in the 1910s and 1920s====
[[File:Women in the First World War Q110080.jpg|thumb|left|A young woman burning a cable for scrap at a shipbuilding yard in [[Glasgow]] during World War I.]]
Though soldiers on the frontlines of the First World War were exclusively men, women contributed to the war effort in other ways. Many took the jobs men had left in previously male-dominated sectors such as heavy industry, while some even took on non-combat military roles. Many, particularly wealthier women, took part in voluntary work to contribute to the war effort or to help those suffering due to it, such as the wounded or refugees. Often they were experiencing manual labor for the first time. However, this reshaping of the female role led to fears that the sexes having the same responsibilities would disrupt the fabric of society and that more competition for work would leave men unemployed and erode their pay. Most women had to exit the employment they had taken during the war as soon as it concluded.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rowbotham |first=Shiela |date=11 November 2018 |title=Women and the First World War: a taste of freedom |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/11/women-first-world-war-taste-of-freedom |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507044631/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/11/women-first-world-war-taste-of-freedom |archive-date=7 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women in World War I |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/women-in-wwi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031170204/https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/women-in-wwi |archive-date=31 October 2019 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=National Museum of American History |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women's Mobilization for War (France) |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war_france |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521235513/https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war_france |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net}}</ref>

The war also had a personal impact on the lives of female members of the Lost Generation. Many women lost their husbands in the conflict, which frequently meant losing the main breadwinner of the household. However, war widows often received a pension and financial assistance to support their children. Even with some economic support, raising a family alone was often financially difficult and emotionally draining, and women faced losing their pensions if they remarried or were accused of engaging in frowned-upon behavior. In some cases, grief and the other pressures on them drove widows to alcoholism, depression, or suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War Widows |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_widows |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503013745/https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_widows |archive-date=3 May 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How the First World War affected families (War Widows) |url=https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/797 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121006/https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/797 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=www.mylearning.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Widows and Orphans |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/defense/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/widows-and-orphans |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608194522/https://www.encyclopedia.com/defense/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/widows-and-orphans |archive-date=8 June 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> Additionally, the large number of men killed in the First World War made it harder for many young women who were still single at the start of conflict to get married; this accelerated a trend towards them gaining greater independence and embarking on careers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How the First World War affected families (A Generation of 'Surplus Women') |url=https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/798 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121008/https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/798 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=www.mylearning.org |language=en}}</ref>

Women's gaining of political rights sped up in the Western world after the First World War, while employment opportunities for unmarried women widened. This time period saw the development of a new type of young woman in popular culture known as a flapper, who was known for their rebellion against previous social norms. They had a physically distinctive appearance compared to their predecessors only a few years earlier, cutting their hair into bobs, wearing shorter dresses and more makeup, while taking on a new code of behaviour filled with more recklessness, party-going, and overt sexuality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Women's Suffrage by Country |url=https://www.infoplease.com/history/womens-history/womens-suffrage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309223732/http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931343.html |archive-date=9 March 2017 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=www.infoplease.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mackrell |first=Judith |date=5 February 2018 |title=The 1920s: 'Young women took the struggle for freedom into their personal lives |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/05/the-1920s-young-women-took-the-struggle-for-freedom-into-their-personal-lives |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121007/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/05/the-1920s-young-women-took-the-struggle-for-freedom-into-their-personal-lives |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pruitt |first=Sarah |date=17 September 2018 |title=How Flappers of the Roaring Twenties Redefined Womanhood |url=https://www.history.com/news/flappers-roaring-20s-women-empowerment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121102/https://www.history.com/news/flappers-roaring-20s-women-empowerment |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>

====Aftermath of the First World War====
The [[Aftermath of World War I|aftermath of the First World War]] saw substantive changes in the political situation, including a trend towards [[republicanism]], the founding of many new relatively small nation-states which had previously been part of larger empires, and greater [[suffrage]] for groups such as the working class and women. France and the United Kingdom both gained territory from their enemies, while the war and the damage it did to the European empires are generally considered major stepping stones in the United States' path to becoming the world's dominant superpower. The German and Italian populations' resentment against what they generally saw as a peace settlement that took too much away from the former or did not give enough to the latter fed into the fascist movements, which would eventually turn those countries into totalitarian dictatorships. For Russia, the years after its [[Russian Revolution|revolution in 1917]] were plagued by disease, famine, terror, and civil war eventually concluded in the establishment of the Soviet Union.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=First World War {{!}} Aftermath (outside the British empire) |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/aftermath/legacy_war.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121050/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/images/global/redpixel.gif |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Archives {{!}} Exhibitions & Learning online {{!}} First World War {{!}} Aftermath (Britain after the War) |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/aftermath/brit_after_war.htm |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |archive-date=24 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224231350/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/aftermath/brit_after_war.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Archives {{!}} Exhibitions & Learning online {{!}} First World War {{!}} Aftermath (British empire) |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/aftermath/brit_empire_after.htm |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |archive-date=10 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010145933/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/aftermath/brit_empire_after.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Flapper detail, The Plastic Age magazine (cropped).png|thumb|Image taken from a magazine cover (published 1924) of a couple dressed in fashionable clothing of the period.]]
The immediate post-World War One period was characterized by continued political violence and economic instability.<ref name=":2" /> The late 1910s saw the [[Spanish flu]] pandemic, which was unusual in the sense that it killed many younger adults of the same Lost Generation age group that had mainly died in the war.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Ruth |date=10 November 2018 |title=Why Did the 1918 Flu Kill So Many Otherwise Healthy Young Adults? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-did-1918-flu-kill-so-many-otherwise-healthy-young-adults-180967178/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522115031/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-did-1918-flu-kill-so-many-otherwise-healthy-young-adults-180967178/ |archive-date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Later, especially in major cities, much of the 1920s is considered to have been a more prosperous period when the Lost Generation, in particular, escaped the suffering and turmoil they had lived through by rebelling against the social and cultural norms of their elders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moscato |first=Marc |title=Brains, Brilliancy, Bohemia: Art & Politics in Jazz-Age Chicago |year=2009}}</ref><ref name="Gill">{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=Anton |title=A Dance Between Flames: Berlin Between the Wars |year=1994}}</ref><ref name="Robinson1">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=David |title=Hollywood in the Twenties |year=1968}}</ref><ref name="Wallace1">{{Cite book |last=Wallace |first=David |title=Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the Roaring Twenties |year=2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hall |first=Lesley A. |date=1996 |title=Impotent ghosts from no man's land, flappers' boyfriends, or crypto-patriarchs? Men, sex and social change in 1920s Britain |journal=Social History |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=54–70 |doi=10.1080/03071029608567956}}</ref><ref name="Blake1">{{Cite book |last=Blake |first=Jody |title='Le Tumulte Noir: modernist art and popular entertainment in jazz-age Paris, 1900–1930 |year=1999}}</ref><ref name="Lindsay1">{{Cite book |last=Lindsay |first=Jack |title=The roaring twenties: literary life in Sydney, New South Wales in the years 1921-6 |year=1960}}</ref>