Best and worst decades of the 20th century.

[fischbowl]

Originally Posted by JagHombre22

the 1980's could go down as the greatest...Ronald Regan was president, arguably one of the best we've ever had...cold war ended...trade prospered around the world...Rock and Roll was at it's greatest...Atari ruled the world...and the Lakers were the greatest team on the planet...in the history of the planet...

I would agree. +rep

[diabsoule]

As far as I'm concerned the 1900's, 1950's, and 1970's were all the best for various reasons.

My least favorite decades are the 1920's, 1930's, and 1990's.

[fischbowl]

Originally Posted by diabsoule

As far as I'm concerned the 1900's, 1950's, and 1970's were all the best for various reasons.

My least favorite decades are the 1920's, 1930's, and 1990's.

The 20's were unarguably the most prosperous years in American History.

The 30's were unarguably the worst. Great Depression, Start of WWII, The "New Deal".

[andyjo672]

Originally Posted by fischbowl

The 20's were unarguably the most prosperous years in American History.

The 30's were unarguably the worst. Great Depression, Start of WWII, The "New Deal".

Actually the 20s being the most prosperous is VERY arguable. The 90s saw the longest stretch of economic development, the 50s was the start of the movement from an industrial society to more of a technical/services based society. And, as you said, in American history, you're discounting the 1870s-1890s which saw American surpass Great Britain and Germany as the major industrialized power in the world.

And you cite the New Deal as a negative...why?

[Brodeur]

Originally Posted by diabsoule

As far as I'm concerned the 1900's, 1950's, and 1970's were all the best for various reasons.

Not sure how one could really consider the 70's the best. There was so much wrong with the 70's with the Watergate Scandal, the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the Oil Crisis, severe economic issues, the beginning of the Iran hostage situation, the Cold War was still very prominent, etc. Entertainment may have hit a peak in the 1970's though if that's what you mean.

[Crickett]

Best.
1. 90's. I'm biased.
2. 60's. Two words: free love. :D
3. 20's. They don't call it "the roarin' 20's for nothing.

Worst
1. 30's. They don't call it "the great depression" for nothing.
2. 40's. No, Hitler wasn't the only person alive, but they didn't call it "World War II" for nothing.

[Gatz]

40's,10's,30's were all pretty bad. World War II, Holocaust, Stalin purging people, Great Depression, World War One (which affected Europe much more than it did America). there was a great boom in the 20's in america, but the other nations were still recovering, guess it wouldn't be the worst. in the later part of the century,50's, 60's were alright(despite the hippies), later part of the 80's was good too. although there was a long period of cold war. Although imo society/culture gets crappier every single decade, so depends on what you view as best or worst.
In the decades that people didn't suffer, they pretty much got dumber, meh.

[awfullyquiet]

i don't think that everyone realizes that nazi aggression started in the mid 30s... shame. the 40's are combined with 'ww2' only because that's when the americans got into it...

i still think the 40's were the best decade. the science and research on it was second to none...

[The Unseen]

I'm a bit surprised that more people don't think that the 10s weren't the or among worst. Like I said earlier, it could be argued that it helped LEAD to the bad 40s, while being very bad in of itself.

I didn't do best decades...hmm. 50s, 80s, and 90s come to mind. 20s were good, but the economic success was based off of poor money management that blew up in everyone's face at the end of the decade.

[Crickett]

Originally Posted by awfullyquiet

i don't think that everyone realizes that nazi aggression started in the mid 30s... shame. the 40's are combined with 'ww2' only because that's when the americans got into it...

Psst, don't look now, but most have the 30's as the worst.

[Gatz]

It's arbitrary really. The Nazi aggression and rise of hitler started in the 30s but wwII and the killing took place mostly in 40's, plus with the Atomic bomb and then the arms race starting around that period, I can't see how it can be considered as the best.

Another thing, right before WWI, with advancement in science peoploe were optimistic that the development will continue and the world could become a place of pardise, so an argument can be made for the 1900's.

[bearsfan_51]

As a historian I like the thought behind this thread, but cut out the politically motivated jargon.

And if I have to hear that Ronald Reagan was one of our greatest presidents again in my life I'm going to puke.

[bearsfan_51]

My own opinion (and I agree that it's pretty arbitrary) is:

Best: 1920's and 1990's (although Rwanda was pretty terrible).

Worst: 1910's (Unseen is correct, World War I was the dumbest war ever), 1930's, 40's, 60's, 70's.

The 20th century was arguably the worst century in recorded history, at least in terms of violence and genocide.

[yodapoop]

The 1980s were and it was just the icing on the cake on Saturday, May 6th, 1989 when Yoda was born. Plus, I wasn't around for any of the decades before, so I will not discuss them cuz I'd have no clue what I would be talking about.

[andyjo672]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

As a historian I like the thought behind this thread, but cut out the politically motivated jargon.

And if I have to hear that Ronald Reagan was one of our greatest presidents again in my life I'm going to puke.

Was your blatant contradiction on purpose?

[neko4]

Good
70's, 80's, 90's

Bad
10's, 30's

Maybe its because I miss AC/DC and Van Halen is why I love the 70's and 80's, Wish i was born in that time

[doingthisinsteadofwork]

Good:00's,40's,50's,80's
Bad:10s,20s,30's,90's

[dabears10]

In what way were the 20's or 90's Bad? Compared with the other decades in this century they were the best, while the recession in the 80's and that little thing called WWII could be considered bad.

[The Unseen]

Originally Posted by dabears10

In what way were the 20's or 90's Bad? Compared with the other decades in this century they were the best, while the recession in the 80's and that little thing called WWII could be considered bad.

So the 80's is bad because of its recession, yet the 20s is one of the best?

EDIT: I was thinking the crash was in 27, not 29. Oops.

[bearsfan_51]

Originally Posted by andyjo672

Was your blatant contradiction on purpose?

Yes and no.

[The Unseen]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

Yes and no.

Well aren't you hilarious.

[jballa838]

Originally Posted by doingthisinsteadofwork

Good:00's,40's,50's,80's
Bad:10s,20s,30's,90's

the 1900s basically lead to WWI with the surge in imperialization and such. it was better than 1910-1930, but without the mistakes made in 1900 who knows if 1910-1930 would have been different.
the 90s had a surge of innovation so i dont know why its bad. We made huge progress in the 90s in the way we live today, and most likely how we will live in the future. The Economy was on the way up in America and there were less wars worldwide then a lot of the decades, and the ones in the 90s werent as big.

[Geo]

I heart the 80s.

[doingthisinsteadofwork]

Originally Posted by jballa838

the 1900s basically lead to WWI with the surge in imperialization and such. it was better than 1910-1930, but without the mistakes made in 1900 who knows if 1910-1930 would have been different.

Im going on US economics and hisory for the most part mainly because I know more about it.But Imperialism had gone on well before 1900.Tensions between counrties like Germany,Britian,and France had been going on since the Franco-Prussian.Which was about 30 years before the 1900's.Alliances had already been made before 1900.In America during which Teddy was president everything was moving forward and doing well.
In the 1910's however everything went downhill for both America and the world.The Federal Reserve System was established which isnt federal.Its a central bank that prints out money like crazy.Ever since it was made the purchasing power of the dollar has gone down 90%.WWI happened and like bf51 said its the dumbest war ever.America entered WWI so that bankers like the Rockefellers and the Morgans could make money off the loans to Britian and France.If Britian and France lost to Germany then they wouldnt had been able to pay off their loans.If America hadnt entered WWI Germany would have won Hitler would have never taken power.Another thing is that the founding fathers of the USA thought that America shouldnt get involved in European affairs and thats what we did and look whats happened since.

the 90s had a surge of innovation so i dont know why its bad. We made huge progress in the 90s in the way we live today, and most likely how we will live in the future. The Economy was on the way up in America and there were less wars worldwide then a lot of the decades, and the ones in the 90s werent as big.

We did alot of stupid things internationally during this time.

[The Unseen]

Originally Posted by doingthisinsteadofwork

Another thing is that the founding fathers of the USA thought that America shouldnt get involved in European affairs and thats what we did and look whats happened since.

Really? The Founding Fathers were pretty cautious in getting involved in European affairs because they knew a fledgling nation like themselves would get bulled over if they got in their business.