The “Roaring Twenties” were surrounded by disillusionment with an economically strong America that was sure to collapse. American culture in the 1920s centered on lost hopes and unattainable dreams, as demonstrated by the Lost Generation and countless others who struggled to become wealthy through both illegal and legal means. Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby depicts time accurately with his characters and even more in depth with an iconic quote of Gatsby reaching for the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. All of the following real events are featured throughout the novel, such as war, prohibition, and the new women's movement. Without including these events and themes, Fitzgerald could not have written a great American novel tied to the historic 1920s. The Great War involved every superpower in the world and pitted two factions against each other. The Americans would not have gotten involved if the “Germans had undertaken overt acts against American lives” (Kennedy 696). The Allied side consisted of France, Russia and the United Kingdom at the start of the war. The opposing faction was called The Central Powers, which included Germany and Austria-Hungary. As the war continued to escalate, more and more countries joined the fight and America eventually joined the allies after Germany announced its decision to resort to unrestricted submarine warfare. The leader of the German regime, Hitler, wanted to achieve many lucrative goals, such as the establishment of the Arian race. The war ended in 1918 and the previous superpowers were now lost and struggling in poverty due to heavy spending. Germany, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary all lost their superpower status as the dominant nation in the global economy. Mill...... middle of paper......niteness and unlimited potential.Works CitedBehr, Edward. Ban: thirteen years that changed America. New York: Arcade Pub., 1996. Print. Dorn, Rick, Susan K. Freeman, and Pamela Pennock. “The clash of cultures”. Culture shock. Knight Foundation, nd Web. May 10, 2014.Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 2004. Print. Kennedy, M. David, Thomas Bailey and Lizabeth Cohen. “Chapter 30/ The War to End War and Chapter 31/ American Life in the “Roaring Twenties”” The American Pageant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 696-745. Print.McCartin, Joseph A. “America Discontent: The United States in the 1920s.” Journal Of American History 87.2 (2000): 712. Academic Research Premier. Internet. May 10, 2014. O'Donnell, Jack. “Ladies of Rum Row.” Editorial. American Legion Weekly May 16, 1924: 3-8. OldMagazineArticles.com. Articles from old magazines, 2005.