ABSTRACT
World War-I benefited the American economy, as it had the Japanese, because both nations were allied with the victors but were far from the battles that had ravaged much of Europe. The first stage of the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North, in response to the demand for workers during World War-I, offered new opportunities to African Americans, but it also lit the fires of racist resistance against them in northern cities. It is noted that not all working-class and middle-class employees were treated equally in any part of the world; gender, class, and ethnicity must be taken into consideration in analyzing labor and the economy in all countries. The interwar years were a time of great growth and structural changes in women's labor force participation. Despite the image of women as passive, some of the most militant strikes were carried out by women demanding better wages and working conditions.
