<P> The social and cultural features known as the Roaring Twenties began in leading metropolitan centers, then spread widely in the aftermath of World War I . The United States gained dominance in world finance . Thus, when Germany could no longer afford to pay World War I reparations to the United Kingdom, France and the other Allied Powers, the United States came up with the Dawes Plan; named after banker, and later 30th Vice President Charles G. Dawes, respectively . Wall Street invested heavily in Germany, which repaid its reparations to countries that, in turn, used the dollars to pay off their war debts to Washington . By the middle of the decade, prosperity was widespread, with the second half of the decade known, especially in Germany, as the "Golden Twenties". </P> <P> The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of novelty associated with modernity and a break with traditions . Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology . New technologies, especially automobiles, moving pictures, and radio, brought "modernity" to a large part of the population . Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality in both daily life and architecture . At the same time, Jazz and dancing rose in popularity, in opposition to the mood of World War I. As such, the period is also often referred to as the Jazz Age . </P> <P> The Wall Street Crash of 1929 ended the era, as the Great Depression brought years of worldwide gloom and hardship . </P> <P> The Roaring Twenties was a decade of great economic growth and widespread prosperity, driven by recovery from wartime devastation and postponed spending, a boom in construction, and the rapid growth of consumer goods such as automobiles and electricity in North America and Western Europe and a few other developed countries such as Australia . The economy of the United States, which had successfully transitioned from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy, boomed and provided loans for a European boom as well . However, some sectors were stagnant, especially farming and coal mining . The United States became the richest country in the world per capita and since the late 19th century was the largest in terms of total GDP . Its industry was based on mass production, and its society acculturated into consumerism . European economies, by contrast, had a more difficult postwar readjustment and began to flourish about 1924 . </P>

What is meant by the line the roaring twenties was put to a half because of the great depression