The Great Depression & World War II (Fourth Turning, 1929–1946) began suddenly with the Black Tuesday stock-market crash. After a three-year economic free fall, the Great Depression triggered the New Deal revolution, a vast expansion of government, and hopes for a renewal of national community. After Pearl Harbor, America planned, mobilized, and produced for war on a scale that made possible the massive D-Day invasion (in 1944). Two years later, the crisis mood eased with America’s surprisingly trouble-free demobilization.

• Missionaries entering elderhood
• Lost entering midlife
• G.I.s entering young adulthood
• Silent entering childhood