AMERICA COMPARED VIII !e Great Depression

Assignment 3 Arash Saysan

VIII !e Great Depression 1

•  1920s world economy falling down, More “dramatic fall” in United States because it was wealthy than most countries in the 1920s.

•  !e pa"ern of economy, prices and employment was similar every where •  “By the early 20th century a complex, intermeshed world economy had come into existence.” •  Big e#ects of the World War II on the world economy. •  By the end of World War II in 1939 the “World’s political landscape profoundly altered.” •  Responsibility for providing jobs for the population by the western Democracies. •  “In Germany, Italy and Japan, authoritarian governments took control amid the turmoil of the

depression. !ese repressive and militaristic regimes ended unemployment, but they also destroyed democracy and eventually brought the world itself to the brink of destruction.”

•  What are the causes of the Great Depression? •  “Descriptions of the “capitalist business cycle,” the recurring up and down syndrome by which

good times inevitably lead to speculation and overproduction, which are then “corrected” by de$ation and unemployment, until inventories are spent and investors and consumers resume the expansion.”

•  But says Eric Hobsbawm, other factors combined to deepen the crisis and to prolong it beyond any other international slump in modern times .

•  “Western Europe’s crushing debt from World War I , agricultural overproduction in the 1920s, the reluctance of the United States to take over Britain’s role as the world’s banker, and the wrong headed nationalistic economic policies that many countries pursued.”

VIII !e Great Depression 2

•  between 1929 and 1933, over eleven thousand American banks failed, national production was cut in half, and 13 million people were put out of work.

•  becoming political leaders during Great Depression Roosevelt and Hitler at the same time

• Prepared to experiment with government initiatives on an extraordinary scale in order to bring economic improvement.

•  New Nazi economics were similar.

•  On January 30, 1933 Hitler became chancellor and On march 4, 1933 Roosevelt took the oath as president and Neither seemed well suited for their

positions.!ey had exerted psychological in$uence on the people. Employed the latest technology to dramatize themselves and to in$uence public opinion.

Both gave providing aid to unemployed a top priority, Opened work camps

Used enrollees for forestry to improve the countryside

•  In 1933 Great Depression was at its low point.U.S. and Germany were the worst hit countries with the high percent of unemployment.

• By 1935-36 both governments were abandoning corporatism and taking a more anti-big-business stance.

•  Both sought to organize commercial agriculture in order to increase farm income.

•  Made agricultural credit cheaper an more available.

•  Neither tried to resolve the contradictory goals, In Germany the concept of government sponsored cartels had a long tradition

•  In America industrial codes established under N%, !e system promised harmony and e&ciency within industries

VIII !e Great Depression Essay

In early 20th century the world economy went down and for the big nations with vast economy like United States this situation was worst

than other countries. !is is a common factor in the big countries economy and social situations that when there is a problem it can get deep an enlarge

very fast so its not going to be easy to 'x and it is going to be take a while. When economy is not good its going to e#ect everything like prices, employment

and even the relation with the foreign countries. In early 20th century world is ge"ing to a very complex economy issues with the big factor of the World

War. By the experience when ever that there is a war the economy subject is impacted very easily.

On of the big causes of the Great Depression in the world in the 'rst quarter of the 20 the century are the political 'gures.

Political 'gures are really important and it depends of what type background they are from or what political parties they could make signi'cant in$uences

either in 'xing the problems or make them worse. Hitler and the Roosevelt are two political 'gures that they became to power at the same time and their

history and their ideas made lots of changes to the world history.