Unit 10—Chapters 24 – 25
Great Depression and World War II (1929 –
1929) CSS 11.6
Causes of the Crash
Major Causes
• stocks were overpriced
• massive fraud and illegal activity
• buying on margin
• public officials’ repeated
reassurances
• Federal Reserve policies
• US tariff policies
• Florida Land Boom
• consumer debt
Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929
• a major downturn on the Friday
before led to 16 million shares sold
in one day
• within two months $40 billion lost
(the entire cost of WWI)
• unemployment skyrocketed (up to
25%--50% among black workers)
• banks closed and savings were lost
• prices/income dropped 20-50% but
debts remained the same
“We in America are nearer to the final triumph over
poverty than ever before in the history of any land. We
have not yet reached the goal—but . . . we shall soon,
with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty
will be banished from this nation.”
—Herbert Hoover, 1928
•
•
•
•
1% made over $10,000
5% made $5,000 – 9,000
29% made $2,000 – 5,000
65% made under $2,000
•
•
80% of radios purchased on credit
60% of cars purchased on credit
Dust Bowl, 1933
• long drought and strong winds
carried away millions of tons of
topsoil from the Midwest
• caused partly by dryfarming
• 350,000 moved from OK and AR to
CA looking for work
• 100 mile/hour winds blew dirt
8,000 feet in the air and as far as
Boston
John Steinbeck
• wrote Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice
and Men
• Human potrayal of depression in
California
2
Hoover Administration
1929-1933
531
Election of 1928
1928
• Smith too Catholic, too urban, too Irish
and too vocally opposed to Prohibition
R
Herbert C. Hoover
21,391,993
444
• Hoover popular for Food Administration
during WWI
D
Alfred E. Smith
15,016,169
87
• cut income tax on the wealthiest from
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
74% to 23%
(RFC), 1932
• $500 million in relief to corporations
Muscle Shoals Bill, 1930
such as banks, railroads, insurance
• Hoover vetoed a proposal to create
companies, and local governments
power plants in TN to produce cheap
electricity and force private companies • stopped short of direct individual aid
• by 1941, the RFC loaned $9.5 billion
to lower their prices
Hoover Dam, 1930
• Hoover attempted to provide jobs for
the unemployed without sacrificing
their dignity
“I do not believe that the power and duty of the General
Government ought to be extended to the relief of
individual suffering…The lesson should be constantly
enforced that though the people support the
Government the Government should not support the
people.”
—Herbert Hoover, 1930
Bonus Army, 1932
• large assembly of WWI veterans
marched on DC to demand their
bonuses from the “Adjusted
Compensation Act”
• Congress refused so they set up
Hoovervilles outside the city
• Hoover sent Gen. MacArthur to chase
3
them out
• they did not get their money
531
Roosevelt Administration
1933-1937
FDR
• used fireside chats to communicate
directly to the people
• his expert advisors were his brain trust
• his New Deal was meant to get the US
out of the depression and use
government to help more Americans
• Frances Perkins, Louis Brandeis, Mary
McLeod Bethune
Eleanor Roosevelt
• politically active spokeswoman for the
New Deal
• much more liberal and outspoken than
her husband
• champion of minority and women’s
rights
• US ambassador to the UN after WWII
“The only thing we
have to fear is fear
itself.”
D Franklin Roosevelt
R
Herbert C. Hoover
S
Norman Thomas
1932
22,809,638
472
15,758,901
59
881,951
--
Keynsian Economics
• planned deficit spending to
jumpstart the economy
• more government spending
means more jobs which means
more consumer spending which
means more jobs
Relief: policies that eased the suffering
caused by the Depression
Recovery: policies that intended to help
the US get out of the Depression
Reform: policies that intended to keep
us from going into another Great
Depression
4
First Hundred Days
Federal Emergency Banking Relief Act
• eight hours after taking office, FDR
closed all banks for a week
• banks were inspected and safe
banks reopened nine days later
• March 14 – deposits exceeded
withdrawals
Glass-Steagall Act
• FDIC protected bank deposits up to
$5000 (now $100,000)
• banks and stocks separated to
prevent speculation
• the restriction ended in 1998 which
helped lead to the Great Recession
Federal Securities Act
• required information regarding the
soundness of stocks and bonds
• created the Federal Securities
Commission
“Try something, if it works, do it. If it doesn’t try
something else, but above all—try something.”
—Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
• paid farmers to destroy crops and
livestock to keep supply down and
market prices up
• many outraged that food was
destroyed while many starved
• AAA thrown out by the Supreme Court
after the Schecter case
• replaced in 1938 with the 2nd AAA
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
• Harry Hopkins distributed money to
states to help their relief programs
• replaced Hoover’s Emergency Relief
Administration
• $3 billion paid for temporary work for
20 million unskilled workers
Federal Housing Authority (FHA)
• government provided loans for home
mortgages
5
The New Deal
“Throughout the nation men and women, forgotten in the
political philosophy of the Government, look to us here for
guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the
distribution of national wealth... I pledge myself to a new deal
for the American people. This is more than a political
campaign. It is a call to arms.”
—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1932
Public Works Administration (PWA)
• Harold Ickes, Secretary of the
Interior
• $6 billion funded over 34,000 public
works projects
• hospitals, schools, homes, roads
• Lincoln Tunnel
• Grand Coulee Dam
• Key West Highway
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933
• construction of nine dams in one of
the most poverty-stricken regions
in the nation
• provided employment, cheap
electricity, and water for agriculture
• allowed government to determine
fair prices for electricity
• strongly criticized by conservatives
for being too socialist
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
• provided work for about 3 million
young men (18-25) at $1 a day
• reforestation, fire control, flood
control, swamp drainage
• sent money home each month ($30)
• kept them from committing crimes
National Industrial Recovery Act, 1933
• each industry established code of
“fair competition”
• established a minimum wage and
maximum hours
• businesses displayed blue eagle
stickers to show participation
6
531
Roosevelt Administration
1937-1945
Packing the Courts
• the Supreme Court threw out some
of FDR’s programs
• FDR tried to add judges to the
Supreme Court so it would be more
supportive of the New Deal
• after three terms in office, FDR had
appointed nine judges to the court
AAA and Fair Labor Standards Act,
1938
• rewritten to be constitutional
• replaced the old AAA and NIRA
Rural Electrification Administration,
1936
• brought electricity to rural areas
Social Security Act, 1935
• old-age pension, unemployment
benefits, disability
1936
D
Franklin Roosevelt
27,752,869
523
R
Alfred M. Landon
16,674,665
8
U
William Lemke
882,479
--
Works Projects Administration (WPA),
1935
• replaced the expired PWA
• $11 billion to provide 9 million jobs
• wages varied from $19-94/month
• 650,000 miles of roads
• 78,000 bridges
• 125,000 buildings
• 700 miles of airport runway
• presented 225,000 concerts for
150 million+
• commissioned almost 475,000
works of art
7
New Deal Critics
Criticisms
• expanded the power of the
President over Congress
• expanded national authority over
the states
• threatened the power of the
Supreme Court
• federal deficit grew from $451
million in 1932 to $4.4 billion in
1936
• did not effectively spend the money
• stank of bolshevism
• discouraged industry and innovation
• did little or nothing to end the
Depression
Supporters
• saved capitalism from itself
• protected the nation from the worst
effects of the Depression
Father Coughlin
• outspoken Catholic radio-critic of
New Deal from 1933 to 1942
• first spoke out against the New
Deal but later spoke against Jews
and was taken off the air
Huey “Kingfish” Long
• Louisiana senator provided a more
radical alternative called “Share Our
Wealth”
• no one allowed a fortune 100-300
times larger than the average
income
• guaranteed everyone an income of
$2000-2500
• old age pension
• free education, including college
• Long gained a large following until
his assassination in 1935
8
New Deal Coalition
Norris-La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act,
1932
• outlawed yellow dog contracts
• forbade federal courts from
restraining strikes, boycotts, and
picketing
• major boost for labor after earlier
post-war setbacks
John Lewis
• formed the Committee of Industrial
Organization, 1935
• took on big industries like
automobiles
• lifted labor from an annoyance to a
major force in the nation
• surpassed the AFL as the largest
union in the nation
• by 1940, it had 4 million members
and 200,000 blacks among them
Wagner Act, 1935
• created National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) to ensure labor could
organize and bargain collectively
• milestone of labor movement
New Deal Coalition
• FDR built a powerful new
democratic party
• the Democrats dominated Congress
from 1932 – 1995
• Democrats won 6 of the next 8
presidential elections
• Blue-collar northerners, southern
whites, Midwest farmers,
immigrants, and African Americans
• because he needed the votes of
southern whites, FDR did not do as
much as he could for black voters
9
FDR’s Foreign Policy
Isolationism
• recognized American opposition to
war
• slowly edged US closer to
involvement
Nye Committee
• said “merchants of death” made lots
of money off WWI
Stimson Doctrine, 1931
• Japan invaded Manchuria
• US refused to recognize Manchuria
as Japanese territory
• League of Nations did nothing
D
Franklin Roosevelt
27,307,819
449
R
Wendell L. Willkie
22,321,018
82
London Economic Conference, 1933
• attempt at solving world-wide
depression through cooperative
stabilization
• FDR refused because he did not want
to obligate the U.S.
• conf. fell apart and led to nationalism
Good Neighbor Policy
• stopped interfering in Latin America
• did not interfere when Mexico seized
U.S. assets in 1938
Appeasement
• attempt to avoid war through
diplomacy
Reciprocal Trading Agreement Act, 1934
• made it easier for dictators to rise to
• 21 nations signed by 1939
11.7.4
10
power
Neutrality
The epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading. When an epidemic
of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and
joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health
of the community against the spread of disease . . . There must be
positive endeavors to preserve peace.”
--FDR, Quarantine Speech, 1937
Ethiopian Invasion, 1935
• Emperor Haile Selassie asked League
for aid after Italy invaded
• trade embargo with Italy failed to
deter aggression
Olympic Games in Berlin, 1936
• Hitler hosted games to showcase
German economy
• predicted his “uberman” would win
all the events
• New Germany scared Allies into
appeasement
• Jesse Owens won
Neutrality Act, 1935
• no sale of arms to belligerents
Spanish Civil War, 1935-1939
• fascist Francisco Franco overthrew
republican govt.
• backed by Hitler and Mussolini
• Allied neutrality helped fascists
Rome-Tokyo-Berlin Axis, 1937
• pact by the three nations to fight
for one another
• led to war with Germany after Pearl
Harbor
Neutrality Act, 1937
• no sale of arms to nations in civil war
• some Americans fought anyway
Panay Incident, 1937
• U.S. ship sunk, Japan apologized
11.7.1
11
Appeasement
NAZI Germany
• Hitler elected chancellor in 1932
• promised end of depression and
rise of third reich
• left the League of Nations in 1933
• occupied Rhineland in 1936
Munich Agreement, 1938
• Neville Chamberlain of Britain meets
with Hitler
• they sign treaty promising Hitler will
not take any more territory
• Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia
Anschluss (March 1938)
• NAZI army greeted with flowers in
Austria
• Hitler argues all Germanic people
should be under one flag
Non-Aggression Pact, 1939
• Hitler and Stalin agree to mutual peace
• Britain and France are stunned
• Stalin signs second pact with Japan in
1941
Sudetenland (September 1938)
• NAZI army enters western
Czechoslovakia
Poland, September 1939
• blitzkrieg warfare coordinated planes
and tanks from three directions
• Poland fell within a month
• France and Britain declared war too late
to help
Kristallnacht, 1938
• in one night, 7,500 Jewish shops
and 400 synagogues burned
• almost 100 Jews killed and 20,000
11.7.1
sent to concentration camps
12
WWII in Europe
Invasion of Western Europe (France)
• German forces took Denmark and
Norway in April
• Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxembourg and France in May
• Allied forces barely evacuate at
Dunkirk across the channel
Battle of Britain, 1941
• alone, Britain held against the Nazis
air force
• Germany bombed London nightly
• Hitler gave up and decided to attack
Russia in the spring
Four Freedoms Speech, 1941
• FDR said Americans must help
make a world where basic freedoms
can be expected
• freedom of speech and worship,
from want and fear
America First Committee, 1940
• argued U.S. should protect itself
and the western hemisphere
• Europe could deal with its own
problems
Committee to Defend America by
Aiding the Allie, 1940
• agreed that the U.S. should stay
out of war BUT should back Britain
Operation Barbarossa, May 1941
• Germany hoped to conquer Russia
before winter but slowed by fighting
in Balkans
• Stalingrad becomes linchpin
• opened door for US-USSR alliance
• USSR pushed Germany back before
11.7.1
D-Day
13
US Approaches WWII
Cash and Carry, 1939
• Allies could pay cash and carry away
munitions
• U.S. merchants told to avoid war zones
• Hitler forced to begin submarine
warfare
Lend-Lease Act, 1940
• U.S. lent “non-aggressive” nations war
supplies for duration of war
• expected to get supplies back and lease
payment
• $48 billion over the course of the war
• $14-20 billion just to Britain
“A day that will live in infamy”
Reuben James, 1941
• German sub sank a US destroyer
• FDR commanded navy to attack Italy
and Germany on sight
US Embargo
• Japan attacked Peking
• U.S. placed a trade embargo on war
supplies to Japan
• oil, iron ore, fuel, steel, and rubber
Pearl Harbor, December 1941
• Japan wanted to expand and thought
a decisive defeat would keep the US
out of the war
Destroyers-for-Bases, 1941
• Japan was still pretending to carry out
diplomatic talks in DC
• British gave U.S. 99-year leases on
naval bases for 50 destroyers
• six aircraft carriers brought 360
planes to attack the naval base
Atlantic Charter, 1941
• 2500 killed, 160 planes destroyed
• Roosevelt and Churchill planned goals
• the US fleet was down for six months
for end of war
11.7.4• the US declared war on Japan and
14 its
• self-determination and UN
allies
American Homefront
Office of War Mobilization
• shifted American production to war
time production
War Production Board
• allocated resources for war effort
•
•
•
•
•
40 billion bullets
300,000 aircraft
86,000 tanks
2.6 million machine guns
76,000 ships (one in 14 days)
Office of Price Administration
• froze prices, wages, and rent to
fight inflation
• rationed essential foodstuffs
War Labor Board
• set ceiling on wage increases
Smith-Connally Act, 1943
• govt. could seize tied-up industries
• due to rash of walkouts led by John D.
Lewis and UMW
Fair Employment Practices Commission
• Executive Order #8802 made
discrimination in hiring illegal
• A. Philip Randolph threatened massive
march on DC to protest discrimination
in military and government jobs
Rosie the Riveter
Office of War Information
• symbol of the working woman
• radio, print, and movies promoted
• 6 million went to work (3/4 of all
the war and the purchase of war
women)
bonds
• the government spent $50 million to
• Voice of America broadcasts spread
build 3,000 day cares
news to foreign allies
• 218,000 in military (WAACS and
11.7.6
15
WAVES)
American Homefront
Zoot Suit Riots, 1943
• a fight between off-duty sailors and
Mexicans teens in LA escalated
• the zoot suit was seen as a waste of
resources
Executive Order #9066, 1942
• German and Italian immigrants were
held in camps but were released
• more than 100,000 Japanese
immigrants and Japanese-Americans
were detained
• Japanese-Americans were forced to
sell (or abandon) their homes and
businesses
442nd Regimental Combat Team
• Japanese-Americans were not
allowed to enlist until 1943
• a segregated unit fought in Italy
and became the most decorated
unit in American history
• about 6,000 Nisei served as
translators and interrogators
• the precursor to the CIA used them
for spy missions
Navajo Codetalkers
• 25,000 Native Americans served in
military
Tuskegee Airmen
Korematsu vs. United States, 1944
• Tuskegee was a college founded by
• the Supreme Court upheld the law
Booker T. Washington
saying it was a “pressing public
• this segregated black fighter
necessity”
squadron flew 1500 escort missions
• this was a battle between personal
and never lost a single bomber
freedom and national security
• in 1988, the government gave 11.7.3, 11.7.5, 11.10.1
16
$20,000 to surviving internees
The War in Europe
Germany First
• FDR agrees that Germany is a larger
threat to the world
Operation Torch
• US invaded North Africa and captured
275,000 Germans
• used North Africa to get to Sicily, then
to Italy
Casablanca Conference, 1943
• unconditional axis surrender
Teheran Conference, 1943
• channel invasion, war with Japan, UN,
occupation of post-war Germany, aid
to China
Battle of the Bulge, 1944
• Germans tried to push allies back to
Antwerp using 250,000 troops
• US held at Bastogne
Yalta Conference, 1945
• focuses on post-war world
• UN Security Council
• occupation zones
• Poland’s government
• Soviet declaration of war on Japan
V-E Day, May 8, 1945
• US, France, and Britain pushed
from West and Soviets from East
Operation Overlord (D-Day), 1944
Potsdam Conference, 1945
• planned by Eisenhower—allied
• Truman tells Soviets about bomb
commander
• discuss “situation” in Poland
• 150,000 troops landed on five beaches
17
• France and Belgium free by September11.7.2
The War in the Pacific
Battle of Coral Sea, 1941
• US turned Japan back from Australia
• first naval battle where ships never
saw each other
Battle of Midway, 1942
• US broke Japanese codes and Adm.
Nimitz turned tide of war
• sink four aircraft carriers and destroy
hundreds of planes
Leyte Gulf, 1944
• Gen. MacArthur took the Philippines
back
• Philippines given independence in
1947
Iwo Jima and Okinawa, 1945
• the US decided to only take
important islands to control the air
and the sea
• 50,000 and 110,000 casualties
• allowed daily bombing of Japan
“I shall return.”
--Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur
Manhattan Project
• US spent $2 billion on Einstein’s
theory
• over 100,000 worked on bomb
without knowing it
• first bomb tested at Alamogordo, NM
in July 1945
Hiroshima, August 6, 1945
• Enola Gay (B-29) dropped “Little Boy”
• exploded 1,900 above the city
(100,000,000°)
• 100,000 killed by bomb or sickness
from radiation
Nagasaki, August 9, 1945
• second bomb killed 70,000
• USSR declared war on Japan
V-J Day, September 2, 1945
• MacArthur accepted surrender
11.7.2
18
Japanese keep emperor but wrote
new constitution
Total War
Final Solution
• Hitler attempted genocide at
Aushwitz and Dachau
• 6 million Jews terminated in death
camps using pesticide
• 78% of Jews in Europe were killed
Fire Bombing Tokyo, March 9-10, 1945
• 250,000 buildings destroyed (25% of
Tokyo)
• 83,000 people killed, more than either
nuclear bomb
Medical Experimentation
• Germany and Japan performed
unnecessary surgeries
Technological Innovations
• Aviation – jet aircraft
• Weaponry – atomic bomb, rocketry
• Communication–radar, sonar
• Medicine–penicillin, morphine, plasma
Rape of Nanking
• three days of unrestrained looting
and abuse
Cost of War
Industrial Bombing
• U.S. and British bombed industrial
sectors
• British bombed at night despite
higher civilian casualties
• U.S. continued daytime raids from
England and Italy
•
•
•
62 millions casualties (400,000 American
dead)
25 million military and 37 million civilian
abt. 10 million in Holocaust (5 millions Jews)
• 70% of European industry destroyed
• 13% of US population served (16 million)
• US spent $381 billion on war
11.7.7
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