Unit 6
Ups and Downs:
World War I, the Jazz Age and the Great Depression
In this unit, students will understand the involvement of
the United States in World War I, the impact of the Great
Depression, and the cultural developments of the early
20th century. Students will explore the connecting themes
of beliefs and ideals; conflict and change;
individuals, groups, and institutions; location;
movement and migration; scarcity; and
technological innovations. These themes will enable
students to make connections to a broader understanding
of patterns that continue to occur over time.
Vocabulary
alliance
Lusitania
armistice
Margaret Mitchell
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
militarism
Duke Ellington
nationalism
Dust Bowl
New Deal
emigration
reparations
Franklin Roosevelt
soup kitchens
Great Depression
Stock Market Crash of 1929
Herbert Hoover
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
immigration
Treaty of Versailles
imperialism
U-boats
Jesse Owens
Woodrow Wilson
Works Progress Administration
Background Information
An alliance is when countries agree to help each other
if one of them is attacked.
In 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand was
assassinated. This is considered an act of nationalism,
extreme love of country.
All of Europe was at war, this is considered militarism;
the use of war to solve a problem. Germany and
Austria- Hungary formed an alliance called Central
Powers. Russia, Great Britain, and France became the
leaders of an alliance called Triple Entente.
Germany was taking over smaller countries to add to
their empire, this is called imperialism.
This assassination started WWI. President
Woodrow Wilson vowed to keep the U.S.
out of the war, but a number of things
happened.
Germany used U-boats. They
stayed hidden beneath the
surface of the water and fired
torpedoes that sank enemy
ships and ships from other
nations.
German submarines sank a U.S.
passenger ship called the
Lusitania and over 100 people
died. This made the U.S.
furious even though the U.S.
government was secretly using
the Lusitania and other
passenger ships to sneak
military supplies to Great
Britain and its allies.
Before the U.S. entered the war they sent
weapons to Britain, food and supplies to war
torn areas in Europe, and helped block food
from getting to Germany.
When several American merchant ships we sunk in
February and March of 1917, the United States
entered the war as an ally of Britain and France in
April 1917. After joining the war effort, the United
States drafted four million men and was sending
thousands of men to France every day. The U.S. Navy
sent battle ships to help the British, U.S. Marines to
France, and supplies to Europe.
The U.S. soldiers reached
Europe in 1918.
The presence of Americans
made it clear that
Germany had no hope to
win.
It signed an armistice, and
agreement to stop
fighting, in November
1918.
President Wilson and the other allied leaders met
and drafted a treaty. The treaty is called the
Treaty of Versailles. It forced Germany to take
total blame for the war. It also made Germany
pay for the war and greatly decrease the size of
its military.
This made many German’s bitter. Many in the U.S.
feared that the treaty would lead the U.S. into
alliances with foreign countries.
The Senate refused to ratify it, claiming it
feared the Treaty of Versailles could lead
to future wars.
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I
Assassination
 Archduke
Francis Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary was assassinated
and Serbia was blamed.
MILITARISM
A
nation’s policy to maintain strong
armed forces
– Great Britain and Germany raced to
have the largest navies.
– France, Russia, and Germany
competed in building powerful armies.
ALLIANCES
 The
formation of military
agreements among nations.
– Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
formed the Triple Alliance in 1882.
– Great Britain, France, and Russia
formed the Triple Entente in 1907.
IMPERIALISM
A
nation’s attempt to gain control
of weaker nations.
– European nations divided much of
Africa into colonies in order to obtain
raw material and sell goods
– European nations forced China to
grant them trading rights
NATIONALISM
 Extreme
loyalty to a nation and
concern for its welfare.
– National groups in Austria-Hungary
and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
wanted independence.
– European nations sought to regain
lost territories and/or add land.

The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 was the peace
treaty that put an official end to World War I. The
treaty was ratified on Jan. 10, 1920 and required
that Germany accept responsibility for the war. Like
many other treaties, it is named for the place of its
signing: the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of
Versailles. On Jan. 18, 1919 a peace conference
opened in Versailles, France, to work on the treaty.
League of Nations


The treaty provided for the creation of the League of
Nations, a major goal of US president Woodrow Wilson.
The purpose of the organization was to discuss problems
between nations before they lead to war.
The Treaty of Versailles also greatly restricted Germany’s
armed forces.
The treaty established a commission which was to
decide the exact amount to be paid by Germany. In
1921, this number was officially put at $33 billion.

The United States never ratified the
treaty. The elections of 1918 had seen
the Republicans gain control of the
United States Senate, some favoring
isolationism. As a result, the U.S. never
joined the League of Nations and later
negotiated a separate peace treaty
with Germany.


A Compromise
The "Big Three" consisted of Prime Minister of Great
Britain, Prime Minister of France, and President
Woodrow Wilson of America. Each had been
treated differently by Germany during the War.

France had suffered most of the casualties during the
War, and much of it had been fought on French soil. The
country was in ruins, with much damage done to historic
and important buildings and resources. France wanted
money from Germany to rebuild and repair the damage
done by the Germans.

Great Britain was never invaded, but
many any soldiers died on the front line
in France, and so the people in Britain
wanted revenge as much as the
French. They also wanted money from
Germany.

Woodrow Wilson had very different views about how
to punish Germany. The American people had been
in the war only since April 1917. President Wilson
wanted to institute a world policy that ensured that
nothing like this could ever happen again. In order
to maintain peace, the first attempt at a world court
was created- the League of Nations .

When the Treaty of Versailles had been concluded, Germany
was forced to pay the Allies over 6 billion dollars; hand over all
its colonies, accept all blame for the war; reduce the size of its
armed forces (six warships, 100,000 infantry, and no air force);
and give land to many countries.
What caused the Great
Depression?
 Stock
market
Crash of 1929
 Banks failed
 Reduction in
spending
 Tariffs
 Dust Bowl
The Roaring 20’s
The new concept of
“credit”
 People were buying:

– Automobiles
– Appliances
– Clothes

Fun times reigned
– Dancing
– Flappers
– Drinking
Why was this bad?
 Credit system
– People didn’t really
have the money they
were spending

WWI
– The U.S. was a major
credit loaner to other
nations in need
– Many of these nations
could not pay us back
The Stock Market
 People
bought
stocks on margins
– If a stock is $100
you can pay $10
now and the rest
later when the
stock rose
 Stocks
fall
– Now the person
has less than $100
and no money to
pay back
And then….
 With
people
panicking about their
money investors tried
to sell their stocks
– This leads to a huge
decline in stocks
– Stocks were worthless
now
 People who bought on
“margins” now could
not pay
 Investors were average
people that were now
Why did banks fail in 1929?

Banks make money by
charging interest on the
loans they give. People
go to them and ask them
to purchase a house or a
car and in return, they
will pay the bank a little
at a time alone with a
little extra (interest) until
all is paid off.

In 1929 as is today, they
loaned out more money
than they had coming in.
People got scared and
withdrew their savings,
leaving the banks with
only the money they
were counting on from
the interest rates they
were charging.
Why did banks fail in 1929?

When people began to default on their loans not
only did the bank lose money from the interest it
was no longer getting, but then they had to
foreclose on the defaulted home loans. It then
became a matter of reselling (usually at a loss)
the homes they took back. Because no one was
buying (homes), the asking price for the homes
dropped (meaning the banks would get even
less) and if they could not sell, they were stuck
with a property that was not bringing in any
money.
Why did banks fail in 1929?

People began pulling their money out of savings
and suddenly, there simply was no more money.
The banks had used people's money (savings) to
buy the homes they'd loaned money for and so,
the money was non-existent , it was tied up in
the homes that were now in foreclosure. People
wanted to withdraw their money, but there was
no money left.
FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) is an independent agency of the
United States government that protects
the funds depositors place in banks and
savings associations. FDIC insurance is
backed by the full faith and credit of the
United States government. Since the FDIC
was established in 1933, no depositor has
ever lost a single penny of FDIC-insured
funds.
FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The standard insurance amount is
$250,000 per depositor, per insured bank,
for each account ownership category.
 FDIC insurance does not cover other
financial products and services that banks
may offer, such as stocks, bonds, mutual
fund shares, life insurance policies,
annuities or securities.

Herbert Hoover
was president at
the start
 Philosophy: We’ll
make it!
 What He Did:
Nothing
 The poor were
looking for help


Farmers were already feeling the
effects
– Prices of crops went down
– Many farms foreclosed

People could not afford luxuries
– Factories shut down
– Businesses went out
Banks could not pay out money
 People could not pay their taxes

– Schools shut down due to lack of funds

Many families became homeless
Many waited in unemployment
lines hoping for a job.
People in cities would wait in
line for bread to bring to their
family.
Some families were forced to
relocate because they had no
money.
“Hooverville”

Some families
were forced to live
in shanty towns
– A grouping of
shacks and tents in
vacant lots

They were
referred to as
“Hooverville”
because of
President Hoover’s
lack of help during
The South
and
the
Dust Bowl
A drought in the South lead
to dust storms that
destroyed crops.
“The Dust Bowl”
The South Was Buried
 Crops
turned to dust=No
food to be sent out
 Homes buried
 Fields blown away
 South in state of emergency
 Dust Bowl the #1 weather
crisis of the 20th century
Two Families During
the Depression
A Farm Foreclosure
Some families tried to make
money by selling useful crafts
like baskets.
Apple Sellers
People would buy apples for a penny a piece
and try to sell them for a nickel a piece.
Apple Sellers
Many tried appleselling to avoid the
shame of
panhandling. In New
York City, there were
over 5,000 apple
sellers on the street.
*FDR*
When he was
inaugurated
unemployment
had increased
by 7 million.
 Poor sections
(like Harlem)
had 50% of the
pop.
unemployed
 Instated the
“New Deal”

People
everywhere were
effected by the depression
It
wasn’t till President
Roosevelt took over and
tried to put the economy
back together that people
even saw a glimmer of hope
The “Old Deal”
What?
President Hoover’s reaction to
the Great Depression was to
do nothing. Let the natural
course of things work itself
out.
54
President Herbert Hoover
The “Old Deal”
What did he want to do?
Let the business
cycle take care of
things
Refused to create
government
programs until it
was too late
Children in one of the Bonus Army
55 Camps
The Bonus Army 1932
Who?
•
25,000 WWI veterans
What?
Marched to
Washington D.C. to
get a $ bonus they
were supposed to
get in 1945
56
The Bonus Army 1932
What did Hoover do?
•
Called out the troops and dispersed
the army
57
The Election of 1932
What?
Roosevelt offers a “New Deal” for America
Roosevelt wins with 60% of the vote
58
Think about it and Discuss
Why do many people say that
Herbert Hoover was a terrible
president and put the blame on
him for the financial crisis of
the 1930s?
59
Roosevelt’s New Deal

What?
Programs meant to help the country by
getting the government involved in the
economy
Meant to do 3 things
1. Relief - help people out in the short term
2. Recovery - get the economy back on its feet
3. Reform - keep this from happening again
60
Bank Holiday - First Step

Why?
Many banks had
failed, wiping
out families’
savings
People lost
confidence in the
banks
Depositors Congregate Outside61Closed Bank
Bank Holiday - First Step

How?
Closed banks for
four days to
reorganize
President explains
in a “fireside chat”
Confidence
restored
62
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
Hundred Days
•
In the first 100 days of his
administration Roosevelt passes tons
of legislation
Alphabet Soup
The agencies he creates (like
AAA)
63
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps
•
CCC workers in Lassen National Forest,
California
64
18-25 year
old guys get
jobs and
send money
home to
their
families
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
AAA - Agricultural Adjustment Administration
•
Government
pays
farmers not
to farm
Meant to cause prices
to rise and halt
overproduction
65
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority
•
Government runs a
hydroelectric power
plant
Provides cheap power &
fertilizer to the poor region
Construction at Norris Dam, which was66
being built
by the TVA on the Clinch River in Northeastern Tennessee
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
FDIC - Federal Department Insurance Corp.
•
Insurance
for the $
you put in
banks
Protected people’s
savings
Bank Employee Checks Depositor's67Account
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission
•
New York Stock Exchange
68
Watchdog
agency for
the stock
market
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
FERA - Federal Emergency Relief Admin.
•
Gave direct relief
($) to those who
needed it
Beginnings of a welfare
program
69
Next Step - “Alphabet Soup”
Social Security
•
Taxed people
working now to give
payments to the
elderly
Social Security Information Poster
70
The New Deal - Pros and Cons
Pros
Restored optimism and hope to Americans
Provided necessary relief to many
Cons
Did not really fix the depression
Left the nation with much debt
Left people too dependent on government
71