American Presidents Series:
Depression 30s & World War, Part 2
Segments description
Sampler– American Presidents Series
Depression, Part 2
3’12” (87’ lecture).
Why does the statement that it is only the start of
World War II that ends the Depression, have profound
meaning for that time, and for all time of history from
that day to this?
play sampler
1
Franklyn Delano Roosevelt
(continued).
3 important acts passed in 1935.
These are needed 2 years earlier but
FDR put the brakes trying to win over
business which does not trust him. The
National Labor Relations Act
(Wagner Act) legitimatizes labor
unions. The Social Security Act
pensions for retirees where workers
and employers each paid half of the
premium. The Wealth Tax Act (Soak
the Rich Act) taxes income
progressively. These are passed
before the elections and FDR wins a
second term in a landslide.
2
Packing the Court. FDR attempts to
control the Supreme Court by adding a
number of justices to the existing 9, but
rejected by Congress. Later he is able
to replace justices who die out with his
own choices.
3
Later relief agencies that work. FDR
later succeeds by going further,
creating relief agencies that work.
These include the WPA, PWA, and
CCC, which created, respectively, jobs
for skilled, unskilled, and creative
people, and the Fair Labor Board which
set work standards. This reflects the
Keynes view of jobs as the answer to
the causes of economic depression,
American Presidents Series:
Depression 30s & World War, Part 2
Segments description
and is the opposite from the "trickledown" view. The New Deal measures
alleviated the Depression to some
extent but it takes a war and a war
economy to end it.
4
U. S. isolationism. Gathering of war
clouds caused by fascism, which the
U.S. responses to with acceptance.
Hitler appeals to the West for support
to bolster his fight against communism.
The 1936 Spanish Civil War is
doomed by Western neutrality, a
missed moral opportunity to stop
fascism. The mentality of most
Americans is disillusionment after
World War I. There is the role of
Germany, the American Bund, and
Lindberg to foster American support for
Hitler. There is a growing conflict with
Japan for dominance in Asia, especially
in China. There is the emerging Axis
Alliance vision of the carving up of the
world. Western fears underlie the
appeasement of Germany.
5
WWII begins. The August 1939 nonaggression pact between German and
Russia has its rationale. The German
blitzkrieg leaves only England to face
German military might. Still neutral, the
U.S. begins Lend-Lease aid to
England.
6
Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor and the controversy over
FDR’s role contrasts one theory that
FDR let the attack happen to unite
Americans to support the war against
the theory of his “blundering” not his
“calculation.” There is the issue of
which enemy is more dangerous,
Germany or Japan, and why the
military advisors believe Germany is
the more dangerous.
7
The Second Front and alternative
actions present complex strategic
issues. There is the question of
American Presidents Series:
Depression 30s & World War, Part 2
Segments description
Stalingrad’s role in shortening the war.
The question that an earlier second
front might have greatly reduced the
Holocaust. There are implications of
the Stalingrad victory for real politic and
post-war relations.
8
FDR wins 3rd and 4th terms. FDR
gets Russia’s promise to attack Japan.
The controversy of the use of the
atomic bomb is explored. The fact that
only the start of World War II ends the
Depression has profound meaning for
that time, and for all time of history from
that day to this, pointing to the need for
a war economy.