The Depression: A Storm That Tears a World

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♥ A Little About the Depression:

The Presidents and their actions - ☆ Hoover started out as President during the Great Depression, but found himself go quickly from being the loved president, to being one of the most hated presidents in history. ☆ FDR (Franklin Roosevelt) was president at this time and created The New Deal, which ended the severe depression in the United States.

What was going on at this time - Just out of the roaring 20's, nobody expected anything like this to happen. Because of trouble with the stock market, prices began to fall and rise, negatively effecting society and the economy.

♥ Where It Hit:

The places the depression hit most were the countries reliant on industry and with high populations.

Some of these countries were:

★Australia -

☆ Since Australia was a country extremely dependant on the agriculture of other countries, when the United States economy began to experience difficulties due to the stock market, they suffered also. Australia was one of the hardest-hit countries, along with Germany and Canada, reliant on the United States for imports. These economic crises raised unemployment to an unprecedented high. Although the United States was able to quickly correct this wrong with the development of the New Deal and New Zealand with Mickey Savage’s socialism and central planning eliminating unemployment quickly, Australia was not so lucky and struggled for years.

★Germany -

☆ Germany was another country hard-hit by the depression due to the connection to the United States from loans they were using to rebuild their country. Here, along with other countries dependant on imports and industry, unemployment soared. Not only was unemployment a problem, but Hitler’s new party called The Nazi’s came into power in 1933. In 1935, Germany went bankrupt and was experiencing an extreme unbalance in their economy.

A little German Boy huddled against the wall during the Depression -->

★The United Kingdom -

☆ Still recovering from the effects of WWI, The United Kingdom experienced a difficult depression due to financial instability, affecting the economy and preventing Great Britain from rebuilding successfully. Although all of Britain was hit with the depression, the North suffered far worse than the other parts due to their dependency on industry (This was Britain’s industrious part).

★Canada -

☆ Canada was hit by the depression even harder than the United States, their gross national product dropping 40% compared to the United States 37% drop. Not only was the Gross National Product suffering, but also the amount of exports dropped 50%! The areas hit the hardest were those dependant on industry, such as the mining and logging communities.

★South Africa -

☆ The Great Depression effected Africa through its economy and politics. Africa, being mostly newly colonized lands, suffered from the lack of trade raised from the Depression. The sudden lack of trade had devastating affects on the Boers, for example, the wool trade, where a lot of wealth came from, fell 75% between 1925 and 1933. South Africa might have completely collapse if the Gold industry had not been so prominent. The gold prices rose, saving Africa’s economy as people clamored for a stable currency.

★The United States

☆ Roosevelt’s New Deal (See Acts)

The Great Depression brought nearly a decade of unemployment, low profits and prices, poverty, and bad trade, not only affecting the United States, but the rest of the world.

♥ The Short-Term Affects:

★ The main short-term affects were: Extreme poverty, trade suffered, unemployment rates soared, and many new regulations regarding politics and businesses were passed.

♥ Some Acts to Help End the Depression:

★ Roosevelt’s New Deal – Sought to provide work and relief to citizens by:

Reforming financial system by act such as the Glass Steagal Act
By developing regulations for businesses that enabled “Cut Throat” competition which kept prices lower for everyone (The NRA)
Setting minimum wage and prices for goods (NRA)
Encouraging the labor unions to raise wages
Cutting farm production, enabling farming prices to raise and farmers to make a living (the AAA)
The formation of the NRA, the National Recovery Administration, which lasted less than two years and ordered
- Businesses must work with government to set fair prices
- The NRA board gained the power to set labor codes and standard

Mickey Savage’s (New Zealand) socialism and central planning

♥ Primary Source From the Depression:

★Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon advised President Hoover shock treatment would be the best response: "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate.... [That] will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people." Hoover rejected this advice, not believing government should directly aid the people, but insisted instead on "voluntary cooperation" between business and government.

↑ Source from Wikipedia

<-- This is probably one of the most famous pictures relating to the Great Depression, a Women whose husband probably left, like so many in that time, with two small children. Huddled in a corner hungry and dirty.