Responses to the Great Depression
Type of Government- Constitutional Republic The United States is a constitutional republic, meaning citizens elect representatives to govern according to the laws established in the Constitution.
The Crash of 1929 was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. This was one of the most significant causes and indicators of the looming Great Depression.
American Economic Contraction The Great Depression was the largest American economic contraction in history. It began in 1929 during Herbert Hoover's presidency.
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 raised the United States tariffs. Import taxes rose to 40%. This added considerable strain onto the global economy, and was a lead contributor to the Great Depression
Social Conditions Americans generally felt hopeless during the Great Depression, and many businesses were closed. In addition, the crime rate rose and numbers of students receiving education dropped. Divorce rates, marriage rates, and birth rates all fell continually during the 1930s. However, mass migrations continued and popular culture flourished; for example, Frankenstein and Gone with the Wind debuted at this time.
The New Deal was a set of programs that Franklin D. Roosevelt began to help lessen the effects of the Great Depression. The programs helped with social security, public works projects, and financial reforms.
Keynesian Economics was the theory that increased government spending and lower taxes would stimulate the economy to pull the United States out of the Great Depression.
Type of Government: Totalitarianism Disctatorship
National Socialism, later known as the Nazi Party, was founded because of German dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles. It endorsed anti-semitism and advertised German Pride.
The goal of the Nazi Party was to eliminate all people who did not fit into their racial standards. They desired a perfect "Aryan Society," and attempted to accomplish this through discrimination and genocide. The "Perfect German," was blonde, white, and blue-eyed. Jewish people were the main target of the German's rage.
Type of Government- Socialist State
The Bolshevik Revolution was an attack against Duma's provisional government. It was led by Vladimir Lenin, who advocated for a Soviet government ruled by councils of peasants, soldiers, and workers. Lenin soon formed a new government and became the dictator of the first communist state.
Anti-Semitism is the prejudice or hatred against Jews. In Nazi Germany, the State sponsored a persecution against the Jewish, in which 6 million Jewish people died. They were sent to concentration camps where they were separated from their families and executed.
War Communism was an economic policy utilized by the Bolsheviks from 1918 to 1921. The policies focused on expropriation of private businesses, industry nationalization, and the forced acquisition of agricultural goods by the government from the peasants and laborers.
The New Economic Policy was an economic policy used by the Soviet government from 1921 to 1928. It temporarily undid the strict socialist policies so that Lenin and his party could maintain their power. Citizens regained some rights and stability was reintroduced to the economy.
Type of Government: Dictatorship
The Fascist State Mussolini ruled Italy according to fascist principles. In a fascist state, there is a dictator, suppression of any opposing forces, and control of the nation's industry and trading.
Collectivization refers to the agricultural practice of communal farming, meaning farmers gave up their own land and worked on collective farms, also called kolkhozy. The practice was meant to undermine the power of prosperous farmers.
The Great Purge was a period of extreme persecution that occurred in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. It is also referred to as the Great Terror.