Major Causes of the Great Depression
From 1929 through 1939, the U.s underwent one of the nation’s most deep economic recessions. The years that preceded the 1929 stock market crisis characterized massive unemployment and bank bankruptcies. The 1920s market bubble was one of the leading causes of the Great Depression. Between 1920 and 1929, overall wealth in the United States more than quadrupled, and ordinary Americans began investing heavily in the market. Household debt grew, and businesses overstretched themselves (Lateef, 2022). Banking firms began to invest substantially in stock market speculation. Nonetheless, the stock market continued to rise. That is, until October 1929, when everything came crashing down around them.
Another factor was the 1929 stock market meltdown. From 1929 to July 1932, the marketplace dropped more than 85% of its valuation, causing other smoldering economic crises to boil over. Another factor was commodity excess supply. This resulted in a reduction in industrial and agricultural prices, which destroyed profits and harmed already overburdened businesses. Companies that were losing money were obliged to slash output – and their employees. Consumers who were in debt suddenly stopped investing. This exacerbated the issue, prompting more firms to fail or cut back, resulting in additional layoffs. Throughout the 1920s, banks were careless, allowing their reserves to become incredibly low. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve was much more so (Lateef, 2022). Eventually, the decline in the monetary base resulted in deflation. Multiple nations reacted with levies on US goods due to an ill-timed levy. The unavoidable outcome was a trade meltdown. Imports to the United States plummeted by 40% over the next two years.
Ways that the New Deal sought to address the issue during the Great Depression
Since the late 1930s, popular thinking has believed that President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was instrumental in bringing the Great Depression to a close. Americans went back to work on different infrastructure works due to several social and state expenditure programs. The New Deal reforms, such as empowering the founding of organized labor, which cultivated wage inflation and maintained the buying power of Americans, as well as the institution of Social Security and federal restrictions put on the financial sector, primarily guaranteed that there would not be another Great Depression (Galvin & Healy, 2020).
How the End of World War II Contributed to Cold War
During the second half of the twentieth century, the superpowers competed for supremacy in the development and deployment of nuclear weapons. The Soviets developed their own nuclear bomb four years after America successfully launched their first. With menace at the forefront of international politics, both sides strove to increase their arsenals. The U.S spent trillions of dollars on its nuclear weapons development, which contained 10,000 nuclear warheads, while Russia had half that number (Gross & Sampat, 2020). Although the arms race was meant to improve each state’s security, it had a number of unexpected effects. During Suez Crisis throughout the 1950s, the Soviets threatened Western allies, mainly the British and French, with nuclear weapons. Tensions rose until the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which contributed massively dangerously close to nuclear war. This was a historical event when two countries were vying for the world’s most destructive weapon: the nuclear bomb.
The Cold War began largely as a result of ideological confrontations, like those involving communists and capitalist democracy. Western countries were worried about government disparities because they only allowed people to choose their government if it adhered to democratic values. As evidenced by the Potsdam Conference, the Truman Doctrine, and the establishment of NATO, the threat of communism and the necessity to develop nuclear weapons superseded economic and social aims (Gross & Sampat, 2020). Although economic devastation in Europe was a subject of dispute, it can be dated directly to which countries would be permitted to claim these areas and how their administrations would be created. As communism extended worldwide to various regions of Asia and Europe, like Vietnam, tensions increased, and the Cold War became a battle over sociopolitical disagreements. Domestic policy was influenced by the Cold War in two ways: social and economic. The widespread indoctrination of the American people culminated in a regression of societal progress. Significant economic development spurred by war-related industries was aided by massive government expansion.
Changes that Came as a Result of Historical Events
Civil rights activists and a large number of protestors of all races collaborated to achieve legislation that removed segregation, Black voting restrictions, and discriminatory job and housing regulations. The feminist movement, on the other hand, has produced a change in Western civilization, including women’s suffrage, increased access to schools, better remunerations like males, and the right to commence divorce procedures. Furthermore, the LGBT rights movement made some early strides in the 1960s. In 1961, Illinois became the first state to repeal its anti-sodomy laws, essentially legalizing homosexuality. In California, a small TV station screened The Rejected, the first film about gay people (Dyke & Taylor, 2019).
As a result, Fundamentalism evolved as a new type of Christianity. The 1920s saw a significant religious resurgence among conservative Christians due to social developments. They were opposed to the impact of movies and jazz and the changing way women dressed and acted (Dyke & Taylor, 2019). Moreover, the 1960s were a time of significant religious change. From Archbishop Robinson’s “new theology” and “new ethics,” to the Charismatic Movement’s evangelical Christianity and important people such as Pope John XXIII and Martin Luther King, it was a watershed time in the Christian churches.
References
Dyke, N. V., & Taylor, V. (2019). The Cultural Outcomes of Social Movements. ResearchGate | Find and share research. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nella-Van-Dyke/publication/328122223_The_Cultural_Outcomes_of_Social_Movements/links/5bd1f08aa6fdcc3a8da63b58/The-https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nella-Van-Dyke/publication/328122223_The_Cultural_Outcomes_of_Social_Movements/links/5bd1f08aa6fdcc3a8da63b58/The-Cultural-Outcomes-of-Social-Movements.pdfCultural-Outcomes-of-Social-Movements.pdf
Galvin, R., & Healy, N. (2020, September). The Green New Deal in the United States: What it is and how to pay for it. Just a moment… https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629620301067
Gross, D. P., & Sampat, B. N. (2020, June). Inventing the endless frontier: The effects of the World War II research effort on post-war innovation. NBER. https://www.nber.org/papers/w27375
Lateef, W. A. (2022, March 5). The impact of the Great Depression and social injustice on American society in John Steinbeck’s the grapes of wrath | Eurasian Journal of humanities and social sciences. Genius Journals Publishing Group. https://geniusjournals.org/index.php/ejhss/article/view/721
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