For the United States the event of WWII was most likely the single largest factor in determining the nation’s financial, political, and social prowess in the 20th century. Where most have knowledge of the war itself, few understand the sheer reach it had and the massive effects it produced globally. At home, it ended the great depression and strengthened our government’s ability to manage the economy. Leading up to the war virtually all industry in the country was majorly crippled if not dead, a problem that may not have ever been fixed were it not for increased demands via the defense industries. Organized labor was a growing force to be reckoned with, even during the war it managed to grow stronger, becoming a major player in the post war years both privately, a politically. Due to wartime research- science, technology, engineering and countless other fields were spurred on to a blistering rate of advancement, invoking the national drive for progress that we still have today. The wartime job market offered many a taste of what life could be like, with increased pay and other incentives, the public made money and thus spent it, creating a way of life that would set the bar for future generations to strive for. Indeed, WWII gave the country such a boost while leaving much of the world’s economy in ruins, that it opened the gates which allowed the United States to become the one true world super-power for the remainder of the century. The Great Depression was an economical event that negatively effected governments and entire nations across the globe. In a way it was this depression that helped establish Hitler as the leader of Germany, due to his promises of a better life for the countries citizens. In the United States FDR wa... ... middle of paper ... ...nology, and even altering the social fabric of the country, effectively ending the Great Depression and ushering in a new era. It’s no wonder the men and women of the period are often referred to as “The Greatest Generation”. Works Cited Blum, John Morton. V Was for Victory: Politics and American Culture during World War II. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1976 Darby, Michael R. Journal of Political Economy 84, no. 1 (February 1976): 1-16 Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999 Koistinen, Paul A.C. Arsenal of World War II: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1940-1945. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2004. U.S. Department of the Treasury, "Fact Sheet: Taxes," n. d. Available at http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml
Stewart R. W. (2005). American Military History (Vol. 1). The United States Army and the
"World War II." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd Ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 147-151. World History In Context. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Phillips, Cabell. The New York Times Chronicle of American Life: From the Crash to the Blitz 1929-1939. New York: Mac Millan, 1969.
The Great Depression America 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine covers many topics of American history during the "Great Depression" through 1941. The topic that I have selected to compare to the text of American, Past and Present, written by Robert A. Divine, T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson and R. Hal Williams, is Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first president of the United States and America's president during the horrible "Great Depression".
...s of the New Deal worked; some did not. The New Deal restored a sense of security as it put people back to work. It created the framework for a regulatory state that could protect the interests of all Americans, rich and poor, and thereby help the business system work in more productive ways. It rebuilt the infrastructure of the United States, providing a network of schools, hospitals, and roads that served the United States well for the next 70 years. For many Americans, Roosevelt was the president who included in his policies the people who had felt excluded (Source XX). Nevertheless, the war was the decisive factor in ending the Depression. It employed people regardless of race and gender and thus eliminated unemployment. It stimulated industry as seen in (Source RRR) and ‘did for the economy what Roosevelt’s New Deal had not been able to achieve’ (Source PPP).
World War I may not have made the world safe for democracy, but it did help to lay the groundwork for a decade of American economic expansion. The war began in Europe in 1914, and the United States entered the fray in 1917. The 1920s saw the growth of the culture of consumerism. A significant reason for United States involvement in the war was the nation’s economic links to the Allied Powers, and especially to Great Britain. American soldiers returned home in May 1919 with the promise of a prosperous decade (Baughman 197).
Anderson, F., and R.S Stephenson. The War That Made America. Penguin Group USA, 2005. (accessed December 5th , 2013).
“The effect of World War II” 1950s vol. 4. Danbury: Grolier, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2005.
America’s entry into World War II had an importance to America after the war. The United States involvement in the war was long and took a toll on everyone in the war. The military of the U.S. was the deciding factor in World War II. The United States grew militarily and economically because of the war. Finally stopping the Great Depression and bringing on jobs for everyone including women, colored people and the fighters of the war.
O'Neill, William L. World War II: A Student Companion. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.
Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situation the world had ever seen. It all started during late 1929 and lasted till 1939. Although, the origin of depression was United Sattes but with US Economy being highly correlated with global economy, the ill efffects were seen in the whole world with high unemployment, low production and deflation. Overall it was the most severe depression ever faced by western industrialized world. Stock Market Crashes, Bank Failures and a lot more, left the governments ineffective and this lead the global economy to what we call today- ‘’Great Depression’’.(Rockoff). As for the cause and what lead to Great Depression, the issue is still in debate among eminent economists, but the crux provides evidence that the worst ever depression ever expereinced by Global Economy stemed from multiple causes which are as follows:
Aside from national security interests domestic thirst for oil boomed. The war brought us out of the Great Depression. During the Depression a traditionally capitalist American society embraced a kind of socialism with the New Deal. WWII transformed the bear turned in a raging bull. Capitalism was back with a vengeance, charging forward stronger than it had ever been before. The heavy industry built up to sustain the war effort was retooled to meet the demands of the emerging consumerist culture of the 1950s. The new explosion of industrial output became so pervasive that the decade ended with President Eisenhower warning of the dangers of the growing “Military-Industrial Complex.”
The decade after the First World War saw tremendous change. Progressivism was a leading factor of World War I and in the 1920’s the evidence can be seen. Industries were making their products at an increasing rate. Products that were not populous before World War I were now used by millions of Americans. The automobile was only used by less than ten million of Americans and by the end of this post war decade that number has climbed to over thirty million. Also many new inventions were coming through making life for Americans much more comfortable. Radios, vacuum cleaners, irons, washing machines, and refrigerators were among the new necessities Americans just had to have.
The US government’s role in the Great Depression has been very controversy. Different hypothesizes argued differently on the causes of the Great depression and whether the New Deal introduced by the government and President Roosevelt helped United States got out of the depression. I would argue that even though not the only factor, the US government did lead the country into the Great Depression and the New Deal actually delayed the recovery process. I will discuss five different factors (stock market crash, bank failure, tariff and tax cut, consumer spending and agriculture) that are commonly accepted to cause the depression and how the government linked to them. Furthermore, I will try to show how the government prolonged the depression in the United States by introducing the New Deal.
Stroebel, Jeffrey T. World War II. Part I: Between the Wars. The Sycamore School, 1995. Revised 1998.