here comes the sun 6/5 Flashcards
USA
● USA, 1920s ⇾ the “Roaring Twenties”
● the USA won the war
● industries and commerces are developing at a fast pace
usa market
● people are wealthier ⇾ they invest their money in durable goods (cars,
appliances)
● so initially the market explodes, but being these goods durable ⇾ it saturated
fast
by 1929
● ⇾ the production decreases and by 1929 there is no more relationship
between the production and the waves of shares
invests (credits e speculative)
● because of this people invest their money in buying shares in the stock
exchange
○ credits are widely granted (even without guarantees)
○ ”speculative bubble”: people buy shares, wait for their value to rise and rese
them
21st October
on the 21st October 1929 there is an extraordinary sale of shares so their value decreases ⇾ shareholders are scared and sell all their shares
29th October
● on the 29th October 1929 the Wall Street Crash happens which was a total collapse of the value of shares
wall street crash
● banks suffers as they cannot have the money back in the short term, which means they cannot give the money deposited back
○ most banks fail
○ those who don’t, cannot support companies and industries (lack of money)
great depression
● companies don’t have money to carry on with the production ⇾ the production slows down ⇾ workers are fired and salaries reduced ⇾ no more purchasing power ⇾ the markets slows down ⇾ the Great Depression
consequences gd
● the Great Depression
○ 5,000 banks fail
○ 100,000 companies fail
○ 13 millions of people are left unemployed
devaluation of the currency
○ the products of the country that devaluates its currency (now USA) are cheaper, but the other countries raise custom duties and this cancels the effect of the devaluation
○ ⇾ international commerce collapse
○ = not a solution
direct loans
president Hoover allows direct loans from the government to banks and
companies
○ but it isn’t enough, he also wanted to keep a balanced budget, so in order t face the outflows he cuts on public spendings
○ ⇾ this worsens the situation
○ = not a solution
new deal
● the actual resolution ⇾ the New Deal
which was a plan based on the Keynesian economics, developed by the
British economist John Maynard Keynes in 1936, according to whom the economy of a country cannot self-regulate and it needs the constant support of the state
new deal goals
the state has to encourage public works so to promote occupation, purchasing power, rise of the demand, recovery of the production and of economy
effects of the New Deal
under president Roosevelt:
○ the state actively intervenes in the economy
○ the banking system is re-organised through a stricter control of the state
promoted by the foundation of a monitoring agency for the stock exchange
○ first-aid programs for social groups in need (“Federal Emergency Relief Act”
○ foundation of a national system of welfare and assistance (“Social Security
Act”)
○ promotion of public works which lead to new hirings and new
infrastructures
○ rise of labor unions
international powers and ums
France, England and the US impose themselves as the international powers
● in 1912 there was the first universal male suffrage ⇾ the liberal
government lost its power (as they believed that nothing was going to
change), and so the socialists gain more
industries
the industries are weak and they’re trying to start again with the production,
there are a lot of strikes that represent the mirror of the Socialist Revolution
in Russia
giolitti rise of fascism
Giolitti is back as the head of government and his political line is the same
(keeps the strikes going without interfering)
● so they started to politically lose power from the social classes as it was not
a strong government
enterpreneurs
the entrepreneurs feared the power that the lower class is taking by striking
for their rights, they think it’s time to get a political force that supports their
interests and so they wanted the military corpses to protect them
fasci di combattimento
this government never offers that and it is Benito Mussolini to give them
what they wanted
● he was a man from the “Fasci di Combattimento” party, a political
movement established by him in 1919
benito
● Benito was a socialist originally but he was expelled from the party because
he supported the war
● at first they weren’t supported by the population, in their first election, they
just had the support of the entrepreneurs and that was important because
they had money
squadrismo
● the entrepreneurs invested money in the party and this led to the creation
of the squadre d’azione
● their job was to repress the socialists strikes, this actions are knows as
squadrismo
civil war
● this eventually led to a civil war between 1921-1922, where there is the opposition against them (future fascists VS socialists)
● the fascist gain more support in the second election, thanks to some alliances with the government, the National Fascist Party is established in 1921
● and so Mussolini becomes known as the Dux or Duce
marcia su roma
● the opposition becomes stronger, as the people realise that a party that has
military force is too dangerous
● Mussolini then understand that he has to do a strong action to establish his power ⇾ “March on Rome”
mussolini vs king
○ he does so by merging all of the squadre d’azione in Rome, his army marches
on Rome and he asks the king Vittorio Emanuele III to gain full power on th
state
○ the King says yes, although he wasn’t fascist ⇾ Vittorio Emanuele accepts
because he feared the socialist power, he believe that he could control
Mussolini but he couldn’t
