Interwar Year Questions Ch3

Question 1

why did canadians form trade unions?

Answer 1

• fear of communist revolution when russian communist group called bolsheviks overthrew the government and encourgaged others to join
• did not want bolsheviks to win the war
• workers in canada had no employment insurance, compensation for injuries on the job or pensions
• to make their demands heard

Question 2

what did striking workers want?

Answer 2

• believed standing together they could force emplyers to pay higher wages and establish shorter working hours
• winnipeg building and metal trades councils voted to go on strike for decent wages ($0.85/hour), eight hour workdays and right to bargain as a group for better working conditions

Question 3

what was the modified canadian criminal code after the general strike?

Answer 3

-any person born outside of canada who was suspected of trying to cause a revolution could be arrested or deported without a hearing or trial

Question 4

what were lasting effect of winnipeg general strike?

Answer 4

• families never recovered from their financial losses
• some strikers no longer had jobs to return to
• drew attention of social and economic problems people faced

Question 5

how can a stockholder make profit through the stock market?

Answer 5

• company sells stocks/shares withing the company for money when it wants to expand
• investors who buy stocks will receive a part of the profit depending on how many stocks they own
• if the company does well, the stock value will rise
• at that point the stockholder can decide whether to sell or hold the stock for money

Question 6

what created the spiral that lead to stock market crash?

Answer 6

-stock prices continued to drop dramatically and many stocks became worthless

Question 7

why were world leaders short-sighted when responding to depression?

Answer 7

• no one realized to extent that national economics became international in nature. was not aware that one suffering economy affected others in the same category
• any solution was necessarily radical

Question 8

how did canadians try to adress their economic problems?

Answer 8

-individuels tried to sell their products door to door, panhandled, approached chruchs and charities for help, “drifted” in search of employement and collected public relief

Question 9

why did people turn against bennett and elect mackenzie king in the next election?

Answer 9

• dozens of “trekkers” were injured in the regina riot

- 1 officer was beaten to death and 1 striker met with PM bennet to no avail

Question 10

what was unemplyement during the great depression? (consequence)

Answer 10

• when workers were laid off and no longer has as much money to spend;this resulted in a demand for goods
• when someone falls on hard times financially, they had no choice but to rely on their families for support but unfortonately, their families were also in the same dire financial situation
• the employement rate was about 25% in industrialized countries

Question 11

what was banking failures during the great depression? (consequence)

Answer 11

• banks went bankrupt in sea of bad loans
• it hurt depositors who lost their life savings
• USA had 6000+ failures
• most CAN banks did not go bankrupt due to canada’s more conservative banking system

Question 12

what was political consequences during the great depression? (consequence)

Answer 12

• in the USA-the americans doubted the validity of the “American Dream”
• in germany-the political system did not work
• in canada-the formation of two new political groups (canadian cooperative federation (NDP) and social credit party) were created who would make a big impact on canadian political life

Question 13

what was the change in role of government during the great depression? (consequence)

Answer 13

• the enlightened leaders realized the government would need to take a more active roll in caring for the poor
• the laissez faire died
• national economies were strictly controlled by elected governments ever since the depression
• the government was expected to manage the economy through tax policy (increasing/decreasing taxes), monetary policy (raising/lowering interest rates), and fiscal policy (increasing/decreasing gov expenditures)

Question 14

what were the moves to canadian sovereignty?

Answer 14

1922-king refused to support britain invasion of turkey (chanak crisis)
1923-international treaty signed w/o british representation (halibut treaty)
1925-king-byng crisis
1931-balfour report/statute of westminster

Question 15

what was included in bennett’s new deal?

Answer 15

-progressive taxation
-maximum number of hours in a work week
-introduction of minimum wage
-strong regulation of working conditions
-unemployment insurance
-health and accident insurance
revised old age pension plan
-agricultural support
-a marketing board to regulate wheat prices

-programs make up modern “social safety net” that help protect individuels and businesses in times of economic crisis

Question 16

what was the halibut treaty 1923?

Answer 16

• can and US signed treaty for protection of halibut off coast of bc and alaska
• treaty not in effect for never approved by american senate
• treaty signed by canadian and its american counterpart agianst protest of the british
• in past british official had always signed treaties but when british protested, PM king threatened to establish a fully independent canadian ambassador in washington
• process of negotiating the treaty showed how canada gained independence in foreign affairs in steps

Question 17

why did workers go on strike?

Answer 17

• unable to bargain with employee representatives

- so employers made changes to their work

Question 18

why was overproduction a cause of the GD?

Answer 18

• 1920, industries expanding and profits were spent on adding to factories or building new ones
• supplies of manufactured goods were stockpiled
• prices dropped and unsold goods cause factory owners to panic and slowed down production and laid off workers-led to workers having less money than before to buy goods-which slowed down sales
• usa and can industrial capacity expanded beyond the ability of the consumer to consume

Question 19

why was canada’s reliance on exporting staple products a cause of the GD?

Answer 19

• from 1925, can wheat farms grew record quantities of crops and they were sold for record prices but in 1929, US australia and argentina became can competition for sales
• can farmers were left with large amounts of unsold wheat and prices dropped dramatically
• prairie farmers faced with droughts for several summers in a row-referred as dust bowl of 1930s
• no rain=dead crops
• no wheat to ship or flour to ground=railway and mills lost business

Question 20

why was canada’s dependence on the united states a cause of the GD?

Answer 20

• can economy depended on exporting staples
• decline in foreign economies hurt can’s economy
• most important foreigh economy was USA where 40% can exports were sold
• american economy fail=can economy fail soon after

Question 21

what affected the ability of many nations to repay their loans to USA?

Answer 21

-usa led protectionist movement which led to reduced international trade and countries lost their export markets -nations lost paying loan ability

Question 22

what happened to the USA after the depression hit?

Answer 22

• president hoover toughed it out
• communities of unemployed workers lived in tarpaper shacks and were named “hoovervilles”in hoover’s ‘honour”
• refusal to introduce any relief measure

Question 23

what was PM king’s reaction to the depression?

Answer 23

• did not want to deal with it

- responded he would not give “five cent piece” when prov gov asked for fed assistance with problem of unemployment

Question 24

what were the inventions created during interwar?

Answer 24

• radio, airplane, car: changed lives of canadians
• airplane: transported more weapons and available for travel
• radio: used for information and entertainment
• car: created jobs, allowed for faster travelling, factor of development of the suburbs/ppl could live farther from their job

Question 25

what happened with immigration during the interwar period?

Answer 25

• 1919 immigration act amended-canada closed to ppl coming in from enemy countries
• canada losing ppl faster than they were coming in
• 1915-1925: 400,000 ppl left canada than stayed
• can farmers urged gov for less restrictive policy
• king gov lowered barriers to european immigration but the canadian pacific railway spent much more money than gov trying to attract immigrants from US and europe
• 1920: groups up to 1000 ppl would arrive at a time at pier 21 (processed in groups of 250)/10 immigration officers needed at a time to examine incoming passengers

Question 26

what were the top 5 immigration groups arriving in canada by 1927?

Answer 26

• england
• poland
• united states
• scotland
• ireland

Question 27

what did the bolsheviks believe for the reasoning of starting a revolution?

Answer 27

-everyone in a community including workers should own and control production and distribution of goods rather than just the factory owners