The 1930s: A Decade of Despair Flashcards
What marked the beginning of a recession?
The stock market crash on October 29, 1929
What is a recession?
less severe than a depression, a recession is a downturn in economic activity in which the value of goods and services declines
What is a depression?
a long period of severe economic and social hardship, massive unemployment and suffering
What is market economy?
an economic system in which individuals produce goods and prices are determined by supply and demand
What is a mixed economy?
an economic system in which both individuals and the government produce and sell goods. Canada has a mixed economy.
What is prosperity?
in the economic cycle, the period of economic growth and expansion
What effect did overproduction have on the economy?
In the 1920s demand was high. Once economy slowed many companies faced overproduction. Eventually, they cut back and produced less led to layoffs which meant people could not afford to buy consumer goods so sales slowed down even more
What was one of Canadas major weaknesses?
Its heavy dependence on the export of primary resources. Especially wheat and newsprint.
What is protectionism?
a system of using tariffs to raise the price of imported goods in order to protect domestic producers
What are reparations?
compensation from a defeated enemy for damages caused by war
How did many countries pay of the debt of WW1?
trade with the US, but as protectionism grew, international trade decreased and several countries were unable to pay back the loans. Relied on German reparations, germanys economy was in ruins. Germany wasn’t able to pay reparations, so countries could not pay their war debts.
What is speculation?
Any business venture in involving unusual risks or high, with a chance for large profits.
What was Black Tuesday?
October 29, 1929, when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed
What happened to farms during the 1930s?
They were hit by drought and dust storms due to over farming
What is pogey?
relief payments by a government, sometimes in the form of vouchers for food and other essentials. Getting them was a humiliating experience.
The problem with emergency assistance payments?
city families received more than country families, immigrants, aboriginal and women were particularly disadvantaged.
What is a transient?
an unemployed person who moves from place to place in search of work
What does anti-Semitism mean?
discrimination or hostility toward Jewish people
What is deflation?
the opposite of inflation, occurs when the price of goods and services fall
What is a majority government?
a government in which the ruling party has more seats in the House of Commons than all other parties combined
Once Bennett was Prime Mister what did he do to help Canadians through the depression?
introduced the Unemployment Relief Act, raised tariffs, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act
What is the Unemployment Relief Act?
gave the provinces $20 million for work creation programs
How did Prime Minister Bennett use tariffs to try and improve the economy?
raised tariffs by more than 50% to protect Canadian industries, in the long run did more harm than good as other nations set up trade barriers against Canada
What is the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act?
help farmers build irrigation systems and reservoirs.
What were work camps?
located deep in the woods, so men wee completely isolated. Worked projects such as building roads, clearing land. Paid 20 cents a day and given a room and board.
What is the On-to-Ottawa Trek?
a 1935 rail trip from Vancouver to Ottawa by unemployed men to protest conditions at employment relief camps
What was the Regina Riot?
a riot that occurred when police attempted to clear On-to-Ottawa trekkers from a stadium in Regina
What was the New Deal?
a series of programs, such as social assistance for the aged and unemployed, introduced by U.S. president Roosevelt in the 1920s to deal with the Depression
What was Bennett’s version of the New Deal?
- fairer taxation (people who earned more paid more)
- insurance to protect workers against illness, injury and unemployment
- legislation for workplace reforms that regulated work hours, minimum wages, and working conditions
- revised old-age pensions to help support workers over 65 years of age
- agricultural support programs to help farmers
- creation of the Canadian Wheat Board to regulate wheat prices
What is laissez-faire?
an economic condition in which industry is free of government intervention
What is a welfare state?
a state in which the government actively looks after the well-being of its citizens
What was the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)?
Canada’s first socialist party founded in the Prairies in 1932; advocated government control of the economy. Later became New Democratic Party (NDP)
What is capitalism?
an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are owned privately or by shareholders in corporations who have invested their money in the hope of making a profit
What was the Regina Manifesto?
platform of the CCF party; it supported public ownership of industry and social programs to assist those in need
What was the Social Credit Party?
political party founded in Western Canada; opposed to capitalism
What is Union nationale?
nationalist French-Canadian politcal party led by Maurice Duplessis. Support Quebec nationalism.
What is Quebec nationalism?
a movement advocating for the protection and development of Quebecois culture and language?
What was unionization?
the formation of labour unions
Why was Mackenzie King voted back as prime minister?
Voters were frustrated with Bennetts inability to deal with the crisis of the Depression.
How did King feel about the depression?
The government should not interven in the economy, he believed that in time it would improve on its own.
What was the Rowell-Sirois Report?
report of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations, a commission set up in 1937 to examine the Canadian economy and federal-provincial relations. Recommended that the federal government give equalization payments to ensure that every province was able to offer its citizens same level of services
What are equalization payments?
a federal transfer of funds from richer to poorer provinces
What are some inventions of the 1930s?
- Pablum (pre-cooked vitamin enriched cereal for infants)
2. surgical treatment for epilepsy
How is Bennett viewed?
Reputation worsened because he could not find a solution to the depression. Liked to listen to himself. Payed little attentions to opinions of others. He sent many people money from his own income, this was found out after his death.
How is King viewed?
Cautious politician avoided making decisions if he could. Patient.
Germany and the depression…
Grew increasingly unhappy with the war guilt clause which required it to pay $32 billion in reparations to other countries. To meet the payments, the government printed large amounts of money in the 1920s which lowered the value of German currency. Price of basic goods continued to rise. To control this inflation, Britain France, and the US agreed to give better terms for Germany’s reparation payments.
Russians and the depression…
Communist economic system insulated it from the economic slowdown experience by other countries. To others it appeared the communist system worked. Stalin’s ruthless dictatorship took away political and social freedoms.
Who was J.S Woodsworth?
Leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Who was William Aberhart?
Leader of the Social Credit Party
What is Isolationism?
the policy of remaining apart from the affairs of other countries
What is appeasement?
a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions (compromise) to an aggressor
What was Kristallnacht?
a coordinated attack against Jewish people and their property carried out by Nazis in Germany on November 9, 1938
