Download The Great Depression:

The Great Depression:
Economics, Political Parties
+ Protests
John Maynard Keynes
 British economist John Maynard
Keynes initially developed this radical
economic structure to deal with the
Great Depression.
 Father of modern economics /
macroeconomics
Keynesian Economics
 Instead of belt-tightening, Keynes
proposed that governments should
spend their way out of the Depression.
 This was based on his analysis of the inward
spiral created by the Depression – a lack of
cash circulation was making the Depression
worse each day.
Deficit Financing
 He suggested that governments should
borrow money, to be repaid in the future
when the economy recovered, and spend
it on massive employment projects.
 This would become know as deficit
financing.
Modernizing Infrastructure
 In addition, these projects should be of
value, not just make-work, but
modernizing the infrastructure.
 The responsibility to direct the economy
was the government’s task because it
was the only institution big enough to
reverse the spiral.
New Political Parties in the 1930s
 Social Credit:
 Social = people
 Credit = money lent
 Promised $25/month to every adult > buy
material goods and food > jobs > demand
>production
 Called the “Funny Money Party” – thought of
as wacky
 Leader: William Aberhart (Calgary, Alberta)
First Formed
 The Canadian social credit movement was
largely an out-growth of the Alberta Social
Credit Party, and the Social Credit Party of
Canada was originally strongest in Alberta.
 When first formed in 1935, as the
Western Social Credit League, it took
many voters from the Progressive Party of
Canada and the United Farmers
Movement.
Disaffection of Status Quo
 The party grew out of disaffection with
the status quo (the same old ways of
doing things; traditional ways) during the
Great Depression.
 The depression hit the party's western
Canadian birth-place especially hard, and can
be credited both for the creation of this party
and the rise of a social democratic party, the
CCF.
Rise of the SC Party
 The Social Credit Party was a
grassroots Conservative party that
believed strongly that the government
should reimburse citizens with small
payments when possible.
William Aberhart
 Founder was William Aberhart; aka
“Bible Bill”.
 Promised that every citizen would
receive $25 if they voted for him, he did
not fulfill his promise; however, he was
Premier of Alberta for over a decade.
In Need of Distraction
 Fireside chats in USA; CBC in Canada.
 Canadian Culture - Radio as a form of
distraction.
 Happy Gang, Hockey Night in
Canada, Big Band.
 Dionne Quintuplets – placed on display.
New Political Parties
 CCF (Cooperative Commonwealth
Federation):





Cooperative = work together
Common wealth = all have money
Federation = different groups together
Socialism – “capitalism does not work”
Leader: J.S. Woodsworth (from Toronto,
Ontario but lived in Vancouver, BC)
CCF
 Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(CCF), founded 1932 in Calgary as a
political coalition of progressive,
socialist and labour forces.
 They were anxious to establish a political
vehicle capable of bringing about economic
reforms to improve the circumstances of
those suffering the effects of the Great
Depression.
From Farmers, Academics
+ MPs
 The main impetus for the formation of the
new party came from:
 Farmers' organizations (including the United
Farmers of Alberta, which governed that
province).
From Farmers, Academics
+ MPs
 A handful of academics in the League for
Social Reconstruction (LSR).
 A group of MPs (Members of Parliament) in
Ottawa allied with both farmer and tradeunion organizations.
The Rise of the CCF
 The 1930’s witnessed the organization of
workers into strong unions, especially in
areas like the Prairies, and the West.
 Farmers were the hardest hit, and they
wanted political representation –
someone to listen to them so they wrote
the Regina Manifesto, and fought for
socialist ideas.
CCF = NDP
 Rise of CCF – today’s NDP (New
Democratic Party) – fought for worker’s
rights, social programs, + relief.
 Explains today why the Prairies are
considered the heart of the NDP.
The New Political Parties
Whereabouts Today
 The Social Credit Party faded away.
 The CCF became the NDP.
Political Parties Whereabouts
 The NDP:
 Have never won a
federal election (never
formed a federal
government) but are
the official opposition.
 Introduced E.I., old
age pension, Medicare
(Tommy Douglas),
minimum wage, social
services (welfare).
 Have been successful
in forming provincial
governments in BC,
ONT., SK, YK, MAN.,
NS.
 NDP ideas taken by
big parties and used.
The Original “NDP”
Why did Worker’s Protests
increase in the 1930s?
 Why did workers protest?
 There were no jobs/no money.
 The government was not initially doing anything
to help.
 Felt hopeless, desperate and angry.
Worker’s Protest Types
 What types of protests took place?
 Peaceful and violent:
 Demonstrations (occupations of key
buildings – sit-ins) and picket lines
 Letters, petitions to government
 Marches, parades, treks
 Riots
The Protests’ Purpose?
 What was the purpose of the protests?
 To let government know that they were
suffering, unhappy, that something had to be
done to help the people = make sure that their
feelings were known/get their point across.
 To try and make a difference in their lives by
hoping to get the governments attention.
Examples of Protests:
On-To-Ottawa Trek
 In 1935 hundreds of single, unemployed
men hopped freight trains for Ottawa
(federal parliament) demanding work,
wages and an end to government relief
camps.
 The men lived and worked in these camps at
a rate of twenty cents per day before walking
out on strike in April 1935.
Left Vancouver for the
Trek East
 After a two-month protest in Vancouver,
BC, camp strikers voted to travel east to
Ottawa and bring their grievances to the
federal government.
 A small group left Vancouver on June 3,
1935 and as they went east their numbers
grew (1600+ in Regina).
Riding the Rods
+ RCMP
 "Riding the rods/rails" (on and in railway
freight cars) across mountains and prairie
they reached Regina, still only half way to
Ottawa.
 Here they were stopped by the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on
orders from Ottawa.
The Regina Riot, July 1, 1935
 A month later the strike was brutally
smashed on July 1 in a police-inspired
riot and its leaders arrested – known as
the Regina Riot.
The Regina Riot:
Police Brutality
 Police fired revolvers above and into groups
of people.
 Police attacked the crowd with baseball bats.
 Tear gas bombs were thrown at any groups
that gathered together.
 Plate glass windows in stores and offices
were smashed by police.
Suppressed, Not Lost
 While the strike was suppressed, it wasn't
lost.
 In the federal election, a few months later, the
hated, repressive Conservative government of
Prime Minister R.B. "Iron Heel" Bennett went
down in a resounding defeat.
 The new Liberal government felt compelled to
abolish the camps.
Led to (Some) Changes
 The historic On-To-Ottawa Trek was one
of the highlights of the severe economic
depression of 1929-39.
 It led to many of the social programs we
enjoy today (WCB, E.I., minimum wage
etc.).
Prime Minister
R.B. Bennett
 Richard Bedford Bennett (July 3, 1870 –
June 26, 1947) served as the 11th PM of
Canada from August 7, 1930, to October
23, 1935, during the worst of the Great
Depression years.
Bennett’s Promises
 Bennett promised work, to promote the
strengthening of Canada’s industry behind
tariff walls, and to “blast (Canada’s way
into the markets of the world.
 He had plans.
Bennett's Plans:
Plan 1 = Raise Tariffs
 Plan 1:
 To raise tariffs and in theory this would
protect manufactures.
 Believed that this action would convince other
nations to lower tariffs on Canadian goods.
Plan 1 Failed
 Plan 1:
 Unfortunately, the side effects of his plan
produced more damage than good.
 It failed to produce trade and the domestic
market could not support Canadian
businesses.
Plan 2: The New Policy
 To get the Canadian economy on the up
rise again, Bennett started the New Policy
in 1935, which was taken from US
President Roosevelt’s New Deal.
 It was to insure unemployment
insurance, a reduced workweek, and
minimum wages, industrial codes, and
permanent economic planning.
Plan 2 Failed
 The policy did not work and could not
save the Conservatives or Bennett’s
place in politics.
 King and the Liberals won the election of
1935.
 Following his defeat as PM, Bennett
moved to England; abandoned Canada.
Disastrous Policies
 Bennett’s plans had been disasters.
 He did not support Keynesian theory of
government spending during a
depression.
Fun at the Expense
of Bennett
 His policies were made fun of by most
Canadians:
 Cars that had to be towed by horses were
called “Bennett Buggies.”
 There were also “Eggs Bennett” (boiled
chestnuts), “Bennett Barnyards” (deserted
prairie farms), “Bennett Blanket” (newspaper),
and “Bennett Coffee” (roasted wheat).
Examples of Protests:
Vancouver, BC
 Post Office Sit-In (Vancouver)
 In 1938 the Vancouver post office was the
site of a famous Canadian act of civic
disobedience.
 The building was occupied for six weeks by
700 single, unemployed workers
demanding federal relief.
Vancouver Post Office
Riot
 Why protest here?
 It was a federal (Canadian government)
building, central, busy, get federal
government’s attention.
 Vancouver’s main Post Office was located in
what is now Sinclair Centre.
Vancouver Post Office
Riot
 Eventually the “invaders” were ousted by
police with tear gas = the protest was met
with violence/riot.
 39 people were injured and 22 were arrested.
 The violence/rioting that erupted by more
than 5,000 demonstrators when the RCMP
moved in caused considerable damage.
Vancouver Post Office
Riot
 The Vancouver Post Office Sit-in of
1938 became known as “Bloody
Sunday”.
 Bloody Sunday was the conclusion of a
six week “sitdowners’ strike”.
Canadian Radio, News,
& Entertainment
Radio in the 1930s
 Radio Shows must
have:
 Entertainment +
sports section =
Ex. Scores of
hockey games,
movie releases,
tips from
Chatelaine etc.
 Canadian content.
 American News.
 World News.
Canadian Content
 Canadian content
topics:
 The Dust Bowl.
 Creation of work
camps, On-to-Ottawa
Trek – protest camp
conditions.
 Vancouver
Riots/labour (reference Winnipeg
strike).
 Creation of the CCF.
 Social Credit parties
($25) – Bible Bill,
Alberta Election.
 Equalization payments
– mostly to Prairies.
 Union Nationale –
Duplessis, Quebec
rights.
American Topics on
Canadian Radio
 American topics:
 Introduction to FDR/fireside chats/First 100
Days Plan.
 The New Deal – agencies to get people
working like the Hoover Dam.
International News
 International News:
 Japan invades
Manchuria, the Rape
of Nanking, Lytton
Commission.
 Hitler is voted into
power, taken over,
introduced the
Nuremberg Laws.
 Mussolini invades
Abyssinia, League of
Nations has placed
sanctions… very
ineffective.
 Britain/France have a
secret deal uncovered
(Hoare-Laval Pact)
agree to give half of
Abyssinia to Italy.
 Stalin – gulags, show
trials, red scare.
Up Next: WWII