COMPLETED VERS OF Great Depression BOOK

 

The History of the Great Depression In Ten Images A comprehensive summary covering the basic features to the more important events Noah Nishihara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The symbol of the Prosperity of America in the 1920s: Chrysler Building (Art Deco)

The Message of this Photo: After Europe received massive damage from World War 1, America became the centre of world economics. By selling to the impoverished European countries large amounts of agricultural and industrial products and receiving the debts of U.K and France, the world’s money gradually moved into America. This money was then invested into technological inventions and industrial manufacturing, which gave rise to new American made cars and home electrical products. People would use loans to buy these products and underwent a change towards a pleasure seeking lifestyle. Skyscrapers were built in New York as if to show clearly the arrogance of the Americans at the time. The incredibly decorated Chrysler building in this photo was the defining symbol of the character of Americans before the Depression. I chose this photo because it captures the foreboding omen of the Depression that would occur at the end of the 1920s. However developed and great a country becomes, there will always be a time when everything fails. The historical future ruin or fall of America can be felt from this photo.

One of the dams of Tennessee River built as part of the New Deal.

Even after the Great Depression, President Hoover did not have any plans. No definite policy to save the unemployed was implemented. He left it for the people of his country to solve their problems. There was no way such a great Depression could be overcome by people left to their own devices. Hoover gradually lost the belief of his people. Franklin Roosevelt on the other hand, wanted an enthusiastic intervention on the part of the government and create jobs. Once he became president, he used the country’s budget to perform large-scale public services thereby creating jobs. He also made the government maintain and observe the manufacturing sector and banking businesses. By not continuing the noninterference policy, and using Keynesian economics, America was able to heal its serious wound. The dam in the photo shows that deregulationor neo-liberalism is not enough to protect a country. I chose this photo because I think that the ideal warmth and kindness that Roosevelt showed through his intent on protecting every single citizen of the country is the most important thing for the people of any country. Such actions give people energy and hope. This photo points out and reminds us again that politicians definitely need those words and attitudes seen then.

Unemployed people lining up for the distribution of bread (Image on the bottom left)

As the Depression grew worse and worse, one person in four people had lost their job. In the end, the people of Hoover’s country began to have troubles with food, and relied on food distribution services to somehow live on. This photo points out the dire situation that the American society faced. But hang on a second, the people showing in this photo seem to all be middle-aged men. Seeing that not one single woman is lined up also shows us that the tradition of ‘men working outside and women at home doing housework’ was widespread at the time. Physical labor would be the most prompt way of making people employed in this kind of American society. In that sense, the New Deal (involving large scale public enterprises that would pay workers where they work) that would be implemented afterwards was inevitable. It was a historical necessity. In addition, this photo also talks of thenecessity of the participation of America in the war (a future appearance of the country). (The army is after all a kind of employment; if the population decreases because of it, after the war, jobs will be easier to find) I chose this photo because, anyways, I felt a sense of incongruity in seeing only men lined up for the bread. Why wasn’t there at least some women? From this question I looked into the later events and history of the American society.  Since it triggered that research, I decided to include this photo.

 

Photo of children eating radishes in north-eastern Japan; their distressful, miserable life can be felt (Image below)

This is a photo in which children on a farmer’s property are eating raw radishes (photographed around 1931). Why was this the case? At the time, the main industry of the famers at the time was the production of raw silk. They exported it mainly to America. (It was prized as a high-level material and was used in socks and other clothing) However, due to the Great Depression, luxurious products stopped selling well and the Japanese farmers were hit hard by this effect. Plus, at the same time, there was a cold weather damage that occurred and agricultural produce also could not be harvested, adding onto the burden of the farmers. In this way, their lives became difficult and poor. Children like those in this photo who could not eat properly daily are also said to have been widespread. Some had to eat grass to bear their hunger. From this photo the serious effect of America’s Depression on Japan is clearly shown.

Apart from the farming areas, the cities were also affected by the Depression; companies went bankrupt in succession and an unprecedented recession occurred. In order to break that situation, the government and the army began to go into Asia. The triggering event for the ruin of Japan is shown aptly in this photo and therefore I chose it.

Children who having lost their homes from the Depression have become wanderers-circa 1935

The car saw widespread adoption due to the unprecedented economic prosperity of America. They used loans (debt) to buy products which were not necessities of life; in other words, they repeatedly wasted money. By the time they had lost their jobs and income during the Great Depression, no savings existed, causing perhaps the loss of even their homes. If we think this way, the symbol of their mistake is the car, one of the most expensive and unnecessary products.

＊The reason for their losses is their act of purchasing beyond one's means when they forgot to think properly under the environment of great prosperity.

I chose this image upon seeing that people who had lost their income and home did not part with their car. They even rely on it, showing us how much America is centred on cars. Everyone uses and owns a car in America and it is a large part of their life. I thought it was quite American to have a motorised society and chose this photo because of it.

Living with Circumstances

The British man seen in this photo is searching for a job in the streets and has written his abilities onto a placard, The photo shows that the characteristics of the ‘Depression’ that had begun in America was already seen worldwide. Also, we can tell that even those who have high language abilities and business experience cannot find a job. The situation in the U.K at the time must have been extremely desperate.

At the same time, the words he is carrying on his back are slightly humorous. The national character of British people shines through it. They will never lose their humour when enduring the most unpleasant hardships. This ‘National brightness’ must have been what enabled the British people to endure the attack by the Nazis without giving up during WW2.

This photo gives an insight into the misery of that time and also teaches us that even in such circumstances there are people who want to be as bright and strong as possible in their lives. I learned that with such cheerfulness, people will be able to live on through any kind of situation. This is why I chose this picture to present to you.

The German Autobahn of the latter part of the 1930s

Unemployed man seeking a job

Germany received the greatest impact of the Depression within Europe. With the help of America, Germany had been able to recover from the economic mess after WW1. However, with the impending economic crisis, help from America eventually decreased and stopped. The unemployed rose to 6,000,000 and Germany was once again in muddled disrepair. Hitler gathered the support of many people and then began to create large scale public services in order to create employment and solve the economic problems. The Autobahn shown in this photo was one of those services. By solving problems in this way, Hitler grabbed the support of a massive part of the population. In the background he developed his army and increased his territory. Thereafter he was to pull the trigger of WW2. The recovery of Germany was very much only a short time of stability before the extremely violent war. The German population (probably) could guess that there was going to be a war. The people probably could feel that an ill-omened future was awaiting them. Therefore they would not have been able to leisure ‘from their heart’. This is probably the reason why there is only one car driving on it. I think that this photo is implicating the ‘unlucky’ atmosphere hanging over the country at the time. I chose this photo as evidence for the worldwide spread of the economic crisis and the cause of the horrible war.

The front of the New York Stock Exchange on ‘Black Thursday’ when the stock prices dropped rapidly (Image below)

The message of this photo: These people must have gathered here because they were angry about suffering heavy losses because of the stock market crash. It shows the reason of the Great Depression vividly. So, what was the reason for it? It is actually the ‘heart’ of the Americans themselves. In high spirits after the economic boom after WW1, everyone wanted to profit and therefore bought shares. Since everyone was buying, the price rose. The price (value) of the companies creating these stocks would also rise. Of course, the company would procure more money. In this way, the companies put more effort into selling shares rather than producing and selling (substantial economy), and as a result, the result of the companies went downhill. This happened because they failed to grasp the balance of supply and demand and created too many products without planning. The people who grew worried about this decided to sell the shares before they lost value and because of this, the price fell rapidly and great losses were sustained in a very short time. The result of this was the Great Depression; if we take it in this way, the real reason was the way of the people who wanted to ‘earn money the easy way’. This photo, which shows the people of America, can teach us the real thing of the Depression. Eventually, the style of living of earning money without working and earning easy money which caused most Americans to look towards the stock market also caused companies to forget the real way of business. The outcome was the Depression. The diligence was lacking in the population and caused the Depression. Seeing the population gathering here in this photo allows us to imagine the facts and therefore I chose this photo.

Workers during a demo on Wall Street (Image below)

This is a sight which looks exactly like something seen before. This is the trigger of the Sub-prime loan problem of 2008. These are workers. Many Americans borrowed money to buy their homes and had lived a pleasure-seeking life. Since the house prices were rising uncontrollably, it was easy to have large loans, but once the prices dropped sharply, the people could not return the money by selling their houses. In this way, the people who had sold their houses began to live on the streets. We seem to have seen this somewhere too. The economic problems spread throughout the world just like with the Great Depression. Using financial engineering, less understood bond and securities were made in America and were sold throughout the world. If America’s economy is badly damaged, the Americans wouldn’t be able to return their loans. Even if people had the claims or credits from America the money wouldn’t come back. People would lose money all around the world. The Americans did not learn enough from the Depression. Learning history will prevent us from repeating the same thing again. This photo seems to be asking us what we would do if we were the people who were there. This question is the message of this photo. I chose this photo because in it, there is the portrayal of stupidity and the importance of learning history. In that sense, the impact was very strong and so I chose it.

The clouds created by the dropping of atomic bombs. (The left side is Hiroshima and the right side is Nagasaki)

The message of this photo: The effect of the worldwide economic crisis resulted in World War 2. This brought to the whole world uncountable disasters and stole many millions of lives, and ended, finally, with the two drops of atomic bombs in Japan. What was only the economic problems of one country wrecked the world’s economy and caused a war. Only one country’s greed and desire gave the world a huge misfortune. This photo seems to be telling a truth which comes from that time to us.

I chose this photo because I have lived in a city which has been atom-bombed and have attended a middle school there. I have seen the atomic bomb dome (Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)) many times. (It was located close to the position of the dropping of the bomb but somehow did not collapse and was preserved as a memorial) To me, Hiroshima is a special place with the opportunity to think about war and peace. I know that even now, there are many people who are struggling with the after-effects. Since one of the causes of WW2 which caused this drop of the two bombs was the Great Depression, I had to choose a photo of the bombing to include within this task.

Noah Nishihara Home Group T09 21/10/2016