The Great Depression and the Second World War - Report Example

Section/# The Great Depression and the Second World War: An Impact and Historical Analysis Scholars have long agreed that the Great Depression was not fully ended up until the Second World War. Essentially, the stock market crash of 1929 was felt for almost 12 for years; prior to the United States entry into the Second World War. Yet, stipulating that the United States entry and involvement in the Second World War serves as a fundamental change and the end of the Great Depression is a bold statement and one that must be backed up by a series of verifiable facts and statistics. As a function of this, the following analysis will seek to engage an understanding for why the Second World War was able to end the Great Depression in the United States, how unemployment rates were affected, how industry was fundamentally shifted, how employment dynamics came to change, how gender norms came to be represented, how skills that came to be learned, how leadership direction and purpose came to be solidified, how war technology was utilized within the civilian sector, and how the United States gain a level of superpower status and was able to ultimately enforce a currency exchange system that solidified its position as global superpower after the conclusion of the war. Through an examination and discussion of these are relevant factors, it is the hope of this particular student that the reader will come away from this research with a more informed and dynamic understanding of the reasons and rationale for why the United States entry into the Second World War served as the end of the Great Depression. One of the first and most relevant reasons that must be discussed has to do with the rampant rates of unemployment. At its worst point, the Great Depression exhibited and employment situation in which one out of every four workers was unemployed; a statistic in which the unemployment rate within the United States was above 20%. As the Great Depression proceeded, FDR was able to effectively wrestle the unemployment rate lower – however, it remains at or above 14-15% throughout the period until the United States entry into World War II (Cronin 2). One of the most important reasons for why the Second World War marks the end of the Great Depression has to do with the fact that it was able to mobilize the entire population of the United States. For instance, during the worst periods of the Great Depression, the economy of the United States was languishing without any direction or purpose whatsoever. However, with the declaration of war, draft notices were delivered and tens of thousands of young, many unemployed, then began to swell the ranks of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard (Jalil 270). Beyond this, the mobilization of the population extended to defense sectors and the means by which war materiel was produced. It is necessary to note that this particular juncture that the organization of the economy and the way in which material was produced began to shift well before the outbreak of hostilities between United States and Japan/Germany. For instance, since the outbreak of war in Poland, the United States, under the direction of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and undertaken an approach to supplying its allies within Europe under a program that was known as “land lease”. Within this particular program, the United States was actively building and shipping war armaments to Europe as a means of stockpiling their armories and ensuring that they would be able to withstand the impact of the axis powers (Pierce 55). Additionally, as Germany declared war on the Soviet Union, the United States realigned its position with this particular nation and began to deliver tens of millions of dollars of equipment and technology that could be utilized in the war effort against Nazi Germany. Because of such programs, the United States came to be referred to as the “Great Arsenal of Democracy”. However, instead of viewing the situation that has been described thus far from the point of view of employment figures alone, it is also necessary to understand that prior to the United States involvement in the Second World War, the economy was relatively undeveloped and non-uniform. For instance, certain areas of the nation, such as New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and a handful of others were relatively well-developed and represented a reasonably high quality of life (Matthews et al. 466). However, regions within the Deep South, Midwest, and Southwest were extraordinarily poor and offered very few opportunities for the individuals that live within them. Yet, with the declaration of war and the increased size of the military, tens of thousands of young men were forced to learn new traits. As a function of performing their military duties, some men learn to fly, others to drive heavy machinery, others learned logistics, and still others learn issues relating to management and the way in which objectives can be accomplished. As a direct result of this military training, civilian skills were imparted that could be utilized once the war was complete. Whereas it is true that the Great Depression effectively ended at the outset of war, it is this particular factor of skill set representation that ensured the Great Depression would not return after these soldiers were released from their military service. Additionally, civilian skills were imparted within the nonmilitary or combatant sector as well. As a result of the fact that the industrial sector required a seemingly endless supply of labor and skilled individuals, these came to be increasingly hard to find as more and more young men were pressed into service. Yet, one particular dynamic of the United States economy that had remained virtually on for its entire history was the production potential of the female members. As a result of social norms and societal standards that had been developed over a series of decades, women were not often expected as individuals that would be involved in the workforce (Armengol 63). Yet, with the ever-increasing drive to produce more and more goods and the ever increasing development of the United States industrial sector, the inclusion of women into the workforce was effectively what was able to kick start this industrial production and ensure that it continued to supply the relevant war material as tens of thousands of young men were fighting overseas. Regardless of whether an individual approaches the analysis of the end of the Great Depression from a political, historical, or economic/sociological backdrop, the impact of women in the workforce and the means by which these individuals were able to continue to kick start the industrial sector as tens of thousands of young men fought in the war effort is something that cannot be ignored. Another element that requires discussion has to do with the way in which the military industrial complex and the military itself were able to move hundreds of thousands of individuals, and their families, from various regions of the nation to new homes. As a function of basic training and the means of factories producing war equipment, thousands of individuals moved from their homes as a means of supporting this effort and earning a living. As indicated previously, the level of poverty that existed throughout much of the United States and the overall lack of outlook and education was at least partially ameliorated by this particular occurrence; individuals were exposed to new skills and provided within outlook an understanding of life that they might not have otherwise gained at least a and their hometown (Bali, 2009). Essentially, the process of globalization has been ongoing for thousands of years; yet, it was kick started during the Second World War as individuals were required by their government, and by the Zeitgeist of the era to move about and support the war effort as well as support their own personal needs. Whereas economic and historical analysis often times becomes a model in fact and data representation, it is also important to understand the impact of leadership in the directional purpose/goals that the Second World War was able to impart within the United States populace. Prior to a declaration of war, the Great Depression and seemed as if it would continue indefinitely. The malaise and hardships that were experienced by so many tens of thousands of Americans and created a climate of nearly perpetual skepticism; and one in which unity was collapsing. As any economist will be quick to point out, the sentiment of the consumer and the expectation of economic growth amongst the populace is nearly as important and economic predictor as any in terms of whether or not an effective level of change will occur. As such, the United States entry into the Second World War provided an essential cause célèbre and a reason for working together on a mutual goal. As the Second World War not taken place, even if Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal” had been extended and continued well into the 1940s, it is doubtful if United States would have pulled out of the Great Depression in such a rapid rate as it did as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War and the United States entry into it. Another verifiable reason for why the Second World War was able to pull the United States out of the Great Depression has to do with the impacts that the Second World War had in terms of effectively dismantling and destroying the United States inward policy of isolationism that had been practiced since the conclusion of the First World War (Chiodo 39). Traumatized by the horrific loss of life and the means by which modern warfare was fought, returning veterans, their families and friends, voted at each and every instance to keep the United States separate from foreign conflicts and to ensure that international that did not occur in the same way it had nearly a generation past. However, even though this was a well intentioned mold, it created a dynamic by which the United States and its Great Depression was amplified; at least due to the extent that foreign trade was not taking place and interaction between foreign nations was not merely at the level that it should have been. By placing high tariffs on imported goods as a result of the Smoot-Hawley tariff act, as well as other shortsighted legislative actions, the United States all but guaranteed that the difficulties and hardships of the Great Depression and the ability to export products elsewhere and earn a profit from them would be inherently reduced. Yet, with the United States declaration of war and the mobilization of the entire economy, the overall level of ostracism that the United States had, specifically with respect to its allies, all but dissipated. This provided the United States and its workers with a unique opportunity to engage with new partners, open up new avenues of trade, and lasting relationships that would go a long way in helping to ameliorate one of the economic hardship and pain that had been evidenced as a result the Great Depression. As the United States industrial base began to grow and more and more individuals became involved in primary production capabilities, the main thrust of all of this production potential was of course directed at creating more material and physical products that could assist in allowing the United States and its allies to win the war. However, the creation of this industrial base, and the development and technology with respect to military hardware, had a secondary and tangential benefit with respect to the civilian sector. For instance, the creation of a textile base, the creation of a nuclear sector, the understanding and provision of an advanced aeronautic sector, and the understanding of the way in which various other aspects of war material could be utilized with civilian purposes in mind came to be represented. Whereas many of these private industries easily transitioned to civilian service once the war was completed, the more valuable contribution was the fact that tens of thousands of the employees that work in these institutions were relieved of their duties with experience, technical understanding, and knowledge of how such materials or products might otherwise be beneficial to peaceful economy. As a direct result of this, the boom that was experienced directly after the conclusion of the Second World War was not only as a result of societal optimism; but as the result of the fact that individuals have learned valuable skills and came to live these in terms of meeting extent needs and desires within consumer markets. Whereas each of the factors that have thus far been discussed are no doubt important, perhaps the most important factor of all has to do with the fact that the United States entry into the Second World War was the first step toward setting the United States as a global superpower. Even after the conclusion of the First World War, the United States recluse the back into an isolationist standpoint and quickly dismantled the military hardware that it had created in order to achieve ultimate victory over the central powers. However, the Second World War was entirely different; providing the United States both the opportunity and the resources to capitalize upon this conflict and to emerge from it as a preeminent dominant superpower. Prior to the war, the great powers included the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Great Britain; the latter having still control over a dynamic and global empire that was extraordinarily restrictive with respect to its trade and the manner by which third-party nations could engage with it. Yet, as the United States entered the Second World War, it’s provision of American money, material, and at least partial logistical support to the Soviet Union saw Joseph Stalin cynically quit that the United States utilized American money and hardware Soviet to win its victory. Essentially, as the United States entered the European conflict in 1943, the greatest aspects of hardship and victory in wearing down Nazi Germany had already been accomplished. This of course paves the way for the United States to emerge resilient and powerfully dominant after the conclusion of the Second World War. By much the same token, the incessant bombing, and extraordinarily high expenditures that the United Kingdom and Great Britain had engaged in order to sustain themselves and to achieve victory all but guaranteed the dissolution of their empire once the Second World War was complete. Standing to benefit from all of this was the United States. Moreover, as an exchange for the protection, material, and support the United States provided to Great Britain during the Second World War, the restrictions that it previously existed within the British colonies and the manners by which these individuals colonies traded with the remainder of the world, specifically with the United States, where renegotiated. Essentially, the United States was able to emerge from the Great Depression due in part to the fact that it was able to write the existing structural norms of major world powers and to ensure that it had a permanent and powerful place in global trade after the conflict ceased (McElhaney 29). As the past has indicated, the most powerful economic effects of the Second World War was with respect to the creation of the Bretton Woods system and the establishment of the United States dollar as the currency of exchange. As a direct result of this, the United States was, and to a large part still is, able to influence international politics and ensure that economic dominance that the United States was illustrated over the past several decades continues into the future (Fleck 603). Whereas this was not an option during the Great Depression, the manipulations that are made within the currency market within the current era ensure that the dollar will continue as the currency of exchange and as a means of ultimate power to the United States well into the perceivable future. Had such a system existed during the Great Depression, it is doubtful that the United States would have experienced the hardship that it did and it is increasingly doubtful that the period of time in which the Great Depression lasted would have been experienced to the same degree and extent (Etzkowitz 1441). Whereas it can be entertaining to consider what might have become of the Great Depression had the United States dollar in the currency of international exchange during this particular period of time, the truth of the matter is that consideration of this fact is in and of itself relatively futile. Nevertheless, with the outbreak of war and the resilience of the United States economy, the creation of the Bretton Woods system and the establishment of the US dollar as the international currency of exchange came to represent an economic system in which it was all but guaranteed that another Great Depression would not only affect the United States but would have an equal or commensurate effect upon a host of other nations as well. From the information that has thus far been represented, it is clear and apparent that the Second World War had a profound impact on ending extraordinarily difficult economic - oftentimes referred to as the Great Depression. However, no single cause or side effect of the Second World War was able to end the Great Depression in and of itself. Instead, it is the hope of this particular student that the reader has gained a more informed understanding with regard to the fact that many different causes all work together as a means of impact upon the overall economic health, labor force, understanding of gender, and the means by which a central purpose was defined and determined for individuals as they faced the hardships of mobilization and total war. Finally, whereas it might be easy to say that the United States was able to pull itself from the Great Depression at least as the result of the Second World War, other nations that were experiencing economic hardship were nearly entirely devastated as a result of this conflict; due to the fact that it was ultimately taking place on their own territory and their economic base, infrastructure, and manpower were drastically reduced as a result. Works Cited Armengol, Josep M. 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