The 1920’s can be described as the “Roaring Twenties” whereas the 1930’s have been correctly called the “Dirty Thirties”. Politics, social conditions and economics separated the two decades, as there were huge transitions made in these categories from the 1920’s to the end of the 1930’s. To begin with, in the 1920’s, there were three main political parties. The Liberal Party was headed by William Lyon Mackenzie King and the Conservative Party was led by Arthur Meighen. King was a conciliator who came from a well-known family in Ontario. Known as a mediator, he found a balance between workers needs and business, making him a social reformer as well. Meighen, on the other hand, was a cold and arrogant character. Coming from an inconspicuous …show more content…
Bennett, respectively. The Social Credit Party was also formed, led by William “Bible Bill” Aberhart, a radio evangelist. This party promised to end the Great Depression by providing $25 per month for every family. Though this party ended up being elected in Alberta, most of its policies failed due to its illegality. Another party that emerged during this time was the C.C.F. Party (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Party, known today as the New Democratic Party). J.S. Woodsworth, a tireless advocate for farmers, labourers and immigrants, led this party. The political platform of this party stated that social welfare programs, as well as national banks and industry would be the solution to the Depression. These policies were implemented even though the party itself was not elected into government. Another key party in the “Dirty Thirties” was the Union Nationale. This party believed in the promotion of French language and culture and it installed the Padlock Law against so called ‘communists’. The Union Nationale (led by Maurice Duplessis) was successful enough to gain control of Québec for 25 years. By 1935, people were fed up with Bennett. This prompted the return of King, who, under the slogan “King or Chaos”, was re-elected in a landslide election. In regards to political parties, the “Dirty …show more content…
The Chanak Crisis set the stage for King to make it clear that Canada would make their own foreign policy from that moment on. Though Britain disagreed, King’s rule was implemented. During the Halibut Treaty in 1923, Canada and the United States made an agreement about the fishing season for halibut. This treaty marked the fact that Canada had won the right to sign treaties independently. The Constitutional Crisis in 1926, also known as the King-Byng affair, occurred when Governor General Julian Byng refused to dissolve parliament and call a general election (as suggested by then Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King). King wanted to redefine what being the Governor General meant, and he wanted to reinforce that advice from the government should not be ignored by the Governor General based on personal opinion. The Person’s Case was another significant milestone for Canada in the 1920’s. “In the 1920s, five Alberta women fought a legal and political battle to have women recognized as persons under the BNA Act. The landmark decision by the British Privy Council, the highest level for legal appeals in Canada at the time, was a milestone victory for the rights of women in Canada” (Munroe 1). The 1920's were aptly named as they were indeed roaring for Canada. The country achieved independence when signing foreign policies and treaties, had authority over its own government (not influenced by British
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s longest serving prime minister, is known for both the great contributions he brought to Canada and for the scandals he was involved in. The one event that makes him most famous to Canadians is the King-Byng Affair of 1926. During this event, Mackenzie King asked Lord Byng to dissolve parliament in order to force a new election as he had lost with a minority. Because King’s intentions were to regain a majority government, Byng refused out of distrust for King’s plans and King was replaced in power by the Conservatives. While William Lyon Mackenzie King’s actions were in accordance with all the laws regarding his power as Prime Minister, he acted for selfish reasons thus putting him in the wrong. Mackenzie King’s and Lord Byng’s histories will be quickly analyzed to understand their actions in the affair. Right after, King’s options and reasons for dissolving parliament will be analyzed. Thirdly, Byng’s options and reasons for refusing King’s request will be researched. Once enough evidence has been collected, the end results of this affair will be discussed and the conclusion as to whether or not King was right to go against responsible government will be made.
The economy during the thirties was very bad in America. At the end of the last century, in 1929, the stock exchange crashed. It is referred to as the Wall Street crash and the collapse of the NY stock exchange, but most importantly it started the Great Depression. Every day there were more bankruptcies and layoffs. Even big, seemingly indestructible companies were in danger. Companies like Industrial Steel. They had to lay off 225,000 workers. The Great Depression hit everywhere and everyone. There was no food and no money. People rushed to the banks to get their savings, but there was no money to get. Nine million savings accounts were wiped out. Bank failures crushed tens of thousands of people. Everyone was selling all they had. Half the families in the United States were facing eviction. Four million United States families were without means for one year after the crash. Hoovers theology was that if America was left alone, it would right itself. So he did nothing. When Roosevelt became president, he closed down all the banks and rushed them two billion dollars, then reopened them. Roosevelt, although this was not enough to fix what the crash had done to America, attempted to bring America back from the brink.
There were two major political consequences of the Great Depression. The first was that new political parties were formed in Canada. The new political parties were the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the Social Credit Party, and the Union Nationale (UN). The CCF was founded by J.S. Woodsworth and believed in the establishment of minimum wage, accident and sickness insurance, old age pensions and unemployment insurance. The Social Credit Party was founded by William Aberhart. He believed that governments should issue money to everyone so that they could buy goods in a form of “social credits”. In the 1935 provincial elections he took 56 of 63 seats giving him a total victory. The UN was founded by Maurice Duplessis due to the union of Action Liberale Nationale and the Conservative Party. They promoted the traditional values of the Catholic Church and believed in a rural lifestyle. The second political consequence was a conflicted relationship between the federal and the provincial governments. The depression showed the federal government that provincial governments did not have enough money to carry out significant projects.
"It is what we prevent, rather than what we do that counts most in Government." (Mackenzie King august 26, 1936) This statement sums up the best secrets of Mackenzie King's success as prime minister, and perhaps, the key to governing Canada effectively. King's record of prime minister is sometimes difficult to judge. He had no uninteresting images, he gave no repetitive speeches, and he champions no drastic stage. He is remembered for his easygoing, passive compromise and conciliation (Gregory, page 267). Yet Mackenzie King led Canada for a total of twenty-two years, through half the Depression and all of the Second World War. Like every other prime minister, he had to possess ambition, endurance and determination to become prime minister and, in spite if appearances, his accomplishments in that role required political acuity, decisiveness and faultless judgment.
The 1920s was a time of conservatism and it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
The "Roaring Twenties" were a turbulent time in American history. The United States had just returned from the carnage of World War I and was ready to revolutionize their ideas, morals, and most importantly, their presidents. The presidential election of 1920 was a particularly integral election due to the introduction of the right of women to vote and America's social & political unrest. Warren G. Harding, a Republican, defeated Democrat James M. Cox, on a platform that urged Americans to "return to normalcy". Normalcy was a play on words of normality by Harding, which meant to conform to the norm. But the question that stood on many historians was: Why did Americans actually vote to "return to normalcy"? The simple answer was that the nation was ready to recover from their wartime anxiety and wanted a country without financial or political stress and Harding was the president that promised that to them.
..., he led Canada during the depression. King was an opinionated man, which led him to lose one of the most important elections where he held a speech, the “five-cent speech”. People could never impact King; this was both a strength and weakness for him, which had a huge effect during the 1930 election.
Not only did his presidency destroy his odds maintaining office, but it also marred the Republican party, as they too were in association to the causes of the Great Depression. The outcome of the election of 1932 marked a pivotal turning point in the history of the United States. President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat from New York, pledged to the American people that he would attack the Great Depression and get people back to work with his “New Deal Coalition.” It was his coalition that changed the Democratic party, forever. The party became nationally accepted as the progressive party of the United States. With the expansion of the size of the government under the New Deal, quoting political science professor and author of FDR, Jean Edward Smith, “it was the first time that Americans thought of their government as a solution to the problems that individuals and society at large were experiencing” (Smith 21). Government was no longer the problem, they were the problem solvers, aiding the American people and stimulating the market economy during the
By the mid 19th century, Canada was taking its first steps as a new colony in the British Empire. The Canadian government was faced with several challenges at the time, John A. MacDonald, the Prime Minister, had a plan to ensure that the Dominion of Canada's first century was a successful one. A major component of this plan was the establishment of a stable population in the West who worked the lands to create a strong agricultural economy. This agenda was not without its obstacles and conflict, but eventually, by the 1900's, the goal was essentially achieved.
King’s biggest act that clearly shows him to be an unfit and ineffective Prime Minister of Canada was his “5 cent speech”. King made his speech during the 1930s – start of The Great Depression- the speech basically articulates that King would give relief money to only those provinces with Liberal-provincial government, and the speech also states that King won’t give a “5 cent piece” (Chong, 2002) to the provinces with a Conservative provincial government. This shows how he only favors those who support the Liberals, and not the good-will of Canada as a whole. In fact, in the beginning of the Great Depression- when the stock market crashed- he was reluctant to even acknowledge that there was an economic crisis. King believed that the great depression was just a temporary crisis that would solve its self in a matter of time, and that the good times of the 20s would return. King didn’t realize the scale and the severity of the crisis and he let the crisis get out of hand by delaying to take action, but when he finally decided to take action to help the provinces in need. Instead of King helping all who are in need, he decides to choose who he wants to help-provinces with a liberal government. This exclusion of the other provincial governments – conservative- show that King in no means wants to help Canada as a country and this is contrary to what an effective ...
The political shifts in American history during the last two centuries are often explained by Arthur Schlesinger's cyclical explanation of eras of public purpose followed by private interest. What is considered liberal versus what is considered conservative shifts in a similar pattern. While laissez-faire policies are considered liberal in the Roaring 20's, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 quickly changed America's view of liberalism. Suddenly, the small government politics of Hoover were conservative and the progressive politics of Roosevelt were considered liberal. Thus, because the Great Depression quickly changed America's view of liberalism, Roosevelt can be considered a liberal and Hoover a conservative, despite occasionally supporting similar policies.
Canadians were frustrating, wonderful, and hard. Soldiers returning from the war expected jobs, but were faced with unemployment, inflation and strikes. Inflation had doubled the cost of living where wages had not and those fortunate to be employed still faced immense financial difficulty. Many people joined unions for better pay and working conditions, 1919 saw the most strikes at a staggering three hundred and six, people were angry and discontented. The 1920s were a time of crime corruption and extreme poverty, yet by mid era difficult conditions began to improve. Foreign investors gained confidence in Canada and as a result new industries were developed, The twenties really did 'roar' and with this boom of change Canada underwent the transformation that was the gateway to the future.
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a devastating war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity and a break with traditions.
Many people have heard of Frankenstein, Dracula, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the Wizard of Oz. All of these classic movies come from the 1930s. The 1930s were filled with hardship as the country going through the Great Depression. Different forms of entertainment were used to distract people from their problems. In the well-known novel To Kill a Mockingbird children and adults use entertainment as a temporary solution until their problems are solved and their hardships are overcome. Entertainment such as movies, books, and music provided relief to Americans during the Great Depression.