Subjects: History

The Great Depression had its roots in the First World War. This video examines the efforts of various countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, and several in Europe, to make the transition from war economies to more normal market conditions. It covers the post-war boom in manufacturing and wheat production in the USA and Canada; the prosperous “Roaring Twenties”; the effects of severe drought conditions in North America; and the economic, agricultural, and societal conditions that led to the “Crash of ’29”. The program uses archival film and images to clearly depict the struggle of ordinary people to survive. It concludes with the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the U.S. and his goal of returning confidence to the American people.

This second program concludes the Great Depression story. It begins with the “Gold Standard”, its influence on world trade, and explains the circular flow of a healthy economy. FDR’s “New Deal” in the USA is covered extensively, as is the establishment of work camps in Canada and the ensuing “On-to-Ottawa Trek”. As countries all over the world tried to protect their domestic markets, they placed high tariffs on imported goods; the video shows that this had the effect of worsening the depression by bringing stagnation to world trade. The effect of the Peace Treaty of Versailles on Germany is explained in the story of Germany’s build-up to the Second World War. The video concludes with Japan’s military expansion and the USA’s entry into the war.

This video presents the experience of the USA prior to and during the Great Depression. It begins with America’s recovery from WWI, converting its wartime assembly lines to the manufacture of consumer goods. The “Roaring Twenties” are explained, as well as the circumstances leading to the ‘Crash” at the New York Stock Exchange on October 29th, 1929. As the economy collapsed, so did businesses, banks, and farms, all of it made worse by the drought conditions of the “Dust Bowl”. Archival imagery clearly depicts the struggle of ordinary people to survive: farmers and their families migrating westward, soup lines in the cities, the Bonus March. FDR’s “New Deal” is covered extensively. The video ends with the rise of Hitler, the military expansion of Japan, and the USA’s entry into WWII.

Using archival footage dating back to 1896, and computer animation, this video investigates the causes of “The Great War”. It examines the three “isms” – Militarism, Nationalism and Imperialism, as well as the Alliance system and the fall of Bismarckian Diplomacy, the July Crisis and the Schlieffen Plan.