ch 24-26 New Great Depression, WWII, GI Bill

🗳️ FDR Elections

Who ran in the 1932 election and who won?

Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat, 472 EV) defeated Herbert Hoover (Republican, 59 EV)

Who were the vice-presidential candidates in the 1932 election?

John Nance Garner (Democrat) and Charles Curtis (Republican)

What major event influenced the 1932 election?

The Great Depression — FDR promised a “New Deal”

Who ran in the 1936 election and who won?

Franklin D. Roosevelt (523 EV) defeated Alfred M. Landon (8 EV)

What did the 1936 election show about public opinion?

Strong support for FDR’s New Deal policies

Who ran in the 1940 election and who won?

FDR (449 EV) defeated Wendell L. Willkie (82 EV)

Why was the 1940 election historically significant?

FDR became the first president elected to a third term

Who ran in the 1944 election and who won?

FDR (432 EV) defeated Thomas E. Dewey (99 EV)

Who became vice president after the 1944 election?

Harry S. Truman

What did comedian Bob Hope famously say about FDR?

“I always voted for Franklin Roosevelt for president. My father before me always voted for Franklin Roosevelt for president.”

🧱 First New Deal (1933–1934)

Purpose of the First New Deal:

Relief, recovery, and reform to address the Great Depression

Emergency Banking Relief Act (1933):

Closed and inspected banks to restore confidence

1933 Banking Act (Glass-Steagall):

Created FDIC to insure bank deposits

Economy Act of 1933:

Cut government salaries and veterans’ benefits

Homeowners Loan Corporation (1933):

Provided low-interest loans to prevent foreclosures

Executive Order 6102 / Gold Reserve Act (1934):

Forced gold surrender and stabilized currency

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA):

Provided direct aid to unemployed Americans

Civil Works Administration (CWA):

Temporary jobs building roads and schools

Public Works Administration (PWA):

Funded large-scale infrastructure projects

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA):

Built dams, provided electricity, and prevented flooding

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC):

Hired young men for environmental projects

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA):

Paid farmers to reduce crops; declared unconstitutional in U.S. v. Butler (1936)

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA):

Regulated industry & wages; ruled unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry v. U.S. (1935)

⚒️ Second New Deal

(1935–1937)

Goal of the Second New Deal:

Social reform and long-term economic security

Works Progress Administration (WPA):

Created jobs in construction, art, and literature

Social Security Act (1935):

Provided pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to disabled

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act1935):

Protected workers’ right to unionize
Upheld in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. (1937)

🧰 Third New Deal

(1938–1941)

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938):

Set minimum wage, max hours, and banned child labor

🧠 Key Presidents and Policies (1920s–1940s)

Warren G. Harding (1921–1923):

Corruption scandals (Teapot Dome, Veterans Bureau); “Ohio Gang”; died on Voyage of Understanding

Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929):

Laissez-faire economics — “The business of America is business”

Herbert Hoover (1929–1933):

Stock Market Crash; Hoovervilles; margin trading; penny auctions

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945):

Created New Deal programs; guided U.S. through Depression and WWII

Eleanor Roosevelt:

Redefined role of First Lady; advocate for human rights

🧾 Review Questions

What were the 3 R’s of the New Deal?

Relief, Recovery, and Reform

Which two New Deal programs were declared unconstitutional?

AAA and NIRA

Which act created the FDIC?

The 1933 Banking Act (Glass-Steagall Act)

What did the Social Security Act establish?

Pensions, unemployment insurance, aid for disabled and elderly

What was the goal of the TVA?

To bring electricity and modernization to the rural South

Which act protected workers’ rights to unionize?

The Wagner Act (NLRA)

What was the goal of the Fair Labor Standards Act?

Minimum wage, shorter work hours, and ending child labor

Isolationism

U.S. policy of avoiding involvement in foreign affairs after WWI

Interventionism

Belief that a nation should actively engage in world affairs and conflicts

1934 Nye Report

Senate report claiming U.S. entered WWI for profits of arms manufacturers (“merchants of death”)

Neutrality Acts

Laws passed in the 1930s to prevent U.S. involvement in foreign wars

Cash-and-Carry Policy (1939)

Allowed nations at war to purchase U.S. goods if they paid cash and transported them themselves

Collective Security

System where nations act together to preserve peace (e.g., League of Nations, later the U.N.)

☭ Totalitarian Regimes & Ideologies

Josef Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union (1920s–1953); established a totalitarian communist state

Stalin’s Industrial & Agricultural Revolution

Forced collectivization and rapid industrialization that caused famine and purges

Fascism

Authoritarian nationalism emphasizing loyalty to the state and leader (originated in Italy)

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy; allied with Hitler

Conquest of Ethiopia (1935–1936)

Italy invaded Ethiopia; League of Nations failed to stop it

Appeasement

Policy of giving in to aggressors to avoid conflict (e.g., Munich Pact with Hitler)

Containment

Policy to stop the spread of communism (developed later but rooted in WWII alliances)

Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

War between fascist-backed Franco and democratic forces; testing ground for WWII weapons

🩸 Nazi Germany & the Holocaust

Adolf Hitler

Dictator of Nazi Germany; initiated WWII and the Holocaust

Nazi

National Socialist German Workers’ Party; fascist political party led by Hitler

Enabling Act (1933)

Law giving Hitler dictatorial powers in Germany

Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth)

Organization training German youth in Nazi ideology and loyalty to Hitler

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Stripped Jews of German citizenship and rights

Kristallnacht (1938)

“Night of Broken Glass”; Nazi-led attacks on Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues

The Holocaust

Systematic genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany

⚔ Axis Alliances & Expansion

Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)

Agreement between Germany and Japan (later Italy) against communism

Tripartite Pact (1940)

Alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan forming the Axis Powers

Lebensraum / Sudetenland

Hitler’s idea of “living space” for Germans; led to annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia

Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”)

Fast, intense military attacks combining air and ground forces

Munich Pact (1938)

Britain and France allowed Germany to take Sudetenland in exchange for peace

10-Year Non-Aggression Pact (Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, 1939)

Agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union not to attack each other

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan

Allied Powers

U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, France, China, others

U.S. Involvement & Home Front

Selective Service Act (1940)

First peacetime draft in U.S. history

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

Allowed U.S. to supply Allies with weapons and aid

Atlantic Charter (1941)

FDR and Churchill’s plan for postwar peace and democracy

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister who led Britain through WWII

🔥 European Theatre

Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943)

Turning point of WWII in Europe; Soviet victory over Germany

May 8, 1945

Victory in Europe day

December 7, 1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; led D-Day invasion

Operation Torch (1942)

Allied invasion of North Africa

Operation Husky (1943)

Allied invasion of Sicily

Operation Shingle (1944)

Allied landing at Anzio, Italy

Operation Overlord (D-Day, 1944)

Allied invasion of Normandy, France

Battle of the Bulge (1944–1945)

Last major German offensive; Allies pushed back successfully

General George S. Patton

Aggressive U.S. general known for tank warfare in Europe

Battle of Germany (1945)

Final push by Allies into German territory; led to Hitler’s suicide

🗾 Pacific Theatre

Emperor Hirohito

Emperor of Japan during WWII

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Japanese propaganda term for Asian dominance free from Western influence

Manchuria (1931)

Region invaded by Japan, starting its expansion in Asia

Oct 29, 1929

Stock Market Crash