Remembering the Great Depression – Key Exam Notes

Context & Overview

• Post-WWI hopeful $1920s$ prosperity in Australia ended by Great Depression ($1929-1939$)
• Depression remembered through scarcity, unemployment, dole queues, men ‘going bush’
• Topic focus: social impact + oral history as historical source

Economic Background

• Policy slogan: “Men, money, markets” (PM Bruce, $1923$)
  • Target: boost population, borrow for public works, expand exports
• Dependence on Britain for finance & markets; >$200\,000$ assisted British immigrants
• Rural export reliance (wheat, wool); manufacturing boom early $1920s$ ➔ contraction mid-decade

Trigger & Collapse

• $1929$ Wall Street Crash → export prices collapse, overseas loans cease
• Factory closures, wage pressure, strikes (waterside, timber, miners)
• Government debt/deficit rise; unemployment: $13\%$ (end $1929$) → $29\%$ ($1930$) → $28\%$ ($1931$)

Economic Recovery Plans

• Melbourne Agreement: orthodox deflation, spending cuts, full debt service
• Theodore Plan: mild inflation, credit expansion, public works
• Premiers’ Plan ($1931$): compromise—cut govt spending $20\%$, reduce wages & pensions, raise taxes
• Lang Plan (NSW): halt interest to Britain, prioritise domestic relief

Political & Social Turmoil

• Labor split: Langism vs federal ALP
• Rise of United Australia Party (Joseph Lyons)
• Communist Party influence among unemployed
• Right-wing New Guard; regional New States movements
• Visible hardship: homeless in Sydney Domain, school soup lines

Sources for Social Impact

• Quantitative: unemployment rates, export price series
• Qualitative: photographs, posters, cartoons, film, folksongs
• Key secondary study: Spenceley, “Equality of sacrifice”

Oral History Case Study

• $1970s-1980s$ turn to living memories; oral testimony central
• Wendy Lowenstein, Weevils in the Flour ($1978$) – interviews incl. Jack & Phyllis; modelled on Studs Terkel
• Criticisms: memory unreliability, focus on ‘hard-luck’ narratives
• Support: rich first-hand social insight, voices absent from official records
• Comparative works: Potts; Scott & Saunders; Spenceley critique

Methodological Issues

• Representativeness: which demographics recorded?
• Interview dynamics: question framing, leading prompts
• Memory validity: retrospective bias, myth-making, collective memory vs factual accuracy
• Triangulation: corroborate oral testimony with documents, stats, visual sources
• Purpose: reveal lived experience, challenge top-down narratives

Quick Recall Points

• Core vulnerability: reliance on Britain for $markets + money$
• Unemployment peak ≈ $30\%$ in early $1930s$
• Four main plans: Melbourne (deflation), Theodore (inflation), Premiers’ (cuts), Lang (debt repudiation)
• Oral history: valuable for social experience, requires critical evaluation