Henry Ford's Response To The Great Depression

The Great Depression of 1929 was a global economic catastrophe. In the United States, the crisis blanketed the country with widespread unemployment, almost seizing construction and industry, and a near 90% decline in stock prices was observed. The acquisition of raw materials and the price of commodities also suffered greatly. The exportation of coffee beans, other agricultural products, and metals was starkly impacted by an increase in tariffs, a strategy implemented my many nations to compensate for the economic downfall. Prior to the depression, Americans lived in time referred to as the New Era (1900 – 1929). In truth, this was a time of high employment indeed however, the employment statistics were used to veil the fact that there were

Ford’s monopoly of the automotive industry was unfortunately, not an isolated account of the disproportion of wealth preceding the depression. Fascism and a dominant military presence was yet another aftereffect of the Great Depression. Such a response was observed on a global scale post the onset of the depression. However, it is paramount, if one to discuss the fascism and militarisms of the Great Depression, to touch upon the social atrocities and genocide of the Nazi party in Germany. In Germany, Adolph Hitler and his Nazis promised German citizens restoration of the nations’ economic infrastructure and to strengthen the German military. After Hitler gained a position of power in 1932, he promptly banned the formation of labor unions. This action allowed the Nazi party to reorient the country’s industry into a series of syndicates supporting only the Nazi interests. Germany’s resources were massively invested in their military which lead to overwhelming unemployment and a stark decline in an already periled economy. Hitler’s revamped army/military became nothing more than a congregation of terrorists and