The Great Depression Analysis

The Great Depression is most commonly examined as a global phenomenon, with historians trying to identify consistancies around the world, the patterns of history. I, however, would like to examine the Great Depression by taking an indepth look at the effects of the depression on Alberta. I will take a social history view of the causes, effects, and efforts to solve the issues of the Great Depression to analyze the social political influence of the event on the people of Alberta. Alberta responded to the Great Depression by deciding it was time for a change in sociopolitical paradigm, which created new political parties such as Social Credit as well as a movement for more social services to protect the individual citizen from uncontrollable …show more content…
It is well known that during the 1930’s America believed that the stock market crash soley effected the United States, and that the economic problems of France and Germany were of different origins and therefore not contributing to their own suffering. Although the struggles in each country were caused by different things, the combination of them all happening at once was devistating for the world economy which relied heavily on trade with these countries. It is less well known that Alberta, and the other prairie provinces, also believed that their problem was seperate from America’s or Europe’s, also because of the difference in origins. This contemporary view is vastly different from today’s understanding that the Great Depression was a “global phenomenon.” Economist Barry Eichengreen believes that the Depression was caused by a combination of beliefs “which admits a role both for monetary policy blunders in the United States,Germany,and France but also for the unstable international monetary and financial system” which amplified the “negative impulses and [transmitted] them to the rest of the world.” This amplification changed the Great Depression from a potential common recession to the longest and most intense recesion of the twentieth century. While some Albertan’s believed that their problems were caused by the drought, that did not account …show more content…
The combination of Alberta’s political history and perspectives make it clear why Social Credit was elected because it supported social services while maintaining ideas of populism, conservatism, and alienation. Just before the depression there was a movement in the province which supported co-operation between farmers rather than competition, something unusual based on Alberta’s innate conservatism. Social Credit may have been a right-wing party, however they openly collaberated with numerous left-wing parties, even the communists. Social Credit, despite being a right-wing party allowed citizens to blame liberals for the problems of the first half of the 30’s while maintaining their more liberal requirements of the government. Social Credit did not promote equality, however it did promote a minimum standard of living for citizens. This seemed to compliment the peoples “general go-it-alone attitude” as well as their desire to be protected during times of hardships. The fact that the party was new and did not conform to the standards that the federal government restricted its provinces to being also appealed to Alberta’s fear of government overreach and their feeling of western alienation. Based on the province’s past and culture Social Credit was the most logical candidate to win after its creation. Alberta’s three main political charactaristics evoled