The economic crisis began in 1929 and by the spring of 1933, the US economy had fallen to its lowest point in recent years. People lost hope and confidence in the future and American society. The Hoover administration has repeatedly predicted that the crisis is about to pass, but the reality is that the crisis will deepen step by step.
Hoover is a proponent of "free enterprise" and has always opposed administrative intervention in enterprises. However, under the pressure of the deepening crisis, he has also begun to use state machinery to "interfere" in the economy. He copied the so-called "top-down" old-fashioned pattern of the boom period, and took measures to deal with the crisis by giving priority to funding large companies, banks, and large farmers, and urgently rescuing the wealthy at the top of the social pyramid. As a result, under the circumstances of overproduction and severe disconnection between production and sales, few large companies have been rescued by this measure, while the number of bankrupt small businesses and small landowners has increased significantly, and there are more and more unemployed people waiting in line for charity to distribute bread. The longer.
Political turmoil also intensified. Between 1929 and 1932, there were approximately 2,700 strikes. The Hoover administration took simple measures to suppress the ever-increasing strike movement, especially the suppression of the "hunger march" of more than 200,000 veterans to Washington, which even discredited the government. People call all the shabby things the nickname "Hoover." At this time, fascist organizations in the United States took the opportunity to run wildly and demanded the establishment of a fascist dictatorship, and social unrest intensified.
The crisis in the political arena is also increasing. In 1933, 1.17 million workers went on strike, and the footsteps of hungry people can be heard all over the United States. In the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Oklahoma, hordes of people broke into grocery stores and meat markets, looting everything on the shelves. The state capitol was occupied by 4,000 people in Lincoln, Blas. In Seattle, Washington, 5,000 people occupy the 10-story city hall. In Chicago, 5,000 unbearable teachers broke into the downtown bank. The unemployed in Ohio marched towards the Columbus City Council building and shouted the slogan "Establishing a Workers' and Peasants' Republic."
Another political consequence of the economic crisis is the rise of fascist thought. In September 1932, the U.S. Veterans Corps passed a resolution declaring that "the political means currently used can no longer deal with the economic crisis quickly and effectively." In Atlanta, Georgia, the first far-right organization "American Fascist Association and Black Clothes Society" appeared. Then in some places the ultra-right organization "American Fascist Association and Black Clothes Society" appeared first. Then fascist groups such as the Yinyi Club, the White Clothes Club, the Brown Clothes Club, the Militia Regiment, and the American Nationalist Party appeared in some places. They slaughtered progressive workers, farmers, and blacks, and brought further chaos to the economically depressed America.
Roosevelt won the general election. The picture shows him shaking hands with voters cordially. It was against this chaotic background that the United States began its 32nd presidential campaign. The Republicans still promoted Hoover as the presidential candidate, and the Democrats introduced Franklin Roosevelt.
Beginning on July 2, 1932, Roosevelt publicly adopted the "New Deal" as his campaign platform, accused Hoover of "crude individualism policies", attacked financial giants, and expressed his desire to seek benefits for "those who are forgotten at the bottom of the economic pyramid". . He also emphasized the state's management of the economy and expressed the need to use state administrative and economic power to rectify economic chaos, expand employment opportunities, increase social consumption funds, and overcome economic crises. With the national economy on the verge of collapse, the intensification of social contradictions, and the precarious situation of bourgeois democracy, Roosevelt’s program received widespread support, coupled with his own organizational and speech skills, and finally defeated Hoover by an absolute advantage in the election. Elected as the 32nd President of the United States on November 8, 1932. On March 4, 1933, Roosevelt took the oath of office on the lawn in front of the White House. He began to use the "New Deal" to heal American capitalism, which was in serious condition.
On March 5, 1933, Roosevelt ordered a ban on hoarding gold, and offenders were severely punished, thus kicking off the "New Deal". The "New Deal" is divided into two phases: the first phase was from 1933 to 1934, which focused on rehabilitation and relief; the second phase was from 1935 to 1939, and the focus was on reform, that is, the full implementation of liberal policies. Roosevelt put forward the famous Three Rs plan, namely Rec0very (Rejuvenation), Relief (Relief), and Ref0rm (Reform) in implementing the "New Deal" of state intervention in the economy, to carry out strong government intervention and regulation on the economy and society.
The "New Deal" started with the rectification of fiscal and financial affairs. On March 6, the day after Roosevelt took office, he invoked the wartime decree and ordered the bank to "leave" to stop the bankruptcy caused by the run. On March 9, the Banking Emergency Act was issued, which reviewed all banks one by one, eliminated some small and medium-sized banks that were poorly managed and weak, and provided large banks with a huge amount of US$3.5 billion in loans to strengthen the banks' operating capabilities. After rectification, three-quarters of banks and exchanges across the country resumed operations, stock prices rose, and the financial panic basically ended. In order to rectify currency circulation and prevent the massive outflow of gold, Roosevelt announced a ban on gold exports, promulgated the "Abandonment of the Gold Standard Act," and implemented a devaluation of the U.S. dollar to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. commodities in the world market and improve the U.S.'s foreign economic status.
The Roosevelt government took the initiative to promote a common cause and established a private natural resource protection team, employing a total of 2.75 million unemployed young people in afforestation and soil and water conservation. On May 12, the Federal Emergency Relief Agency was established. By the end of 1935, the agency had allocated more than $3 billion to help states and cities in direct relief or work-for-work. On June 25, the government established the Public Works Administration, which has played an extremely important role in many large military and civilian projects. From 1933 to 1939, 70% of new school buildings, 65% of courts, city halls and sewage treatment plants, 35% of hospitals and public health facilities in the United States were built with their help. On August 14, 1935, the government enacted the "Social Insurance Law", stipulating the implementation of old-age and unemployment insurance.
On May 12, 1933, Congress passed the "Agricultural Adjustment Act" and established the Agricultural Adjustment Bureau to control the output of basic agricultural products and the number of pigs raised, and to increase the prices of agricultural products and the purchasing power of farmers. By 1935, total agricultural income had increased by more than 50% over 1932. On June 6, 1933, Congress passed the "National Industrial Rejuvenation Law", which gave monopoly organizations various preferential treatments. Roosevelt praised this law as "the most important and far-reaching legislation enacted by the US Congress." In addition, the government passed the Federal Power Act, the Motor Vehicle Act, the Transportation Act, the Merchant Shipping Act, and the Civil Aviation Act between 1935 and 1938. Regulations are made for the operation and management of civil aviation and other departments.
In order to ease the increasingly tense labor-management relationship, the Roosevelt administration and Congress added Article 7, paragraph 1, to the National Industrial Rejuvenation Act passed on June 16, 1935, which determines the right to organize labor and collective bargaining, and bans Child labor stipulates minimum wages and maximum working hours. On July 5, Congress passed the Labor Relations Law, which not only reaffirmed the labor relations provisions in the national industrial revival, but also declared that the unions organized by capitalists were illegal, thus ensuring the right of employees' self-selected representatives to conduct collective bargaining with the management. On June 25, 1938, the Roosevelt Administration promulgated the "Fair Labor Standards Act", stipulating a minimum wage of 40 cents per hour, a maximum working hour of 40 hours per week, double overtime wages, and prohibiting enterprises employing child labor from engaging in interstate trade, etc. .
From the time Roosevelt came to power in early March 1933 to the New Deal in 1939, the U.S. government and Congress issued more than 700 decrees, which covered almost all aspects of American social and economic life. According to statistics, the lectures on American life, society and various issues during Roosevelt's new administration are more than the sum of the relevant issues of previous lectures by US presidents.
The implementation of the "New Deal" enabled the United States to quickly restore its economic strength, enabling it to play its role as a "democratic country arsenal" during World War II, providing a strong material backing for the final victory of the Allies.
In February 1934, Senator Ney of North Dakota proposed a resolution investigating the arms industry. In April, this proposal was passed by Congress, forming an arms trade investigation committee chaired by Ney, and most of its members hold isolationist views. After extensive investigations, the committee produced thousands of pages of investigation reports. This report exposes that arms dealers suspected of making huge profits in ordering for World War I. Financial conglomerates not only directly lend to the Allied Powers, but also finance their arms industry, thus making a lot of profits. The report concluded that the U.S. participation in World War I was the ghost of these arms dealers and bankers. After an important part of the report was disclosed by the press, it caused a great uproar in the public opinion. Although the statement in the report was too one-sided, it played an inciting role and aroused many Americans to oppose involvement in European affairs and anti-war sentiments. All of a sudden, trade protectionism, political isolationism, and general pacifist sentiments combined to form a powerful trend of social thought in the United States.
After Roosevelt won the election for the presidency of the United States, while he drastically implemented the "New Deal" and reformed the American economy that was about to collapse, he faced the resistance of isolationism and did his best to pursue an internationalist diplomatic line. However, due to the further deterioration of the international environment and the expansion of isolationist forces, his efforts to make the United States participate in the international community have failed. The first was the abortion of the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, and then Roosevelt's proposal to join the International Tribunal was rejected. Under the situation of domestic and foreign difficulties, the Roosevelt administration decided to focus on internal affairs and follow the path of isolationist diplomacy.
At the beginning of 1935, with the deepening of the war crisis in Europe and the easing of economic panic, as well as the high-profile investigation activities of the Ney Arms Trade Investigation Commission. More and more Americans are inclined to adopt an isolationist attitude. They believe that the only way to prevent involvement in European wars is to abandon the freedom of navigation that has always been advertised. In February, Italy clamored for the invasion of Abyssinia. In March, Germany abolished the provisions restricting its armaments in the "Versailles Peace Treaty," and Japan was stepping up its efforts to encroach on North China. In the face of this situation, the US Congress has been teaching various neutral laws since March. Most people advocate the enactment of a thorough medium-term legislation for arms embargo, freezing of goods and restrictions on trade of all belligerent countries; those who advocate a collective security system want to enact a medium-term legislation that authorizes the president to deal with it as appropriate, so as to distinguish between the aggressor and the aggressor.
After three months of debate and disputes, the U.S. Congress finally passed the "Chinese Legislation" by the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Pittman on August 24. On August 31, President Roosevelt reluctantly signed the bill. This bill fully reflects the claims of isolationists. It stipulates that all belligerent countries shall impose an embargo on weapons, ammunition and munitions, but it authorizes the president to determine the list of munitions and announce the time of the embargo; it prohibits American ships from transporting arms to the belligerent countries. Designed to prevent involvement in wars or disputes through trade channels; the bill also stipulates that, if necessary, the president may declare not to protect American citizens traveling on ships of belligerent countries. In addition, to ensure the control of arms exports, an Arms Management Committee was established to oversee.
In February 1936, the US Congress passed an amendment to the "Medium Legislation", which extended the validity of the "Medium Legislation" to May 1937, and added provisions prohibiting loans from belligerent countries and the implementation of the "Medium Legislation" to countries newly joining the war. In addition, the president is also authorized to decide whether a foreign country's state of war exists and whether to implement the "Medium Legislation."
Under the new "Medium Legislation", US strategic materials are still being shipped to Italy continuously.
After the fall of Abyssinia in May 1936, the United States lifted the "moral embargo" and announced that it would not recognize the occupation of Italy.
On August 6, the Spanish ambassador to the United States made a request to the U.S. State Department to purchase a small amount of machine gun ammunition, but the request was politely rejected by the U.S. government.
On August 11, the United States officially announced its "non-interference" policy against the Spanish Civil War.
On September 30, the government of the Spanish Republic issued a white paper calling on democratic countries to stop German and Italian armed interference and assist the Spanish Republic. The US government still insists on acting simultaneously with Britain and France and pursuing a "non-interference" policy.
After Roosevelt was re-elected as president in November 1936, he eagerly asked Congress to take action to impose an embargo on both sides of the Spanish conflict.
On January 6, 1937, Congress passed a joint resolution dedicated to Spain almost unanimously, announcing the prohibition of the supply of weapons to Spain’s warring parties.
On May 1, the U.S. Congress passed the third "Medium Legislation," which extended the arms embargo to civil war countries and proposed the principle of "money transport by cash".