THE RISE OF MODERN GEORGIA

World War I; The 1920’s; The Crash of 1929; The Great Depression; The New Deal; Roosevelt; Eugene Talmadge; Ellis Arnall; World War II;

CHANGES IN THE 20TH CENTURY New technology changed the way people

worked, lived, and traveled. Cars Electric Lights Trolley Cars High Rise Buildings Paved Roads in Rural Areas Indoor bathrooms Hot running water

THE COMING OF WORLD WAR

Nations had formed alliances to help each other in case of War.

Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Italy (switches sides) and Ottoman Empire

Britain, France and Russia (later Italy)

European Alliances

IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF WWIAssassination of Austrian Arch Duke

Zimmerman Telegram

German Subs attack U.S. Cargo ships in the Atlantic Ocean.

ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE The archduke and

arch duchess of Austria-Hungary were assassinated by a young Serbian.

Austria then declared war on Serbia.

Germany then joined in with Austria-Hungry against Serbia.

ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM - 1917

Arthur Zimmerman, a German officer, sent a telegram to Mexico suggesting that if Mexico would go to war against the US, then they could get back land ceded in 1847.

GERMAN SUBS ATTACK US CARGO SHIPS

March 1917 - Several American cargo ships in the Atlantic Ocean were sunk by German submarines. Wilson then asked Congress for a declaration of War on Germany.

GEORGIA’S CONNECTION TO WW I

Military Installation

Location Specialty (what the site was used for or what soldiers learned there)

Fort McPherson Atlanta Center for training recruits and draftees, as well as housing German prisoners of war.

Camp Gordon Atlanta Over 230,000 trained at Camp Gordon’s training facilities.

Camp Benning Columbus U.S. Army’s Infantry School

Camp Hancock Augusta Military supply and weapons school

Fort Oglethorpe

Chickamauga

Army training installation that still included cavalry instruction.

GEORGIA PROSPERS IN WWI Women stepped in to fill the

jobs of men who went away to War.

Agricultural production increased to feed American soldiers.

Farmers were growing wheat, corn, potatoes, peanuts, and other food crops.

Increase demand for cotton for soldier uniforms.

Georgia farmers were prospering again!

LIFE IN THE 1920’S By 1922, GA had over 5,500

miles of roads (only 166 were paved) and 1,400 bridges.

The paved roads helped farmers get their produce to market.

By 1920, the nation’s first national radio station began in Pennsylvania.

“Forward Atlanta Commission” was created. This program cost $1 million dollars and told the nation about Atlanta’s transportation; location, climate, resources and workforce

“VOICE OF THE SOUTH” WSB RADIO

In 1922, the South’s first radio station, WSB, began in Atlanta.

The “Voice of the South” broadcast weather, cotton market reports, special music programs and story hours for children.

On Sunday, Georgians could listen to church services in the morning and baseball in the afternoon.

THE EVIL BOLL WEEVIL

A small insect first detected in GA in 1913, the weevil’s larvae could destroy fields of healthy cotton almost overnight.

Within 10 years, cotton harvests fell to less than a third of what they would be in a normal year.

Georgia’s economy was devastated.

DROP IN COTTON PRICES & DROUGHT

At the end of the War, cotton prices fell, and the prosperity came to a halt.

Furthering the above problems, GA experienced the worst drought in history in 1925.

Many Farmers abandoned the fields and headed to the cities for work.

Farmers survived by turning to other crops. Tobacco, peanuts, pecans, vegetables, dairies, livestock, and poultry became the profitable crops in Georgia.

THE CRASH OF 1929 America’s economy was booming, and

many Americans invested money in the stock market that they did not have. They were practicing speculation.

Speculation is when someone buys stock, real estate, or any other valuable item at a low price with a plan to sell it soon at a higher price.

The stock market prices dropped enormously and resulted in the stock market crashing.

The policy of Laissez Fair economics is where the government takes a “hands off” approach to regulating businesses

THE GREAT DEPRESSION In a business depression,

sales, profits, and investments fall, forcing factories to produce less and lay off some workers. As more workers are laid off, it causes demand for new goods to fall, another cycle of unemployment and falling sales begins.

A decade long depression that hit the United States in 1929. The effects were far reaching, changing the federal government’s relationship with the states, people, and businesses.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Americans depended on one another for food, clothing, tools, appliances, homes, cars, roads, water, electricity, protection, etc.

All of our industries and businesses were dependent upon one another.

When the Great Depression hit America, when one business failed, many others would fail as well.

The depression spread from one industry to the next until almost every American was affected.

DEPRESSION & POLITICS By 1930, the State of GA could no longer pay

its bills. Public School Teacher were owed $ 4 million in back pay. City & County governments were also having a bad time.

Richard Russell provided GA with a more efficient government. The office of governor gained more power, specially over the spending of State money.

CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The stock market crash was the most dramatic, but there were earlier signs of an economic concern

Farming income shrank throughout the previous decade.

Textile, lumber, mining, and railroad industries declined.

There was a lag in orders for cars and construction materials, so companies had to start laying off employees. With less income many Americans stopped spending.

CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

In 1929 less than 1 Percent of the population owned nearly one-third of the countries wealth.

75 % of Americans were living at a poverty level.

People were buying with credit (money that they don’t have.)

Banks failed because people couldn’t pay back their loans. Large banks suffered huge losses in the stock market crash. 9,000 banks closed across the country and millions of people lost all of their money.

EUGENE TALMADGE Eugene Talmadge championed for

the small farmers and preached the ideals of thrift, hard work, and self-reliance. He was popular with rural white voters.

Abuse of power: Talmadge pressured some officials, threatened to withhold salaries of others, and suspended still others. He even imposed martial law and had the national Guard remove certain officials from their offices in order to keep his campaign promises.

Georgians were outraged by the governor’s use of rewards and punishments. Newspapers attacked him, but many voters applauded his strong actions.

Talmadge continues to influence GA politics for another decade.

THE NEW DEAL Popular title given to the various recovery

programs developed during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to end the Great Depression.

Three Aims of the New Deal.-- Relief Programs – aimed at providing help to

millions of unemployed-- Recovery Programs – aimed at helping the

economy get back on its feet.--Reform Programs – aimed at making changes in

the way Americans did business

PROGRAMS OF THE NEW DEAL

Programs of the New Deal

Explain how this program was to WORK in the New Deal

How did this affect Georgians; farmers & rural

Civilian Conservation Corps

Put young men to work in rural and forested areas – roads etc.

Put unemployed Georgians to work and improved infrastructure

Agricultural Adjustment Act

Aimed to bring farmers income back up to pre war levels

Paid farmers to produce less & bought product from farmers

Rural Electrification

A major reform effort to provide electrical power

Rural Georgians had access to electric power

Social Security Provide government pension or retirement to older citizens

Provided money to state to pay unemployed or those unable to work

EUGENE TALMADGE & THE NEW DEAL

Talmadge was against the New Deal.

He disagreed with the minimum wage requirement.

He felt that it would hurt private businesses by paying too high of a wage.

He also said that it would threaten white supremacy by giving blacks equal pay to whites.

ELLIS ARNALL & REFORM Reduced the

powers of Governor and asked for the GA Constitution to be rewritten.

The previous “redeemer” Constitution of 1877 had been amended over 300 times!

POWERS/JOBS TAKEN FROM THE GOVORNOR:

•Removed from the board of regents that ran the state’s public schools.

• Cannot remove elected officials from office or to remove salaries.

•Power to pardon convicted criminals taken away.

• Power to veto taken away.

THE COMING OF WWII German economy

lay in ruin because of the War debts from WWI & the harsh treatments from the Treaty of Versailles.

Nazi’s come into power in Germany and began preaching nationalism and Arian Supremacy.

NAZI’S RISE TO POWER The Nazi’s rearmed the

German military and began to threaten Europe.

European countries begin to practice the policy of appeasement toward Hitler’s advancements into Europe.

Gradual German Encroachment into European countries (Austria, and parts of Czechoslovakia, then Poland)

WORLD WAR II America Enters

the War Bombing of Pearl

Harbor Invasion of

Normandy, France Invasion of the

Pacific Islands surrounding Japan.

America drops the Atomic bomb on two major cities in Japan.

Hitler surrenders to the Allies in May, 1945

Japan surrenders to the Allies in August, 1945

Peace conference held between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin before the war’s end. Called the “Yalta Conference”

THE HOLOCAUST

Concentration Camps discovered all over Europe where 11 million people were exterminated during the War years.

RESULTS OF THE WAR United States

Emerges as a world power, “police of the world”

Germany is split into East and West Germany, with occupation of Germany lasting for decades. Berlin was occupied until the mid 1980’s.

GEORGIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WAR Over 320,000 Georgians

volunteered or were drafted into the military between 1941 -1945.

Georgia also provided places to train soldiers. Ft. Benning, the world’s largest infantry.

Due to GA’s climate, cheap land, extensive rail network, deep-water ports, and numerous farms and mills to feed and clothe soldiers.

GEORGIA’S ECONOMY DURING WWII

Factories and mills switched to production of military equipment and supplies.

Car makers changed to building tanks, jeeps, and other military vehicles.

Bell Aircraft Corporation built a B-29 plant in Marietta, GA employing 20,000 civilian workers. Also shipyards for building naval vessels & weapons plants.

INDUSTRY FOR GEORGIANS WWII was very expensive. Georgia had turned to military production, and thousands of

new jobs were created. During the war, the annual income for the average Georgian

doubled. This trend continues after the war.

TALMADGE & ROOSEVELT

Talmadge openly called Roosevelt a socialist.

He disagreed with many items of the New Deal saying it threatened Georgian’s “way of life.”

He also prepared to challenge Roosevelt for the Presidency.

ROOSEVELT AND GEORGIA

FDR has come regularly to Warm Springs, GA for polio treatment.

He established his “Little White House” there in Warm Springs, which made him special in the eyes of many Georgians.