The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known as the World Depression.[Heywood Fleisig (May 1976). "War-Related Debts and the Great Depression (in The Last Great Depression and the Present One)". The American Economic Review 66: 52 - 58. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. ]
The decade started off economically unsteady, with the stock market dropping late in 1929. However, late in 1930, stocks and the economy dropped more, and this time it didn\'t become better. Many people blamed then President Herbert Hoover for the things that were happening in the economy, along with the Great Depression. People began to feel the effects of the plunging stock market in 1931, and the situation grew progressively worse until reaching the low point in 1933. The gloomy conditions that arose led to a rise of political extremes between ultra-conservatism and radical political parties. After 1933, the economy began a gradual recovery which wouldn\'t reach the level of prosperity of 1930 until World War II. In both Central Europe and Eastern Europe, Fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism dominated as the solution to these problems: the first two adopted war-oriented economic policies while the latter adopted sweeping industrialization programs such as Stalin\'s Five-Year Plans, all of them described as totalitarian regimes. In East Asia, the rise of militarism occurred.
In Western Europe, Australia and the United States, more progressive reforms occurred as opposed to the extreme measures sought elsewhere. Roosevelt\'s New Deal attempted to use government spending to combat large-scale unemployment and severely negative growth. Ultimately, it would be the beginning of World War II in 1939 that would end the depression.
Technology
Many technological advances occurred in the 1930s, including:
1931: Empire State Building is opened.
- The world\'s tallest building (for the next 43 years) was constructed, opening as the Empire State Building on May 3, 1931 in New York City;
- On March 8, 1930, the first frozen foods of Clarence Birdseye were sold in Ringfield, Massachusetts, USA.
- Ub Iwerks produced the first Color Sound Cartoon in 1930, a Flip the Frog cartoon entitled: "Sticks";
- In 1930, Warner Brothers released the first All-Talking All-Color wide-screen movie, Song of the Flame; in 1930 alone, Warner Brothers released ten All-Color All-Talking feature movies in Technicolor and scores of shorts and features with color sequences;
- Air mail service across the Atlantic Ocean began;
- Radar was invented, known as RDF (Radio Direction Finding), such as in British Patent GB593017 by Robert Watt in 1938;
- The first BBC television broadcast occurred;
- In 1933, the 3M company marketed Scotch Tape; and
- In 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first long-playing phonograph record.
- In 1935, the British London and North Eastern Railway introduced the A4 Pacific, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley. Just three years later, one of these, No. 4468 Mallard, would become the fastest steam locomotive in the world.
- Nuclear fission discovered by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann in 1939.
- The Volkswagen Beetle, arguably the most popular automobile in the world, had its roots in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. The car would prove to be successful, and would be produced relatively unchanged well up into the 1990s.
War, peace and politics
Economics
Literature and Art
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Popular Culture
Cover of the
Flip the Frog Annual Comic Book from 1930.
- Radio becomes dominant mass media in industrial nations
- "Golden Age" of radio begins in U.S.
- First intercontinental commercial airline flights
- Height of the Art Deco movement in North America and western Europe.
- The film The Wizard of Oz immortalized tornadoes, songs (Somewhere Over the Rainbow), the characters, and "Toto" too.
- "Swing" music starts becoming popular (from 1935 onward). It gradually replaces the sweet form of Jazz that had been popular for the first half of the decade.
- The Golden Age of American animation: Walt Disney\'s Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse series, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film); Ub Iwerks\' Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper; Walter Lantz\'s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; Fleischer Studios\' Talkartoons, Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor; Warner Bros.\' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies; Charles B. Mintz\'s Scrappy.
- Popular newspaper comic strips include The Phantom, Terry and the Pirates, and Thimble Theater (featuring Popeye the Sailor).
- Collections of reprinted comic strips evolve into modern comic books, and costumed pulp heroes lead to the creation of the superhero genre. The Golden Age of Comic Books begins with Superman\'s debut in Action Comics #1.
- Russ Columbo, one of the most popular singers of the decade, dies in an accidental shooting in 1934.
- Triumph of the Will - Leni Riefenstahl\'s ground-breaking Nazist propaganda film.
- Belgian cartoonist Hergé\'s The Adventures of Tintin. (Started in 1929)
- In 1935, the game Monopoly was the best-selling game in America. This was its first year on the market with a major toy company.
Others
Military Enigma machine
People
World leaders
Reza Shah Pahlavi changed the name of Persia to Iran in 1935
Sports figures
British Commonwealth
United States
References
Updated Nov. 19, 2007
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
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