The Great Depression and the Americas (1929 – 39) Objective 3.5: Consider the causes and effects of the Depression and how effectively they were dealt.

The Great Depression and the Americas (1929 – 39)

Objective 3.5: Consider the causes and effects of the Depression and how effectively they were dealt with in the

countries of Latin America, focusing on Argentina and Brazil

Warm-Up: Statistical Analysis

Countries of South America 1913 1918 1927

Imports from USA 16.2 25.9 26.8

Exports to USA 16.8 54.8 25.2

Countries of Central America

1913 1918 1927

Imports from USA 53.2 75.0 62.9

Exports to USA 71.5 73.4 58.4

US trade with Latin American as a percentage of total Latin American trade

*WHAT CONCLUSIONS CAN YOU DRAW FROM THE STATISTICS?*

Cartoon Analysis: American Foreign Policy in the 19th and early 20th Century

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Cartoon Analysis: American Foreign Policy in the 19th and early 20th Century

Roosevelt Corollary (1904) AKA “Big Stick Diplomacy”

Cartoon Analysis: American Foreign Policy in the 19th and early 20th Century

Dollar Diplomacy (1909)

Puerto Rico

Cuba

Philippines

“Good Neighbor” Policy(1933)

Cartoon Analysis: American Foreign Policy in the 19th and early 20th Century

Essay Analysis

Professor Walter LaFeber argues that the United States developed a foreign policy which deliberately made Latin American / Caribbean nations its economic dependents from the early 19th Century

◦Take notes to track his argument◦Decide whether what points are logical and

which do not seem fully supported

Big Question: How healthy were the economies of Latin American countries during the 1920s?

Economic developments in Latin America

Relied heavily on the export of raw materials◦Dependent on the

production and sale of one product or monoculture—i.e. coffee in Brazil

Economic developments in Latin America

Relied heavily on the USA and Western European countries, particularly Britain, for foreign trade and investment◦Neo-Colonialism?

Reasons for dependence on foreign trade and investment

Geographical factors made it difficult for Latin American countries to trade significantly with one another

Maldistribution of income—can’t afford manufactured goods

Competition with already industrialized nations to produce industrialized goods

Growth of US Investment

As a result of World War I, Western European countries became less significant trading partners

US investment in Latin America grew from $1.5 billion in 1924 to $3 billions by 1929

“Dollar Diplomacy”—interested in investment rather than trade

$

Political developments

US Supported Dictatorships

Venezuela, Paraguay, etc. $

US Supported Democracies

Argentina, Brazil, etc. $

Communism?

The onset of the Depression in Latin America

Various factors meant that the Great Depression would hit the countries of Latin America hard as they were not well equipped to deal with it…◦Governments (including US-set democracies)

were partial and tenuous◦International demand for the primary products

supplied by Latin America was largely in decline◦Growth in foreign ownership and investment

meant that profits from trade went outside the country

Warm-Up: Term Definition

What do you think of when you hear/see the following word?

◦GLOBALIZATION

Why do you think that globalization could be controversial?

“Ten Basic Questions About Globalization"

Read the question given to youAnswer the question given to you

◦You may use the “cheat sheet” if necessary to help form your response

Share your response (should only be sentence or two) with the class

“Ten Basic Questions About Globalization"

ISI DefinedImport Substitution Industrialization

◦ Trade and economic policy based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of industrialized products

ISI in Latin AmericaIn Latin American countries where ISI was most

successful, it was accompanied by changes in government◦ Old neocolonial governments were replaced by semi-

democratic governments.

Banks, utilities, and certain foreign-owned companies were nationalized or transferred ownership to local businesspeople.

Case Study: Brazil and Argentina

The two case studies provided, focus on two large countries that were strongly affected by the Depression—not all countries were hit as hard, nor were all countries so large

Questions to consider…◦ What type of government did

this country have in place?◦ Was its economy dependent

on one crop or diversified?◦ Did it have any industry?◦ Who were its main trading

partners?◦ What sort of class structure

did it have?◦ How hard was it hit by the

Depression?◦ How did it get out of the

Depression?

Brazil in the 1920s:Economic problems

$$$

Concentration on primary products for

exports

Dominance of coffee

Lack of industrial development

Amount of national debt

Brazil in the 1920s:Political problems

Growth of military & urban middle

class involvement = modernization

Growing opposition to political

dominance by large landowners

Catholic church concerned with social problems

Dominated by populous provinces

of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais

Low participation in elections

Vargas in BrazilGetúlio Vargas

◦ President/Dictator from 1930-45 and 1951-54

◦ Established “Estado Novo” ruled by decree set up a special police

force abolished personal

freedoms introduced strict press

censorship

“The Estado Novo does not recognize the rights of the individual against

the collective. Individuals do not have rights; they have duties.

Rights belong to the collective!”

Brazil in the 1930s—Fighting the Depression

Diversification Avoiding over-

reliance on singular export of coffee

Industrial Growth

Five-Year Plans

Growth in oil and steel production

Argentina up to the 1920s:Economic developments

1860-1930—strongest economy in South America (annual growth averaged 6.3%)

Absorbed 6 million immigrants from 1870-1914 (mainly from Italy and Spain)

Argentina up to the 1920s:Political developments

1916—peaceful transition to full democracy with the election of Radical Party leader Hipólito Yrigoyen ◦attempts to win support of middle classes /

urban working classes◦reforms education system

Tragic Week (January 1919)

Argentina in the 1930s—Immediate Effects of Great Depression

Budget deficit extremely high

Yrigoyen cut public

spending

Supporters lost job

Argentina in the 1930s—“Infamous Decade”

Concordancia: 1931 military coup—overthrows Yrigoyen

National Democrats, Independent

Socialists, Nationalists

General Agustín Justo

president from 1932

Growth of nationalism

Argentina in the 1930s—Fighting the Depression

Diversification Avoiding over-reliance on

singular export

Industrial Growth Growth textile

production

Increasing TradeRoca-Runciman Agreements w/ Britain (1932)

Eden-Malbrán Treaty w/ Britain

(1936)

Quickwrite

Using the summary diagram, write a response to the following prompt…

Compare and contrast the economic policies undertaken by Argentina and Brazil during the Depression