The Rise of New Politics A Response to the Depression

New Politics Canada’s bleak situation created a loss of faith in the government. Many people even loss faith in the idea of capitalism altogether. This desire for new government gave rise to new political parties…….

Social Credit Party High school teacher and radio personality, Bible Bill Aberhart, won an Alberta election in 1935. His Social Credit ideology was based on the idea that capitalism was wasteful, and that the gov’t should release money into the economy. He promised Albertans $25/month for necessities. This idea of the gov’t taking care of and provide for its citizens was quite new. Social Credit stayed in power until 1971!

Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation In 1932 the CCF was formed under J.S.Woodsworth. This was a socialist party that appealed to farmers, labourers, intellectuals and disappointed Liberals. It was based on the “Regina Manifesto” that included the idea of public ownership and social assistance for the elderly, sick, and unemployed. The CCF was the forerunner for today’s NDP.

Provincial vs Federal Frustrations were made worse by squabbles between provincial and federal governments. The provincial governments tended to support social assistance but could not put plans into action because of the federal gov’t. The “solution” was the Rowell-Sirois Commission.

Rowell-Sirois Commission The report recommended that the federal government collect provincial taxes and distribute it equally between the provinces (equalization payments) The richer provinces did not want their money taken away, and the other provinces felt it was a loss of power. This commission furthered feelings of frustration in Canada.

World Response Many countries around the world were also frustrated with the Depression and their gov’ts reponses. This gave rise to dictatorships in Germany, Italy, Russia, and Japan just to name a few…..

Germany Hitler’s expansion speech Germany was still bitter about the Treaty of Versailles, so when Hitler offered criticism of the way the gov’t handled the Depression as well as solutions to the Treaty’s punishments, the German people responded. Hitler promised to bring back a prosperous and powerful Germany in Mein Kampf Slowly, Hitler moved from leader of the Nazi party to Chancellor of Germany to Dictator.

Russia and the USSR Russia had already seen a shift in government in 1917 when the czar abdicated. Vladimir Lenin had formed the USSR. It wasn’t until 1929, when Joseph Stalin came to power, however, that USSR faced brutal dictatorship.

Italy Benito Mussolini, “Il Duce”, became PM of Italy in 1922 but rose to dictator status in 1930. Like all other countries in the Depression, the people wanted a fix to the economic problems and were willing to support a strong, charismatic, military- focused leader. Mussolini and Hitler became strong allies by WWII

Conclusions? Clearly the dissatisfaction and desperation of people around the world in the 1930s led to the desire for new types of government, and different expectations of what a government’s role is. In Canada this led to parties with socialist ideas (CCF and Social Credit) Elsewhere in the world it gave rise to fascist and communist dictatorships.