CLIL History

DEMOCRACIES IN CRISIS AND TOTALITARIAN REGIMES (1924-1945) ACTIVITY 4.B Read the text Black Thursday and answer the following questions. 1. Why did millions of Americans buy shares? 2. Why was speculation possible? 3. What was Black Thursday ? 4. Which international factors contributed to the expansion of the crisis? The Great Depression The collapse of the Stock Exchange triggered a vicious spiral. The crisis of the financial and banking system and the widespread indebtedness caused banks to go bankrupt and companies to dismiss their employees. More and more families were forced to reduce their spending and to leave their houses as they could no longer pay off their mortgage loans. The demand for goods continued to fall and led to a huge drop in production and even more unemployment. In a short time 40 million Americans, out of a population of 120 million, found themselves without a means of subsistence. In just two years America s industrial production lost nearly 50%, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell 30%. In 1933, 13 million people, which meant 25% of the total workforce, was out of work. The Republican President, Herbert Hoover, who had just been elected in 1929, was not able to implement legislative measures to contain the crisis. During the first period of his administration he continued to apply the principles of the Republican economic policy that focused on the adherence to the gold standard, which was the convertibility of the dollar into gold. The traditional liberal approach did not bring the desired benefits, and, at the end of his mandate, President Hoover approved an outstanding increase in taxation with the aim to finance public works and welfare programs but in 1932 he was defeated in the presidential elections by the Democratic candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt. ACTIVITY 4.C Match the following words to their synonyms. 1. triggered 5. subsistence a. to fail e. prosperity 2. indebtedness 6. adherence b. liability f. brought about 3. go bankrupt 7. outstanding c. conformity g. income 4. dismiss 8. welfare d. conspicuous h. fire ACTIVITY 4.D Read the text The Great Depression and complete the scheme below that summarizes the vicious spiral triggered by the Stock Exchange collapse. ............ ... and banking system crisis ... ................................. ............ ... unemployment for banks Drop in ............ ... 20 ............ ... and impoverishment