how was US able to recover from economic condition (class 10th history)
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CLASS 10 HISTORY
MAKING OF A GLOBAL WORLD
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The Inter-war Economy
The First World War wreaked large scale havoc around the world in many senses. About 9 million people died and 20 million people were injured in the wake of the war.
Most of the people who were killed or maimed were people from working age. This resulted in a significant reduction in the number of able-bodied workforce in Europe. Due to fewer earning members in the families, the household incomes drastically reduced in Europe.
Most of the men were forced to engage in war and thus women had to replace them in factory jobs. Women were now working in those jobs which were earlier considered as male bastions.
The war also led to snapping of ties between some major economic powers of the world. Britain had to borrow from the US to finance the war. The war transformed the US from an international debtor to an international creditor. Now, US and its citizens owned more overseas assets than foreign governments or citizens owned in the US.
Post-war Recovery
While Britain was preoccupied with war, industries developed in India and Japan. After the war, Britain found it difficult to regain its earlier dominant position in India. Similarly, it was unable to compete with Japan at the international level. At the end of the war, Britain was under huge debts from the US.
During the war, there was increased demand for goods which resulted in economic boom in Britain. After the war ended, the demand drastically fell to come in tune with the peace-time economy. About 20% of the British workers lost their job after the war.
Before the war, Eastern Europe was a major supplier of wheat. But during the war, Canada, America and Australia emerged as the leading suppliers of wheat because Eastern Europe was involved in war. Once the war was over, the Eastern Europe resumed the supply of wheat. This resulted in a glut of wheat in the market and prices fell. This created havoc in the rural economy.