1930's Essay

1930's Essay

The 1930's were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression.

The decade started off well, with the stock market rising again early in 1930. However, late in 1930, stocks and the economy went down again, and this time it didn't get better. People began to feel the effects of the Depression in 1931, and the situation grew progressively worse until reaching the low point in 1933. The gloomy conditions that arose led to a religious revival and the rise of conservatism that rejected the liberalism of the 1920's, which began to be viewed as a decade of "sin." After 1933, the economy began a gradual recovery which wouldn't reach the level of prosperity of 1930 until WWII. In both Central Europe and Eastern Europe, Fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism dominated as the solution, which adopted war-orientated economic policies, such as Stalin's Five Year Plans, all of the described as totalitarian regimes. In East Asia, the rise of militarism occurred.

In 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 WWII in 1939 that would end the depression.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were notorious robbers and criminals who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide. They captivated the attention of the American press and its readership during what is sometimes referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1935. Though remembered as bank robbers, Clyde Barrow preferred to rob small stores or gas stations.

Though the public at the time believed Bonnie to be a full partner in the gang, the role of Bonnie Parker in the Barrow Gang crimes has long been a source of controversy. Gang members W.D. Jones and Ralph Fults testified that they never saw Bonnie fire a gun, and described her role as logistical. Jones' sworn statement was that "Bonnie never packed a gun, out of the five major gun battles I was with them she never fired a gun." Writing with Philip Steele in The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Marie Barrow, Clyde's youngest sister, made the same claim: "Bonnie never fired a shot. She just followed my brother no matter where he went."

At approximately 9:10 a.m. on May 23 the posse, concealed in the bushes and almost ready to concede defeat, the officers heard Clyde's stolen Ford V8 approaching. The posse's official report has Clyde stopping to speak with Henry Methvin's father- planted there with his truck that morning to distract Clyde and force him into the lane closest to the posse-

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