Postwar Recession and Prosperity

THE INTERWAR PERIOD HIST 1301 | History Postwar Recession and Prosperity The international economy was decimated by international War I. The labour force in Europe had been disturbed by four long years of fighting and losses, not to mention the governments' fiscal projections. Britain and France intended to pay off their own debts through the reparations that Germany owed, but doing so also built an unstable economic house of cards. The war's economic repercussions were also felt in South America, Asia, and Africa. Prior to the war, Germany constituted the majority of European commerce with subSaharan Africa, and African countries had engaged in considerable trade with Europe. Due to the difficulty of trade with the warring states, many European commodities increased in price once the conflict started, making them unaffordable for many Africans. In order to survive financially after the war, Britain and France turned to their colonies in Africa as well as Germany's former colonial holdings. Britain and France both prioritised the advancement of agriculture. This sometimes meant giving White settlers more chances to benefit both themselves and their own nation while giving Black Africans less possibilities. French officials promoted coffee exports in the part of Cameroon they were allocated to manage following the war. However, they also limited the amount of land that Black Africans could farm and granted licences to produce the crop mostly to Europeans. White coffee producers had a ready supply of agricultural labourers who were compelled to accept low salaries because Black people lacked opportunities. Likewise, in British Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania), Europeans only had the authority to harvest and sell wood. Following the war, Britain and France made significant investments in the construction of railroads throughout Africa, and Britain also lavished money on mining ventures in South Africa, Nigeria, and the Gold Coast (Ghana). The war also had an impact on East Asian nations, and once it ended, the economy of some of them—including China and Japan—saw expansion. China profited from the decline in worldwide rivalry brought on by Europe's economic problems even though it had not yet undergone significant industrialization. The Japanese economy was battered by booms and recessions, inflation, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and a major financial crisis in 1927 during the Taisho period in the 1920s. Japan's urban economy was now being threatened by protectionism, which was implemented by both the American and European markets in the form of import taxes, since the country had grown largely dependent on trade with the United States. Nonetheless, when the nation started to invest in China and boosted military manufacturing, Japan's economy grew even more in the 1920s. Although there was inflation, the government countered it with austerity measures. After the war, Japan was able to boost its exports even more than China did, and commerce rose significantly with the US in particular. After the conflict, the economies of the countries in Latin America barely changed at all. Many still relied heavily on agricultural exports to fuel their economies and had few industry. As more and more parts of the world started to export goods like rubber, some faced increased rivalry for these commodities. Oil was one Latin American product that did see increase, especially in Venezuela, since it was becoming more and more significant in international markets. South America's highly industrialised nations, including Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, offered steady but modest economic development. They focused their production on the export market, but during the 1920s, domestic monetary policy shifts and tariff rates kept them back. Unlike the other Allies, the United States did not experience the physical destruction of war. It came out of the war as an economic force to be reckoned with, a country that owed Britain and France money for loans made during the war. As a result, the 1920s were a prosperous decade for the nation, with the perception of opulence being increased by technical advancements. Large shops were prepared to provide new products to customers via credit lines that they would eventually pay off, such as refrigerators, electric stoves and hoover cleaners. Wages rose, unemployment was low, and domestic life became much simpler. For Americans, the future appeared promising.