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Prohibition
Prohibition was a nation-wide ban in the U.S and Canada on alcohol at all . Some reasons were that wheat should be used to feed soldiers not be used to make alcohol and that Canadian's should not enjoy themselves while the soldiers suffered , another purpose was so families would have more money not being spent on booze . But on the negative the law was almost impossible to enforce , the production of illegal alcohol was huge making mobsters lots of money as they were bribing law enforcement -
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The Spanish flu
The Spanish Flu was the most damaging influenza pandemic . It was initially believed to be caused be Canadian troops from Europe but it was spread through American military camps from an initial outbreak in Kansas and brought to Canada via Polish troops training at Niagara-on-the-lake . The Pandemic received allot of media attention only when it moved to Spain as there was no war-time censorship in the media , which was how people found out about the Spanish Flu pandemic . -
The Winnipeg General strike
During the Winnipeg General strike , workers wanting more money to support their families and better working conditions In winnipeg left their jobs going on strike to protest for these conditions , shutting down numerous businesses. The strike leaders including Helen Armstrong were arrested -
Bloody Saturday
On June 21 was the violent end to the winnipeg general strike , on this day a large crowd gathered to watch a protest of the arrest of the strike leaders , with parandes being illegal as it was feared of a revolution occurring similar to the one in Russia , the mayor called in the RCMP along with numerous businesses who had hired special constables, not to long later chaos ensued with shots fired with one killed , many injured and arrested ending the strike -
Flappers
Flappers were young women in the 1920's who wore short dresses , make-up , and bobbed hairstyles. They also smoked and drank in public as well as dancing to jazz music -
The Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a period in the 20's and 30's in which Jazz music and dancing gained popularity nationwide in the States . The prohibition, speakeasies, and flappers all drove Jazz into the mainstream and made overnight success for black jazz musicians Link : https://youtu.be/zhSrCDCHOc8 -
Radio
Radios were a cheap and convenient form of entertainment in the 1920s , the first broadcasts were just news broadcasts but later in the decade you could listen to pretty much anything on them . in 1920 not many people had radios but by 1929 pretty much everyone did , it was a mass from of entertainment never seen before -
Insulin
Insulin was discovered on july 27 1921 by Fredrick Banting . Before insulin diabetes was a death-sentence , and because of the discovery diabetes could be managed millions of people with diabetes would be able to live longer then they would before -
Talkies
Talkies were exactly what they sounded like movies with sounds and talking before the 1920's movies were silent and actors had to use movement and actions to tell the story . Sometimes sounds and music were played right in the movie theater. Some famous actors from this time are Charlie Chaplin "little tramp" , Mary Pickford and Rudolph Valentino -
Causes of the great Depression
The Great Depression was not caused be the stock market crash but by a number of factors: Over production and over expansion , Canada's dependence on the USA, Canada's dependency on a few primary products (wheat , fish , pulp ,ect) , High tariffs killed international trade meant to protect local businesses , Too much credit buying , Too much credit buying on stock (buy on margin) -
Black Tuesday
Black Tuesday was October 29th 1929 , the day of the wall street crash , because of investors panicking and selling their stocks due to low prices . Black Tuesday was a symptom that the economy was bad and marking the beginning of the great depression -
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the Great Depression
The Great Depression (1929-1933) , was a world-wide depression caused by a poor economy and less people spending money leading to companies shutting down production and leaving people without jobs or money . because of this families had little to no money for food or rent and had to ration food and other things like before during the war -
The five cents speech
During the 1930 election then-prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King said in what would later been known as "the five-cents speech" that he would not give a five cents piece to any provinces that did not have a Liberal government as support during the great depression. The speech caused King to be voted out of office and was replaced by Conservative R.B Bennett. -
New Political parties
In the 1920's and 30's there were only two political parties in Canada , the Liberals and The Conservatives. in 1932 a new party was formed: the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) which was renamed the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961 . The CCF goal was to get rid of capitalism and replace it with a socialist economy. -
The New Deal
In the 1935 election with Conservative PM R.B Bennett's unsuccessful plan to raise tariffs to help the Canadian economy during the great depression R.B Bennett proposed a "new deal" : Social insurance , Unemployment insurance, Minimum wage, Maximum hour in a work week, and Price control , but former Liberal PM William Lyon Mackenzie King was voted back into office as there were only the two parties at the time .