1. World War I & The Great Depression
Georgia’s History:
World War I
& The Great
Depression
SS8H7
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2. Standards
SS8H8 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.
Describe Georgia’s contributions to World War I
Explain economic factors that resulted in the Great Depression (e.g., boll weevil and drought)
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3. Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his Wife, Sophie, and 3 Children
World War I
World War I began in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.
The murderer was a Bosnian terrorist.
The archduke’s murder caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia.
Military alliances made the conflict grow larger.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his Wife, Sophie, and 3 Children
1910
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4. Alliances Allies Central Powers Serbia Austria-Hungary Russia Germany
France
Ottoman Empire
Belgium
Bulgaria
Great Britain
Italy
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5. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
Isolationism
The US stayed out of the war at first.
President Woodrow Wilson thought that the US should remain neutral and that isolationism was the best option for the country.
However, the US did have a little involvement.
US merchant ships were sending food to devastated areas in Europe and helping block supplies from reaching Germany.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
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6. Lusitania
Things changed when Germany began using its submarines to sink ships in the Atlantic Ocean.
In May 1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania.
1,198 people died, including 128 Americans.
This angered many Americans and it went against the American belief of freedom of seas.
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7. Sinking Ships
Germany continued to sink ships because they were trying to keep supplies from reaching Great Britain.
Americans sympathized with the Allies and were concerned about the safety of US ships.
The last straw was when several US ships were sunk in February and March 1917.
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8. US Enters War
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the was as an ally of Great Britain and France and declared war on Germany.
The US military drafted 4 million men and was sending thousands to Europe every day.
Nearly 100,000 Georgians served in the armed forces.
The US Navy sent supplies, Marines, and battleships to fight the Central Powers in Europe.
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9. Georgia in WWI Georgia contributed to the war effort in many ways.
The state’s textile mills produced fabric that was used for uniforms and blankets.
The increased demand for food and supplies brought prosperity to Georgia’s farmers as they produced food, livestock, cotton, and tobacco.
The value of Georgia’s cotton crop tripled between 1900 and 1916—making farmers more prosperous than they had been in over 60 years.
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10. Georgia in WWI
Many military bases in Georgia played key roles in preparing men for war.
Fort McPherson near Atlanta, was the oldest and dated back to 1889.
Over 10,000 wounded soldiers were treated at General Hospital No. 6 at Fort McPherson.
General John Pershing ordered the opening of Fort Benning near Columbus in 1917 to train thousands of troops.
The US War Department established a camp at Fort Oglethorpe to hold German merchant sailors as prisoners.
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11. WWI Ends
America’s entry into the war gave the Allies the extra power they needed to defeat the Central Powers.
In 1918, American troops fought the final battles of WWI.
In November 11, 1918, the Central Powers surrendered to the Allies and signed an armistice that ended the war.
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12. Celebrating the End of WWI in Atlanta
WWI Ends
People in Georgia and across the US celebrated the allied victory and return of the soldiers.
They also mourned those who died – the death toll is estimated to be 10 million people.
Even though Georgians hoped they would never have to witness such a terrible war again, many of them did just 20 years later…
Celebrating the End of WWI in Atlanta
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13. Picking Cotton Near Marietta- 1930
After WWI
After WWI, many people enjoyed good economic times.
Increased industrialization left many Americans wealthy.
Unfortunately, farmers, like the majority of Georgians, still faced many challenges.
In addition to calling for more industry in Georgia, agriculture experts and New South promoters urged farmers to diversify their crops.
Georgia’s farmers relied heavily on cotton and refused to take the advice.
They kept growing cotton (and only cotton) because it was the most profitable
Picking Cotton Near Marietta- 1930
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14. Boll Weevil
A tiny insect known as a boll weevil made its way north from Mexico and reached Georgia’s farms in 1915.
The boll weevil was devastating to the South because it laid its eggs in cotton plants and the larvae destroyed the cotton bolls.
By the 1920s, many Georgia farmers had lost their crops, money, and their land due to the insects’ destruction.
The total cotton crop dropped from 1.75 million bales a year to 588,000 in 1923.
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15. Severe Drought
A severe drought soon followed the boll weevil catastrophe from 1924 to 1927.
The U.S. Weather Bureau said that rivers in many places reached the lowest stages ever known.
Without enough rain, farmers could not grow as much as they normally did.
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16. Economic Hardship
Both the boll weevil and the drought had a severe impact on Georgia’s agriculture.
More and more people left farms to work in factories in Georgia’s cities.
By the 1930s, at least half of all workers in the state worked in non-farming jobs.
The farmers who remained tended to be very poor—most were sharecroppers or tenants and were drowning in debt.
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17. Consumerism
While farmers suffered, the majority of the rest of the nation enjoyed prosperity during the 1920s.
The war led to increased production and more money.
People’s spending habits changed as lot as consumerism became normal and they focused more on buying things rather than on saving.
Buying things on credit also became more common, which allowed people to buy things right away rather than having to save to afford them
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18. Overproduction
Meanwhile, industries and businesses were producing more than people could buy.
Farmers were also producing more than people could use.
With the war over, prices for crops fell drastically, making it hard for them to earn a profit.
Many farmers had to borrow money to buy new equipment and grow more crops.
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19. Stock Market More and more people began buying stocks as well.
When people buy stock they purchase part ownership in companies that they believe will make money. When the companies do well, the stockholders grow wealthy.
During the 1920s, people often paid for part of a stock and then borrowed money to buy the rest.
Millions of Americans bought stocks on speculation. That meant they made high-risk investments and hoped the price of shares in companies would go up.
This sent the price of stocks up more than they were really worth.
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20. Crowd Gathering Outside the
Black Tuesday
When stocks began to drop to their true worth, people panicked and sold their stocks for cheaper prices.
This caused the stock prices to drop rapidly.
On October 29th, 1929, the stock market crashed.
This is known as Black Tuesday, and is generally considered the beginning of the Great Depression.
Crowd Gathering Outside the
NYSE after the Crash in 1929.
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21. Great Depression
Many banks went out of business, businesses closed, and unemployment rose sky high.
Thousands of people lost their life savings, their jobs, and their homes.
The depression that followed the stock market crash hurt many Americans.
Crowds Outside of the Bank of the United States in NYC after its Failure in 1931.
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22. Impoverished American Family Living in a Shanty – Oklahoma, 1936
Great Depression
Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother depicts poor pea pickers in California. This is Florence Owens Thompson, age 32, a mother of seven children, in March 1936.
Impoverished American Family Living in a Shanty – Oklahoma, 1936
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23. Impoverished American Family Living in a Shanty – Oklahoma, 1936
Great Depression
Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother depicts poor pea pickers in California. This is Florence Owens Thompson, age 32, a mother of seven children, in March 1936.
Impoverished American Family Living in a Shanty – Oklahoma, 1936
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24. Georgia The Depression hit Georgia especially hard.
Cotton dropped to 5 cents per pound and within a year, many farmers lost their land and moved to cities to find work.
Between 1900 and 1940, Atlanta’s population grew by 200,000.
Others, including many African Americans, left Georgia altogether and headed for northern cities.
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25. Georgia
Those who remained on the farms were illiterate and trapped in poverty.
Many farm families lived in shacks without plumbing or electricity, went hungry, and were unable to buy food and other basic necessities.
Rural schools closed and the ones that remained open saw a drop in students as children had to work to support their families.
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26. Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover was president when the Depression began.
He believed that private charities and local communities should help the needy; it wasn’t the government’s job to help.
Many people believed he did not do enough to help Americans during the Depression.
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27. Questions - KEY World War I
Central Powers surrendered to the Allies.
10. What happened on November 11, 1918?
Over 100,000 Georgians enlisted, farmers grew food, cotton, tobacco, etc., forts were built to train soldiers, house prisoners, and help the wounded
9. In what ways did Georgia contribute to the war effort?
US sent men, battleships, and supplies.
8. How did the US contribute to the Allies?
4 million
7. How many men did the US military draft to send to Europe?
German submarines sunk several US ships.
6. Why did the US get involved in WWI?
Lusitania
5. What was the name of the British passenger liner that was sunk by German submarines?
President Woodrow Wilson
4. Which president thought that the US should remain neutral?
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
3. Name the Central Powers:
Serbia, Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium
2. Name the Allies at the beginning of WWI:
World War I began when the archduke of Austria-Hungary was murdered.
What happened in 1914?
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Questions - KEY
World War I

28. World War I Questions 10. What happened on November 11, 1918?
9. In what ways did Georgia contribute to the war effort?
8. How did the US contribute to the Allies?
7. How many men did the US military draft to send to Europe?
6. Why did the US get involved in WWI?
5. What was the name of the British passenger liner that was sunk by German submarines?
4. Which president thought that the US should remain neutral?
3. Name the Central Powers:
2. Name the Allies at the beginning of WWI:
What happened in 1914?
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World War I
Questions