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Although published before the 1930s, the book's importance peaked in the decade as Hitler rose to power. It became the ideological foundation of the Nazi Party, explicitly outlining Hitler's racist worldview, his expansionist goals, and the anti-Semitic agenda that fueled German policy throughout the 1930s
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Though the crash happened in 1929 ("Black Tuesday"), it triggered the Great Depression, which defined the entire decade of the 1930s. It led to mass unemployment, bank failures, and a worldwide economic collapse that necessitated the sweeping changes of the New Deal.
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An environmental disaster in the Great Plains, caused by severe drought and poor farming practices, that began in 1931 and worsened throughout the decade. It compounded the economic misery of the Great Depression and forced over 3 million people, known as "Okies," to abandon their farms and migrate west.
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FDR's victory over Herbert Hoover signaled a major shift in American politics. His subsequent inauguration in March 1933 ushered in the New Deal era, fundamentally changing the relationship between the government and the American people with his promise of "relief, recovery, and reform."
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This event marked the end of the democratic Weimar Republic and the beginning of the totalitarian Third Reich. It was the pivotal moment that allowed Hitler to dismantle democracy, consolidate power, and start the political and military path that would lead to World War II.
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The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was one of the first and most successful New Deal programs. It put over 3 million unemployed young men to work on environmental conservation projects, providing economic relief to their families and contributing greatly to the nation's infrastructure and national park system.
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The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of jobless people for public works (building roads, schools, and parks) and also sponsoring artists, writers, and musicians. It provided vital work relief and helped preserve the skills and morale of Americans.
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Braddock's improbable victory as a 10-to-1 underdog over Max Baer earned him the nickname "Cinderella Man." His rags-to-riches story, rising from poverty on the relief rolls during the Great Depression to become world champion, provided a much-needed symbol of hope and triumph for Americans struggling in the 1930s.
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Hoover had been leading the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) since 1924, but the agency was officially renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935. Under his leadership in the 1930s, the FBI modernized and gained national fame for its work against notorious gangsters like John Dillinger.
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The success of African-American athlete Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals, undermined Hitler's racist claims on the world stage.
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Known as the "Night of Broken Glass," this coordinated pogrom against Jews across Germany and Austria was a major turning point. It escalated state-sponsored anti-Jewish discrimination to organized, widespread physical violence, signaling that the Nazis were moving toward a more radical and murderous policy.
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John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel captured the suffering and injustice faced by the Dust Bowl migrants fleeing to California. It became a powerful, defining piece of literature of the decade, galvanizing public attention on the plight of the rural poor during the Depression.
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One of the most technologically advanced and expensive films of its time. Its release offered a spectacular and necessary form of escapism and cultural connection for Americans weary from the long years of the Great Depression and the gathering storm of war in Europe.
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This invasion, using the new Blitzkrieg strategy, is universally recognized as the event that started World War II in Europe. It showed that Hitler's territorial ambitions would only be met by force, plunging the continent and soon the world into a global conflict.
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In this State of the Union address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated his vision for a postwar world founded on four essential human freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. It was a key step in rallying American support for the Allies and defining the ideological stakes of World War II.