history help gcse question help needed sucess?

Question

one historian has said : “without the new automobile industry, the succses of the 1920’s would scarcely have been possible.”
Explain whether you agree or disgrace with this statement.

does anyone have any information or could help me thankyou x x x

thankyou clever girl :) x x x
thnx mark too! doing english gcse's fecking hard but is boring slept thru most of my lesson today hehe

Answer 1

I suppose it showed a whole new age, people could own a car for a relatively cheap price and they could tootle off and visit places they had never been before and see family members, it gave people access to the world which they wouldn't have reached without the car. It also bought about the first productive line by the Fords in America, so offered many jobs and new technologies. I agree with the statement.
With any question though show the down sides, show that you have thought about it. Downsides were the accidents, the polution, etc.

Answer 2

I disagree. If we had been compelled for some reason to remain with steam technology, we'd have gone off on a tangent, but not necessarily a bad one. There were some very successful steam-powered automobiles, matter of fact. One was called the Stanley and it could do over a hundred miles an hour.
We'd have retained more in the way of public transportation. We'd have taken a bit longer to travel a great distance because we'd not have built airliners. We may not have experienced two dreadful World Wars, altho we were certainly capable of warfare absent the internal combustion engine. I rather suspect the world wouldn't be as populated as it is today because of the limitations of travel minus that same engine, and I also suspect we'd never have gone into space - or been shortchanged without that! I guess I'd have to tell you to ask that historian just what he considers "success". I believe we would do just fine if, tomorow, there were absolutlely no more vehicles driven by internal combustion engines. It'd be a pain in the rear to make the necessary adjustments, but we could do it.

Answer 3

Basically a car is a good product for economic development over several sectors as it provides lots of jobs:
- the factory workers making the cars
- the steel mill workers who make the steel
- the miners who mine the iron ore to make the steel from
- the type factory workers
- the rubber farmers who grow rubber for tyres
- the sailors wh sail the ship of rubber to the factory
- the road builders
- the people who make the food for all the workers
- driving teachers
- glass blowers, for windscreens
- mechanics for repairs
- farmers of cows for leather seats

All these hundreds of new jobs just to produce cars! This is why high order goods (complex high price items like TV's cars etc) are good for the economy.
In the 20's Ford, General Motors, Benz and so on were all very big employers.

Answer 4

Firstly, I think this applies specifically to the US, or at least to a far greater extent than it does to the UK and Europe. The 1920's was when the US automobile industry really took off in a big way and became one of the powerhouses of the US economy.

I think the key factors here are mass production and export capabilities. Because of Henry Ford's innovative production methods (he introduced the first production lines as we now know them, and set a model for the industrialized world), the Ford Motor Company was able to produce not just thousands, but hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions, of individual units. They could be produced quickly and sold at a relatively competetive cost - the Model T Ford was cheap to buy and marketed as an affordable family car for both working-class and middle-class Americans (the working-class could afford it, the middle-class weren't ashamed to be seen driving it). Ford's competetive prices, good marketing and good quality meant that there was an enormous demand for Ford cars - and those of other makers too (primarily Chrysler and General Motors), who quickly copied Ford's methods. The domestic car market increased exponentially in the US during the 1920's as mass-production made cars more affordable than they had previously been. The average price of a car in 1909 had been $1,200, whereas this was down to around $295 by 1928. In addition, the widespread introduction of Hire Purchase allowed people to by such large consumer items and pay for them in instalments. By the late 1920's, approximately 20% of the US population owned cars, so it is difficult to exaggerate the impact of the automobile industry on the US economy at that time.

The second important factor was the export capability. Once the world caught on to the dramatic success of Ford and other US car manufacturers, so export potential increased. Although I don't have any specific figures immediately to hand, my understanding is that the US exported enormous numbers of cars to the Latin American market in the 1920's, and a smaller, but still significant, proportion to Europe (where most countries had their own thriving car manufacturers). Exporting of 'finished' goods such as cars was of obvious importance to the US economy as it generated revenue for the US Government in the form of taxation. It also placed the US car manufacturers in a stronger position in terms of re-investment and further expansion.

Secondary to these two factors, but also of great significance, was the 'knock-on' effect the car industry had within the US domestic economy. Production of cars meant construction of more roads to accommodate the increased traffic, the need for more outlets distributing and selling petrol, car spares and consumables, etc etc. The US automobile industry therefore had 'ripple' effects throughout the manufacturing, building and service industry sectors.

However, it should be noted that the automobile industry was only one of several booming sectors in the US economy in the 1920's. The extension of Hire Purchase and easy credit allowed US consumers to buy a whole range of consumer desirables, and each act of buying an item generated work and wealth somewhere in the system. As manufacturing was labour-intensive (prior to the robot age), it generated employment, wages and further growth within the system.

Therefore, while the automobile industry was one of the most important drivers (no pun intended) of US economic growth and prosperity during the 1920's, it was only one amongst a number of factors which continuously interacted with each other.

Answer 5

Main point should be Assembly line production by Henry Ford

Answer 6

don't know any info on the subject but if you say you partly agree with it then you can say positive and negative points

Answer 7

DO U WANT CHANGE HIS STATEMENT NOW ? HE WAS RIGHT AT THAT TIME.

Answer 8

take GCSE english first luv....