The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick is an alternative history novel that explores how the world would look like if the United States did not join the Second World War, which consequently led to the allies losing to the axis powers. This meant that Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy became the winners of the Second World War. The Man in a High Castle is plausible because in this version of history, Franklin D. Roosevelt was assassinated. Without Franklin D Roosevelt, it is very plausible that the United States wouldn’t have recovered from the Great Depression. Prior to President Roosevelt taking his place in office, President Herbert Hoover made passive attempts to relieve America of the Great Depression. In fact, he worsened the effects by signing the Hawley-Smoot Tariff in 1930 since it heightened import rates to a large extent. After President Roosevelt took office, he proactively created a series of programs under the New Deal as an effort to help the nation recover from the Depression. A notable one would be The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, which would compensate farmers for limiting the production of their crops. Although there was controversy about this act since crops would also be destroyed, The Agricultural Adjustment Act still successfully increased prices of crops. This raised the income of farmers and increased the amount of spending power in America. He also created the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was created to make jobs for young men and conserve areas around America. Without President Roosevelt, America could’ve easily remained too impoverished to take part in a Second World War. Instead, America would want to focus on domestic issues before entering the international affairs of war. It is highly plausible that the allied powers would lose to the axis powers because they would be operating without the immense amount of American military aid and assistance in both soldiers and weapon production.
Brinkley, Douglas. 2020. “FDR’s New Deal.” American Heritage 65 (1): 4. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hia&AN=159121369&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
