The Great Depression

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• Which Countries did it affect?

The Depression hit hardest the nations that were most deeply indebted to the United States, for example, Germany and Great Britain. In Germany, unemployment rose sharply beginning in late 1929, and by early 1932 it had reached 6 million workers, or 25% of the work force. Although these countries were the most severely affected, many other countries were damaged by the Great Depression due to a ‘domino effect’. Once the big countries went into depression, trades dropped and many other countries joined them.

• What was the ‘Great Depression’?

The Great Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Although it originated in the United States, the Great Depression caused drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and serious deflation in almost all the world. Its social and cultural effects were no less staggering, especially in the United States, where the Great Depression represented the harshest adversary faced by Americans since the Civil War.

• What caused the Great Depression?

It is unsure what caused the Great Depression. Many believe it was triggered by the crash of the stock market in 1929. However, it is still being actively debated among economists.

I believe that the Great Depression may well have been triggered by the crash of the stock market. However, the debts owed to the United States due to the world war magnified its affects.

• What impact did it have on the World’s economy?

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Dates of the Great Depression in various countries: