Great+Depression

**THE GREAT DEPRESSION**
The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. The stock market crash alone did not cause the Great Depression but it quickened the collapse of the economy and made the Depression much more difficult. By 1932 factory production had been cut in half. Thousands of businesses failed and many banks closed. Around 9 million people lost the money in their savings accounts when banks could not pay the people back. Many farmers lost their land since they could not pay their mortgage payments. By 1933, one-fourth of all American workers were unemployed.

The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. The stock market crash alone did not cause the Great Depression but it quickened the collapse of the economy and made the Depression much more difficult. By 1932 factory production had been cut in half. Thousands of businesses failed and many banks closed. Around 9 million people lost the money in their savings accounts when banks could not pay the people back. Many farmers lost their land since they could not pay their mortgage payments. By 1933, one-fourth of all American workers were unemployed. =**THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC**= Before World War I Germany was a prosperous country, with a industrious economy, and world leaderships in chemicals, and machinery. German money all had about the same value and all were exchanged four to five to the dollar however that was in 1914. By 1923, the exchange rate between dollar and the Mark, was one trillion Marks to one dollar. A wheelbarrow full of money could not buy one newspaper. In Germany, prices doubled between 1914 to 1919. After four hard years Germany lost the war, under the Treaty of Versailles

**OTHER COUNTRIES RESPONSES TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION **
All of the countries involved in the Great Depression, responded differently with it. The one thing that they all did have in common was that all of the countries had to change themselves to get over the Depression. Britain decided to elect a National Government. The National Government then passed high tariffs, increased taxes, regulate d the currency, and lowered interest rates, so they could encourage industrial growth. This helped Britain a lot. France responded differently because they had a more self-sufficient economy. The problems with the economy affected their political instability. France created many governments that ended up falling, eventually The Popular Front was created and they passed many reforms to try to help workers. This ended up not helping much, wage gains were offset because of price increases, so the unemployment was still high. France still decided to stick with a democratic government. The United states responded by electing Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt created a plan for government reform and called it the New Deal. In this they had lots of public works projects done to help people get jobs and they had government agencies help and give money to businesses and farms. The New Deal did end up helping the United States and reforming their economic system. Lastly, Germanys Foreign Minister had responded by working to restore their economy and to have the republic stabilized. He ended up dying while trying to do this and this lead to Hitler, who had know that his time to try and rule would be coming. The political parties agreed to have an election, and everyone was ready for change and to become stronger. These reasons led to Hitler and the Nazis. Overall all of the countries responded to the Great Depression differently, but eventually the countries got over it.

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