World Wide

Depression

After the Great War

Much of Europe was in chaos. Many people were hungry and
homeless and money in Germany had become inflated.

Despite these immediate and numerous problems

abroad, by the mid-1920s mild optimism had appeared
known as the Roaring 20s in the United States.
European countries were borrowing money from the USA
to help rebuild their country. Germany also borrowed
money from the U.S. to help repay the reparations to
France and Great Britain.
The United States economy did very well during the
Roaring 20s despite the large gap between the rich and
the poor and the fact that many people were purchasing

Crash of 29
Then, the unthinkable happened.the United
States stock market crashed in September of
1929 which set off a ripple effect throughout
the world causing not only the U.S. to enter
the Great Depression but many countries
throughout the world, especially Europe, to
plummet into a World Wide Depression.

Impact on Great Britain

After WWI, Great Britain had become much more
dependent on exports.
When the global economy collapsed it was one of the
first countries to feel the sting.
After being the first country to leave the Gold Standard
its currency dropped in value causing its exports to be
much cheaper overseas and giving them a competitive
advantage. Other countries would buy from them first
because it was cheaper than anywhere else.
With cheaper goods, this helped Great Britain become
one of the first countries to come out of the Depression.

Impact in France
France was probably the least affected by the Worldwide
Depression for two reasons.
1. .France was an independent economy. Their
economy was not tied into the world economic system to
the extent that other major countries were at the time.
2..The payments they received from Germany for its
Debt of $31.4 billion kept the French economy afloat
and able to weather out the storm. For the first
few
years it was considered to be a safe haven from the
economic disasters happening everywhere else on the
planet.
But in 1931, the French government did feel the disaster

Impact on Germany
When the depression hit, Germany was the hardest hit.
After WWI, Germany experienced a lot of hardship.
Prices of goods went up because of scarcity.
Basic items like food and clothing were not always available.
The value of German money became extremely inflated meaning it was
pretty much worthless.
Unemployment rose to over 30%.

Watch the video on German Inflation on the Padlet & answer the
questions.
As the country struggled to pay for its debts and to bring itself out of the
depression the Weimar Republic (name of German at the time) collapsed
and Adolf Hitler would be voted into power.