The Great Depression
Driving Question: How did an economic depression engulf the world in the interwar period?
The political and social fallout from the Great Depression shook societies across the globe. Learn how a stock-market crash in the United States spiraled into a worldwide economic disaster and set the stage for bigger conflicts ahead.
Learning Objectives
- Practice reading charts and interpreting historical data.
- Use close-reading and source-analysis skills to view the Great Depression from multiple angles to understand the depth of this international crisis.
- Use the historical thinking practice of contextualization to evaluate the circumstances that led to the global depression.
Vocab Terms:
- authoritarian
- collectivization
- dictator
- fascism
- Great Depression
- Nazi
- sterilization
Opener: The Great Depression
In this activity, you’ll use data to track economic conditions after World War I. By analyzing trends across multiple countries, you’ll start to uncover what went wrong—and why.
Hard Times
Through firsthand accounts and images, you’ll see how the Great Depression impacted people around the world. Then, you’ll use contextualization skills to analyze the broader economic and political factors that led to this global crisis.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why did the Great Depression spread so quickly beyond the United States?
- How did governments respond to the crisis?
- Why was the Great Depression especially devastating for Latin America and European colonies?
- How did some governments gain more power during this time?
- What brought the Great Depression to an end?
After you read
Respond to these questions: Can a crisis create unity in a community? What examples from the Great Depression support your thinking?
Closer: The Great Depression
Revisit your earlier observations about the global economy and apply what you’ve learned as you investigate real-world consequences of the Great Depression across different countries.
Facing the Downturn
Explore how people around the world faced economic challenges during the interwar period. These sources reveal the diverse ways communities experienced and responded to the Great Depression.
