The Great Depression

In the mid-1930s, famine stalked the dust-choked fields of the American heartland. Across the ocean, banking crises fueled popular unrest, allowing the Nazi Party to assume control of the German state. What caused the Great Depression? Did the world’s interconnectedness increase its vulnerability? And could it happen again?
The Great Depression

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Featured Materials

Global Great Depression
A photograph shows African-American flood victims lined up to get food & clothing from Red Cross relief station in front of billboard extolling, ironically, WORLD’S HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING/ THERE’S NO WAY LIKE THE AMERICAN WAY.
World History Origins
Article

Global Great Depression External link

The Great Depression was about as fun as it sounds. Like most difficult historical events, this economic disaster changed how people lived, and how they wanted to live.
Source Collection: Economy in the Interwar Period
Women and children line up for rations handed out from a train carriage.
World History Origins
Article

Source Collection: Economy in the Interwar Period External link

How did different nations attempt to overcome economic crises? The sources in this collection will help you formulate a response to this question.
The Global Story of the 1930s
Imperial Airways map of the world showing airline routes of empire and European destinations.
World History 1750
Article

The Global Story of the 1930s External link

The Great Depression was about as fun as it sounds. Like most difficult historical events, this economic disaster changed how people lived, and how they wanted to live.

Lessons

Lesson 7.2
World History 1750
Interwar and World War II
1919 – 1945 CE
The Great Depression
The political and social fallout from the Great Depression shook societies across the globe. Learn how the US stock-market crash spiraled into a worldwide economic disaster and set the stage for bigger conflicts ahead.
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Lesson 7.4
World History AP®
Global Conflict
c. 1900 to the present
The Economy in the Interwar Period
The 1929 US stock-market crash triggered a global depression due to growing economic interdependence. Nations reacted differently, with many states gaining power and some turning toward authoritarian rule.
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