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?

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Featured Materials

Global Great Depression
African-American flood victims lined up to get food & clothing from Red Cross relief station
OER Project
Article

Global Great Depression External link

The Great Depression was a global catastrophe that affected the lives of billions around the world. It brought authoritarians to power and helped cause the Second World War.
Primary Sources – Economy in the Interwar Period
Women and children queue for rations handed out from a train carriage.
OER Project
Article

Primary Sources – Economy in the Interwar Period External link

How did different nations attempt to overcome economic crises? The primary sources in this collection will help you formulate a response to this question.
Contextualization – The Great Depression
OER Project
Activity

Contextualization – The Great Depression External link

Students will investigate the context for the Great Depression, which will deepen their understanding of how both capitalism and globalization played a role in the depression.
Understanding the Consequences of the Global Depression
Big History Project
Activity

Understanding the Consequences of the Global Depression External link

Just how “great” was the Great Depression? Using data collected from around the world should help put this era into perspective.

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