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The Great Depression

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The Great Depression

The Great Depression (often known just as the Depression), was a huge economic downturn that started in 1929, and affected countries all around the world. Its effects lasted right through to 1939.

The Depression caused a collapse in international trade, industry, construction, farming and other economic activities. This in caused huge levels of unemployment, losses of home and savings, and bankruptcies.

To alleviate the worst effects of the Depression, governments set up basic relief programs (e.g. soup kitchens). Politics reflected the hard times, with some turning to the left (e.g. the trade unions), and others to the right (e.g. the rise of Hitler in Germany and of Mussolini in Italy).

In the period 1933-36, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced the New Deal, a series of economic programs which focused on the "3 Rs" (relief, recovery, and reform), that is, "relief for the unemployed and poor; recovery of the economy to normal levels; and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression".

Stories from the Great Depression

Stories from the Great Depression: by usnationalarchives | video info

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Crowd gathers outside the New York Stock Exchange after the Wall Street Crash, October 29, 1929

Wall St. In Panic As Stocks Crash (image)

"Wall St. In Panic As Stocks Crash" (October 29, 1929 Newspaper Headline)

Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945

Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (Oxford History of the United States)

by: David M. Kennedy

Amazon Price: $12.75 (as of 02/17/2012)

Freedom From Fear is David M. Kennedy's prodigious volume in the Oxford History of the United States that covers America during the Depression and World War two. It begins and ends with a bang (the stock market crash of 1929 and the dropping of the atomic bomb to end the war in the pacific). Freedom From Fear is also a most fitting title. Franklin D. Roosevelt's words of inspiration characterize the American people and their ability to persevere the depression and a second and even more deadly world war.

Kennedy is an extremely good writer and that quality makes this book enjoyable to read as you gain a tremendous amount of knowledge and information from it. Kennedy does not miss a single pivotal moment within the time period making his book the best general (yet probing) history of the period. In conclusion, whether you are cramming for your oral examinations or are simply pursuing knowledge of this important era in American history Freedom From Fear is a more than adequate book.

Migrant family looking for work in the pea fields of California (image)

Migrant family looking for work in the pea fields of California (Great Depression picture)

The Great Depression (article)

The Great Depression (also known as the Great Slump) was a dramatic, worldwide economic downturn beginning in some countries as early as 1928. The beginning of the Great Depression in the United States is associated with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday and the end is associated with the onset of the war economy of World War II, beginning around 1939.

The depression had devastating effects in both the industrialized countries and those which exported raw materials .International trade declined sharply, as did personal incomes, tax revenues, prices, and profits. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by 40 to 60 percent. Facing plummeting demand with few alternate sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as farming, mining and logging suffered the most. At the time, Herbert Hoover was President of the United States. Even shortly after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, optimism persisted. John D. Rockefeller said that "These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again."

The Great Depression ended at different times in different countries. The majority of countries set up relief programs, and most underwent some sort of political upheaval, pushing them to the left or right. In some states, the desperate citizens turned toward nationalist demagogues - the most infamous being Adolf Hitler - setting the stage for World War II in 1939.

Source: Wapedia

Unemployed men march in Toronto, Canada, c. 1930

Latest News on the Great Depression

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Car pulled by a horse -- the "fuel" by farmers too poor to buy gasoline

The Great Depression (Britannica.com)

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory."

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

Work program under the Roosevelt's New Deal (image)

Work program, 1935, under the Roosevelt's New Deal

Blog Posts on the Great Depression

The 'second Great Depression' saviour myth: One item for which he is ? undeservedly ? given credit is saving the country from a second Great Depression. The political elites believe in the salvation from the second Great Depression myth with the same fervency as little kids believe in Santa ...
CBO projects 8%-plus unemployment into 2014: "The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression," the CBO says in a newly released report.
After the crash: Our Great Recession has made all these a reality on a scale we've never seen. On Monday, the Washington State History Museum opens an exhibit that puts our troubles in perspective. ?Hope In Hard Times: Washington During The Great Depression? uses ...

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