1. A BRIEF Look at the
Global Economic Depression
“The Great Depression”
Beginning in 1929 and lasting
into World War II

2. Causes of the Depression of the 1930s
World economy was heavily influenced by
US loans and trade during & after WWI.
In the 1920s, the US economy boomed …then
• demand decreased for consumer goods (gap
between rich and poor in the US)
• industry & agriculture overproduced as
European nations rebounded after WWI which
caused prices to decline & unemployment to
increase

3. Causes of the Depression of the 1930s
• Individual, bank, and business debt increased
drastically after the stock market crash in October
1929.

4. • When the US economy
weakened, the world’s
economy weakened
• Demands for payments by
the US on international
loans and reparations
destabilized European
economies.
– (for example…the US loaned
money to Germany and Austria to
pay war reparations to Britian and
France who used that money to
pay the US money it borrowed
during WWI)

5. The Results
• Banks failed . . .
– Austria’s national bank went
bankrupt
– All German banks closed for
a month
– Over 2000 banks failed in
the US
• Agricultural and Industrial
production dropped

7. The Results
• Unemployment increased
and wages dropped
– In US and Germany
unemployment reached
30%
– In Britain 2.8 million were
unemployed
• Global Trade slowed
– Value of exports from Latin
America dropped 50%
– Southeast Asian rubber
exports dropped over 50%
– Japan’s total exports
dropped 50%