NATIONAL RESPONSES TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION: 1929-1930s
INTRODUCTION: The Great Depression was an economic downturn that began as a Western crisis
but had global repercussions. It first appeared in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the
longest and most severe economic depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world.
The Great Depression began in the USA but quickly turned into a worldwide economic slump owing
to the special and intimate relationships that had been forged between the USA and European
economies after World War I. The USA had emerged from the war as the major creditor and financier
of postwar Western Europe, whose national economies had been greatly weakened by the war itself,
by war debts, and, in the case of Germany and other defeated nations, by the need to pay war
reparations. So once the American economy slumped, prosperity tended to collapse in Western
Europe as well. The Depression hit hardest those nations that were most deeply indebted to the
USA, i.e., Germany and Great Britain. Because of ties nations outside of Europe, their economies
weakened, too.
Nations developed many different responses to combat the effects of the Great Depression. In nearly
all nations, the powers of the central government increased. In some, governments developed
welfare systems while others came to be dominated by radical militarist governments.
YOUR TASK: You will explain how each of the nations’ governments listed below responded to the
effects of the Great Depression and what changes occurred in their country as a result. However,
instead of writing the answer, you will draw the answer. Use the given text to find that nation’s
response. It should be clear to Mr. Roseman what the nation’s government did to combat the effects
of the Great Depression without using any words. You will respond to this assignment by creating a
chart on a separate sheet of paper that looks like the following:
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USA:
“NEW DEAL”
RESPONSES
TO
THE GREAT
DEPRESSION:
1929-1939
[images]
GERMANY:
“NAZISM”
[image]
[image]
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JAPAN:
“MILITARISM”
SOVIET UNION:
“TOTALITARIAN
COMMUNISM”
MEXICO:
“CARDENAS”