Great Depression In France

2688 Words11 Pages
History HL Research Essay Discuss and evaluate the effects of the Great Depression on France The Great Depression is a name for a worldwide economic depression lasting from 1929 to the late 1930s or 1940s, depending on individual countries. Depression in economical terms is defined as ‘a severe downturn in economic activity. These are considerably worse than recessions.’. It is thought that it started with the crash of the stock market in USA on ‘Black Tuesday’ 29th October 1929, but some economics and historians debate whether this is a start or just a symptom of the Great Depression. Other major causes and symptoms of such a severe economic crisis were the quantities of gold stockpiled by particular countries, large number of banks failing during the 1930s, the reduction in money spent by people and huge international trade barriers placed by governments. During this period it is estimated that international trade reduced by as much as 33% because of various factors. Even though the mentioning of the Great Depression indicates and is connected mostly with the USA it was a global event and a global economic depression. Every nation was in some way affected by the Great Depression, some more, some less, but it is considered that China’s silver standard contributed to making this country almost completely avoid the Great Depression. Countries in Europe experienced the depression differently and tried to fight it off differently. It also significantly affected international relations and policies, political situations of countries, changing the public opinion and the types of governments. The most obvious examples are countries were there was a rise of extreme nationalistic, militaristic or fascistic groups like Germany, Italy, Japan and so on. For countries like France and Britain it changed their economies significantly and made the public lose faith in
Open Document