First World War. Britain, for example, continued
to rely on textile, coal and shipbuilding industries
of the first industrial revolution, and was shifting
only slowly, too slowly, to industries of the more
advanced technology of the twentieth century.
This lack of progress caused continuous and
heavy unemployment even during the 1920s,
when only in one year did unemployment drop
below 10 per cent.
The US provided a contrast, with the massive
growth of new consumer industries such as the
automobile industry and with unemployment at
around only 4 per cent. The problem here was
that these new industries did not produce neces-
sities and the decision not to buy a new car
because of a lack of faith in the future could
produce a sudden reversal of fortunes in manu-
facturing industry. But it was not until 1931 that
unemployment became the serious problem that
it had been in Britain throughout the 1920s. The
French economy was different again, with half the
population engaged in agriculture. But post-war
reconstruction favoured the rise of new industries
and by 1930 France had emerged strengthened,
even requiring foreign labour. The effect of the
worldwide depression was stagnation throughout
the 1930s.
In Germany the impact of the world economic
crisis was conditioned by the particular experi-
ences of Germans since the lost war. Having once
experienced hyperinflation, which made money
worthless, the government was determined to pre-
serve sound money regardless of the cost in terms
of unemployment. Agricultural prosperity had suf-
fered a serious setback some two years before in
1929, while German industry boomed. The later
1920s saw the affirmation of large industrial car-
tels and the introduction of new technology.154 THE CONTINUING WORLD CRISIS, 1929–39
New Yorkers mill around Wall Street, October 1929. Can it get worse? © Bettmann/Corbis