44Richard Overy
is professor of history
at the University
of Exeter, and is
currently writing
a global history of the
Second World War ALAMY/GETTY IMAGESDust devastation
A huge sand drift blocks the door of a
home in Cimarron County, Oklahoma,
after one of the dust storms that afflicted
the American midwest during the 1930s.
Cimmaron County was at the epicentre of
the so-called ‘Dust Bowl’, the result of soil
erosion caused by intensive cultivation of
arid grasslands in the Great Plains, with
deep ploughing destroying the tough grasses
that had protected the topsoil and retained
moisture. The prolonged drought in 1934
exacerbated an ecological disaster that sent
thousands trekking to California in hope of
a better life, fleeing poverty in the midwest.“14 francs and a doll”
Arlette, wife of embezzler Alexandre Stavisky,
on a French magazine cover in late 1933 or
early 1934. Her husband had amassed a fortune
by selling fake bonds, bribing policemen,
bureaucrats and politicians to cover up his fraud.
Faced with exposure, Stavisky fled his home
in Bayonne but was shot dead in Chamonix
in January 1934; his death was officially
reported as suicide. Revelation of his scams
sparked widespread protests, culminating in a
confrontation with armed police in the Place de
la Concorde in Paris on 6 February. This caption
claims just ‘14 francs and a doll’ was all that was
recovered of his 640-million-franc spoils.High flier
German athlete Selma Grieme leaps to win the
final of the high jump in the Women’s World
Games at the White City stadium in London on
10 August 1934. She achieved a highest jump of
1.55 metres – just a little less than her own
height – then went on to a second win in the
women’s 4-by-100 metres relay. Some 200
athletes from 19 nations competed in 12 events
in this fourth and final edition of the Women’s
World Games, launched in 1922 by the
International Women’s Sports Federation in
protest at the refusal of the International
Olympic Committee to allow women to
compete in track and field events.A year in pictures: 1934ИЗП
ОДГОТОВИЛАГРcompete in track and field events. Рcompete in track and field events.
compete in track and field events. compete in track and field events. УУПOlympic Committee to allow women to
ПOlympic Committee to allow women to
compete in track and field events. compete in track and field events. ПOlympic Committee to allow women to Olympic Committee to allow women to Olympic Committee to allow women to Olympic Committee to allow women to ППА"What'sNews"VK.COM/WSNWS44
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