283
See also: The California Gold Rush 248–49 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■
The Reichstag Fire 284–85 ■ The global financial crisis 330–33THE MODERN WORLD
However, when the stock prices
began to drop in October 1929,
panic set in. The ensuing crash
triggered a worldwide recession
known as the Great Depression.The Great Depression
In the US, factories were
closed and workers sacked. In
the spring of 1933, the agricultural
sector was on the verge of disaster:
25 percent of farmers were without
work, and many even lost their
farms. Unemployment went from
1.5 million in 1929 to 12.8 million,
or 24.75 percent of the workforce,
by 1933, a pattern seen around
the world.
Unemployment in Britain rose
to 2.5 million, 25 percent of the
workforce, with heavy industry,
such as shipbuilding, particularly
badly hit. Germany suffered greatly,since its post-war economy was
supported by huge American loans
which it was unable to pay back.A New Deal
The crash helped bring Democrat
Franklin D. Roosevelt into the
White House in 1932. His policy,
the New Deal, introduced a
program of social welfare
for the poor and government
expenditure on huge public
projects that created new jobs.
The Great Depression marked
the end of the United States’ post-
war boom. In Europe many turned
to right-wing parties, such as Adolf
Hitler’s National Socialist Party
in Germany, with its promise to
restore the economy. In many
countries, recovery came only
with the increase in employment
brought about by World War II. ■Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(1882–1945) was the only
president ever elected to
serve four terms in office. He
achieved this success despite
suffering from polio in 1921,
which crippled both legs and
almost led him to give up on
his political career.
Roosevelt won the election
to be the governor of New
York in 1929, and in 1932 was
nominated as Democratic
candidate for the presidency.
Pledging a New Deal for the
American people, he won a
landslide victory. In his first
100 days, he introduced a
program of social and
economic reform to combat
the Great Depression. These
immensely popular measures
won him a second landslide
victory in 1936.
In 1939, the US was
propelled into World War II,
and Roosevelt took his place
as one of the allied war
leaders. He was one of the
principal movers in the plans
for a United Nations but died
in March 1945, just before
the UN’s first meeting was
convened in San Francisco.A worldwide recession
sets in.Prosperity in
the US leads to
overconfidence
and reckless
investment.The US
stock market
crashes in
1929.Mass
unemployment
in the USA
results from
overproduction
and inadequate
demand.Discontent in
Europe leads
to the fall of
governments and
the rise of
dictatorships.US President
Roosevelt
introduces the
New Deal to
stimulate the
economy.US_282-283_1929_Crash.indd 283 15/02/2016 16:44