Economic crisis of the 1930s/Great Depression

The Great Depression was the most severe economic crisis in modern times, lasting a decade between 1929 and 1939. Following a period of intense expansion in the 1920s, the United States economy was hamstrung by reckless speculation on Wall Street combined with the plateauing and subsequent decline in production along with rising unemployment. October 24, 1929 became known as “Black Thursday” as millions of shares were traded and the stock market crashed, followed the next year by the first of numerous bank runs. The collapse of the United States economy exerted considerable influence around the world, and served as a catalyst for the worldwide depression when paired with various local factors in numerous countries- such as the Dustbowl in the United States. Tariffs and protectionist policies, in a bid to stem the fallout from the globally-integrated economy’s collapse, only served as further blows to foreign trade. Some nations had managed to begin recovery before the start of the Second World War, but the worldwide effects of the Great Depression were still felt years into that conflict.