Know 10 Things About Great Depression, The First Ever Economic Depression In US

Economic Depression in US – World War II came in the foothill of Great Depression.

When America was basking in luxury and drinking life to the leeches while poor nations were bearing the brunt of World War II, came Great Depression which lasted from 1929-1939 when the Wall Street faced the major stock market crash due to the downturn of consumer spending and investment dropping.

It spanned across various nations but in varied times. The Worldwide GDP slashed by an estimated 15%. It jeopardized the economic condition regardless of rich and poor whilst the personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped.

Here are the 10 things about great Economic Depression in US you need to know to understand the clearly:

Economic Depression in US –

Everyone from millionaire tycoons and to cooks and caretakers invested their life’s savings into stocks. The stock market rapidly expanded which hit the major high in August 1929.

October 29 was market as ‘Black Tuesday’ during the time of Great Depression where a fear of another crash prompted the Wall Street to trade 16 million shares and the investors who neutralized the stocks by borrowing money went penniless.

Germany was the one to be hugely endangered countries from the Great Depression because America ended the new loans that had been funding the repayments the financial problems caused by Versailles Treaty. Germany was then in heavy pressure, stuck in political turmoil with violence of Nazi and Communist movements.

The downturn in the stock market prompted the factories and other production houses fire their workers. However, there were still people who remained unemployed but their wages fell drastically and buying power decreased.

President Herbert Hoover traded some promises but matters continued to worsen nevertheless. It resulted 4 million Americans in the search for work being led astray completely by 1930. This number had a spurt by 6 million in just a matter of a year.

Latin America, being always beholden to American economy for its own financial sustenance, were hugely affected by this Great Depression and became poorer in the bargain. Chile. Bolivia and Peru were the badly affected countries whose export industries faced the major down turn. By 1933, the export value fell from $1.2 billion to  $335 million.

Spain was the single country which didn’t get affected by the Great Depression because it was a completely isolated economy. Its banking system and agriculture was undauntedly superior still.

The Great Depression shook UK in more than one way. The investors across the World started to withdraw their invested gold from London at the stipulated rate of £2½ millions a day. Its £25 millions credits respectively from the Bank of France and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York along with the issue of £15 millions fiduciary note was decelerated.

The wave of Great Depression affected literature a lot, like every other social crisis does. To name a few literary pieces where one finds the picturesque description of the Great Depression are The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck which won both the Nobel Prize and Pulitzar prize for literature. Then there are Mice and Men, Blind Assassin, To Kill a mocking bird etc which had the great depression as a backdrop.

The Great Depression was a root cause of World War II because when President Roosevelt decided to support Britain and France in the struggle of Germany. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in December 1941 prompted America to enter the World War II.

This was an economic depression in US  –  United States was the single industrialized country during the time of Great Depression although it never any form of unemployment insurance and social security.