Was the Great Depression World Wide?

Answer 1

Yes, the Great Depression was a major event since it affected the economies of the entire world and lasted for approximately 10 years. The were riots in America and people were shot by guards at Henry Ford's plant as he was blamed for the unemployment. The effect on people living during the Great Depression was to make them into fiscal conservatives for the remainder of their lives and caused then to only buy when the cash was available. Credit was not available or wanted for many years. The Great Depression also contriibuted to ther start of WWII due to the extended poverty in Japan and Germany. It is not called the Great Depression with good reasons. It is said that WWII is what finally brought the US and the world out of the depression. Will history repeat itself?

Answer 2

Most nations suffered as a result of the Great Depression. Major European banks went bankrupt, causing alarm in other foreign banks. Great Britain went off the gold standard. The Bank of England no longer redeemed its paper money in gold bullion or coin. Investors feared that all paper money would lose its value so they withdrew $1.5 billion in gold from American banks. This further weakened the global economic situation. Nations in Europe were already having economic problems prior to the collapse of the US economy. Germany especially was hit hard and they were already in a major depression of their own. In nations like Germany and Italy, dictators used the Depression to their advantage to seize power.