Great Depression 1929

Question 1

What were the successes of the League at the start of the Great Depression?

Answer 1

• External forces rather than the League of Nations.
• The League had some very ambitious plans and ideals – to stop war and make the world a better place because of countries being constantly threatened by dictators like Hitler and Mussolini.

Question 2

What were the failures at the start of the Great Depression?

Answer 2

• Brought extremist parties to power in both Europe and the Far East, created an additional need for foreign policies, and undermined the ability of League members to devise effective ways of preventing or containing such action.
• Reduced inclination of League members to impose economic sanctions. World markets were shrinking and all countries wanted to maintain their existing trade contacts.
• The Great Depression of 1930-33 meant people turned to extremist dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini, who were keen to invade other countries. This made it hard for the League to maintain peace.
• Fascist dictatorships took power in Germany, Italy and Japan, which were intent on empire-building and these countries defied the League which made them seen weak.

Question 3

What was the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 3

• In 1929 the value of shares on the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street collapsed.
  Many businesses in the U.S.A. went bankrupt.
• This led to mass unemployment which caused the U.S.A. to slip into an economic depression.
• Millions of families went hungry and could not afford the rent on their houses.
• The streets were filled with people desperately searching for work, shelter and food.

Question 4

What were the key dates of the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 4

24th October 1929
- “Black Thursday” in the Wall Street Crash.
- It was the busiest ever day in selling shares on the stock exchange.
There are huge falls in share prices.
29th October 1929
- “Black Tuesday” in the Wall Street Crash
- Panic selling with investors selling for anything they could get
1929 Onwards
- The Great Depression in Germany and across the globe

The Wall Street Crash was a trigger for the Great Depression

Question 5

What was the Great Depression?

Answer 5

The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn that lasted from 1929 to about 1939. It was the worst economic crisis in modern history. It had a profound impact on the world.

Question 6

What was the economic recovery prior to the Great Depression?

Answer 6

• In 1928, after a difficult economic period in the 1920s, the economies in Europe were recovering once again. The Dawes Plan in 1924 helped sort out the chaos in Germany’s economy and also helped the economies of Britain and France recover. Increased trade between countries helped to ease political tension. That is why one of the aims of the League of Nations was to encourage trading between countries. When countries are trading partners they are less likely to go to war with each other.

Question 7

What was disarmament?

Answer 7

Process of scrapping land, sea or air weapons. Rearmament is the opposite

Question 8

What steps had been taken towards disarmament in the 1920s?

Answer 8

• In the 1920s, the League had failed to introduce disarmament. During the Washington Conference in 1921 the Usa, Japan, Britain and France agreed to limit the size of their navies, but it didn’t progress any further than that.
  
  • The failure of disarmament damaged the League’s reputation in Germany. Germany had disarmed because it was forced to because of the Treaty of Versailles.
• No other country had disarmed to the same extent.
• They were not prepared to give up their armed forces and weapons and were not prepared to be the first to disarm. BUT as the world was relatively peaceful in the 1920s, this was not a source of alarm.

Question 9

What impact did the Depression have on disarmament? On the other aims of the league?

Answer 9

• In the 1930s, as a result of the Great Depression much of the goodwill of the 1920s had evaporated.
• As the Us Loans dried up, many businesses in other countries went bankrupt which led to unemployment
• Some countries tried to protect their own industries by putting tariffs on imports. But this just meant that their trading partners did the same thing and trade got even worse.
• Many countries including Germany, Japan, Italy and Britain started to rearm as a way to get industries working and give jobs to the unemployed. But these new armies caused alarm and tension.