Bellwork:

• Compare the money I hand out to you!• Is all the money the same?• What nation(s) do you think the money is

from?• Based on what you may or may not know

about the topic we are covering today, trade/swap currency if you wish!

What’s so Great about a Depression?

• Began with crashes of the London Stock Exchange & NY Stock Exchange in Autumn ‘29

• Investors lost confidence & pulled their money out of the market

• U.S. banks had invested heavily in the stock market, so many banks failed after 1929

• U.S. bank loans to Europe halted, spreading the crisis• Failed investments & banks halted industrial

production, which decreased employment

Most $ became worthless!

U.S. Unemployment

German Unemployment

German GDP

Other stats

• Dow Jones Industrial Average went from 381 points in 1929 to 42 points in 1932

• The US GDP fell 50% from 1929 to 1933• In the 1930s, more people emigrated from the

United States than to it• Families increasingly could not afford basic items

like food, shelter, & clothing• Interesting note: the USSR did NOT experience a

depression in the 1930s (sort of....)

Breadlines

German breadline

Rise of Fascism

• The instability of the ‘30s led people to turn to radical causes

• This is especially true in Italy & Germany, as Mussolini & Hitler rose to power

• Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany in 1933