The Great Depression
The Great Depression is a worldwide
economic depression originating at the
United States. This enormous depression
started on the 29 th of October 1929, the day
also known as ‘Black Tuesday’. Its impact
was immense in both rich and poor
countries, as income, taxes and prices
dramatically diminished. Examples of
countries that were heavily affected by the
Depression in the early 1930s were France,
Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and
Chile, which was deemed as the country
that was hardest hit by it. The Depression’s
‘biggest victims’ were the cities that
depended on heavy industry, but that doesn’t mean that the people who were related to farming and
agriculture weren’t seriously affected by the fall of the crop prices, or that activities such as
construction, mining and logging didn’t almost halt. Also, the level of unemployment was extremely
high, as, 1 out of 4 people was unemployed, and, in some countries, 1 out of 3 was reportedly out of
work. Its duration differs between countries. Specifically, some economies managed to start their
recovery during the mid-1930s, and others suffered for several years more until the outbreak of the
2 nd World War. We could say that the Great
Depression exists in the memory of people to
help them understand how far the world’s
economy can decline and how detrimental can
that decline be for human life.
Sklavounakis George