Historian John Garraty - "The Great Depression of the 1930s was a worldwide phenomenon composed of an infinite number of separate but related events." 

You'll take an extended look at the Great Depression next year in Modern US History, but we'll also consider the global economic slowdown from a worldwide perspective today and tomorrow. After that, World War II will take us through the rest of the unit.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 - Ultimately, 61 nations joined this treaty which claimed to outlaw war as a means of settling disputes. The actual language pledged that each nation would "renounce war as an instrument of national policy." Kellogg and Briand were the representatives of the US and French governments, and the treaty is also often called the Pact of Paris. 

• In your opinion, was this treaty ever "worth the paper it was printed on?" Why or why not?
• What do you think motivated nations to join the pact?
• Is such a pact a realistic option in today's world? Why or why not?
  
  

Hyperinflation - Weimar Germany - Not much here to tell you, except that this chart is really pretty amazing. It shows how many German marks were equivalent in value to one US dollar.

July 1914 - 4.2 marks to the dollar 
January 1919 - 8.9 
July 1919 - 14.0 
January 1920 - 64.8 
July 1920 - 39.5 
January 1921 - 64.9 
July 1921 - 76.7 
January 1922 - 1919.8 
July 1922 - 493.2 
January 1923 - 17,972 
July 1923 - 353,412 
August 1923 - 4,620,455 
September 1923 - 98,860,000 
October 1923 - 25,260,208,000 
November 15, 1923 - 4,200,000,000,000 (yes, trillion)

[Source: Gordon Craig, "Germany 1866-1945"]

By late 1923, the German government required 1,783 printing presses, running around the clock, to print money.

Here are a couple of "then" and "now" images of hyperinflation. Germany v. Zimbabwe

The Great Depression - A Global Experience - Although we often use the term in reference to the United States, it is important to remember that this economic collapse of the late 1920s-1930s was truly a global phenomenon.

This iconic image was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936 near Santa Barbara, California.

Across the world in India, people were also suffering from the Great Depression's effects.

What ideas and images come to mind when you hear the phrase, the "Great Depression?"

Let's take a look at some numbers. We'll have some of you graph on the board the changes in GDP per capita for a number of countries while the rest of us try to answer some questions. (You'll receive a handout for this.)

Perhaps the next logical question is, "How did this all happen?" We'll turn our attention here next.

World Economic Conference - Causes of the Great Depression

Tomorrow, we'll hold a simulated "World Economic Conference" with two objectives. First, we'll try to determine the major causes of the Great Depression. Second, we'll turn our attention to our present economic situation and try to figure out whether we are headed for another depression. You'll play a key role in both of these conversations.

Causes of the Great Depression - You are going to be assigned to one of five groups, depending on the color handout you receive. Each handout explains one of the major causes of the economic slowdown. It gives you very specific information about what your group is expected to present at tomorrow's conference. I'd expect each group's presentation to be a minimum of five minutes. (I'd prefer not to use the projector if we can avoid that.)

Here are the causes:

• reparation payments and war debts
• overproduction in agriculture
• stock market crash
• inequitable income distribution
• protectionism