Great Depression

An economic recession that began on October 29, 1929, following the crash of the U.S. stock market. The Great Depssion originated in the United States, but quickly spad to Europe and the rest of the world. Lasting nearly a decade, the Depssion caused massive levels of poverty, hunger, unemployment and political unrest.

Taobiz explains Great Depssion

The NYSE crashed on October 24, 1929, a day known as Black Thursday. Thousands of people lost nearly the entire value of their investments, leaving them with next to nothing. The trend continued and the following Tuesday, Black Tuesday, the DJIA dropped 12%, marking the start of the great depssion. International trade declined, along with personal income, tax revenues and product prices.

Many economists believed the Great Depssion was evidence that capitalism, when left unchecked, is a dangerous ideology. This caused some nations to change their political structures, such as Germany, who adopted fascism.