Postwar Europe  Europe was bankrupt after WWI  Monarchs & Emperors lose power & new unstable democracies are created  Form coalition government—temporary, multi- party alliances  Changes lead to instability 13 th c. Cloth Hall & cathedral of Ypres, Belgium

Same building…TODAY!

Weimar Republic  Germany’s democratic government formed in 1919 that’s very weak  Inflation—value of money falls dramatically b/c of over printing  Hyperinflation—govt prints more money  businesses raise prices  govt prints more money  businesses raise prices  etc.  Eventually money becomes WORTHLESS  American loans help revive German economy  Germany & France sign treaty pledging no more wear

Children using stacks of money as blocks because they couldn’t afford toys & money was the most worthless thing in the market

German woman feeding a stove with currency notes, which burn longer than the amount of firewood they can buy.

America’s Financial Collapse  Uneven distribution of wealth  Overproduction & less demand  Farmers struggle to pay loans & lose land  Stock market crash October 29, “Black Tuesday”  Stock prices soar & people buy on credit (they don’t really have the $)  Stock market crashed & people lost their money

Images from the Great Depression Dorothea Lange photographed many and Is world-famous for it…look at their faces… Look where they lived…look at the dust! The shack is called “hooverville” after the President Hoover who the blamed

A car driving with its lights on during the day A dust storm approaches

On the way to California

A farmer sifts the dust off the top of his dead crop A young boy shielding his mouth and face from the dust

Economy slows, workers are laid off No money for loans, mortgages, rent, food, and savings are gone! Companies can’t sell goods here or abroad, no reinvestment from stock market, companies can’t grow, no jobs!

The Great Depression  Long business slump of 1930s  Marked by bank failure, loss of savings, unemployment  America’s economic problems create problems in other countries  World trade falls

Confronting the Crisis  Britain--Preserves democracy by avoiding political extremes  France—more self-sufficient than others & formed the Popular Front to preserve democracy  Denmark, Sweden, Norway—Socialist govt taxed the people to help the community & it worked  U.S.  Franklin D. Roosevelt—President during Depression & WWII  New Deal—FDRs program of gov’t reform to improve economy—Public Works, welfare, banking regulations  Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930)—heavy taxes on goods imported into US to encourage buying American goods

Try to read the signs!

People standing outside the bank in Berlin trying to get their money!