The damage caused by the Great Depression was not confined to the big economies of the world, and today I'll take a look at the instability and civil conflict that resulted from it in a trio of Central European nations. That's right, it's back to the future battlegrounds of Europe and the smaller states caught between the giants. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The quest for absolute power in Italy was always one on Mussolini's mind, but the Depression forced the Fascists into overdrive. With the economy falling apart, the state swooped in to both clumsily rescue the situation, as well as expanding its hold over the economy. And the crisis in general started opening up very big possibilities for expansion that had otherwise been denied in the 20s. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Bosworth, RJB Mussolini's Italy Penguin Group, 2005

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

For France, the Great Depression came late, but also refused to go away. On account of being one of the few winners of the Gold Standard, France's economy was booming so much by 1929 that it took until 1932 for the downturn to take effect. But when it did, it proved intractable, critically undermining the legitimacy of the shaky Third Republic. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Adamthwaite, Anthony Grandeur and Misery: France 1914-1940 Arnold, 1995

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today we begin our Depression European tour and take a look at the UK. That nation had already been suffering a prolonged recession through most of the 20s, so the Great Depression only added to the nation's woes. While the politics of the nation wouldn't go haywire like they would elsewhere, it did doom the Labour-Liberal coalition that held power in late 1929, and created the conditions for a decade of Conservative dominance. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Taylor, AJP The Oxford History of England, Vol 15 Oxford University Press, 1978

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The year 1932 was a special low point of the Great Depression in the US not just because of the material devastation for people, but also because how little was done to address the crisis. The Hoover administration revealed how incapable the traditional Conservative orthodoxy was at repairing the nation, and the year became a grim waiting game for FDR and the resurgent Democrats to takeover. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

At first it looked like the Great Depression would be just another run of the mill recession. But the bubble that was the US economy popped right at the same time much of Europe was entering a general fiscal crisis, which in turn undermined the Gold Standard system most nations were a part of. The imbalances created by the Gold Standard proved unsustainable, and its collapse led to a free for all as every nation had its own answer to the crisis. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Clavin, Patricia The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939 St. Martin's Press 2000

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Season 2 kicks off here with an introduction to the early days of the Great Depression! Fun! Nothing did more to undermine to world order fitfully constructed during the 1920s like this mother of all economic disasters. And what really made this crisis of Capital so severe was the financial sector's implosion in the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929. Suddenly, the very thing that underpinned the entire system stopped working.

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Galbraith, James K. The Great Crash 1929 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 2009

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

It's the end of Season 1 and I take stock of what's been covered up to this point, big trends, takeaways, that sort of thing. See you in three months! 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Please see the previous 121 episodes. 

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today the United States miniseries goes out with the bang of the 1929 stock market crash. It was a confluence of bad decisions, inaction, greed, and terrible timing all coming together to create the great economic crisis of our times. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Galbraith, James K. The Great Crash 1929 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 2009

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The 1920s became a legendary time in America as the consumer economy took center stage, and a dizzying array of goods heralded a new era in how people lived their lives. What was less legendary about the era was the dependence of consumers on credit, and the short-sightedness of the country's elites. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Miller, Nathan New World Coming: The 1920s and the Making of Modern America Da Capo Press 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]