The great depression originated in the United States, though many countries suffered from a bad economy, food shortages, job loss, and sickness.
The stock market began to fall in September of 1929, and became international news on October 29th, a day now called ‘Black Tuesday’. This started the great downward spiral of economies all over the world. Profits, taxes, and personal income dropped, while international trade lessened by 50%. Cities that depended heavily on industry were hit the hardest.
People lost their jobs, their homes, and their livelihood. Families were forced out of their homes onto the streets if they couldn’t afford housing. Women and children took to begging for food and money, while men searched for jobs in factories and coal mines, taking whatever work they could find.
Sickness also spread as conditions worsened. In Germany, people could be arrested for coughing and sneezing in a public place without using a handkerchief.
People lost complete hope. So soon after the war, they saw no means for escape. Politicians made promises to fix everything, but still nothing changed. By 1933, 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed, and half of the countries banks had failed. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped to improve the industry and economy, but it wouldn’t fully come back until the end of the 1930s, when World War II began.