The Global Economy

Post WWI era

how did governments get involved in trying to solve th egreat depression??

German Hyperinflation

• was forced to pay huge reparations

• assumed that winning war would let them pay debt, but didn’t win so suddenly in huge debt

• german government began printing more money

• value plummeted and led to hyperinflation

• this hyperinflation affected the allies cause they suddenly couldn’t pay their war debts either

• colonial governments suffered because they had begun to depend on parent country economies

• economic situation stabilized by 1924

soviet union

• just had russian revolution and devastating wwi

• new economic policy introduced with free market principal and state control

• all under lenin

• lenin allowed for some capitalism to complete communist revolution

• stalin assumed power post-lenin

• stalin wanted quick industrialization through the five year plan

• only wya to do this was with brutal state

• collectivization of agriculture began

  • merging small farms into state-owned farms

  • peasants struggled greatly

  • this collectivization was felt greatly by ukraine, leading to a great famine

  • six million starved in ukraine

  • holodomor

great depression

• the american economy was supporting many other economies until it too crashed

• american govenrment was consistnely hands-off of economy but FDR made government get involved again

• new deal!!

• govenrmentn gave people jobs, introduced retirement programs, health insurance, and more