Why it matters
The crisis transformed government, welfare, political extremism and economic thought.
- Date
- 1929–1939
- Historical setting
- World Wars · Global
- People & communities
- Workers · farmers · migrants · governments · financial institutions
1929–1939 · Global · Trade
Great Depression
Financial collapse, deflation and unemployment spread through an interconnected world economy, devastating households and trade.
Atlas dossier · World WarsFree device narration · synchronized English captions · transcript available
01
Event
Financial collapse, deflation and unemployment spread through an interconnected world economy, devastating households and trade.
02
People
Workers · farmers · migrants · governments · financial institutions
03
Consequences
The crisis transformed government, welfare, political extremism and economic thought.
Interpretation note
Evidence, memory and historical debate
This dossier distinguishes the event’s basic chronology from later arguments about meaning, responsibility and legacy. When comparing religious, national, Indigenous or scholarly interpretations, consult the primary and institutional sources above alongside peer-reviewed historical work.
Elsewhere in the world
Parallel histories near this moment
1928–1945 · EuropePenicillin and antibioticsFleming’s observation and the later development of penicillin opened the antibiotic era, making many bacterial infections treatable for the first time.
1931–1945 · AsiaThe Asia-Pacific War and NanjingJapanese imperial expansion in Manchuria and China widened into a devastating Asia-Pacific war. The Nanjing Massacre of 1937–38 was one of its most notorious episodes of mass killing, sexual violence and terror against civilians and prisoners.
1938–1945 · EuropeNuclear fission and the nuclear ageResearchers showed that splitting some atomic nuclei released enormous energy, leading rapidly to reactors and atomic weapons during the Second World War.