The Great Depression

            "The 1929 Wall Street Market crash had a significant political, social and economic implications for all countries in the western world.".
             To what extent do you agree with this statement? Argue your case with particular reference Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and USA.
             The crash of the Wall Street stock exchange had significant political, social and economic consequences in numerous countries. However, the depression that followed the crash did not affect every country and was not solely caused by the fall of the stock market. Many countries had still not recovered socially, politically or economically from World War I, which had a significant impact on the downfall of the New York Stock Exchange. Countries such as Russia because of their political system were untouched by the devastating effects of the crash such as poverty and radical politics whereas other countries history was to be made because of it.
             The American financiers were the most powerful in the world because the Entente countries depended on loans from the USA to fund their war effort. During the 1920s most sectors of the American economy grew. From 1922, shares on the New York stock exchange rose in value, this rise continued for eight years afterwards. However, the boom could not last forever and in 1929 the Federal Reserve Board said that it was unwise for banks to lend money for speculation. It was on Thursday October 24 1929, "Black Thursday", that the crash began with 12.9 million shares being sold by the end of the day. Investor's losses were estimated at $26 billion. The stock market had crashed due to over-production, more goods were being produced than people could afford. In addition many countries were yet to recover from the First World War. In 1928 the overall demand for agricultural and industrial goods as well as construction work declined. It was due to this decline that triggered the large amount of share selling on the stock market.