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The early stages of the economic collapse appeared in the United States, though the slowdown in international trade (exacerbated by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act) affected everyone.

Then in 1931, bank failures began in Austria and spread to Germany and other countries in Europe and South America, as the overlapping financial crises plaguing the world combined into the Great Depression.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“The Saint Louis Blues”
Composed in 1914 by W.C. Handy. Public domain.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Image courtesy of the German Federal Archive and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Germany was already experiencing an economic recession when the US stock market crashed and new, higher reparations payments under the Young Plan came into effect.

Struggling American banks called in their German loans, further squeezing the German economy. The government chose to respond with tight austerity measures that deepened the suffering of the German people.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Composed in 1824 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Image courtesy of the German Federal Archive and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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At first, it appeared the harm done by the stock market crash could be contained. No banks or businesses failed, and it was hoped that the economic damage would be minimal.

But in the agricultural regions of the United States, the crash plus a poor harvest in 1930 pushed many American farmers, who were already struggling, into bankruptcies. Rural banks in the Midwest and South began to fail, and then the failures spread to New York City and beyond.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Composed in 1824 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Many people were worried that speculation had overtaken good sense in the rapid rise of share prices in the New York Stock Exchange, including President Hoover.

But for every naysayer, you could find two experts hailing the ever-rising stock market as merely an indicator of how modern technology was leading the US to permanent prosperity. Nevertheless, the naysayers were proved right in October 1929.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Composed in 1824 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.