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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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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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Europe began a fragile economic recovery in 1924. In the United States, ever-rising corporate profits fueled an ever-rising stock market, until Wall Street began drawing away needed investment capital from Europe, and beyond.

In the US, the Federal Reserve was divided between those who wanted to raise interest rates to dampen the stock market, and those who wanted to lower them to support the Europeans.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“The Charleston”
Composed by James P. Johnson and Cecil Mack. 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. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The year 1927 saw historic flooding in the Mississippi Valley. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Most of the victims were African American, but flood relief mainly went to whites.

Herbert Hoover, who had been called “The Great Humanitarian,” was put in charge of flood relief. But even as the Mississippi receded, a different kind of flood was affecting Wall Street and the global economy.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“It Had to Be You”
By Isham Jones and Gus Kahn. Public domain.
Performed by Frank Milne. Public domain piano roll, transcribed for MIDI by Kevin Chan and used with permission. Thanks, Kevin! 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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By 1927, Mussolini had what amounted to dictatorial power in Italy. He used it at home to crack down on his political opponents.

He also cracked down in Libya. Officially an Italian possession since 1912, Italy had only ever controlled a few coastal enclaves. Now, the Fascists would employ modern weaponry to end the resistance there.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Istakhbar Mezmoum”
Traditional. Public domain.
Performed by Lazaar Ben Dali Yahia. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Mussolini took power in Italy lawfully, but almost at once began referring to the “Fascist Revolution.”

Policy was not Mussolini’s main concern. Power was, and from the beginning, he looked for ways to ensure that he and the Fascist Party would rule Italy forever.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Concerto for Two Trumpets in C
Composed ca. 1720 by Antonio Vivaldi. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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The Algeciras Conference in 1911 awarded Spain control of the Rif region of northern Morocco, known afterward as Spanish Morocco in the West.

Spain did not make a serious effort to secure control over the Rif until after the Great War. The 1920s saw a bloody conflict that eventually subdued the Rifians, but also led to the end of constitutional rule in Spain.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Danse espagnole” from La vida breve
Composed in 1905 by Manuel de Falla. Public domain.
Performed by Carrie Rehkopf. Recording used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 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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In the early 1920s, Gandhi began the first nationwide satyagraha campaign. It did not achieve its goals; it eventually provoked violence, inducing Gandhi to call it off, which in turn alienated many of his allies. The British took advantage of this dissention to imprison him.

Just a few years later, following his release, the Congress turned to Gandhi again, seeing him as the only leader who could keep the nationalist factions together. In 1930, Congress declared independence.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Raga Number Two

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. Music used in the podcast is my own work, except were otherwise indicated. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.