B2920thand21st

__ #29: The Great Depression __ Economic depressions were nothing new to the world, but what made the Great depression so great was its severity and duration. It affected the entire world with ever-greater intensity from 1929 t0 1933, and recovery was uneven and slow. Not only shattering the fragile optimism of political leaders, mass unemployment and failing farms made insecurity a reality for millions of ordinary people. Though economic activity was already declining, the crash of the United States Stock market on October 29, 1929 sparked the Great Depression. In Britain, unemployment soared to about 33 percent of entire labor force, as 14 million people were out of work. McKay, John P. __History of Western society__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.