Though we’re in a history class about American history, it seems appropriate that we should touch upon our neighbors across the Atlantic at least once, especially if we’re studying an event with such catastrophic ramifications as the Great Depression. With that, let’s jump in.
Right away, Britain’s situation was different from the US’s because it had never experienced the boom cycle that the US had in the automobile and construction industries. Yet, from 1929 to 1933, Britain’s global trade fell by half, and in 1932 there were more than 3.5 million unemployed people. Industrial and mining areas were hit the hardest, and unemployment peaked around 70% in some areas of northern England and northern Scotland.
Britain had been plunged into the Depression mostly due to its debts from WWI; the failure of the Austrian Credit Anstalt Bank kick-started Britain’s descent. Throughout Europe, debts for WWI had been causing economic instability throughout the 1920’s, so the Great Depression in the US only compounded to that.
In response, Neville Chamberlain, the Chancellor in 1932, implemented a tariff of 10% on all countries except those within the British Empire. The previous chancellor, Philip Snowden, had tried to increase the income tax and cut public spending, yet the measures were unsuccessful and only served to prolong the economic downturn — these reforms also led to a mutiny in the Royal Navy.
As you can see, many similarities can be drawn between the US and Great Britain during the Great Depression, with a large percentage of the population being unemployed and each respective government attempting to solve the problem.
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