The introduction of the discussion will focus on the origins of .
the Great Depression and the escalating events that led to it. This.
will provide adequate foundations to bring up questions and attempt to .
answer them in an objective fashion as to why and how the Depression .
affected different industrialized countries in different ways.
The core of the debate will consist of detailed comparable .
analyses of the consequences of the Depression with an emphasis on.
the economic aspects. The conclusion will provide a brief overview of .
the ways used by the different governments to get out of that dark .
episode of world economic history.
When studying the Great Depression and it's effects, it is not .
unusual for historians to choose World War I as a starting point for .
their investigation. The reason for that is the importance of the .
repercussions the conflict had on the economies of all the countries .
that were involved in it.
First of all, the War made it impossible for Europe to .
maintain previous levels of production. For example, before the War,.
France, the U.K. and Germany accounted for about 60 percent1 of the .
world's exports of manufactured goods, a share of the market which .
they could not sustain during the conflict. Consequently, Europe took .
many of its markets to the U.S. and Japan. The stunted growth of the .
European economies meant a lower demand for raw materials, which in .
turn lowered the demand for European exports.
In agriculture, things didn't look any better, as it was the .
sector which employed the most people. At the end of World War I,.
Europe was forced to import food from the U.S. Moreover, these .
transactions were conducted on a credit basis since Europe could not .
afford to pay for its purchase at that time.
Clearly, the U.S. was going from being a traditional debtor of .
Europe before World War I to becoming its creditor: America had .
financed the war and it was issuing loans for its reconstruction.
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