Great Depression/Timelines

World Timeline

(For USA only timeline, see [[1]])

1850-1918

11 US recessions [2] including the panic of 1893

1914-18

First World War

General suspension of the gold standard.

1918

Treaty of Versailles [3].

1919-21

UK:

Post-war recession [4].

1921-23

USA:

Post-war recession [5].

Germany:

War reparations start.

1922:

Economic and Monetary Conference recommends return to the gold standard [6].

Germany defaults on War Reparations

1923

Germany:

France and Belgium invade the Ruhr due to German default on war reparations; Germany declares general strike [7].

Hyperinflation [8]

A new currency (the Schacht Rentenmark) replaces the Reichsmark: price stability restored [9].

1924

USA:

Fed eases monetary policy.

Start of 1924-26 upturn [10]

Germany

The Reichsmark replaces the Rentenmark and Germany rejoins the gold standard.

Dawes Plan (for the rescheduling of reparations and the provision of loans from the US etc) agreed [11][12].

1925

USA:

Florida land boom [13].

UK:

Britain rejoins the gold standard.

1926

UK:

General strike [14].

USA:

Florida land boom ends due to hurricane.

Germany

Reichsbank acts to restrain stock exchange speculation

1927

USA:

Long Island meeting of central bankers to discuss UK plea to help the £ by raising the US discount rate [15].

Federal Reserve Bank cuts its discount rate cut from 4% to 3.5% and makes large purchases US government securities [16].

Renewed economic upturn

Germany

Stock market crash[17]. Outflow of short-term capital. Discount rate increase.

1928

USA:

Federal Reserve Bank raises its discount rate to 5%.

France

France returns to the gold standard.

1929

February

UK

Bank of England raises the bank rate fron 4.5% to 5.5%

August

USA:

Stock market peaks; start of a downturn in economic activity [18]

Federal Reserve Bank raises discount rate to 6%.

Germany:

Collapse of Frankfurter Allgemeine Verischerungs AG and runs on savings banks

October

USA:

The stock market crash of 1929.

24 October: Black Thursday DJIA falls by 13%

28 October: Black Monday DJIA falls by 12.8%

29 October: Black Tuesday DJIA falls by 11.7%

1930-33

USA:

The "Great Contraction"

Banking crises [19]

Three waves of panic create a progressive collapse of the United States banking system, with the failure of nearly half of the banks and heavy. losses by the others.

1930

USA:

Failure of some bank in United States [20].

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act [21][22]

1,350 banks have closed.

France:

Failure of Banque Adam and the Oustric Group.

Germany

2nd reparations conference at The Hague.

Young Plan (further rescheduling reparations payments but giving priority to the repayment of debts to the United States) agreed [23]. Bank for International Settlements created.

1931

USA:

Banking crisis, with the failure of over 1800 banks.

Federal Reserve raises rediscount rates

UK:

Sterling (£) Crisis [24].

Austria:

Failure of Creditanstalt

Germany:

Banking crisis. Runs on banks. Closure of Darmstädter bank. Bank holiday. Credit crunch.

President Herbert Hoover announces a one year moratorium on reparations and war debts-and the provision of a $ 150 million credit to the Reichsbank [25].

France:

Failure of Banque Nationale de Crédit and bank runs.

World:

Britain, Sweden and Japan leave the gold standard [26]

1932

USA:

Chicago Banking Panic [27].

Revenue Act: income tax rates increased and allowances reduced [28].

Germany:

Lausanne Conference agrees to the suspension of reparations payments by Germany [29]

1933

World Economic Conference: US vetoes international currency stabilisation [30].

USA:

Trough of depression and start of recovery [31]

Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president.

President declares a banking holiday and temporarily closes all U.S. banks using the Emergency Banking Act 1933[32].

Approximately 4,000 commercial banks fail.

1,700 "Savings and Loans" fail

US abandons gold standard.

Germany

Fall of the Weimar government: Hitler gains power.

1934

France:

Riots in the streets of Paris [33][34].

1936

France:

France leaves the gold standard.

1937

USA:

Recession of 1937