What was the Great Depression like in Europe/Globally?

waspocracy

You may find this book worth the read. It talks about France, Belgium, Germany, and various other countries in detail.

But to answer your question, Europe was affected the same as the US. The value of gold collapsed and it hurt every currency. In Germany, for example, a new gold standard was required and the Reichsbank had to maintain a gold cover (ratio of gold reserves to notes and coin it issued) of at least 40%. This was quite uncomfortable because of the minimum even before the financial crisis of 1931.

Austria's banking crisis hurt Germany because their deposits were frozen in their banking system, then it spread to Hungary and other countries in Central Europe. Western Europe like France and Britain found German banks unreliable because of this and their deposits were withdrawn. Eventually, gold fell to its legal minimum. Unemployment soared.

The great depression led up to the events of World War II as the Nazi party was seen as the party to recover the economy of Germany.

szspeak

Thank you both.

It seems that most of the Literature focuses on Germany and less so on the rest of Europe. This is mainly why I asked the question.

Thanks again.

Motrok

Well, I can speak for what happened in Argentina during the Great Depression. I am not a historian, but I am quite fond of studying history, so I hope this is up to the standards of the subreddit. Also, english is not my native language, so please forgive any mistakes regarding grammar.

I need to start with a bit of background first, so bear with me, i promise I am making a point here.

Argentina, as you may or may not know, has long been famous for the quality of its farming fields, and specially for the meat that can be produced in them. Even today, argentinian meat is among the finest in the world, and prices for a steak are very high in pretty much every international market Source . This is, in part, thanks to natural factors, but also thanks to a specialization that began during the times when the land was a part of Spain. The spanish, understading the potential of the land, didn't bother so much to develop industries in what would later be Argentina (to be fair, they didn't bother to develop industry pretty much anywhere in America) and instead pushed for agricultural specialization. This worked out fine for the upper classes, which, first under spanish rule and then after 1816 when Argentina became independent, hoarded the land and became filthy, filthy rich by exporting products.

Now, it is importat to understand that being Argentina one of the greatest food producers in the world, because of the nature of food as a commodity, it is VERY dependant on foreign markets. Indeed, the country produces far, FAR more agricultural products (chief among them cereals and, of course, meat, although nowadays [soy is our most proftable product] (source http://www.infobae.com/2014/04/29/1560665-la-cosecha-soja-argentina-sera-record-la-actual-campana) than its very small population can consume (we are barely 44 millions, as stated by our last [census] (http://www.censo2010.indec.gov.ar/resultadosdefinitivos_totalpais.asp) ).

During the last decades of the XIX century, the argentinian elites finally managed to pacify the unruly provinces that would begin, in 1853, the genesis of the country, and began an economic process that would bring them VERY close to the British. In short, this generation of politicians, known as the '80s generation (1880, mind you) were all from the prominent, wealthy, land-owning families that conformed the elite of argentinian society. They crafted a relationship with the british empire where, while they would provide all the meat and food the british wanted, at prices that were convenient to both parties, the british would help push the country forward into the industrial era. They built many railroads, which were almost non existant in Argentina, and provided technology to better cultivate the fields. Mainly, they brought cold-storage chambers, which allowed argentinians (through british companies) to add value to their already high-quality products. Business was good for everyone involved, and many international companies settled near Buenos Aires and started freezing argentinian meat. The River Plate Fresh Meat opened its doors in 1884, James Nelson and Sons in 1861 and, finally, in 1907 Swift. source: Historia económica de la ganadería argentina, Horado Giberti) Note that capitals from Argentina, France and USA also entered the business, but the british remained the driving force (in my opinion at least) behind the development of this industry.

Now, entering the Boer Wars. Between 1880-1881 and 1899-1902, these conflicts drove the british to search for new means to feed their troops, and the argentinian meats and other food, high in numbers and quality, relatively close to the theater of war, modernized by the state-of-the-art cold-storage chambers recently installed, and already influenced by british capitals/industries, was the natural choice. This conflict proved that Argentina was a great partner for the british in providing food for their troops whenever they had a conflict on the southern hemisphere, and also strengthened the argentinian dependence for foreign markets when selling their production.

(continues below, word limit reached)

Searocksandtrees

hi! just noticed this post. Here are a bunch of links I rounded up for a previous similar question; hope these are helpful :)

General overviews

Specific countries

Less impacted