How did the Great Depression devastate Europe and discredit liberal democracy?
Topic 8.5 Global Economic Crisis: the Great Depression of the 1930s, its causes and effects in Europe, and how mass unemployment and economic collapse undermined faith in liberal democracy and capitalism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.5, on the global economic crisis of the 1930s: the causes of the Great Depression, its devastating effects of mass unemployment and collapse in Europe, the varied government responses, and how the crisis undermined faith in liberal democracy and fuelled extremism.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 8.5 asks you to explain the global economic crisis of the 1930s, the Great Depression: its causes, its devastating effects in Europe, the varied government responses, and how the crisis undermined faith in liberal democracy and capitalism and fuelled extremism. The College Board wants you to see the Depression as a political as well as an economic catastrophe.
The crisis and its causes
The devastating effects
Varied government responses
Governments scrambled for answers.
Political consequences
Why it mattered
The global economic crisis is a decisive link in the chain that led to the Second World War. It discredited the liberal order and supercharged the rise of fascism and totalitarianism (Topic 8.6), destabilized the interwar period (Topic 8.7), and, in Germany above all, helped bring the Nazis to power. The Depression also taught a lesson learned only after 1945: that economic stability and an active state were essential to democracy, a lesson that shaped postwar reconstruction and the welfare state (Unit 9).
Try this
Q1. Name two effects of the Great Depression in Europe. [Recall]
- Cue. Mass unemployment and collapsing trade and industry, alongside bank failures and widespread poverty and hardship.
Q2. Explain how the Great Depression contributed to the rise of extremism. [Short explanation]
- Cue. It discredited liberal democracy and free-market capitalism, which seemed unable to protect ordinary people, and created mass desperation that radical movements exploited by promising order, work, and national revival, fuelling support for fascism above all.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2019 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE effect of the Great Depression in Europe. Briefly explain ONE government response to the crisis. Briefly explain ONE political consequence of the Depression.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: mass unemployment, collapsing trade and industry, and widespread poverty and hardship.
B. Response: some governments expanded the state's economic role and public works; others clung to old policies; some turned to authoritarian solutions.
C. Political consequence: the crisis discredited liberal democracy and capitalism and fuelled support for extremist movements, especially fascism.
Markers want an effect, a response, and a political consequence.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which the Great Depression contributed to the rise of extremism in interwar Europe.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "The Great Depression contributed heavily to the rise of extremism by discrediting liberal democracy and capitalism and creating mass desperation that radical movements exploited, though the legacy of Versailles and war also mattered."
Contextualization (1): the fragile postwar economy and the Versailles settlement.
Evidence (2): mass unemployment and collapse; failed democratic responses; the surge of support for fascism and communism.
Analysis (2): rank the Depression's role while weighing war and Versailles, then add complexity by noting that responses varied by country.
Related dot points
- Topic 8.4 Versailles Conference and Peace Settlement: the peace settlement after World War I, the Treaty of Versailles and the punishment of Germany, the redrawing of the map, and why the settlement bred future instability.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.4, on the post-World War I peace settlement: the aims of the victors at the Paris Peace Conference, the Treaty of Versailles and the harsh terms imposed on Germany, the new states created from fallen empires, the League of Nations, and why the settlement left lasting grievances.
- Topic 8.6 Fascism and Totalitarianism: the rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes between the wars (Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's USSR), their ideologies, and how they built total control over society.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.6, on fascism and totalitarianism: the rise of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, the ideology of fascism (ultranationalism, the leader, the enemy), and how totalitarian regimes used propaganda, terror, and the party to build total control over society.
- Topic 8.7 Europe During the Interwar Period: the fragile politics, society, and culture of the 1920s and 1930s, the struggles of democracy, and the failure of efforts to keep the peace as aggression mounted.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.7, on interwar Europe: the disillusionment after World War I, the struggles of fragile democracies, the cultural ferment of the 1920s, the spread of authoritarianism in the 1930s, and the failure of appeasement and collective security to stop mounting aggression.
- Topic 8.8 World War II: the causes, course, and total nature of the Second World War in Europe, from Nazi aggression to Allied victory, and its transformation of Europe and the world.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.8, on the Second World War in Europe: how Nazi aggression and the failure of appeasement led to war, the course from German conquest to Allied victory, the total and genocidal nature of the conflict, and how it left Europe devastated and divided between two superpowers.
- Topic 6.3 Second-Wave Industrialization and Its Effects: the new technologies and industries (steel, electricity, chemicals, the internal combustion engine) of the period c. 1870 to c. 1914 and how they deepened economic and social change.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 6.3, on the Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1870 to 1914): new technologies such as Bessemer steel, electricity, chemicals, and the internal combustion engine, the rise of mass production and big business, and the economic and social effects of this deeper phase of industrialization.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)