Module 04: The End of Optimism? The Great Depression in Europe

Evidence 3: Unemployment Statistics for Europe, 1929-1933

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Questions to Consider

  • Compare the numbers of unemployed in the European countries included in the chart below. What striking similarities or differences do you see?

Document

Country 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933
Austria 225,000 239,000 304,000 417,000 456,000
Belgium 28,000 42,000 207,000 350,000 383,000
Czech 50,000 88,000 340,000 634,000 878,000
France 9,000 14,000 72,000 347,000 356,000
Germany 2,484,000 3,041,000 4,744,000 6,034,000 5,599,000
Norway 24,000 23,000 29,000 38,000 42,000
Poland 177,000 289,000 373,000 360,000 280,000
Sweden 44,000 42,000 73,000 99,000 121,000
U.K. 1,204,000 1,694,000 2,666,000 2,660,000 2,821,000
Yugoslavia 12,000 10,000 12,000 23,000 23,000

Source:
Lionel Robbins, The Great Depression (New York: Macmillan, 1936) 213.

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