The
Long Depression (1873–1896) affected much of the world from the early 1870s until the mid-1890s and was contemporary with the
Second Industrial Revolution. At the time it was regarded as the
Great Depression, until the more severe
Great Depression occurred in the 1930s. It was most notable in
Western Europe and
North America, but this is in part because reliable data from the period is most readily available in those parts of the world. The
United Kingdom is often considered to have been the hardest hit by the Long Depression, and during this period it lost much of its large industrial lead over the economies of
Continental Europe. The Depression is usually believed to have ended by 1897. The global economy grew at an impressive rate from that year to the start of
World War I.
Two decades of contraction
The "Long Depression" was a period of economic growth in the US that was mistakenly taken for a depression since prices were falling in a period of deflation. Employment was very low and production was increasing. Increases in productivity and a strong currency, backed by gold, made deflation possible. Consumers benefited from falling prices.
Causes of the crisis
The causes of the Depression are also debated. The most immediate cause, and the date that is often used as the start of the Depression, was the collapse of the
Vienna Stock Exchange on May 9, 1873. Others have argued the depression was rooted in the 1870
Franco-Prussian War that hurt the French economy and, under the
Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), forced that country to make large
war reparations payments to
Germany.
Monetarists believe that the depression was caused by shortages of gold that undermined the
gold standard, and that the 1848
California Gold Rush, and more importantly the 1886
Witwatersrand Gold Rush in South Africa and the 1898-99
Klondike Gold Rush helped alleviate such crises. Others pointed to developmental surges (see
Kondratiev wave), theorizing that the
Second Industrial Revolution was causing large shifts in the economies of many states imposing transition costs which may also have played a role in causing the depression.
Reactions to the crisis
Like the Great Depression, the Long Depression saw many nations of the world resort to
protectionism to shore up faltering industries. Influenced by
List's nationalist argument for industrial protection,
Bismarck abandoned the German free trade policy in 1879, enacting tariffs over the objections of his
National Liberal Party allies. France, which had adopted free trade during the
Second Empire (1852-1870), also abandoned it, while
Benjamin Harrison won the 1888 US presidential election on a protectionist ticket. Only the United Kingdom retained the low tariffs enacted in the 1846 repeal of the
Corn Laws.
Besides
tariff policy, governments of the time were not closely involved in managing the economy. According to the tenets of
classic liberalism, it was generally believed that it was not the government's role to intervene in the economy, and thus little was done.
The Long Depression also contributed to the revival of
colonialism leading to the
New Imperialism period, symbolized by the
scramble for Africa, as the western powers sought new markets for their goods. According to
Hannah Arendt's
The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), the "unlimited expansion of power" followed the "unlimited expansion of
capital".
In the
United States, the meltdown of the European economies led directly to the
Panic of 1873 and ushered in the Long Depression.
GNP for selected European Great Powers
- at market prices, in 1960 US dollars and prices; in billions
(Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Fontana Press, 1989, p 219)
See also
References
The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking.
The Second Industrial Revolution (1865–1900) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. Since this period includes the rise of industrial powers other than Great Britain, such as Germany, France or the USA, it may be
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Western Europe is mainly a socio-political concept forged during the Cold War, which largely defined its borders. Its boundaries were effectively forged during the final stages of World War II and came to encompass all European countries which did not come under Soviet control and
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North America is a continent
[1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
..... Click the link for more information. Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2] (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas.
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Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.
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Wiener Börse AG
Public
Founded 1771
Headquarters Vienna, Austria
Key people
Industry Finance
Products Stocks, bonds
Revenue
Employees ~500 (2004)
Website www.wienerborse.
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Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War (19 July 1870-10 May 1871) was a conflict between France and Prussia, which was backed by the North German Confederation and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria.
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The Treaty of Frankfurt (French: Le traité de Francfort; German: Friede von Frankfurt) was a peace treaty signed in Frankfurt on May 10, 1871, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.
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War reparations refer to the monetary compensation intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.
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Anthem
"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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Monetarism is a set of views concerning the determination of national income and monetary economics. It focuses on the supply of and demand for money as the primary means by which economic activity is regulated.
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For other uses, see Gold standard (disambiguation).
The
gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold.
..... Click the link for more information. California Gold Rush 1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. As news of the discovery spread, some 300,000 people came to California from the rest of the United States and abroad.
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The Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa are closely connected.
There had always been rumours of a modern-day "El Dorado" in the folklore of the native tribes that roamed the plains of the South African highveld, and the gold miners
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Klondike Gold Rush was a frenzy of gold rush immigration to and for gold prospecting, along the Klondike River near Dawson City, after gold was discovered there in the late 19th century. Dawson City is located in the Yukon Territory of northwest Canada.
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In economics, Kondratiev waves—also called grand supercycles, surges, long waves, or K-waves—are regular, sinusoidal cycles in the modern (capitalist) world economy.
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The Second Industrial Revolution (1865–1900) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. Since this period includes the rise of industrial powers other than Great Britain, such as Germany, France or the USA, it may be
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Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic
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Friedrich List (August 6, 1789 – November 30, 1846) was a leading 19th Century German and American economist who developed the "National System" or what some would call today the National System of Innovation.
Biography
He was born at Reutlingen, Württemberg.
..... Click the link for more information. Nationalism is a term that refers to a doctrine[1] or political movement[2] that holds that a nation—usually defined in terms of ethnicity or culture—has the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community based on a shared
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Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, born Otto Eduard Leopold of Bismarck-Schönhausen (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), was a Prussian and German statesman of the 19th century, born to a wealthy family.
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GermanyThis article is part of the series:
Politics of Germany
- Federal Council (Bundesrat)
- Federal Diet (Bundestag)
- Federal Assembly
(Bundesversammlung) - Constitutional Court
..... Click the link for more information. The Second French Empire or Second Empire was the imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.
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Benjamin Harrison, VI (August 20, 1833 – March 13, 1901) was the twenty-third President of the United States, serving one term from 1889 to 1893. He had previously served as a senator from Indiana.
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Acts of Parliament of predecessor
states to the United Kingdom
Acts of English Parliament to 1601
Acts of English Parliament to 1641
Acts and Ordinances (Interregnum) to 1660
Acts of English Parliament to 1699
Acts of English Parliament to 1706
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Economic policy
Monetary policy
Central bank Money supply
Fiscal policy
Spending Deficit Debt
Trade policy
Tariff Trade agreement
Finance
Financial market
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Schools of thought
Agorism
Anarcho-capitalism
Geolibertarianism
Green libertarianism
Right-libertarianism
Left-libertarianism
Minarchism
Neolibertarianism
Paleolibertarianism
Progressive libertarianism
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Colonialism is the extension of a nation's sovereignty over territory beyond its borders by the establishment of either settler colonies or administrative dependencies in which indigenous populations are directly ruled or displaced.
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