Great Depression, worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Although it originated in the United States, the Great Depression caused drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and acute deflation in almost every country of the world. Its social and cultural effects were no less staggering, especially in the United States, where the Great Depression represented the harshest adversity faced by Americans since the Civil War.
"I'm learnin' one thing good," she said. "Learnin' it all a time, ever' day. If you're in trouble or hurt or need--go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help--the only ones."
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
The 1930s [videorecording] by 
Great Depression [videorecording] by 
America's Great Depression [soundrecording] by 
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal [soundrecording] by