Why didn't the Great Depression hit Great Britain as hard as it hit the United States?

Answer 1

What makes you think that? If anything I think it hit them harder. And I'll add that if either Communism or Fascisim was going to get a foot hold in Britain, it was during the horrible days of the depression. People were shaken to their very roots, because the social and economic mainstays that they had allways depended on were so much in dis-array, and chaos. They didn't know what to think, and many were wavering, ans only needed a fast talker to push them into rebellion. Hunger marchers, strikers, and rabble rousers were all out in force. Ten hard years, and then a further six years of war, no wonder that generation came out as tough as nails. Britain was less badly affected than the U.S. and by 1938 the average living standard in Britain was higher than in 1928, though the distribution of income (and personal wealth) had changed. Obviously, the long-term unemployed didn't benefit from this and the gap between rich and poor widened. To some extent, Britain sheltered within its empire (behind tariffs). From 1934 onwards rearmament also played a key role in mitigating the depression. The Great Depression was worse in Great Britain. Yes, communistic sentiment was popular in Great Britain at the time, but it was also popular in the U.S. Without F.D.R.'s New Deal, the U.S. wouldve become communist. If you don't believe me, read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The economic policies of the prime minister, Lloyd George, ended the depression in Britain sooner than did those of FDR in the United States. As a result that while England suffered from the depression of 1933, it missed the depression of 1938.