The Great Depression and World War III The Great Depression (1929-41) was the deepest and longest recession in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression began shortly before the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors (including banks) as stocks dropped 50% in trading, a unprecedented phenomenon. In the years that followed, consumer spending and investment declined, causing sharp declines in industrial production and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. Over the course of 25 years (1920-1945), unemployment increased by 40%. To crunch the data, about 1.6 million Americans were unemployed, and the number increased dramatically to 12.8 million (about half were non-farmers). Americans were unemployed, many businesses failed, and nearly half of the country's banks failed. Strict business and banking regulations, as well as financial protections, were put in place to combat the economic crisis, enforced by the newly formed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Depression led to a rapid increase in crime rates as many unemployed workers resorted to petty theft to put food on the table. Alcoholism increased as Americans sought outlets to escape, exacerbated by the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Rural New England and upstate New York lost many citizens who sought opportunities elsewhere. Many of the migrants were teenagers looking for an opportunity away from family who had younger mouths to feed. Overall, Americans felt for the first time that the government was not there to protect them and turned away from conservative laissez-faire i... middle of paper... 00 veterans marched on Washington, to say they couldn't wait until to 1945 to receive their bonus: they needed it now. However, Hoover summoned the Army to “remove them from Washington.” In this event four people died, two children died from tear gas used by the army and two veterans were stabbed with bayonets. During these processes the United States was divided in some respects but still united to overcome the Great Depression and World War II. Between 1929 and 1945, the Great Depression and World War II completely redefined the role of government in American society and catapulted the United States from an isolated, peripheral state to a hegemonic global superpower. Although the diseases faced began to appear faintly, then with increasing urgency once the Great Depression began. Yet, curiously, as many observers have noted, most Americans have remained inexplicably docile, even passive, in the face of this unprecedented calamity..