1930s

The 1930s (pronounced "nineteen-thirties", commonly abbreviated as the "Thirties") was a of the  that began on January 1, 1930, and ended on December 31, 1939.

After the, the largest in American history, most of the decade was consumed by an economic downfall called the  that had a traumatic effect worldwide, leading to widespread  and , especially in the , an economic superpower, and , who had to deal with the reparations regarding. The (which gives the nickname the Dirty Thirties) in the United States further emphasised the scarcity of wealth. worsened the situation with his failed attempt to balance the budget by raising taxes. was elected, as a response, in 1933, and introduced the. The founding of the (CCC) and the funding of numerous projects (e.g. the ) helped restore prosperity in the US.

Meanwhile, regimes emerged in several countries in Europe and South America, in particular the  in. Germany elected, who imposed the , a series of laws which discriminated against and other ethnic minorities. Weaker states such as, , and were invaded by expansionist world powers, the last of these attacks leading to the outbreak of the  on September 1, 1939, despite calls from the  for worldwide peace. World War II helped end the Great Depression when governments spent money for the war effort. The 1930s also saw a proliferation of new technologies, especially in the fields of intercontinental, , and.

Wars

 * (September 1, 1932 – May 24, 1933) – fought between the and the.
 * (June 15, 1932 – June 10, 1935) – the war was fought between and  over the disputed territory of  resulting in an overall Paraguayan victory in 1935. An agreement dividing the territory was made in 1938, officially ending outstanding differences and bringing an official "peace" to the conflict.
 * (March 1934 – May 12, 1934) – was a war between and the.
 * (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) – fought between the and the . The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the 20th century. It also made up more than 50% of the casualties in the Pacific War.
 * breaks out on September 1, 1939

Internal conflicts

 * (1927–49) – The ruling and the rebel  fight a civil war for control of China. The Communists consolidated territory in the early 1930s and proclaimed a short-lived  that collapsed upon Kuomintang attacks, forcing a mass retreat known as the . The Kuomintang and Communists attempted to put away their differences after 1937 to fight the Japanese occupation of China, but intermittent clashes continued through the remainder of the 1930s. Even with some clashes they all fought the Japanese
 * (July 17, 1936 – April 1, 1939) – Germany and Italy back anti-communist forces of . The  and international communist parties (see ) back the left-wing republican faction in the war. The war ends in April 1939 with Franco's nationalist forces defeating the republican forces. Franco becomes,  and de facto dictator. The Republic gives way to the , an.
 * (1929 – 10 September 1931).

Major political changes
The rise of 


 * and the rise to power in Germany in 1933, forming a  regime committed to repudiating the, persecuting and removing  and other minorities from German society, expanding Germany's territory, and opposing the spread of.
 * Hitler pulls Germany out of the League of Nations, but hosts the to show his new Reich to the world as well as the supposed superior athleticism of his  troops/athletes.
 * , (1937–1940), attempts the  of Hitler in hope of avoiding war by allowing the dictator to annex the  (the German-speaking regions of ), later signing the  and promising constituents "". He was ousted in favor of  in May 1940, after the.
 * The assassination of the German diplomat by a German-born Polish Jew triggers the  (Night of Broken Glass) which occurred between 9 and 10 November 1938, carried out by the, the , and the , during which much of the Jewish population living in Nazi Germany and Austria was attacked – 91 Jews were murdered, and between 25,000 and 30,000 more were arrested and sent to s. Some 267 synagogues were destroyed, and thousands of homes and businesses were ransacked. Kristallnacht also served as the pretext for the wholesale confiscation of firearms from German Jews.
 * Germany and Italy pursue territorial expansionist agendas. Germany demands the annexation of the and of other German-speaking territories in Europe. Between 1935 and 1936, Germany recovers the  and re-militarizes the . Italy initially opposes Germany's aims for Austria, but in 1936 the two countries resolve their differences in the aftermath of Italy's diplomatic isolation following the start of the, Germany becoming Italy's only remaining ally. Germany and Italy improve relations by forming an alliance against communism in 1936 with the signing of the . Germany annexes Austria in the event known as the . The annexation of the  followed negotiations which resulted in the  of 1938. The  in 1939 succeeds in turning the  into an Italian . The vacant Albanian throne was claimed by . Germany receives the  territory from , occupies what remains of , and finally invades the , the last of these events resulting in the outbreak of.
 * In 1939, several countries of the Americas, including Canada,, and the United States, controversially deny asylum to hundreds of German Jewish refugees on board the who are fleeing the Nazi regime's racist agenda of  persecution in Germany. In the end, no country accepts the refugees, and the ship returns to Germany with most of its passengers on board. Some commit suicide, rather than return to.

United States

Saudi Arabia Spain
 * is elected President of the United States in November 1932. Roosevelt initiates a widespread social welfare strategy called the "" to combat the economic and social devastation of the . The economic agenda of the "New Deal" was a radical departure from previous economics.
 * The is proclaimed the Kingdom of, concluding the country's  under the rule of.
 * The Republican parties win the, and proclaim the , kicking out the monarchy of.
 * The against the Republic marks the beginning of the.

Colonization

 * The is invaded by the  during the  from 1935 to 1936. The occupied territory merges with  and  into the colony of.
 * The captures  in 1931, creating the  of . A puppet government was created, with, the last  , installed as the nominal regent and emperor.

Decolonization and independence

 * In March 1930 leads the non-violent  movement in the  and the.
 * The creates new directly elected bodies, although with a limited franchise, and increases the autonomy of the.

Prominent political events

 * The  under  wins the . Hitler becomes . Following the 1934 death in office of, , Hitler's cabinet passed a law proclaiming the presidency vacant and transferred the role and powers of the head of state to Hitler as  (leader and chancellor). The  effectively gives way to , a.
 * The seriously affects the economic, political, and social aspects of society across the world.
 * Major conflict occurs across the world such as the, the , the , the , the , and the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939.
 * Collapse of the as countries like Germany, the, and the  abdicate the League.

Europe

 * In 1930,, and head of a  is forced to resign in response to a financial crisis (part of the ). , who had previously backed the dictatorship, attempts to return gradually to the previous system and restore his prestige. This failed utterly, as the King was considered a supporter of the dictatorship, and more and more political forces called for the establishment of a republic. In 1931, republican and socialist parties won a major victory in the local elections, while the monarchists were in decline. Street riots ensued, calling for the removal of the monarchy. The  declared that they would not defend the King. Alfonso flees the country, effectively abdicating and ending the  phase which had started in the 1870s. A  emerges.
 * In the, and rapid .  Millions died during the.
 * More than 25 million people migrate to cities in the Soviet Union.
 * is signed in 1935, removing the ' level of limitation on the size of the  (navy). The agreement allows Germany to build a larger naval force.
 * introduces a new for the  in 1937, effectively ending its status as a.
 * The "" of "" from the takes place from 1936 to 1938, as ordered by  leader, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people being killed. This purge was due to mistrust and political differences, as well as the massive drop in Grain produce. This was due to the method of collectivization in Russia. The Soviet Union produced 16 million lbs of grain less in 1934 compared to 1930. This led to the starvation of millions of Russians.
 * The in Paris, France displays the growing political tensions in Europe. The pavilions of the rival countries of  and the  face each other. Germany at the time was internationally condemned for  (its air force) having performed a  of the  town of  in Spain during the . Spanish artist  depicted the bombing in his masterpiece painting  at the World Fair, which was a  depiction of the horror of the bombing.
 * Referendum in the in December 1937 on whether Ireland should continue to be a constitutional monarchy under King  or to become a  results in citizens voting in favour of a republic, ending the remains of British sovereignty through monarchial authority over the state.

Africa
Hertzog of South Africa, whose National Party had won the 1929 election alone, after splitting with the Labour Party, received much of the blame for the devastating economic impact of the depression.

Americas

 * Canada and other countries under the sign the  in 1931, establishing effective parliamentary independence of Canada from the parliament of the United Kingdom.
 * general confesses to the U.S. Congress in 1934 that a group of industrialists contacted him, requesting his aid to overthrow the U.S. government of Roosevelt and establish what he claimed would be a fascist regime in the United States.
 * , USA displays the pavilions showing art, culture and technology from the whole world.
 * voluntarily returns to British colonial rule in 1934 amid its economic crisis during the Great Depression with the creation of the, a non-elected body.
 * meets with German  in 1937 in Berlin. King is the only North American head of government to meet with Hitler.
 * receives major attention in the 1930s as the first woman pilot to conduct major air flights. Her disappearance for unknown reasons in 1937 while on flight prompted search efforts which failed.
 * Southern devastated by decades-long
 * In 1932, the Polish broke the German Enigma cipher and overcame the ever-growing structural and operating complexities of the evolving  with, the main German cipher device during.
 * established in U.S. to fight
 * became the President of Brazil after the.

Asia

 * Major international media attention follows 's movement against the British colonial rule in India.
 * leader forms the small enclave state called the  in 1931.
 * The is signed by Mohandas Gandhi and,  on March 5, 1931. Gandhi agrees to end the campaign of  being carried out by the  (INC) in exchange for Irwin accepting the INC to participate in roundtable talks on British colonial policy in India.
 * The is enacted by the, separating  to become a separate British possession and also increasing the political autonomy of the remaining.
 * Mao Zedong's Chinese communists begin a large retreat from advancing nationalist forces, called the, beginning in October 1934 and ending in October 1936 and resulting in the collapse of the Chinese Soviet Republic.
 * Colonial India's leader  delivers his "" speech on December 2, 1939, calling upon  to begin to engage in civil disobedience against the British colonial government starting on December 12. Jinnah demands redress and resolution to tensions and violence occurring between Muslims and  in India. Jinnah's actions are not supported by the largely Hindu-dominated  whom he had previously closely allied with. The decision is seen as part of an agenda by Jinnah to support the eventual creation of an independent Muslim state called  from British Empire.

Australia

 * Australia and New Zealand sign the in 1931 which established legislative equality between the self-governing s of the  and the United Kingdom, with a few residual exceptions. The  and  gain full legislative authority over their territories, no longer sharing powers with the.

Disasters

 * The was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.


 * The makes landfall in the Florida Keys as a category 5 hurricane; it was the most intense hurricane to ever make landfall in the Atlantic basin. It caused an estimated $6 million (1935 USD) in damages, and killed around 408 people. The hurricane's strong winds and storm surge destroyed nearly all of the structures between  and, and the town of  was obliterated.
 * The German   explodes in the sky above, United States on May 6, 1937. 36 people are killed. The event leads to an investigation of the explosion and the disaster causes major public distrust of the use of -inflated airships and seriously damages the reputation of the.
 * The in, is destroyed by an explosion, killing in excess of 300 students and teachers (1937).
 * The, which became a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall as a Category 3. The hurricane was estimated to have caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.72 billion in 2010), killed between 682 and 800 people, and damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, including famed actress 's, who had been staying in her family's , beach home when the hurricane struck.
 * The, or Dirty Thirties: a period of severe causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian  lands from 1930 to 1936 (in some areas until 1940). Caused by extreme , coupled with decades of extensive farming without , fallow fields, s, or other techniques to prevent erosion, and heavy winds, it affected an estimated 100,000,000 acre of land (traveling as far east as New York and the Atlantic Ocean), caused mass migration (which was the inspiration for the -winning  by ), food shortages, multiple deaths and illness from sand inhalation (see History in Motion), and a severe reduction in the going wage rate.
 * The pours out from, China in 1938, inundating 54,000 km2 of land, and takes an estimated 500,000 lives.

Assassinations and attempts
Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:


 * French president is assassinated in 1932 by, a mentally unstable Russian émigré.
 * U.S. presidential candidate is assassinated (1935).
 * , and leading figure of, is assassinated in 1934 by Austrian Nazis. Germany and Italy nearly clash over the issue of Austrian independence despite close ideological similarities of the  and Nazi regimes.
 * is assassinated in 1934 during a visit to, France. His assassin was , a member of the . The IMRO was a political organization that fought for secession of from Yugoslavia.

Economics

 * The is considered to have begun with the fall of stock prices on September 4, 1929 and then the  known as  on October 29, 1929, and lasted through much of the 1930s.
 * The entire decade is marked by widespread unemployment and poverty, although deflation (i.e. falling prices) was limited to 1930-32 and 1938-39. Prices fell 7.02% in 1930, 10.06% in 1931, 9.79% in 1932, 1.41% in 1938 and 0.71% in 1939.
 * increase in popularity as a result of the Great Depression in both authoritarian and democratic countries. In the Western world, replaces.
 * In an effort to reduce unemployment, the United States government created work projects such as the (CCC) which was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 to maintain National Parks and build roads. Other major U.S. government work projects included  which was constructed between 1931 and 1936.
 * Rapid industrialization takes place in the.
 * ended in 1933. On December 5, 1933, the ratification of the repealed the  to the.
 * Drought conditions in Oklahoma and Texas caused the which forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their farms and seek employment elsewhere.

Technology
Many technological advances occurred in the 1930s, including:
 * On March 8, 1930, the first s of were sold in, United States.
 * releases the first candy as the .;
 * produced the first Color Sound Cartoon in 1930, a cartoon entitled: "";
 * In 1930, released the first All-Talking All-Color wide-screen movie, ; in 1930 alone, Warner Brothers released ten All-Color All-Talking feature movies in  and scores of shorts and features with color sequences;
 * service across the Atlantic Ocean began;
 * was invented, known as RDF (Radio Direction Finding), such as in British Patent GB593017 by in 1938;
 * In 1933, the company marketed ;
 * In 1931, introduced the first long-playing phonograph record.
 * In 1935, the British introduced the, designed by . Just three years later, one of these, , would become the fastest steam locomotive in the world.
 * In 1935, is invented, being the first color film made by.
 * In 1936, The first regular (then defined as at least 200 lines) television service from the, based at  in London, officially begins broadcasting.
 * discovered by, and  in 1939.
 * The, one of the best selling s ever produced, had its roots in in the late 1930s. Created by  and his chief designer . The car would prove to be successful, and is still in production today as the.
 * In 1935,, flying the H-1, set the landplane of 352 mph (566 km/h).
 * In 1937, flying the same H-1 Racer fitted with longer wings, ambitious Hughes set a new by flying non-stop from Los Angeles to Newark in 7 hours, 28 minutes, and 25 seconds (beating his own previous record of 9 hours, 27 minutes). His average ground speed over the flight was 322 mph (518 km/h).
 * First intercontinental commercial airline flights.
 * The was developed in 1938 by.
 * The was the first electric  ever produced.
 * invented wide-band radio in 1933.
 * The was invented by  of Seattle, Washington, in 1936.

Science

 * identifies, which goes on to be announced as the ninth planet in the solar system.

Literature and art

 * Height of the movement in North America and.
 * Notable poetry include 's .
 * Notable literature includes 's ' (1934), 's ' (1938), 's ' (1937), 's ' (1932), 's ' (1939) and ' (1937), 's ' (1937), 's, 's ' (1930) and ' (1936), 's ' (1934) and  (1935).
 * Notable "" crime fiction includes 's ', 's ', 's  (1934).
 * Notable plays include 's  (1938).
 * Near the end of the decade, two of the world's most iconic superheroes and recognizable fictional characters were introduced in comic books; Superman first appeared in 1938, and Batman in 1939.
 * The pulp fiction magazines began to feature distinctive, gritty adventure heroes that combined elements of hard boiled detective fiction and the fantastic adventures of the earlier pulp novels. Two particularly noteworthy characters introduced were and, who would later influence the creation of characters such as Superman and Batman.
 * Popular which began in the 1930s include  by,  by ,  by , and  by.
 * paints the controversial mural (full name: América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos, or Tropical America: Oppressed and Destroyed by Imperialism) (1932) at  in Los Angeles.

Film
In the art of film making, the entered a whole decade, after the advent of talking pictures ("") in 1927 and full-color films in 1930: more than 50 classic films were made in the 1930s: most notable were  and . In 1930, Howard Hughes produces, the first movie blockbuster to be produced outside of a professional studio, independently, as well as becoming the most expensive movie made, at that time, costing roughly 4 million dollars, and taking four years to make. Hell's Angels was an epic masterpiece, valued, and relative to the people at those specific times, of harsh war.
 * 's  was released in 1937.
 *  was released in 1939.
 *  was released in 1939
 * The soundtrack and photographic technology prompted many films to be made or re-made, such as the 1934 version of , using lush sets which won an  (see films 1930–1939 in: );
 * Universal Pictures begins producing its distinctive series of horror films, which came to be known as the Universal Monsters, featuring what would become iconic representations of literary and mythological monsters, the s (or s) included many cult classics, such as ', ', ', ', ', ', and other films about s, s and s, leading to the 1941 film  These films led to the stardom of stars such as, , and.
 * Recurring series and serials included:, , the , , and.

Radio

 * becomes dominant mass media in industrial nations.
 * October 30, 1938 - ' radio adaptation of  is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the United States.

Music

 * "" music starts becoming popular (from 1935 onward). It gradually replaces the sweet form of that had been popular for the first half of the decade.
 * "" music, the first recorded in the late 1920s, was expanded by and, two of the most important and influential acts of "" genre.
 * and led the development of.
 * composed in.
 * becomes the first electric guitarist to be in a multiracial band with and  in 1939.

Fashion
The most characteristic North American fashion trend from the 1930s to 1945 was attention at the shoulder, with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women by the 1940s. The period also saw the first widespread use of man-made fibers, especially for dresses and  for  and, and synthetic  s. The  became widely used. These essentially U.S. developments were echoed, in varying degrees, in Britain and Europe. Suntans (called at the time "sunburns") became fashionable in the early 1930s, along with travel to the resorts along the, in the , and on the east coast of where one can acquire a tan, leading to new categories of clothes: white dinner jackets for men and beach pajamas, halter tops, and bare midriffs for women.

Fashion trendsetters in the period included (King Edward VIII from January 1936 until his  that December) and his companion  (the Duke and Duchess of Windsor from their marriage in June 1937), socialites like,  and  and such  s as ,  and.

Architecture

 * The world's tallest building (for the next 35 years) was constructed, opening as the  on May 3, 1931, in New York City, USA;
 * The was constructed, opening on May 27, 1937, in, USA;...

Visual arts
became an important during the  in the United States in the 1930s. Social realism generally portrayed imagery with socio-political meaning. Other related American artistic movements of the 1930s were and  which were generally depictions of rural America, and historical images drawn from American history. with its depictions of industrial America was also a popular art movement during the 1930s in the USA. During the Great Depression the art of played an important role in the Social Realist movement. The work of, , , , , , , , , , , , (as a photographer) among several others were particularly influential.

The part of the 's  sponsored the, the , and the  which employed many American artists and helped them to make a living during the.

was a movement that took place primarily in the 1930s. The movement stands out historically because of its political undertones, the majority of which of a nature, or related to a social and political situation of post-revolutionary Mexico. Also in Latin America and  were important movements.

In Europe during the 1930s and the, , late , the , , , , and  painting in various guises characterized the art scene in Paris and elsewhere.

.
 * was hosted and won by Italy.
 * was hosted by Berlin.
 * was hosted by France and won by Italy.
 * was hosted by the village of Lake Placid, NY.

Painters and sculptors




Sports figures
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Global

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 * , Indian hockey player
 * , Indian cricketer
 * , Indian cricketer


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United States

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Criminals
Prominent criminals of the Great Depression: