North America 1934: Great Depression

The Great Depression hit the United States hard, with a nearly 45% drop in industrial production and widespread unemployment peaking at over 20% of the workforce. In Latin America, the US ended its era of interventionism with the introduction of the Good Neighbor policy, while in Canada, the signing of the Statute of Westminster marked the beginning of full independence from Britain.

Main Events

Aug 1929–7 Dec 1941 Great Depression in US

The crash of 1929 sent the United States economy into recession, with GDP and high unemployment and poverty in a continual decline up to wikipedia

18 Sep 1931–27 Feb 1932 Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Following the Mukden Incident, the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria - the semi-independent northeast provinces of the Republic of China under the governorship of Zhang Xueliang. After occupying the southern provinces of Liaoning and Kirin, the Japanese advanced north into Heilongjiang, completing its conquest in February wikipedia

11 Dec 1931 Statute of Westminster

The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Statute of Westminster, establishing legislative independence of the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire from Britain. The act was effective immediately in Canada and the Union of South Africa, and was considered irrelevant by the Irish Free State. Of the remaining Dominions, Australia and New Zealand would ratify the act in the 1940s, while Newfoundland would never adopt it due to financial wikipedia

10 May–28 Jul 1932 Bonus March

In May 1932, unemployed World War I veterans and their families began converging on Washington DC from all across the United States to support a bill speeding up the cash-payment redemption of their service certificates - the so-called "Bonus Bill". By June, some 43,000 marchers of this "Bonus Expeditionary Force" (BEF) had assembled in the capital, mostly camping on the Anacostia Flats across from the federal core. However the Senate rejected the Bonus Bill in mid-June and on 28 July, the police and army forcibly expelled the BEF from wikipedia

30 Jan 1933 Chancellor Adolf Hitler

In a coalition agreement between the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi party) and the German National People's Party (DNVP), German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. From here Hitler would move swiftly to consolidate absolute wikipedia

4 Mar 1933 Good Neighbor Policy

During his inaugural address, the United States President Franklin Roosevelt announced the Good Neighbor policy, pledging to end US intervention in the internal and external affairs of the countries of Latin America. Under the influence of the new policy, the US ended its military involvement in Nicaragua and Haiti, and reformed its relations with Cuba and wikipedia

30 Jan 1934 Newfoundland Act

In accordance with the recommendation of the Newfoundland Royal Commission under Lord Amulree, the British Commission of Government took control of the Dominion of Newfoundland, with the government of the United Kingdom made responsible for the finances of the country. This state of affairs was intended to last until the island overcame its financial woes and became self-supporting wikipedia

29 May 1934 Cuban-American Treaty of Relations

The United States and Cuba signed a new Treaty of Relations, ending the US right to intervene in Cuba without wikipedia

15 Aug 1934 US withdraws from Haiti

The Last contingent of US Marines left Haiti, ending the United States occupation wikipedia