The story begins in the aftermath of World War I. European nations, burdened with war debts, struggled to rebuild their economies. Germany, forced to pay massive reparations, printed money desperately, leading to hyperinflation (an extremely high and typically accelerating inflation rate that erodes the real value of the currency, making it difficult for people to afford basic goods and services). A loaf of bread that once cost a few marks now required billions.

Meanwhile, American farmers who had prospered during the war faced a harsh new reality. European agriculture recovered, reducing demand for American crops. Farmers who had borrowed money for expansion couldn't repay their loans, and rural banks began to fail.

In the cities, a different story played out. The "Roaring Twenties" (A period in the 1920s in the United States marked by economic prosperity, cultural flourishing, and significant social change, including the rise of jazz music and flapper culture.) brought unprecedented prosperity to urban America. People bought stocks on margin, paying only a fraction of the actual cost and borrowing the rest. The market seemed unstoppable, but it was built on speculation and debt.

Across the Atlantic, Britain made a fateful decision in 1925: it returned to the gold standard (a monetary system where a country's currency or paper money has a value directly linked to gold, which can affect economic stability and inflation) at pre-war rates. This made British goods expensive in foreign markets, hurting their exports and creating unemployment. The interconnected global banking system meant that financial trouble in one country quickly spread to others.

Sarah's father explained to her how international trade had nearly stopped. Countries raised tariffs (Taxes imposed by a government on imported goods, which can influence trade policies and protect domestic industries from foreign competition.)  to protect their industries, but this only worsened things. The United States passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930, and other nations retaliated with their trade barriers. Global trade plummeted by nearly 66%.

Banks began to fail worldwide. People lost their savings, businesses couldn't get loans, and unemployment soared. By 1932, one in four Americans was unemployed. Similar scenes played out in Germany, Britain, and France.

As Sarah watched her father's business struggle, she understood that the depression wasn't just an American problem but a global crisis born from the interconnected world's economies. The lesson was clear: in the modern world, economic policies and decisions in one country could affect people everywhere.

The Great Depression would last until the late 1930s, fundamentally changing how governments approached economic management and international cooperation. It showed that nations needed to work together in times of crisis rather than retreat behind protective walls.

This story reminds us that economic challenges rarely have simple causes or solutions. The Great Depression arose from a complex web of international, political, and economic factors that combined to create the perfect storm of global economic collapse.