An example of this rise is the Manchurian Crisis of 1931.
Japan’s main trading partner was USA. When USA was hit with depression, they stopped trading internationally. This was a disaster for Japan, a country with no raw materials of its own. The Japanese army then decided to invade Manchuria (part of Northern China), which had a lot of valuable raw materials. Additionally, all big European powers were following the ‘Appeasement Policy’. This was when they ignored or turned a blind eye against aggressors, in this case Japan. When China appealed to League Of Nation’s for help, no action was taken and Japan left the League with full control of Manchuria. Historians believe that one of the reasons for the appeasement policy was that Europeans believed that Militarism could keep a check on communism, which was a big threat, especially during the depression. Another reason was that France and Britain, the main European powers, didn’t have enough money to fight another war. They were afraid that if they interfered with a country like Japan, a war was likely to break out for which they weren’t prepared for.
Simultaneously, Germany too was hit badly by the depression. After WW1, USA helped Germany re-build its economy through the ‘Dawes Plan’, where USA gave loans to Germany. When the depression came, the American government put a stop on the Dawes Plan leaving Germany suspended with its economy still in low grounds. This created a perfect atmosphere for a dictator to rise and that is what happened. In 1933, Hitler came to power, and Germany under his command, withdrew from the League of Nations. This allowed him to freely rebuild Germany’s army. A disarmament conference was also taking place around this time. Many proposals were put forward during this conference but none were agreed by the main members of the League. This ineffectiveness reduced the Leagues authority even further. When Germany began to rebuild its army, an appeasement policy was followed again. Some think that the policy was used because of the scare of communism and some thought that is was due to the thought that the ‘Treaty of Versailles’ was too harsh on Germany.
A last example of the depression leading to the rise of authoritarianism is the Abyssinian crisis from 1935-36. This is when Italy, under the dictator Mussolini, invaded Abyssinia (now modern Ethiopia) for raw materials. This time the League of Nations did take an action of putting economic sanctions on Italy. However, they were not successful, as it did not include oil, Italy’s main trading material. Britain also didn’t close the Suez Canal to Italian Shipping, giving their ships full access to Abyssinia. This was done, as Britain and France wanted to keep a friendly relationship with Italy in the face of growing German power.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the Great Depression lead to many consequences, a major one being the rise of authoritarianism and militarism.
