Pearson Edexcel · A-Level · History
Course version: 9HI0 · Version from Sept 2015
Reacting to economic challenges, 1918–32: economic crises and government…
Full specification wording
Economic development and policies, 1918–89: Reacting to economic challenges, 1918–32: economic crises and government response, 1918–23; policies for recovery, 1924–28; impact of, and response to, the Great Depression, 1929–32; changing living standards, 1918–32.
This topic traces how one state met economic shocks across 1918–32.
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- Point 1 of 3
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
This topic traces how one state met economic shocks across 1918–32. Study the crises of 1918–23: wartime disruption, hyperinflation and the government's stabilising response, such as the 1923 currency reform. Then examine recovery policies of 1924–28, including foreign loans and industrial reorganisation, and judge how far they restored output and confidence. Next analyse the Great Depression after 1929: its causes, the unemployment it produced, and the government's shifting response, from orthodox retrenchment towards intervention. Finally assess changing living standards throughout, comparing industrial workers, farmers, women and the unemployed, and weighing wages, prices, hours and welfare against insecurity. Use economic data and contemporary voices as evidence, and evaluate continuity and change rather than listing events.
What earns the marks
- Explains the 1918–23 crises: wartime dislocation, reparations pressure, hyperinflation and the government's currency stabilisation response.
- Assesses recovery policies of 1924–28, such as foreign loans, currency stability and industrial rationalisation, and their limits.
- Analyses the Great Depression's impact after 1929 and evaluates the government's response, including retrenchment and later intervention.
- Judges changing living standards 1918–32 across social groups, using wages, prices, employment and welfare as evidence.
- Builds a sustained argument about how far government action, rather than external recovery, shaped outcomes.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Treating hyperinflation as simply money-printing.
Put it right by linking it to reparations, deficits and the 1923 currency reform.
Assuming recovery in 1924–28 benefited everyone equally.
Put it right by contrasting industrial and agricultural experience.
Describing the Depression as only an American event.
Put it right by tracing its transmission and domestic responses.
Exam tips
- Anchor each phase with a dated example and a statistic, then explain its significance.
- Compare groups explicitly when discussing living standards, rather than generalising about 'the people'.
- Plan paragraphs around change and continuity, not a chronological list.
Try the lesson
The start of the Economic development and policies, 1918–89: Reacting to economic challenges, 1918–32: economic crises and government response, 1918–23; policies for recovery, 1924–28; impact of, and response to, the Great Depression, 1929–32; changing living standards, 1918–32. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which currency was introduced in Germany in 1923 to replace the hyperinflated mark?
Listen
This topic traces how one state met economic shocks across 1918–32. Study the crises of 1918–23: wartime disruption, hyperinflation and the government's stabilising response, such as the 1923 currency reform. Then examine recovery policies of 1924–28, including foreign loans and industrial reorganisation, and judge how far they restored output and confidence. Next analyse the Great Depression after 1929: its causes, the unemployment it produced, and the government's shifting response, from orthodox retrenchment towards intervention. Finally assess changing living standards throughout, comparing industrial workers, farmers, women and the unemployed, and weighing wages, prices, hours and welfare against insecurity. Use economic data and contemporary voices as evidence, and evaluate continuity and change rather than listing events. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Explains the 1918–23 crises: wartime dislocation, reparations pressure, hyperinflation and the government's currency stabilisation response. Assesses recovery policies of 1924–28, such as foreign loans, currency stability and industrial rationalisation, and their limits. Analyses the Great Depression's impact after 1929 and evaluates the government's response, including retrenchment and later intervention. Judges changing living standards 1918–32 across social groups, using wages, prices, employment and welfare as evidence. A common slip: Treating hyperinflation as simply money-printing. Instead, linking it to reparations, deficits and the 1923 currency reform. Exam tip: Anchor each phase with a dated example and a statistic, then explain its significance.
Key words
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Economic crisis and stabilisation
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Recovery and foreign investment
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Depression and state intervention
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Living standards and social division
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See every definition
- Economic crisis and stabilisation
- The crises of 1918–23, including wartime disruption and hyperinflation, and the government's stabilising response, such as the 1923 currency reform.
- Recovery and foreign investment
- Policies for recovery in 1924–28, including foreign loans and industrial reorganisation, judged by how far they restored output and confidence.
- Depression and state intervention
- The Great Depression after 1929, its causes and unemployment, and the government's shifting response from orthodox retrenchment towards intervention.
- Living standards and social division
- Changing living standards across 1918–32, comparing industrial workers, farmers, women and the unemployed, and weighing wages, prices, hours and welfare against insecurity.
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