Exam Tips for the Causes of the Depression
Part of Causes of the Depression — GCSE History
This exam tips covers Exam Tips for the Causes of the Depression within Causes of the Depression for GCSE History. Revise Causes of the Depression in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 5 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 13 of 14 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
Topic position
Section 13 of 14
Practice
10 questions
Recall
5 flashcards
💡 Exam Tips for the Causes of the Depression
🎯 Question Types for This Topic:
- "Describe two features of..." (4 marks) — Wall Street Crash, effects of Depression, Hoovervilles
- "Explain why..." (8 marks) — Why did the Depression happen? Why did it spread so rapidly? Why did Hoover fail to stop it?
- "How far do you agree that...?" (12+4 SPaG marks) — Was the Wall Street Crash the main cause? Was overproduction the main cause? Was Hoover's response the main reason the Depression worsened?
📈 How to Move Up Levels:
- Level 2 (3-4 marks): "The Wall Street Crash happened in 1929 and caused unemployment to rise to 25%" — states facts without explaining how or why
- Level 3 (5-6 marks): "The Wall Street Crash was the trigger but not the underlying cause. The American economy was already weakened by overproduction — factories were making more goods than consumers could afford to buy. When the Crash destroyed confidence, this underlying weakness caused the vicious cycle of falling demand, factory closures, and mass unemployment."
- Level 4 (7-8 marks): "Multiple underlying causes combined to make the Depression inevitable once confidence collapsed. Overproduction meant factories had to cut output and jobs; the credit economy meant consumers and banks were over-exposed to debt; and extreme inequality — with 60% of families below the poverty line — meant there was no cushion of ordinary consumer spending to prevent collapse. The Wall Street Crash was the spark that ignited this fuel — but it only destroyed the American economy because these fundamental weaknesses already existed. The most important cause was inequality, because if wages had risen alongside productivity, consumers could have afforded what factories produced and neither overproduction nor the credit bubble would have been so dangerous."
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid:
- Saying the Wall Street Crash "caused" the Depression: It was the trigger — always explain the underlying causes too
- Confusing "describe" and "explain" questions: A describe question (4 marks) wants two features with supporting detail; an explain question (8 marks) wants reasons with causal language (led to, which meant, because, as a result)
- Forgetting specific statistics: 25% unemployment, 5,000 bank failures, $30 billion lost — these make the difference between Level 2 and Level 3
- Only writing about the Crash and ignoring effects: Be ready to describe both causes AND effects (Hoovervilles, breadlines, Dust Bowl, unemployment statistics)
- Missing the link to the boom: The same factors that caused the boom (mass production, credit, consumerism) also caused the bust — strong answers show this connection
Quick Check: What is the key distinction between the Wall Street Crash and the causes of the Great Depression?
The Wall Street Crash was the TRIGGER — the event that started the collapse — but not the underlying CAUSE of the Depression. The American economy already had serious weaknesses: overproduction (factories making more than people could buy), a credit-based consumer boom (60% of cars on hire purchase), extreme inequality (60% below the poverty line), an agricultural crisis already ongoing, and dangerous speculation on the stock market. The Crash exposed these weaknesses and started the vicious cycle of falling spending, factory closures, and mass unemployment.
Quick Check: Describe the "vicious cycle" of depression. How did each stage make the next stage worse?
The vicious cycle worked like this: The Crash caused banks to fail (5,000 by 1932) → people lost savings so couldn't spend → factories had no demand for goods so closed down → factory closures created mass unemployment (25% by 1933) → unemployed people had no money to spend → even less demand → more factory closures. Each stage made the next worse. Hoover's refusal to provide direct government relief meant there was nothing to break the cycle — people genuinely had no money, but the government wouldn't help.