April 2009 Newsletter: The Roaring 1920s

Following the turbulent events of the previous decade (wars, major health epidemics and the fall of many royal empires), the 1920’s were welcomed with a sigh of relief. This decade saw great technological advances (first trans-Atlantic flight, the creation of the talking movie), the relaxation of some social norms (flappers!) and widespread economic prosperity in many nations. The 1920’s also experienced the rise of fascism in Europe. But it couldn’t last forever…. the decade ended with the beginning of the Great Depression and the world once again embroiled in a World War. We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter!

Lady Jennifer, Kimebear, LadyLeana, and Zonk

Administrative Notes

Changes to the Team

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Picture of the Month

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The Royal Forums Blog

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The Royal Articles

If you haven’t had the opportunity, check out The Royal Articles. Since we are unable to use professional photos to illustrate the articles, the editors are very interested in hearing from any members who have taken photos of royals and would be willing to have their photos used in the articles. Also, anyone who would like to try their hand at writing an article should contact one of the editors. The editors are Elspeth, Mandy, Marengo, and TheTruth.

The Roaring 1920s

Births

Hereditary Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg was born on January 5, 1921. The son of the late Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Prince Felix of Burboun-Parma, he ruled Luxembourg from November 12, 1964 until he abdicated on October 7, 2000 in favor of his son, the current Grand Duke Henri. On April 9, 1953, he married Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. In addition to the current Grand Duke Henri, they are the parents of Princess Marie-Astrid, Prince Jean, Princess Margaretha and Prince Guilliame.

Prince Philippos of Greece was born on June 10, 1921, he is more commonly known today as Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Originally born a prince of Greece and Denmark, he is the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Prior to his marriage, he renounced his titles and adopted the surname of his maternal grandparents and became known as Lt. Phillip Mountbatten. Upon his marriage, he was granted the style of HRH, and was made Duke of Edinburgh. He married Princess Elizabeth of York on November 20, 1947. Queen Elizabeth inherited the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI in 1952. Queen Elizabeth made Prince Phillip a prince of the United Kingdom in 1957. They are the parents of Prince Charles of Wales, the Princess Royal (Princess Anne), Andrew, the Duke of York and Edward, the Earl of Wessex.

Countess Georgina von Wilczek was born on October 24, 1921. The daughter of the late Ferdinand, Count of Wiclzek and the late Countess Norbertine Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau. On March 7, 1943, she married Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein. At her husband’s accession, she became known as Princess Gina of Liechtenstein. They were the parents of Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam, Prince Phillip, Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein, Princess Norberta and the late Franz Josef Wenzelaus. She died in October of 1989.

Prince Rainier of Monaco was born on May 31, 1923, the son of Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois(né Count Pierre de Polignac) and Hereditary Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois. His mother was the only child of Princes Louis II of Monaco and Marie Juliette Louvet. In 1944, his mother renounced her rights to the throne of Monaco and on 9 May 1949, Rainier became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco on the death of Prince Louis II. He married Oscar winning American actress Grace Kelly, on April 18, 1956 (civil) and April 19, 1956 (religious). They were the parents of Princess Caroline of Hanover, Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Stephanie of Monaco. Prince Rainer died on April 6, 2005.

Fabiola de Mora y Arago was born on June 11, 1928. She is presently known as HM Queen Fabiola of Belgium. The daughter of Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández, Riera y del Olmo, Marquess of Casa Riera, 2nd Count of Mora and his wife, Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz, Barroeta-Aldamar y Elio, Marchioness of Casa Riera, Countess of Mora. On December 15, 1960, she married Baudouin who became king of the Belgians in 1951. King Bauodin of the Belgians died on July 31, 2003.

Prince Moulay Hassan was born on July 9, 1929. The son of Mohammed V, King of Morocco and Lalla Abla bint Tahar, he reigned as King Hassan II of Morocco from 1961 until 1999. In 1961, he married Lalla Latifa Hammou. Together they had five children: Princess Lalla Meryem, King Mohammed VI, Princes Lalla Asma, Princes Lalla Hasna and Prince Moulay Rachid. In addition in 1961, he married , Lalla Fatima bint Qaid Amhourok. King Hassan II died on July 23, 1999.

Claus von Amsberg (later Prince Claus of The Netherlands, consort of Queen Beatrix) born on September 6, 1926 was the son of Klaus Felix von Amsberg and Gosta Julie Adelheid Marion Marie Baroness von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen. On March 10, 1966 he married Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (later Queen Beatrix). They are the parents of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, Prince Friso, and Prince Constantijn. He died on October 6, 2002.

Princess Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (later Grand Duchess of Luxembourg) was born on October 11, 1927. The daughter of King Leopold III of Belgium and Princess Astrid of Sweden. On April 9, 1953 she married Prince Jean, the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. She died on June 10, 2005. She was survived by her husband, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg as well as their children: the current Grand Duke Henri, Princess Marie-Astrid, Prince Jean, Princess Margaretha and Prince Guilliaume.

Grace Patricia Kelly (also known as Princess Grace of Monaco) was born on November 12, 1929, the daughter of John Kelly and Margaret Kelly. She won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in The Country Girl. She married Prince Rainier of Monaco on April 18, 1956 (civil marriage) and April 19, 1956 (religious). There were the parents of Princess Caroline of Hanover, Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Stephanie of Monaco. She died of injuries as result of car accident on September 14, 1982.

Marriages and Anniversaries

18 March 1920: Charlotte of Monaco and Pierre de Polignac. Princess Charlotte was the illegitimate daughter of Prince Louis II of Monaco, but later adopted and given all rights. She married Count Pierre Marie Xavier Raphael Antoine Melchior de Polignac, he was a son of Count Maxence Melchior de Polignac and his Mexican wife. The Count took on the name of Prince Pierre of Grimaldi before his wedding, so he and his wife would be eligible for the throne. They had two children together, Princess Antoinette and Prince Rainier, who would later become Rainier III of Monaco, and who married American actress Grace Kelly. Charlotte and Pierre separated in 1930 and were divorced by Princely decree in 1933.

27 February 1921:Prince George of Greece (later George II) and Princess Elisabeth of Romania. This was not a successful marriage. Crown Prince George of Greece married Princess Elisabetha of Romania, daughter of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania. The couple was King and Queen of Greece from September 1922 to March 1924, when George was deposed and a Greek republic proclaimed. They divorced in 1935, the same year George got back to the throne. The couple had no children.

26 April 1923: Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Prince Albert, the Duke of York, married the Scottisch noblewoman Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, whose father was the later Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. The Duke reputedly fell deeply in love with Elizabeth, but she was not very keen on life at the royal court, and refused him when he proposed in 1921. Later, she changed her mind and accepted him. The Duke became King unexpectedly, when his elder brother abdicated in order to marry a divorcee. The couple had two children, the later Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. Albert, who became known as King George VI, died in 1952, but his wife long survived him. The Queen Mother died in 2002, having survived not only her husband but also her youngest daughter.

22 October 1923: Prince Paul of Yugoslavia and Princess Olga of Greece & Denmark. Prince Paul was the only son of Prince Arsen Karadordevic and Princess Auror Demidov. Princess Olga was the daughter of Prince Nicholas, the son of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirova of Russia. She was the sister of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. The couple married on October 22, 1923 in Belgrade, and the Duke of York (later King George VI of the United Kingdom) was the best man. He served as Regent for his young cousin, Peter II after his King Alexander was assassinated. Prince Paul ruled the Kingdom of Yugoslavia until he decided to sign the Tripartite pact with the Axis in World War II. On 27 March 1941, a coup was staged by his cousin and ward, Peter II who had the support pro British officers and politicians. For the emainder of the war, Prince Paul was kept, with his family, under house arrest in Kenya by the British.They are the parents of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia and Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. Prince Nikola died in a car accident in 1954. They are also the grandparents of actress Catherine Oxenberg. Prince Paul died on September 11, 1976 and Princess Olga died on October 16, 1997.

3 November 1923: Prince Gustav of Sweden and Lady Louise Mountbatten (later Gustav VI Adolf and Queen Louise). Prince Gustav of Sweden was the eldest son of King Gustav V and Victoria of Baden. Lady Louse Mountbatten was born Her Serene Highness Princess Louise of Battenberg, the daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg. In 1917, he renounced all of his German titles and anglicized his family name to Mountbatten. Louise was the sister of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and the aunt of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Gustav of Sweden, was a widower whose first wife, the late Princess Margaret of Connaught died on May 1, 1920. The marriage of Gustav and Louise was very happy, but unfortunately it did not produce any children, as their only daughter was born stillborn. Queen Louise died on March 7, 1965 and King Gustav died on September 15, 1973.

4 November 1926: Prince Leopold of Belgium and Princess Astrid of Sweden (later Leopold III and Queen Astrid). Prince Leopold, the then Duke of Brabant, met Princess Astrid of Sweden, niece to the Swedish King, on a ball, where they danced together all night. They fell in love at first sight and were engaged soon after. The civil wedding took place on 4 November in Stockholm, followed by a religious ceremony on 10 November in Brussels. The couple had three children, Joséphine-Charlotte, who married the then Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Baudouin, who succeeded his father to the throne and Albert, who later succeeded his brother. Astrid died in a car accident in Kussnacht, Switzerland on 29 August 1935, after she had been Queen of the Belgians for only a year, and reputedly pregnant with her fourth child.

21 March 1929: Prince Olav of Norway (later Olav V) and Princess Märtha of Sweden. Prince Olav of Norway was born as Alexander Edward Christian Frederik, Prince of Denmark, as son of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wales, daughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom. He became Crown Prince of Norway when his father was elected King in 1905, which is also when he adopted the name of Olav. He married his first cousin, Princess Märtha of Sweden, the sister of Princess Astrid of Sweden who married the Belgian Crown Prince. The couple had three children, Princess Ragnhild, Princess Astrid and the later Harald V of Norway. Crown Princess Märtha died of cancer in 1854, three years before her husband became king.

Deaths

1 May 1920: Princess Margaretha of Sweden. Princess Margaretha of Sweden was born Princess Margaret of Connaught. The eldest daughter of Queen Victoria’s son Arthur and his wife, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. In 1905, Margaret married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden. During World War I Margaretha was heavily involved with the war on the home front. Princess Margaretha died suddenly in Stockholm after an infection set in following a mastoid operation. At the time of her death, she was eight months pregnant with her sixth child.

11 July 1920: Empress Eugenie was the daughter of Don Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero and his wife María Manuela Enriqueta Kirkpatrick de Closbourn y de Grevigné. In 1853 she married Napoléon III of France. Her marriage was a controversial one since Napoléon III chose to marry for love rather than for an alliance. She was a trendsetter in fashion and because of her education and intelligence Napoléon usually consulted her on important questions, and she acted as Regent during his absences in 1859, 1865 and 1870. She died at age 94 while in Spain. She is buried in the Imperial Crypt at Saint Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, with her husband and son.

6 September 1920: Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was the daughter of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz. Many considered her to be the grandest of the Grand Duchesses. Grand Duchess Maria was the last of the Romanov’s to escape from Revolutionary Russia and was the first of the Romanov’s to die in exile. She stayed in Russia because she held out hope that she could get her eldest son, Kirill Vladimirovich, put onto the Russian throne. She was staying at the Hôtel la Souveraine when she died.

25 October 1920: Alexander of Greece was born at Tatoi near Athens and was the second son of Constantine I and his wife, Sophie of Prussia. During World War I, Alexander’s father insisted that Greece remain neutral. The Prime Minister disagreed with him and invited British and French troops into Greece, who forced Constantine and the Crown Prince into exile. Alexander was then placed as king of Greece, though he had no real powers. Alexander died in Athens from sepsis following a monkey bite.

2 October 1921: Wilhelm II, the last king of Württemberg was the son of Prince Frederick of Württemberg and his wife Princess Catherine of Württemberg (daughter of King William I of Württemberg). He succeeded his childless uncle, King Charles I. During World War I he was a Generalfeldmarschall and in 1918 he was deposed from the throne along with the other German rulers. When he died in 1921 the senior Württemberg branch became extinct.

18 October 1921: Ludwig III, the last king of Bavaria was the eldest son of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and his wife, Archduchess Augusta of Austria (daughter of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany). During World War I, Ludwig became increasingly unpopular and was the first of the German monarchs to be deposed. Ludwig died in his castle Nádasdy in Sárvár in Hungary. Ludwig and his wife (who died in 1919) were given a state funeral and are buried in Munich in the crypt of the Munich Frauenkirche Cathedral.

1 April 1922: Emperor Charles I of Austria-Hungary was the eldest son of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria and his wife Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. After giving up his throne in 1918 he tried twice to regain the throne of Hungary in 1922, but failed. He died of severe pneumonia on the Portuguese island of Madeira in 1922. His remains except for his heart are still kept on the island, in the Church of Our Lady of the Monte.

14 May 1922: Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton, first wife of Albert I of Monaco was the daughter of William Alexander Anthony Archibald Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Princess Marie Amelie Elizabeth Caroline of Baden. She was a cousin to Emperor Napoléon III of France, Queen Carola of Saxony, Queen Stephanie of Portugal, King Carol I of Romania, and Countess Marie of Flanders. Two of her descendants are Albert II of Monaco and Egon von Fürstenberg (through her second marriage to Count Tassilo Festetics von Tolna).

26 June 1922: Albert I of Monaco was the son of Prince Charles III, and his wife Countess Antoinette de Mérode-Westerloo, a Belgian noblewoman. Albert was married twice; his first wife was Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton and his second wife was Alice Heine. During World War I, Monaco declared its neutrality, but did provide services to the Allied forces. Albert died in Paris, France.

11 January 1923: Constantine I of Greece was born in Athens and was the eldest born son of the Danish-born King George I of Greece and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. During World War I, Constantine insisted that Greece remain neutral, even though his well known sympathies lay with Imperial Germany. His Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos was pro-Allied. The Prime Minister disagreed with the stance of neutrality and invited British and French troops into Greece, who forced Constantine and Crown Prince George into exile in Switzerland. Constantine returned to Greece in 1920 after the death of his brother Alexander and the defeat of Eleftherios Venizelos in a general election. Constantine abdicated his throne a final time in 1922 and his son, George was crowned king. Constantine died in Palermo, Sicily.

24 January 1924: Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg was the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg and Marie Anne of Portugal. Marie-Adélaïde’s parents did not have any sons and to prevent a crisis of succession she was named the heir apparent for her father in 1907. In 1912 on the death of her father she became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. During World War I Marie-Adélaïde was critized for having a cordial relationship with the German occuping forces and was forced to abdicate in 1919 in favor of her sister Charlotte. Marie-Adélaïde entered a convent in Italy, taking the name “Sister Marie of the Poor”. She died of influenza at Hohenburg Castle and is interred in the Ducal Crypt of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in the city of Luxembourg.

20 November 1925: Queen Alexandra was the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (later known as Christian IX of Denmark) and his wife Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. In 1863 Alexandra became the Princess of Wales when she married Prince Albert Edward, eldest son of Victoria and Albert. The Prince and Princess of Wales had six children. Alexandra became Queen on 1901 on the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria. She died at Sandringham after suffering a heart attack and was buried next to her husband in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor

22 December 1925: Alice Heine was the American born second wife of Albert I of Monaco. She was the daughter of Michael Heine and his wife Marie Amélie Miltenberger. Due to the Civil War that broke out in the United States, Alice and her family fled from Louisiana to France. She married her first husband, Marie Odet Armand Aimable Chapelle, Marquis of Jumilhac, 7th Duke of Richelieu and of Fronsac in 1875 and had one child, a son. Her husband died in 1880 and in 1889 she married Albert I of Monaco. In 1902 Albert and Alice separated, but did not divorce. She never remarried.

20 March 1926: Queen Lovisa of Denmark was the only daughter of King Charles XV of Sweden and his wife Louise of the Netherlands. Her only brother died when he was a toddler and there was talk for a time of making Lovisa the heir to her father. The provision of a female monarch had not been made for in the new constitution of 1809, but the laws were not changed because Lovisa’s uncle had a male son in 1858. In 1869 she married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. Louise and Frederik had eight children. She raised her children rather strictly, compared to her own free and independent upbringing. Queen Louise died in Amalienborg, Copenhagen and is interred next to her husband in Roskilde Cathedral.

25 December 1926: Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito Shinnō) was the son of the Meiji Emperor and Yanagiwara Naruko, a concubine with the official title of gon-no-tenji. As was common practice at the time, the Meiji emperor’s consort, Empress Shōken, was officially regarded as his mother. In 1900 Crown Prince Yoshihito married 15-year-old Kujō Sadako (Empress Teimei), the daughter of Prince Kujō Michitaka and had four sons. He succeeded his father as Emperor in 1912, but was rarely seen due to health issues that had plagued him most of his life. Taishō died of a heart attack at the Imperial villa at Hayama, on Sagami Bay south of Tokyo.

19 January 1927: Empress Carlota (Charlotte) of Mexico was the only daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians and his second wife, Louise-Marie, Princess of France. In 1857 Charlotte married her second cousin Archduke Maximilian of Austria. In 1864, Maximilian was named Emperor of Mexico after the position was offered to him by Napoléon III. Shortly after Maximilian became Emperor, Napoléon started to withdraw his troops from Mexico. Charlotte left Mexico to try to find assistance for her, but her efforts failed. She never returned to Mexico. Charlotte died at Bouchout Castle in Meise, Belgium.

13 October 1928: Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Dagmar) was the second daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (later known as Christian IX of Denmark) and his wife Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. She was the mother to the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. In 1864 she was engaged to the heir apparent, Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia, but he died of tuberculosis in 1865. In 1866, the new Tsarevich, Alexander, proposed to Dagmar and she accepted and were married later on that year. They had eight children. She became Empress in 1881 when her father-in-law was killed by a roadside bomb. The greatest tragedy in her life was the Russian Revolution and the execution of her son, Tsar Nicholas and his family. She died at Hvidøre near Copenhagen and was interred at Roskilde Cathedral. In 2006 her remains were returned to Russia to be buried next to her husband at the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

6 February 1929: Queen Maria Christina of Spain was the daughter of Archduke Karl Ferdinand and his wife, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria. In 1879 she became the second wife of Alfonso XII of Spain. Alfonso and Maria Christina had three children. Alfonso died in 1885, while Maria Christina was pregnant with their third child. A son, Alfonso XIII, was born and Maria Christina became the Queen Regent until he came of age in 1902. She died at the Royal Palace in Madrid and is buried at El Escorial.

Accessions, Enthronements, Jubilees, and Abdications

27 June 1922: Louis II of Monaco ascends the throne to the Principality of Monaco, after the death of his father Prince Albert I of Monaco.

22 September 1922: Abdication of Constantine I of Greece abdicated the throne of Greece following an army revolt.

27 September 1922: George II of Greece ascends the throne of Greece following the abdication of Constantine I of Greece.

15 October 1922: King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania are officially crowned. King Ferdinand ascended the throne of Romania following the death of his father, King Carol of Romania in 1914. Due to World War I, however, they were not officially crowned until 1922.

19 December 1923: Greek royals exiled following a failed royalist coup.

25 March 1924: George II of Greece was deposed when a republic was proclaimed. He was also stripped of his Greek nationality.

5 November 1925: Enthronement of prince Bảo Đại in Annam (Indochina/Vietnam)

15 December 1925: Reza Shah Pahlavi ascends the throne of Iran following the overthrow of Ahmad Shah Qajar, and became the first Shah of the Pahlvai dynasty

25 December 1926: Emporor Hirohito of Japan assumed the throne upon the death of his father Yoshihito.

17 November 1927: Accession of Mohammed V of Morocco following the death of Yusef of Morocco.

1 September 1928: General Ahmet Bey Zogu is crowned as King Zog I of the Albanians

7 October 1928: Hailé Selassie of Ethiopia is entrhoned at Addis Ababa’s Cathedral of St. George. The coronation was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world.

Major World Events

30 December 1922: Creation of the USSR. After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917, Russia was ruled by a provisional government that supported socialist principles but was prepared to engage with the rest of the world and to hold elections at home. This government was overthrown by the militantly socialist Bolsheviks during the October Revolution. The system of soviets (workers’ councils) was used by the Bolsheviks during the revolution, and these councils became the basis of the Communist government after its victory in the Russian Civil War of 1918 to 1921. In December 1922, delegates from the Russian, Transcaucasian, Byelorussian, and Ukrainian Soviet Republics approved the creation of the USSR; the documents creating this entity were signed by the heads of the delegations on 30 December. The USSR existed as a Communist state until December 1991, when it was formally dissolved.

2 October 1925: Invention of the television. Technological advances making possible the invention of the television had been going on for several decades, since the second half of the 19th century. These technologies allowed the transmission of very crude still images over telegraph and telephone lines, a great advantage for newspaper publishers. In March 1925, John Logie Baird demonstrated the transmission of moving silhouettes, but it was not until October of that year that he managed to transmit moving images showing variation in tone as opposed to just silhouettes. He gave his first public demonstration of transmission of moving images in January 1926, and has therefore become known as the inventor of the television. TV has come a long way from these crude beginnings, and nowadays is one of the most effective types of media for connecting the royals with the public.

April 1927: Outbreak of the Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Civil War was fought between two republican factions that had sprung up after the collapse of the monarchy in 1911. The nationalist Kuomintang Party and the Communist Party of China were both supported and advised by the Soviet Union, whose leaders hoped to introduce Communist rule to China. The two parties generally cooperated with each other, but during the expedition in 1926 to try to take control of the northern part of the country from the warlords who ruled it, the ruling Kuomintang Party fractured, and its left-wing elements joined forces with the Communist Party. Starting in April 1927, the Communists started uprisings and rebellions around the country. With interruptions due to the second Sino-Japanese war and World War II, the civil war continued until the Communists claimed victory in 1950.

1929: Start of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was heralded by a collapse of the stock market in October 1929, following a long period of intense stock market speculation, reckless borrowing, and overconsumption earlier in the 1920s, known as the Roaring Twenties. In the United States the Depression continued until things started to improve in 1933; the instability in Europe caused by the Depression was a contributing factor in the rise of the Nazi government in Germany, which led to World War II. The problems in Europe were a factor in the faster recovery from the Depression in the United States. Unemployment was high throughout the Western world in much of the 1930s, leading to social unrest and widespread poverty. These conditions, and the subsequent war, led to the overthrow of some of the European monarchies, most notably in Italy, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

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