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Soviet Volunteer Group

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The Soviet Volunteer Group was the volunteer part of the Soviet Air Forces sent to support the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937 and 1941. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident , the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed leading to considerable Soviet military assistance to China, including the volunteer squadrons. China paid for the support with raw materials.

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79-635: In the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent worldwide economic crisis, the Empire of Japan pursued an expansionist policy against its weakened neighbors in the Far East . On 18 September 1931, Japan staged the Mukden Incident using it as a pretext for its invasion of Chinese Manchuria . Japan went on to transform the north–east of China into a puppet state under

158-689: A Chinese request the Soviets also agreed to provide military advisors and volunteer pilots. The first group of military advisors arrived in China in early June 1938. By February 1939, 3665 Soviet military specialists headed by Mikhail Dratvin had been deployed. In October 1937, some 450 Soviet pilots and technicians assembled in Moscow , subsequently traveling to Alma Ata to bring 155 fighter aircraft, 62 bombers, and 8 trainers into China. The Soviets arrived as private citizens and initially wore civilian clothing,

237-586: A cargo and paratroop transport, carrying up to 35 soldiers in the latter role. In the first five months of the war, the aircraft transported 2,797 t (6,166,000 lb) of cargo and 2,300 personnel. The TB-3 was also used in several special projects as a fighter mothership in the Zveno project and for delivering light T-27 , T-37 , and T-38 tanks. On 1 August 1941, a pair of TB-3s in Zveno-SPB configuration, each with two Polikarpov I-16 fighters carrying

316-430: A concurrent wing area increase from 230 to 234.5 m (2,476 to 2,524 sq ft). Any part of the aircraft could be walked on in soft shoes without damaging the skin, and the leading edges of the wings swung down to form walkways for engine maintenance. Controls were cable-actuated with a variable-incidence tailplane and a trim compensation system in case of engine failures on one side. Fixed main landing gear

395-514: A daily rate of 133 in 1931). The 1929 crash brought the Roaring Twenties to a halt. As tentatively expressed by economic historian Charles P. Kindleberger , in 1929, there was no lender of last resort effectively present, which, if it had existed and been properly exercised, would have been key in shortening the business slowdown that normally follows financial crises. The crash instigated widespread and long-lasting consequences for

474-559: A light tank transport. In 1925, the Soviet Air Force approached TsAGI with a requirement for a heavy bomber with total engine output of 1,500 kW (2,000 hp) and either wheeled or float landing gear. Tupolev OKB started design work in 1926 with the government operational requirements finalized in 1929. The Tupolev TB-1 was taken as the basis for the design and the aircraft was initially powered by 440 kW (590 hp) Curtiss V-1570 "Conqueror" engines, with

553-634: A mass of 250 million bushels of wheat to be "carried over" when 1929 opened. By May there was also a winter wheat crop of 560 million bushels ready for harvest in the Mississippi Valley. The oversupply caused such a drop in wheat prices that the net incomes of farmers from wheat were threatened with extinction. Stock markets are always sensitive to the future state of commodity markets, and the slump in Wall Street that had been predicted for May by Sir George Paish arrived on time. In June 1929,

632-581: A pair of 250 kg (550 lb) bombs, destroyed an oil depot with no losses in the port of Constanța , Romania . On 11 and 13 August 1941, Zveno-SPB successfully damaged the King Carol I Bridge over the Danube in Romania. Zveno operations ended in the autumn of 1942 due to the vulnerability of the motherships. In recognition of the role TB-3 played during the war, three aircraft were included in

711-490: A practice of suspending trading when prices fell rapidly to limit panic selling . Scholars differ over crash's effect on the Great Depression, with some claiming that the price fluctuations were insufficient on their own to trigger a major collapse of the financial system, with others arguing that the crash, combined with the other economic problems in the U.S. at the end of the 1920s, should be jointly interpreted as

790-508: A serious setback to industry when industrial production is for the most part in a healthy and balanced condition?" They argued that there must be some setback, but there was not yet sufficient evidence to prove that it would be long or would necessarily produce a general industrial depression. However, The Economist also cautioned that some bank failures were also to be expected and some banks may not have had any reserves left for financing commercial and industrial enterprises. It concluded that

869-467: A single TB-3 4M-17F was streamlined with the removal of turrets and bomb shackles , covering all openings, and fitting wheel spats. This resulted in only a 4.5% increase in top speed and a similar increase in the range. Tupolev concluded that streamlining was minimally beneficial for large and slow aircraft. To study the effect of corrugated skin, in January–February 1935 a single TB-3 4AM-34R had

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948-445: A stage in the business cycles which affect all capitalist economies. The " Roaring Twenties ", the decade following World War I that led to the crash, was a time of wealth and excess. Building on post-war optimism, rural Americans migrated to the cities in vast numbers throughout the decade with hopes of finding a more prosperous life in the ever-growing expansion of America's industrial sector. Scholars believe that declines in

1027-546: A strategy used during the Panic of 1907 . This encouraged a brief recovery before Black Tuesday. Further action failed to halt the fall, which continued until July 8, 1932; by then, the stock market had lost some 90% of its pre-crash value. The United States Congress responded to the events by passing the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass–Steagall Act), which separated commercial and investment banking . Stock exchanges introduced

1106-489: A temporary countermeasure. The League of Nations remained silent on the issue of Japanese imperialism, pushing China to reactivate its unofficial communication channels with its only remaining potential ally. The Anti-Comintern Pact , signed on 25 November 1936, erased the last doubts held by both sides regarding the ongoing reconciliation efforts. On 7 July 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident marked

1185-419: A thick layer of camouflage and lacquer. The factories asked the workers for suggestions on reducing the weight, paying 100 roubles for each 1 kg (2.2 lb) removed from the aircraft. In combination with OKB efforts, this resulted in weight savings of almost 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). Despite this, production aircraft could differ from each other by as much as several hundred kilograms. In 1933,

1264-525: A total of 236 Soviet pilots were killed in action or in accidents. There are a total of 70 monuments to the Soviet aviators in China. The most notable of which being Jiefang Gongyuan (Liberation Park) in Wuhan , which was built in 1956 and houses the remains of 15 Soviet pilots. The Liberation Park Memorial was renovated in 2008. Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street crash of 1929 , also known as

1343-474: Is considered the most devastating in the country's history. It is most associated with October 24, 1929, known as "Black Thursday", when a record 12.9 million shares were traded on the NYSE in a single day (compared to an average of 4 million), and October 29, 1929, "Black Tuesday", when some 16.4 million shares were traded. The " Roaring Twenties " of the previous decade had been a time of industrial expansion in

1422-596: The Great Crash or Crash of '29 , was a major stock market crash in the United States in late 1929, beginning in late October with a sharp decline in prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and ending in mid-November. The crash, which began a rapid erosion of confidence in the U.S. banking system and marked the beginning of the worldwide Great Depression , which lasted until 1939,

1501-557: The National City Bank , would provide $ 25 million in credit to stop the market's slide. Mitchell's move brought a temporary halt to the financial crisis, and call money declined from 20 to 8 percent. However, the American economy showed ominous signs of trouble. Steel production declined, construction was sluggish, automobile sales went down, and consumers were building up large debts because of easy credit. Despite all

1580-484: The National City Bank of New York . They chose Richard Whitney , vice president of the Exchange, to act on their behalf. With the bankers' financial resources behind him, Whitney placed a bid to purchase 25,000 shares of U.S. Steel at $ 205 per share, a price well above the current market. As traders watched, Whitney then placed similar bids on other " blue chip " stocks. The tactic was similar to one that had ended

1659-505: The Panic of 1907 and succeeded in halting the slide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered, closing down only 6.38 points (2.09%) for the day. On October 28, " Black Monday ", more investors facing margin calls decided to get out of the market, and the slide continued with a record loss in the Dow for the day of 38.33 points, or 12.82%. On October 29, 1929, " Black Tuesday " hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on

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1738-528: The Pecora Commission was established by the U.S. Senate to study the causes of the crash. The following year, the U.S. Congress passed the Glass–Steagall Act mandating a separation between commercial banks , which take deposits and extend loans , and investment banks , which underwrite , issue, and distribute stocks , bonds , and other securities . Afterwards, stock markets around

1817-610: The Soviet Navy . Stationed far from the USSR's western border, the ТB-3s avoided catastrophic losses during the first German air strikes, after which TB-3s from 3rd TBAP (Heavy Bomber Regiment) began flying night bombing missions on 23 June. A shortage of combat-ready aircraft also required daytime use of TB-3s without fighter escort and in this role the bombers, operating at low-to-medium altitudes, suffered heavy losses to enemy fighters and ground fire. By August 1941, TB-3s made up 25% of

1896-810: The non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany in 1939. As a result, the Chinese turned to the United States, which authorized the creation of the American Volunteer Group Flying Tigers . Distinguished pilots who fought in the unit include Fyodor Polynin , Pavel Rychagov , Sidor Slyusarev , Timofey Khryukin , Stepan Suprun , Grigory Kravchenko , Konstantin Kokkinaki , Georgi Zakharov , Grigory Tkhor and Pavel Zhigarev . Between 1937 and 1940,

1975-477: The ticker tape in brokerage offices around the nation was hours late, and so investors had no idea what most stocks were trading for. Several leading Wall Street bankers met to find a solution to the panic and chaos on the trading floor. The meeting included Thomas W. Lamont , acting head of Morgan Bank ; Albert Wiggin , head of the Chase National Bank ; and Charles E. Mitchell, president of

2054-490: The uptick rule , which allowed short selling only when the last tick in a stock's price was positive, was implemented after the 1929 market crash to prevent short sellers from driving the price of a stock down in a bear raid . The stock market crash of October 1929 led directly to the Great Depression in Europe. When stocks plummeted on the New York Stock Exchange , the world noticed immediately. Although financial leaders in

2133-427: The Dow closing at 198.60. The market then recovered for several months, starting on November 14, with the Dow gaining 18.59 points to close at 217.28, and reaching a secondary closing peak ( bear market rally ) of 294.07 on April 17, 1930. The Dow then embarked on another, much longer, steady slide from April 1930 to July 8, 1932, when it closed at 41.22, its lowest level of the 20th century, concluding an 89.2% loss for

2212-516: The Great Depression. True or not, the consequences were dire for almost everybody. Most academic experts agree on one aspect of the crash: It wiped out billions of dollars of wealth in one day, and this immediately depressed consumer buying. The failure set off a worldwide run on US gold deposits (i.e., the dollar) and forced the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates into the slump. Some 4,000 banks and other lenders ultimately failed. Also,

2291-476: The London Stock Exchange. In the days leading up to the crash, the market was severely unstable. Periods of selling and high volumes were interspersed with brief periods of rising prices and recovery. Selling intensified in mid-October. On October 24, " Black Thursday ", the market lost 11% of its value at the opening bell on very heavy trading. The huge volume meant that the report of prices on

2370-619: The New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Around $ 14 billion of stock value was lost, wiping out thousands of investors. The panic selling reached its peak with some stocks having no buyers at any price. The Dow lost an additional 30.57 points, or 11.73%, for a total drop of 68.90 points, or 23.05% in two days. On October 29, William C. Durant joined with members of the Rockefeller family and other financial giants to buy large quantities of stocks to demonstrate to

2449-610: The Soviet Air Force approved mass production of the ANT-6 with M-17 engines. The prototype was refitted with 540 kW (720 hp) BMW VIz 500 engines, larger radiators, and wooden fixed-pitch propellers of TsAGI design. Single-wheel landing gear was deemed too weak and was replaced by tandem bogies with 1,350 mm × 300 mm (53 in × 12 in) tires. The first pre-production TB-3 4M-17 flew on 4 January 1932 with Andrey Yumashev and I. F. Petrov at

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2528-532: The Soviet bomber force and, operated by elite air force crews, were flying up to three combat missions per night. The aircraft participated in all major battles through 1943, including the first Battle of Smolensk , the Battle of Moscow , the Battle of Stalingrad , the Siege of Leningrad , and the Battle of Kursk . On 1 July 1945, 18th Air Army still had ten TB-3s on the active roster. The TB-3 served extensively as

2607-562: The Soviets described them as a "museum of antiquity", and were manned by less than 600 men. Morale was low and the improvement of the situation was hampered by corrupt officials who bought outdated foreign equipment in return for bribes. The Japanese outnumbered the Chinese in the air by a 13:1 ratio and were better trained. Moreover, the Japanese aircraft were faster and equipped with such novelties as night vision devices and radios, easily outmaneuvering and overpowering any opposition. Although

2686-676: The U.S., and much of the profit had been invested in speculation , including in stocks. Many members of the public, disappointed by the low interest rates offered on their bank deposits, committed their relatively small sums to stockbrokers . By 1929, the U.S. economy was showing signs of trouble; the agricultural sector was depressed due to overproduction and falling prices, forcing many farmers into debt, and consumer goods manufacturers also had unsellable output due to low wages and therefore low buying power . Factory owners cut production and fired staff, reducing demand even further. Despite these trends, investors continued to buy shares in areas of

2765-523: The UK, protests often focused on the so-called means test , which the government had instituted in 1931 to limit the amount of unemployment payments made to individuals and families. For working people, the means test seemed an intrusive and insensitive way to deal with the chronic and relentless deprivation caused by the economic crisis. The strikes were met forcefully, with police breaking up protests, arresting demonstrators, and charging them with crimes related to

2844-659: The United Kingdom, as in the United States, vastly underestimated the extent of the crisis that ensued, it soon became clear that the world's economies were more interconnected than ever. The effects of the disruption to the global system of financing, trade, and production and the subsequent meltdown of the American economy were soon felt throughout Europe. In 1930 and 1931, in particular, unemployed workers went on strike, demonstrated in public, and otherwise took direct action to call public attention to their plight. Within

2923-427: The United States. Historians still debate whether the 1929 crash sparked the Great Depression or if it merely coincided with bursting a loose credit-inspired economic bubble. Only 16% of American households were invested in the stock market within the United States during the period leading up to this depression, suggesting that the crash carried somewhat less weight in causing it. However, the psychological effects of

3002-904: The beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War . On 21 August, China and the Soviet Union signed a non–aggression pact. Although the pact made no mention of Soviet military support, it de facto established a tacit understanding that the Soviets would provide both military and material aid. In September 1937, a secret decree issued by the Soviet Orgburo ordered that 225 aircraft, including 62 Polikarpov I-15 , 93 Polikarpov I-16 and 8 Yakovlev UT-4 trainers, be sent to China. In March and July 1938 as well as in July 1939, China received loans of 50, 50 and 150 million $ respectively, with an annual interest of 3%. The loans were to be repaid through exports of tea, wool, leather and metals. Upon

3081-411: The controls. Unexpectedly, subsequent mass-produced aircraft were found to be 10–12% heavier than the prototype, which significantly hampered performance. The discrepancy was discovered to be due to high positive tolerances on raw materials which resulted in steel sheetmetal, pipes, and wires being much thicker than on the carefully constructed prototypes. The aircraft were also more crudely painted with

3160-494: The corrugations incrementally covered with fabric. This resulted in a 5.5% gain in top speed and a 27.5% increase in the ceiling. The same aircraft demonstrated a significant increase in climb rate when fitted with experimental four-blade propellers. The TB-3 was an all-metal aircraft of steel construction, as one of the designs from Andrei Tupolev's design bureau to be based on the 1918-onward all-metal aircraft design practices and technology pioneered by Hugo Junkers . The frame

3239-543: The crash reverberated across the nation as businesses became aware of the difficulties in securing capital market investments for new projects and expansions. Business uncertainty naturally affects job security for employees, and as the American worker (the consumer) faced uncertainty with regard to income, naturally the propensity to consume declined. The decline in stock prices caused bankruptcies and severe macroeconomic difficulties, including contraction of credit, business closures, firing of workers, bank failures, decline of

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3318-409: The crash, economist Irving Fisher famously proclaimed "Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau". The optimism and the financial gains of the great bull market were shaken after a well-publicized September 8 prediction from financial expert Roger Babson that "a crash is coming, and it may be terrific". The initial September decline was thus called the "Babson Break" in

3397-657: The economic warning signs and the market breaks in March and May 1929, stocks resumed their advance in June, and the gains continued almost unabated until early September 1929 (the Dow Jones average gained more than 20% between June and September). The market had been on a nine-year run that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average increase in value tenfold, peaking at 381.17 on September 3, 1929. Shortly before

3476-505: The economy where output was declining and unemployment was increasing, so the purchase price of stocks greatly exceeded their real value. By September 1929, more experienced shareholders realized that prices could not continue to rise and began to get rid of their holdings, which caused share values to stall and then fall, encouraging more to sell. As investors panicked, the selling became frenzied. After Black Thursday, leading bankers joined forces to purchase stock at prices above market value,

3555-516: The end of September, the market had dropped 10% from the peak (the "Babson Break"). Selling intensified in early and mid-October, with sharp down days punctuated by a few up days. Panic selling of massive proportion started the week of October 21 and intensified and culminated on October 24, October 28, and especially October 29 ("Black Tuesday"). The president of the Chase National Bank, Albert H. Wiggin , said at

3634-602: The engine nacelles . Later variants moved one of the top fuselage turrets aft of the tail fin. The TB-3 was used operationally during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol against Japan and in the Winter War with Finland . Although it was officially withdrawn from service in 1939, at the start of the Great Patriotic War on 22 June 1941, the Soviet Air Force had 516 operational TB-3s, with an additional 25 operated by

3713-431: The face value of the stocks that they were buying. Over $ 8.5 billion was out on loan, more than the entire amount of currency circulating in the United States at the time. The rising share prices encouraged more people to invest on the hope that share prices would rise further. Speculation thus fueled further rises and created an economic bubble . Because of margin buying , investors stood to lose large sums of money if

3792-411: The first six months of 1929, of 36.6% over 1928, itself a record half-year. Iron and steel led the way with doubled gains. Such figures set up a crescendo of stock-exchange speculation that led hundreds of thousands of Americans to invest heavily in the stock market. Many people were borrowing money to buy more stocks. By August 1929, brokers were routinely lending small investors more than two-thirds of

3871-512: The former temporary capital of Nanjing fell to the Japanese, turning the aerodrome of Xiangyang into the main Soviet base. 200 Soviet pilots took part in the defense of the new capital, Hankou, flying in mixed squadrons along with Chinese pilots. On 23 February 1938, the Soviet Volunteer Group conducted its first operation outside Chinese borders, with 12 and 28 bombers departing from Nanjing and Hankou, respectively. The target

3950-567: The front lines of the Spanish Civil War where the Soviets also had a sizeable military mission. Of the aircraft supplied, half were turned over to the Chinese Air Force and half were flown and maintained by Soviet personnel. The Soviet air units were stationed at bases near the cities of Nanjing , Hankou , and Chongqing , and at Lanzhou in China's northwest at the terminus of the Soviet supply route. On 13 December 1937,

4029-462: The ground, port facilities and hangars were destroyed while several ships sustained minor damages. On 28 April, the Japanese launched a massive air raid on the Wuhan military airport with the intent of celebrating the birthday of emperor Hirohito . At 10:00 a.m. they were met by 60 Soviet I-15 and I-16 fighters. In the largest air battle at that point of the war the Japanese lost 21 aircraft, while Soviet losses were limited to 2. Among those killed

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4108-481: The index in less than three years. Beginning on March 15, 1933, and continuing through the rest of the 1930s, the Dow began to slowly regain the ground it had lost. The largest percentage increases of the Dow Jones occurred during the early and mid-1930s. In late 1937, there was a sharp dip in the stock market, but prices held well above the 1932 lows. The Dow Jones did not return to its peak close of September 3, 1929, for 25 years, until November 23, 1954. In 1932,

4187-469: The intent of switching to Mikulin M-17s (modified BMW VIs ) in production. The mock-up was approved on 21 March 1930 and the first prototype was completed on 31 October 1930. The aircraft flew on 22 December 1930 with Mikhail Gromov at the controls and with ski landing gear. Despite almost crashing owing to vibration causing the throttles to close, the test flight was a success. On 20 February 1931,

4266-496: The largest financial crisis of the 20th century. The panic of October 1929 has come to serve as a symbol of the economic contraction that gripped the world during the next decade. The falls in share prices on October 24 and 29, 1929 were practically instantaneous in all financial markets, except Japan. The Wall Street Crash had a major impact on the U.S. and world economy, and it has been the source of intense academic historical, economic, and political debate from its aftermath until

4345-530: The latter were never used in combat. Apart from the aforementioned I-15, I-16 and UT-4, the Soviets also supplied Tupolev TB-3 , Tupolev SB , and Ilyushin DB-3 bombers. Over 1,200 aircraft had been sent to China by the end of 1941. At the time of the arrival of the first Soviet volunteers, the Chinese Air Force had been reduced to less than 100 serviceable aircraft. These were machines so outdated that

4424-651: The market turned down or even if it failed to advance quickly enough. The average price to earnings ratio of S&P Composite stocks was 32.6 in September 1929, clearly above historical norms. According to the economist John Kenneth Galbraith , the exuberance also resulted in a large number of people placing their savings and money in leverage investment products like Goldman Sachs 's "Blue Ridge trust" and "Shenandoah Trust", which crashed in 1929 as well, resulting in losses to banks of $ 475 billion in 2010 dollars ($ 663.68 billion in 2023). Good harvests had built up

4503-624: The mission remaining a secret even from their closest relatives. They were instructed to avoid using the term comrade , and in the event of their capture they were to claim that they were former members of the White movement permanently residing in China. Prior to each mission, the pilots changed into Chinese uniforms, whilst their planes were marked with Chinese Air Force insignia. By 1941, the Soviet-built aircraft sent to China would amount to 885, including two-engine and four-engine bombers, though

4582-556: The money supply caused by Federal Reserve decisions had a severely contractionary effect on output. Despite the inherent risk of speculation , it was widely believed that the stock market would continue to rise forever. On March 25, 1929, after the Federal Reserve warned of excessive speculation, a small crash occurred as investors started to sell stocks at a rapid pace, exposing the market's shaky foundation. Two days later, banker Charles E. Mitchell announced that his company,

4661-406: The money supply, and other economically depressing events. The resultant rise of mass unemployment is seen as a result of the crash, although the crash is by no means the sole event that contributed to the depression. The Wall Street Crash is usually seen as having the greatest impact on the events that followed and therefore is widely regarded as signaling the downward economic slide that initiated

4740-466: The name of Manchukuo . In the plans of the Japanese general staff, Manchukuo was to serve as a stepping stone for the future conquest of the rest of China. Facing increasing pressure China strengthened its ties with Germany . Starting from 1933, a German mission headed by Hans von Seeckt provided crucial military support to the government of Chiang Kai-shek , reorganizing the army and providing training and modern arms. German aid began to wane in 1937 and

4819-580: The personnel were briefed on the situation in China and the importance of their participation in the fight against Japan, they were not volunteers; Soviet Air Force commander Aleksandr Loktionov and his deputy Yakov Smushkevich selected the personnel for the Soviet Volunteer Group. At its peak the Soviet Volunteer Group numbered 3,665 personnel, including doctors, drivers, mechanics, meteorologists, cryptographers, radio operators, airfield managers and pilots. 2,000 of these were pilots and 1,000 took part in combat missions. Some of them had been sent directly from

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4898-525: The position of the banks was the key to the situation, but what was going to happen could not have been foreseen. Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz 's A Monetary History of the United States , argues that what made the "great contraction" so severe was not the downturn in the business cycle, protectionism , or the 1929 stock market crash in themselves but the collapse of the banking system during three waves of panics from 1930 to 1933. Tupolev TB-3 The Tupolev TB-3 , OKB designation ANT-6 ,

4977-668: The position was saved by a severe drought in the Dakotas and the Canadian West, as well as unfavorable seed times in Argentina and eastern Australia. The oversupply was now wanted to fill the gaps in the 1929 world wheat production. From 97¢ per bushel in May, the price of wheat rose to $ 1.49 in July. When it was seen that figure would make American farmers get more for their crop that year than in 1928, stocks went up again. In August,

5056-537: The present day. Some people believed that abuses by utility holding companies contributed to the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. Many people blamed the crash on commercial banks that were too eager to put deposits at risk on the stock market. In 1930, 1,352 banks held more than $ 853 million in deposits; in 1931, one year later, 2,294 banks failed with nearly $ 1.7 billion in deposits. Many businesses failed (28,285 failures and

5135-599: The press. That was the start of the Great Crash, but until the severe phase of the crash in October, many investors regarded the September "Babson Break" as a "healthy correction" and buying opportunity. On September 20, 1929, top British investor Clarence Hatry and many of his associates were jailed for fraud and forgery, leading to the suspension of his companies. This may have weakened the confidence of Americans in their own companies, although it had minimal impact on

5214-453: The price had fallen to $ 1.31 per bushel. Other important economic barometers were also slowing or even falling by mid-1929, including car sales, house sales, and steel production. The falling commodity and industrial production may have dented even American self-confidence, and the stock market peaked on September 3 at 381.17 just after Labor Day, and it started to falter after Roger Babson issued his prescient "market crash" forecast. By

5293-407: The public their confidence in the market, but their efforts failed to stop the large decline in prices. The massive volume of stocks traded that day made the ticker continue to run until about 7:45 p.m. After a one-day recovery on October 30, when the Dow regained 28.40 points, or 12.34%, to close at 258.47, the market continued to fall, arriving at an interim bottom on November 13, 1929, with

5372-476: The situation as its territory now housed a colony of 40,000 Soviet citizens working on the Chinese Eastern Railway . Although the Soviets refused to officially recognize the new state, they sold the railway to the Japanese in March 1935, at a cut-rate following a series of Japanese provocations. The Soviets felt unready for a new confrontation with Japan, opting to improve relations with China as

5451-401: The time: We are reaping the natural fruit of the orgy of speculation in which millions of people have indulged. It was inevitable, because of the tremendous increase in the number of stockholders in recent years, that the number of sellers would be greater than ever when the boom ended and selling took the place of buying. Together, the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression formed

5530-474: The violation of public order. There is a debate among economists and historians as to what role the crash played in subsequent economic, social, and political events. The Economist argued in a 1998 article that the Depression did not start with the stock market crash, nor was it clear at the time of the crash that a depression was starting. They asked, "Can a very serious Stock Exchange collapse produce

5609-472: The wheat price fell when France and Italy were bragging about a magnificent harvest, and the situation in Australia improved. That sent a shiver through Wall Street and stock prices quickly dropped, but word of cheap stocks brought a fresh rush of "stags" (amateur speculators) and investors. Congress voted for a $ 100 million relief package for the farmers on the hope of stabilizing wheat prices, but by October,

5688-518: The world instituted measures to suspend trading in the event of rapid declines, claiming that the measures would prevent such panic sales. However, the one-day crash of Black Monday , October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6%, as well as Black Monday of March 16, 2020 (−12.9%), were worse in percentage terms than any single day of the 1929 crash (although the combined 25% decline of October 28–29, 1929,

5767-462: Was Soviet pilot Lev Shuster, who performed an aerial ramming after running out of fuel and ammunition. On 31 May, 18 Japanese bombers approached Wuhan for a second time, covered by 36 fighters. At the conclusion of the fight, the Japanese bombers missed their targets and 14 of them were shot down by Soviet fighters. By May, Soviet pilots had destroyed 625 enemy aircraft and damaged 150 military and civilian ships. The Soviet squadrons were withdrawn after

5846-485: Was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early years of World War II . It was one of the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bombers. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, the TB-3 performed bomber and transport duties throughout much of World War II. The TB-3 also saw combat as a Zveno project fighter mothership and as

5925-489: Was composed of V-section beams covered with non-stressed corrugated skin ranging from 0.3 mm (0.012 in) to 0.8 mm (0.031 in) in thickness. The corrugations were 13 mm (0.51 in) deep and 50 mm (1.97 in) apart. The cantilever wing was supported by four tube-section spars . In 1934, thanks to the development of stronger steel alloys , the wingspan was increased from 39.5 to 41.85 m (129 ft 7 in to 137 ft 4 in) with

6004-474: Was cut completely in May 1938, as Adolf Hitler realigned himself with Japan and Manchukuo instead. Sino– Soviet diplomatic ties had been cut following the Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) . At the time the Soviet Union was undergoing a country wide program of mass industrialization in preparation for a potential war on two fronts (with Germany and Japan respectively). The establishment of Manchukuo complicated

6083-463: Was larger than that of October 19, 1987, and remains the worst two-day decline as of October 7, 2024 ). The crash followed a speculative boom that had taken hold in the late 1920s. During the latter half of the 1920s, steel production, building construction, retail turnover, automobiles registered, and even railway receipts advanced from record to record. The combined net profits of 536 manufacturing and trading companies showed an increase, in

6162-484: Was not fitted with brakes . The fuel tanks did not have fire or leak protection, although the engines had an internal fire-extinguishing system. The M-17 engines were tuned to provide a maximum theoretical range of 3,250 km (1,750 nmi; 2,020 mi) without spark plug or carburetor fouling . Defensive armament consisted of light machine guns in five turrets — one in the nose, two on top of mid- fuselage , and one retractable "dustbin" under each wing between

6241-488: Was the island of Taiwan , the main base of the Japanese Air Force , which also housed a wide array of cargo ships containing fuel and spare parts intended for the base. Flying at high attitude and approaching the island from the north, the bombers remained undetected until they dropped their payload, safely returning. As a result of the raid the Japanese lost a large shipment of fuel, 40 aircraft were destroyed on

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