London Economic Conference
world conference of 1933
The London Monetary and Economic Conference of 1933, also known as the London Economic Conference, was a meeting of representatives of 66 nations from June 12 to July 27, 1933, at the Geological Museum in London. Its purpose was to win agreement on measures to fight the Great Depression, revive international trade, and stabilize currency exchange rates.
It collapsed after it was "torpedoed" by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in early July when he denounced currency stabilization.
Background
When the Great Depression devastated the world economy from 1929 to 1932, it was generally assumed that the United States would serve as a hegemon, providing leadership for a program to bring about recovery. US President Herbert Hoover in 1931 called for a conference to decide how to reduce tariffs and also revive prices by reversing the deflation associated with the Depression. The agenda for the Conference was drafted by representatives of six major nations who met in Geneva in 1932. The agenda asserted that intergovernmental debts should be settled, as they represented a major obstacle on the road to recovery.
The Europeans believed that "the settlement should relieve the world" of the crushing debt burdens. However, most of these debts were owed to the US, which was reluctant to write them off. US Senator William Edgar Borah held that "the troubles of the world were really due to the War, and to the persistence of Europe in keeping great armaments, and to the mismanagement of money" and so he was not willing to postpone, reduce, or cancel the payment of debts "and have Europe go ahead with a programme which has practically sunk the world into its present economic condition."
Other events indicated that the US would not support the Conference agenda as outlined.
The public source identifies “London Economic Conference” as world conference of 1933. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around London, Economic and Conference.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “London Economic Conference”, the useful work is to connect “world conference of 1933” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q949820. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1933, 1929, 1932 and 1931.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “London Economic Conference”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow London Economic Conference primary sources, London Economic Conference archive and London research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “London Economic Conference”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “London Economic Conference” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.