During the fifteen years following World War I, much of the world was in economic distress. European colonies in Africa, India, and the East Indies lost their colonial status, due to the motherland lacking the needed funding in order to support and control her colonies. This led to an international trade economy no longer under European control, which could be continued through the independent nations. However, in order for this to work, it needed the proper help and support. This is not to say that every country in the world had a dilapidated economy. Countries which had supplied the fighting armies--such as the United States--benefited from the trade and not only became among the wealthiest of countries, but subsequently became among the most powerful. Because of the broad range of economic conditions towards the end of the 1920s, there needed to be a solution such that as many...