In the years preceding August 1914, until the assassination of the archduke, the global economy performed relatively well: trade expanded worldwide, financial markets seemed healthy, and the business community shrugged off political problems as either temporary or irrelevant. It was a political breakdown that led to three terrible decades for the world economy.
在1914年8月之前的几年中，直到斐迪南大公遇刺之前，全球经济表现相对来说相当出色：贸易在全球扩张，金融市场看起来十分健康，商界对政治问题不太关心，认为即便不是暂时性的也与商业无关。一场政治崩溃把世界经济拖入了可怕的三十年。