Out of all of the four biggest industrial nations of the age (USA, Germany, UK and France), France was the last to feel the effects of the great depression. The main reason for this is the undervaluation of the French Franc.

The effects of the Great Depression finally hit France around 1932. This began by a significant decrease in its exports led to an increase in its imports. The decrease in exports was largely due to the general downsizing of world trade at the time.

Some say the problems facing France were worsened by the fact that it was still maintaining the gold standard, long after the other industrialized nations such as Great Britain had abandoned it for fleeting exchange rates.

However there are two sides to the gold standard argument. One may say that with a gold standard France was unable to simple print the way out of trouble e.g. Borrowing money then printing, currency to pay off the debts. However others may argue that France was able to escape the great depression for three years longer that some other countries. Wall Street crashed in 1929 but France did not suffer from the great depression until 1932. The main difference between France and countries that began to suffer immediately is that France still had a gold standard. This gave them a currency with some actual value, not simply paper money.