Confronted with The Great Depression, France behaved quite differently, compared with other nations. It was very confidant in its strong economy until 1932 and did not abandon the gold standard until June 1937. It did not even devalue the Franc until October 1936. These two factors may have made France a bit uncompetitive but it escaped the clutches of the great depression for a few more years than other nations did.

However times were still hard in France during the great depression. Both France and the Untied Kingdom were trying unsuccessfully to get reparation payments out of Germany for damages they suffered during World War One.
The failure of these negotiations led to France’s occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany.

The Great Depression also had negative affects on the local economy. This led to riots of February 1934 by far right fascist groups in Paris.