The 1930s Learn more about the 1930s, a particularly tumultuous decade in world history that got its start with a bang - or, more accurately, a crash.
April 1, 1930 - The population counted in the 1930 census reaches 123,202,624, a 16.2% increase over the past decade. The geographic center of the United States population had reached three miles northeast of Linton in Greene County, Indiana.
World War II began in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, sparking global conflict. Franklin D. Roosevelt shaped the 1930s with the New Deal and proactive political leadership. The 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression in the United States and the rise of Nazi Germany in Europe.