The devastating crisis that began in the United States in 1929 swept away any idea of economic cooperation and solidarity. The great powers embarked on economic policies based on raising tariffs to limit imports and devaluing currencies to facilitate exports. These policies of economic nationalism took place within a framework of general monetary disorder. In a clear atmosphere of growing mistrust, a Conference was held in Geneva in February 1932, where 62 countries were represented. From the outset, Germany demanded equal rights with the other powers and the reduction of other countries' armaments to the same level as the Treaty of Versailles had imposed on it. The Anglo-Saxon countries, meanwhile, seemed more concerned about possible French hegemony than about possible German rearmament. The USSR, meanwhile, was calling for total and immediate disarmament. In this chaotic atmosphere, various opposing plans were discussed. Germany, increasingly demanding, withdrew for some time because of its differences with the French, and when it returned to the negotiations it maintained its demands.