Why did the countries that abandoned gold escape the Great Depression first?

They escaped first because leaving gold let them create money again. In the early 1930s most currencies were tied to a fixed quantity of gold, and a country that lost gold had to let its money supply shrink and its prices fall to keep the link. That squeeze spread the slump from country to country. Once a country cut the tie, its currency could fall in value, and its central bank was free to lower interest rates and rescue banks.

The pattern is striking. Britain left gold first, in September 1931, after speculators attacked the pound; Japan and the Scandinavian countries followed that year. The United States held on into 1933, and a 'gold bloc' led by France stayed until 1935 or 1936. Britain and Scandinavia recovered much earlier than France and Belgium. China, which used silver rather than gold, almost avoided the Depression entirely. Researchers have found the same link in dozens of countries: the earlier the exit, the milder the slump.

In America, the turn came with dramatic measures. In April 1933 President Roosevelt banned the hoarding of gold coins and bullion, and in 1934 the dollar was devalued from $20.67 to $35 per ounce of gold, letting the money supply grow. Unemployment, which had peaked at 25 percent in 1933, began to fall. Economists still argue over the Depression's deepest causes, but in 2002 Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke publicly apologised for the central bank's role: 'We did it. We're very sorry.'