sanctions were originally con ved as a way to keep peace on the european continent, and they did work to prevent war between smaller countries. When did that start to change? Yes, it began really to change when there was a massive economic crisis that was global, the great depression. That began in the late 19 twenties, and it got much worse in the early 19 thirties. And one of the side effects of the great depression was that there was a very broad global turn towards nationalism.