How did the end of WW1 and the Great Depression leave France and England
unwilling/unable to stop the rise of
fascism in Europe?

WW1 had left the nations of Britain and France in financial and political ruin. They had been able to stop the rise of communism in their own borders but not fascism in Italy nor National Socialism in Germany. This was due to a fear of another oncoming war between these two. Which France and Britain were not financially or militarily prepared for. When the Great Depression hit, it had made matters worse allowing Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler to gain power through popular acts of civil engineering and employment. Britain and France in the meantime did not recover from the Great Depression till the start of WW2 when many males were conscripted to fight in the war.

the qing dynasty placed strict limits on foreign merchants' ability to trade in china.

its whatever your mind tells you