6) The Furious 1940s

Events and Policies

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945, in office 1933 - 1945, 32^nd President)

- Harry S. Truman (1884 - 1972, in office 1945 - 1953, 33^rd President)

- duration of the Great Depression in U.S., its equivalent termed the Economic Crisis in Europe

Outbreak of WWII (1^st Sept 1939)

- the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invade Poland, the conquered territory it split between the two countries

- the U.S. prepare for a war of defence, do not intend to enter the war because of the ongoing Depression, the WWI experience, and unwillingness to interfere in foreign affairs

- Japan experiences depression, attempts to rebuild the nation to become the richest country, attacks neighbouring countries (British, French, and Dutch colonies in the Pacific)

Attack on Pearl Harbor (7^th Dec 1941)

- the U.S. send a fleet to the Pacific to protect Hawaii, Japan attacks the fleet unexpectedly at Pearl Harbor (island Oahu), the Americans suffer huge losses

- described by President Roosevelt in his speech as "a date which will live in infamy"

- 8^th Dec 1941 the U.S. declare war on Japan, then Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. and vice versa

- battles in Europe were led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Pacific battles by General Douglas MacArthur

- the Pacific Theatre of Operations: naval battles, island hopping invasion, Battle of Midway, Battle of Iwo Jima

Invasion of Normandy (6^th June 1944)

- the American troops started in Algeria and Morocco to cross to Italy, France, and Spain

- on D-Day in the Operation Overlord the allies liberated French towns and continued to reach Berlin

- German surrendered on 8^th May 1945, the V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day)

- the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6^th and 9^th Aug 1945 respectively, Japan surrendered on 15^th Aug 1945, the V-J Day (the Victory over Japan Day)

Yalta Conference (4^th to 11^th Feb 1945)

- the wartime meeting between the heads of the U.S., GB, and the USSR, i.e. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin

- negotiated the sphere of influence, founded the United Nations to replace the original League of Nations founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after WWI

- the U.S. declare the end of isolationism to become the example of democracy, the carrier of the torch of freedom

- the post-war Germany is provisionally divided into British, Russian, American, and French zones

- the U.S. planned a unification of Germany, the Soviets did not want it to be self-sufficient and held the American attempts of unification for an act of aggression

Cold War (1947 - 1991)

- the U.S. and the USSR were allies during WWII, their relationship crumbled, became enemies at the end

- had different ideas about the post-war shape of Europe and about capitalism vs. communism

- the iron curtain (Winston Churchill's term) divides the supporters of imperialism and supporters of totalitarianism

- the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, 1947): a civilian intelligence agency gathering political, military, and economic information for security purposes

- the Marshall Plan (1947): named for the U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall, the primary plan for the economic reconstruction of Europe, refused by Czechoslovakia, followed by the creation of the Eastern Bloc

- the Truman Doctrine (1947): named for the U.S. President Harry S. Truman, a set of principles of U.S. foreign policy which promise support to any nation threatened by the USSR and the communist regime

- the Berlin Blockade (1948 - 1949): Stalin refused the Marshall Plan and blocked the Russian section of Berlin, the allies resolved the situation by plane delivery

- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949): a military alliance, a collective defence system against the USSR

- the Warsaw Pact (1955): the reaction of the USSR to the creation of NATO

Society

- home front propaganda: to support the morals, draw soldiers, raise money for warfare, or prevent wasting material

- new workforce: married women could not previously work, now while men are in the war, women must work

- Rosie the Riveter: women employed for hard labour, including black women, were called the rosies

- juvenile delinquency: teenagers rise as a new social group produced by WWII, children grew up alone while fathers were at war and mothers at work, could be independent due to earnings from part-time jobs, rise of gang life

- Relocation Camps: Japanese-American became suspicious, their civil rights were suspended (signed by Roosevelt in 1942), their property was confiscated, were removed from the West Coast to guarded internment camps

- G.I. Bill, or, Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944): provided college or vocational education for homecoming war veterans, important especially for ethnic minorities

- Levittown: named for its creator William Lewitt, a community town planned in advance, first with only two types of houses available, anticipated today's modern American suburbs, connected to the post-war baby boom

Culture

Music

- propaganda songs, big bands

- emergence of rhythm and blues (predecessor of R'n'B): combines jazz, blues, and gospel, mixes white and black music, originally used to refer to any black music

- singers: Frank Sinatra (pop, jazz, vocal), Bing Crosby (pop, jazz, vocal; singer of "White Christmas"), Wynonie Harris (blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll; singer of "Rocking Tonight")

Film

- the golden era of Hollywood, film industry was used for moral and propagandistic purposes

- romantic comedies with narrow plots and expectable happy endings

- film noir with a combination of a detective story and a thriller

- The Maltese Falcon (1941): a film noir starring Humphrey Bogart, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett

- Casablanca (1942): a romantic film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman

- To Have and Have Not (1944): a thriller romance starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, the script was co-authored by William Faulkner, then also a Hollywood scriptwriter

- The Big Sleep (1946): a film noir with Humphrey Bogart as the detective and Lauren Bacall as the femme fatale

- Gilda (1946): a black-and-white film noir starring Rita Hayworth

- The Third Man (1949): a British film noir, based on the novel by Graham Greene

- actors: Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, James Stewart

- actresses: Ingrid Bergman, Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn, Betty Grable, Judy Garland

Literature

- Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961): an anti-war satirical novel, set in the later stages of WWII

- James Jones, The Thin Red Line (1962): WWII fiction, set in the Battle of Mount Austen in the Pacific Theatre

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969): WWII fiction, set in the Battle of the Bulge (1944 - 1945)