The Effects of World War Two WWII was one of the wars that had the most devastating effects on peoples live in Europe. During five years citizens of the different countries suffered from this brutal war to which they were condemned by their government. Two of the most affected home fronts during this war, were Britain, and Germany. Women, children were the most affected, and by many they were the moral support for their brigades, while men wre fighting in the front line. When war broke out in September 1939, the British government expected that the effects on life in Britain would be very serious. Throughout the 1930s there had been many predictions about the effects that bombing would have on cities. "In May 1937 there was newsreel film of the attack by the Condor Legion on the Spanish city of Guernica. So it was believed that bombing would cause massive destruction and loss of life. The Local Defense Volunteers were set up, later to be called the Home Guard. These were men who were too old to serve in the army or who were in "reserved occupations". They trained every week, but would not have been able to defeat the German Army". (Tuttle, Pg. 111) Children were sent out to collect foliage for camouflage and people were asked to hand in scrap metal so that it could be used for planes for the RAF. These were really attempts to keep morale up and to make people believe that they were doing something to help. The south coast was quickly fortified. Machine-gun posts were built in medieval castles. Signposts and the names of railway stations were removed so that German forces would not know where they were. Church bells were kept silent. They would only be rung in the event of an invasion. Air Raid Precaution Wardens were appoin... ... middle of paper ... ...dy's Gone to War," The Second World War in the Lives of European Children, p. 111 2) Valerie Matsumoto, "Women in the Internment Camps," from Ellen Dubois and Vicki Ruiz, ed., Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (NY: 1990), pp. 373. 3) Agnes Meyer, "Negro Housing in the Nation's Capital" and "The Negro and the Army," from Journey Through Chaos, pp. 322. 4) John Bartlow Martin, "Anything Bothering You, Soldier?," (orig. from Harper's Magazine, 1945; repr. in The World War II Era: Perspectives from All Fronts (NY: Franklin Square Press, 1994), pp. 263. 5) Talcott Parsons, "Propaganda and Social Control" (1942). Francis Merrill, New York Problems of War Society, (pp. 46). 6) Joan Scott, "Rewriting History," from Margaret Higgonet, et al, eds., Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars (New Haven: Yale U.P., 1988) pp. 19.
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
The American home front during World War II is recalled warmly in popular memory and cultural myth as a time of unprecedented national unity, years in which Americans stuck together in common cause. World War II brought many new ideas and changes to American life. Even though World War II brought no physical destruction to the United States mainland, it did affect American society. Every aspect of American life was altered by U.S. involvement in the war including demographics, the labor force, economics and cultural trends.
Kimble, Lionel, Jr. "I Too Serve America: African American Women War Workers in Chicago." Lib.niu.edu. Northern Illinois University, n.d. Web.
Prewitt, Joann Farrish. “World War II on the Home Front: Civic Responsibility” Smithsonian In Your Classroom, Oct 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Fear swept across Europe, as result from the continuous amounts of air bombing taking place in the 1930’s. The government encouraged “Civilians […] to enroll in Air Raid Precautions (ARP) or the Auxiliary Fire Serive (AFS)” (The Home Front par.1), knowing that Germany would come armed with their deadly bombs. Before Germany declared war with Great Britain millions of people left their life behind and evacuated far away from the reach of the German troops, others stayed supporting the home front.
Overall, the article is interesting to read and gives insight into an aspect of the Second World War of which many people are unaware.
Have you ever thought about what it was like to live during World War 1, or what it was like to fight at war? At first glance of any war piece, you might think the author would try to portray the soldiers as mentally tough and have a smashing conscience. Many would think that fighting in a war shows how devoted you are to your country, however, that is not true. According to All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the reality of a soldier's life is despondency, carnage and eradication at every bombardment. Living every day is not knowing if they will eat, see their families, or even if they will awaken the next day. Demeaning themselves from heroes to barely men without their military garment or identity. Remarque conveyed how
Harris, Carol. " Women Under Fire in World War Two." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web.
O'Neill, William L. World War II: A Student Companion. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.
Social, Political and Economic Effects of WWI. Everywhere in the world heard the sound of things breaking." Advanced European societies could not support long wars or so many thought prior to World War I. They were right in the way.
Machel, Graca & Sebastian Salgado. The Impact of War on Children. London: C. Hurst, 2001.
Stroebel, Jeffrey T. World War II. Part I: Between the Wars. The Sycamore School, 1995. Revised 1998.
time you heard the siren go off you had to stop what you were doing
Singer, P.W. “Children at War.” Military History 24.6 (2007): 1-5. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
World War II was one of the most deadly wars we know in history, having as many as sixty million casualties, most of whom were civilians. It impacted a lot of countries, almost all the world, which is why the name is given. This war impacted many countries in the world, and damaged almost all of the countries involved greatly. It also led to the downfall of Western European countries as world powers, leaving it to the Soviet Union, and the United States. The war started in 1939 and ended in 1945, with the invasion of Poland and the Axis surrender, respectively. It changed the economy and the growth of big countries, including Germany, Great Britain, United States, Japan, Russia and France. Aside from this, Jews were greatly influenced too. They were damaged, but then gifted.