World War Two really was the greatest war ever! Who could forget about the brave soldiers that died ever so gloriously? What about the way that we went from the worst economy in American history back to relative economic normality? And most importantly, how could anyone ever forget about the unity that arose on the home front from this foreign crisis? World War Two did have its glamorous points, but we must never forget about some of the horrors that emerged. The citizens of the United States of America have a distorted memory of the war and this has led them to a misleading legacy. The negatives of this long and deadly war are often overlooked for the sake of military glory and pride. In the book The Best War Ever by professor Michael C.C. Adams, Adams attempts to shed light on these evils to his audience in order to be provocative. His objective is to make readers question their prejudgment that World War Two really was so wondrous and phenomenal and to show the negative and harmful aspects of the war in a greater light. Although most Americans are nostalgic of this war, they must not veer away from understanding all that goes into a war. That being said, Adams takes this to a whole new level. He exaggerates the evils and tends to look past some of the positive endeavors that took place. Adams’s book offers primarily correct information, however, it is overly negative in order to create an audience that questions and contradicts the popular belief of utter glory and success. Adams argues that Americans have an intriguing way on which they view certain aspects of history; people tend to often only remember the good and to evade the bad. “To make World War Two into the best war ever, we must leave out the area bombings... ... middle of paper ... ... faulty” (Adams 78). The United States of America enters the war with a burst of well-trained troops to help the Allies. When war is declared in late 1941, the Axis have already been fighting for years and just the concept alone of United States of America entry into the war rattles fear throughout Axis officials. Adams tends to look for the negatives in all aspects of the war. America and the Allies had total aerial and numerical advantages over the Axis powers. The recruiting methods used by the United States of America helped them built a dominant army vis-à-vis other countries. Adams fails to look at the big picture when mentioning that our weapons and recruitment is subpar. The facts are that when the United States of America entered the war, we provided an eruption of motivated and trained forces that wanted to and eventually did dominate the Axis powers.
The strong relationship created between history and memory is one of a vexing nature due to deliberate selection and emphasis. It does however result in a confluence of different representations, that is, personal stories (memory) and public stories (history). Mark Baker’s biography and autobiography ‘The Fiftieth Gate: A Journey Through Memory’, explores his parents’ memories which are both verified and contradicted by Baker’s historical findings, as each asserts their claim through these different theories of representation drawing on such established criteria as evidence, accuracy, authenticity, authority and detail. Steven Spielberg’s horror-psychological thriller film, ‘Schindler’s List’ shows how amongst the abhorrence of the Holocaust, one man can make a difference for the better and leave a legacy of his generosity but it is also a question of what else he did that wasn’t emphasised due to the context of the film. Lastly, the poem ‘The Send-Off’ by Wilfred Owen expresses Owen’s personal feelings towards war which is enunciated through his strong emotive language.
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
In conclusion, while books, photos, movies and other historical documentation can portray information or a message about wartime events, they will never be able to produce the feelings of those that were personally involved in wars have experienced. Yet, it is incorrect to criticize these writers. The information they reveal is still very important historical information. Even if a reader or viewer of this media cannot feel exactly the same emotions as those involved, they still often experience an emotional connection to the events being depicted. This is important, not only for the historical knowledge gained about wars, but also to understand the nature and futility of their occurrence.
America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.
World War II as a Good War The vast majority of Americans supported World War II (WWII) after Pearl Harbor was bombed, recognizing a fascist threat to Western democracy. WWII was a good war. It had the ability to unite America. They united against Nazism and fascism. But even a good War has its bad times.
One of the most argued topics today, the end of World War II and the dropping of the atomic bombs still rings in the American ear. Recent studies by historians have argued that point that the United States really did not make the right choice when they chose to drop the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Also with the release of once classified documents, we can see that the United States ...
Anderson, F., and R.S Stephenson. The War That Made America. Penguin Group USA, 2005. (accessed December 5th , 2013).
A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain ...
David Reynolds has written and enlightening book named “From Munich to Pearl Harbor” discussing three main objectives dealing with World War II. The first of the three objectives is to provide a detailed and clear narrative story from the years between Munich to Pearl Harbor. The second of the three purposes or objectives of the book is to analyze and show how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the American people into a new perspective on international relations that were different from anything Americans had known. The last of the three objectives of the book is to show the developments between the years of 1938 through 1941. Many of these developments were very important later for the foreign policy of the United States not only during the Second World War but also during the Cold War complications with Russia and today with President Bush’s war on terror currently taking place in Iraq.
To write this book the author, John Toland, had to devote 15 years researching different stories from all sides of the war. He studied war memoirs, interviewed war veterans, and read military documents. While doing this he focused on both the allied and axis forces to truly understand both sides of the story and be able to write such a descriptive and accurate piece of work. This research was used in the book to describe the unlikely victory of the Americans over the Germans during the “Battle of the Bulge”.
America experienced many lasting changes because of this war. While the political, economic and social fabrics of the nation were changed, and hundreds...
American History not as a mere nuisance, or an inferior being portrayed by racism but as an Honorable soldier whom endeavors to protect a country he loves despite discrimination received at home or abroad.
In “The Son of Man,” Natalia Ginzburg asserts that while the war did irreparable psychological damage to its survivors, it also gave the young generation enough strength to confront the stark reality of the precarious nature of human existence. Passionately but concisely, through the use of repetitive imagery, fatalistic tone and lack of classic organization, Ginzburg shows how the war changed the world around Man and how Man changed his perception of the world.
This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human.
World War II has often viewed as the good war, which was fought for a clear purpose. The purpose to crush Nazism and fascism and all the horrible things for which they stood. But the consequences of World War II are much more complex than that. This has indicated that even a war, which has a good cause, can have bad consequences.