The 20th Century: Post WWIIWWII

One of the most obvious consequences of the S d W ld W th t E l i i [ ]Second World War was that Europe lay in ruins […] Casualties across the continent had been enormous –even greater than those which had been thought

Image: Soviet flag on Reichstag

unbearable in the Great War of 1914-18 […] At the end of the war Europe was in a state of economic dislocation and decay.y-Bell, p. 23.

Finally American aircraft dropped the two atomic bombs, on Finally American aircraft dropped the two atomic bombs, on Hiroshima (6th August 1945) and Nagasaki (9th August 1945), and so brought the war [in the pacific theatre] to an end.-Bell p 7-Bell, p. 7.

Geopolitics in the Post- 1945 SettingGeopolitics in the Post 1945 SettingThe Cold War

In this global war there is literally no question, political or military, in which the United States is not interested.

-Theodore Roosevelt cited in Bell, p.55.Theodore Roosevelt

The USSR is now one of the mightiest countries in the world. One cannot decide now any serious problems of international relations without the

USSR.Molotov cited in Bell p 55-Molotov cited in Bell, p. 55.

The term Cold War is used to describe the state of extreme hostility which developed after World War II between the USSRhostility which developed after World War II between the USSR and the US and its Western allies […] The Cold War was conducted through political, economic, propaganda and subversive activity; and was marked by a heightened mobilization for real war and by a reduction of diplomatic and cooperativefor real war and by a reduction of diplomatic and cooperative contacts.- Bullock, Stallybrass & Trombley, p. 139.

Molotov & StalinMolotov & Stalin

Geopolitics in the Post- 1945 S ttiSetting

The Cold WarWar consisteth not in battle only or the act of fighting: but in a tract of timeWar consisteth not in battle only, or the act of fighting: but in a tract of time,

wherein the will to contend by battle is sufficiently known

-Thomas Hobbes cited in Hobsbawm, p. 226.Fall of the Berlin Wall 9th November 1989

The Cold War was based on a Western belief […] that the Age of Catastrophe was by no means at an end; that the future of world capitalism and liberal society was far from assured.

1989

p y- Hobsbawm, p. 230.

1989 started quietly; but it finished with a sudden deluge of 1989 started quietly; but it finished with a sudden deluge of changes which saw the end of six communist regimes in eastern Europe within six months. In 1991 the Soviet crisis was resolved: the state broke up.resolved: the state broke up.-Bell, p. 371.

The East: China Korea & JapanThe East: China Korea & Japan At the end of the Second World War, the vast territories of eastern

and southern Asia were in the midst of immense changes. In China, two great conflicts had long been in progress: a foreign war againsttwo great conflicts had long been in progress: a foreign war against the Japanese, and a civil war between the nationalist government and the communists.

I 1945 th J d f t d d i i ith it f t t

Image Mao

In 1945 the Japanese were defeated and in ruins, with its future to be decided by the victors.

Elsewhere in Asia, the position of European colonial powers had

Mao Zedong 1939

, p p pbeen drastically undermined […] The colonial powers (the USA, Britain, the Netherlands and France) all returned to their former territories, but found it impossible to restore the status quo.-Bell, p. 190.

Shaken by the communist victory in China, the US and its allies intervened in Korea in 1950 to prevent the communist regime in the North from spreading to the South The result was a draw They didNorth from spreading to the South. The result was a draw. They did so again with the same object in Vietnam, and lost.-Hobsbawm, p. 237.

Third World Liberation & Decolonization

The expression “Third World” is applied to those less developed countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America which are not substantially aligned with the

it li t i t ld liti l icapitalist or communist worlds or political groupings.-Bell, p. 257.

In the few years between 1957 and 1962 the greater part of the [African] continent was emancipated from European rule and

Image Ho Chi Mihn

[African] continent was emancipated from European rule and set off hopefully towards a revived African civilization and a new role in the world.-Bell, p.443.

D l i ti d l ti d ti ll t f d th Decolonization and revolution dramatically transformed the political map of the globe. The number of internationally recognized independent states in Asia quintupled. In Africa, where there had been one in 1939, there were now about fifty.

Ho Chi Min

yEven in the Americas, where early nineteenth-century decolonization had left behind twenty or so Latino republics, decolonization added another dozen. However, the important thing about them was not their number, but their enormous and g ,growing demographic weight and pressure they represented collectively. - Hobsbawm, pp. 344-345.

Third World Liberation & Decolonization

O l i t f S th t A i thi liti l Only in parts of South-east Asia was this political decolonization seriously resisted, notably in French Indochina where the communist resistance had declared independence. The French […] were defeated and forced to withdraw in 1954, but the USA prevented the unification of the country. The USA waged 10 years of y g ymajor war in Vietnam, until it was finally defeated and forced to withdraw in 1975, having dropped more high explosives […] than had been used in the Second Worldexplosives […] than had been used in the Second World War.- Hobsbawm, p. 217.

Economics, Recovery & European CooperationCooperation

The Marshall Plan or European Recovery Programme was an American plan for aid to European economic recovery after World War II […] It reflected American fears

that economically dislocated countries might fall to communist movements.that economically dislocated countries might fall to communist movements.- Bullock, Stallybrass & Trombley, pp. 503-504

Aggressive expansion was plainly in the minds of American policy-makers as soon as the war was over It was the Cold War whichmakers as soon as the war was over. It was the Cold War which encouraged them to take a longer view, by persuading them that helping their future competitors to grow as rapidly as possible was politically urgent. It has even been argued that, in this manner, the Cold War was themajor engine of the great global boom […] and American aid was decisive in speeding up the transformation of West Germany and Japan.-Hobsbawm, p. 275.

Poster promoting the MarshallPlan, 1947.

The development in the post-war era of a European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 (later to become the European Union) “illustrates the strength of the fears that held the anti-Soviet alliance together. These werenot only fears of the USSR. So far as France was concerned, Germany remained the chief danger”. These cooperative organisations further contributed to the rapid economic reconstruction of Europe. -Hobsbawm p 240Hobsbawm, p. 240.

Culture in the Post War EraCulture in the Post-War Era

Mass Culture is also known as popular culture and is usually Mass Culture- is also known as popular culture, and is usually Contrasted with high culture- which is identified with those products produced primarily for entertainment rather than intrinsic worth […] A group of critics became advocates of the new sensibility which denied Campbell’s soup made iconic g p ythe validity of any distinction between ‘highbrow’ and ‘lowbrow’ art, proclaimed film as the important art of the 20th Century, and argued that the music of the Beatles was as important as that of Schoenberg [ ] From that perspective ‘high art’ is seen as elitist and artificial and

Campbell s soup made iconicby Andy Warhol

[…] From that perspective, high art is seen as elitist and artificial, and mass culture becomes a term of praise.-Bullock, Stallybrass & Trombley, pp. 505-506.

That Europe was no longer the major home of the high arts became a commonplace observation. New York prided itself on having replaced Paris as the centre of the visual arts, by which it meant the art market or the place where living artists became themeant the art market or the place where living artists became the highest priced commodities. […] The shift away from Europe was even more obvious in the most visually insistent art, namely architecture.H b b 502 505-Hobsbawm, pp. 502-505.

Post-1945 SocietyPost 1945 Society The post-war era ultimately led to fundamental social changes,

the first most apparent is the emergence of the concept of thethe first most apparent is the emergence of the concept of the nuclear family most synonymous with the concept of the ‘American Dream’.

Th l f il i id t d ti f h b d The nuclear family is a co-resident domestic group of husband, wife, and children […] Most developed industrial societies have the nuclear family as the dominant ideal type. Social mobility and geographical mobility are a stronger feature of the nuclearand geographical mobility are a stronger feature of the nuclear family than other family systems.- Bullock, Stallybrass & Trombley, p. 590.

During the golden decades [ ] the combination of a secular boom full During the golden decades […] the combination of a secular boom, full employment and a society of genuine mass consumption utterly transformed the lives of working-class people in the developed countries […] By the standards of their parents, they were no longer poor. - Hobsbawm, p. 306.

Post-1945 SocietyPost 1945 Society Youth as a self-conscious group stretching from puberty […] to the

middle twenties now became an independent social agent [ ] Themiddle twenties, now became an independent social agent […] The emergence of the adolescent as a self-conscious social actor was increasingly recognized, enthusiastically by the manufacturers of consumer goods.

The Beatles became iconic in youth culture

-Hobsbawm, p. 324. The cultural revolution of the later twentieth century can thus best be

understood as the triumph of the individual over society, or rather, the b ki f th th d hi h i th t h d h b i i tbreaking of the threads which in the past had woven human beings into social textures.-Hobsbawm, p. 334.

Th f i i t t t d f th iti f th The feminist movement stemmed from the recognition of the subordination of women, from the existence of discrimination and inequality based on sex […] The women’s liberation movement grew out of widespread radical protest by students, workers & women, especially p p y , , p yin France and the US.- Bullock, Stallybrass & Trombley, pp. 312-313.

SummarySummary The end of the Second World War in the European and Pacific

theatres would ultimately lead to the decolonization of the Thirdtheatres would ultimately lead to the decolonization of the Third World.

Though the Cold War, placed humanity at risk of ‘mutually assured destruction’ no armed conflict ever took place betweenassured destruction no armed conflict ever took place between the East & West blocks.

The ‘economic miracle’ in the post-war era is partially thanks to American foreign aid/grants This was a means utilised by theAmerican foreign aid/grants. This was a means utilised by the US to retain dominance and influence in Europe.

The relative sense of stability in the West coupled with the economic boom brought about by the Marshall plan led to aeconomic boom brought about by the Marshall plan led to a new era of social & cultural trends. This is most observable in the emergence of youth culture, feminism and mass culture.

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