decades-1940's

=The 1940's - The Decade of War=

__**Key Foreign Policy**__
 * **Lend-Lease Act** (March 11, 1917 - May 8, 1945) - Program which the US aided Great Britain, Soviet Union, China, France, and other allies with war supplies. It circumvented the Neutrality Proclamation of 1939 and marked a change from isolationism and was a step towards international involvement. There were no forms of repayments from the aided countries, unlike WWI.
 * **Atlantic Charter** (August 14, 1941) - A joint declaration issued by US and Great Britain (Roosevelt and Churchill) outlining points and purposes of war against fascism.
 * **Entering of WWII** (December 8, 1941 and December 11, 1941) - After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt issued a proclamation of war against the Empire of Japan on December 8, 1941 and also declared war against Germany on December 11, 1941. ([|Transcript of FDR's speech to Congress], [|listen to the audio file])
 * **Truman Doctrine** (March 12, 1947) - Document historians use to cite the starting date of the Cold War. The doctrine shifted the phase of relations between the US and USSR from detente to containment from Soviet expansion. The doctrine echoed FDR's policy of "quarantine the aggressor."
 * **Marshall Plan** (July 12, 1947) - Also known as the "European Recovery Program." It aimed to rebuild the allies of Europe and dispel communism after WWII. The Marshall Plan offered aid to the Soviet Union and its allies as well as long as they accepted political reforms and some degree of outside control. The Soviet Union rejected the plan, labeling it as "dollar imperialism," thus, the plan only aided the allies of Europe. //To the left is an image of Europe. The countries in green all received aid via the Marshall Plan, the red columns signify how much aid they received.//
 * **North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)** (April 4, 1949) - Military alliance that established a system of collective defense by signing the North Atlantic Treaty. Members of the treaty agreed that in response to an attack by any external party, they would operate by mutual defense. The Warsaw Pact (May 14, 1955) was created in response to this. ([|Audio of Truman's speech in regards to signing the treaty]).

__**Political Events**__
 * **Yalta Conference** (February 4, 1945 - February 11, 1945) - Also known as the Crimea Conference, it was a wartime meeting of the[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Yalta_Conference.jpg width="292" height="238" align="right"]] leaders of the US, UK, and USSR (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin). It attempted to transform a wartime coalition to an alliance for peace. The conference created the emergence of the United Nations to replace the League of Nations, and it also marked the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. It is also seen as Roosevelt and Churchill's "appeasement" of Stalin, for Stalin annexed countries located around the USSR into the Soviet Union to create a "buffer zone" against Eastern and Western Europe. Roosevelt is heavily criticized for his performance at Yalta, as he was already severely ill at the time and died shortly thereafter. ([|Audio of Churchill's speech regarding the "Iron Curtain" that fell over Europe as Stalin expanded the Soviet Union]). //To the right is an image of "The Big Three" - Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin//.
 * **Potsdam Meeting** (July 17, 1945 - August 2, 1945) - The leaders of the US, UK, and USSR (Truman, Attlee, and Stalin) met to discuss how to deal with the defeated Nazi Germany. They also outlined the terms of surrender for Japan in the Potsdam Declaration.
 * **Berlin Blockade** (June 24, 1948 - May 11, 1949) - First major incident in the Cold War. USSR blocked American, British, and French access to western Berlin in an attempt to "starve out" west Berlin so that the USSR could control both east and west Berlin. The countries in control of west Berlin airlifted food and provisions to their sectors of Berlin and the Soviets did not stop them, thus ending the blockade.
 * **Alger Hiss Trial** (May 31, 1949 - July 7, 1949) - Alger Hiss, US State Department official, was put on trial for espionage with the Soviet Union. He was also convicted of perjury and was sentenced to five years in prison, however, his guilt has been disputed. This was one of the factors in the Red Scare. ([|Listen to Edward R. Murrow, a journalist, discuss the Alger Hiss Trial])


 * Cultural/Social Events**
 * Movies
 * 1940- Disney's //Fantasia// released ([|trailer])
 * 1941 - Orson Welles' //Citizen Kane// released ([|trailer])
 * 1942 - Michael Curtiz's //Casablanca// released ([|trailer])
 * 1944 - Alfred Hitchcock's //Lifeboat// released.
 * 1946 - Frank Capra's //It's a Wonderful Life// released ([|trailer])
 * Literature
 * 1940 - Richard Wright's //Native Son// released ([|wikipedia])
 * 1943 - Roald Dahl's //The Gremlins// released ([|Wikipedia])
 * 1945 - George Orwell's //Animal Farm// released ([|Wikipedia])
 * 1946 - Dr. Spock's B//aby and Child Care// released
 * Art
 * 1946 - Abstract expressionism movement in art begins to emerge ([|Jane Frank's Crags and Crevices painting]), places New York City in the center of the art world
 * Sports
 * 1946 - BAA & NBA are created as professional basketball leagues.
 * 1947 - Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American athlete to break the color barrier and plays for the baseball team Brooklyn Dodgers ([|Audio of Jackie on being subjected to racial taunts])
 * Technology/Recreation
 * 1942 - First patient to be successfully treated with penicillin
 * 1943 - Streptomycin is discovered, first antibiotic for tuberculosis
 * 1948 - Frisbee invented
 * 1946 - First computer invented
 * Music
 * Swing and big band become popular genres of music
 * Duke Ellington emerges as an influential singer ([|Video of Duke Ellington playing "Satin Doll"])
 * Ella Fitzgerald also emerges as an influential singer ([|Audio of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong playing "Summertime"])
 * Bebop, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll begin to emerge as musical genres


 * Economic Events**
 * GI bill- The Servicemen's Readjustment Act. This act provided college education to returning World War II veterans. It also granted loans for those who were creating businesses or buying a house.
 * Farmers did well because supply was slowed in order to raise the prices
 * People had saved up a lot of money because there was nothing to buy in the depression.


 * Popular culture/American trends**
 * Jitterbug becomes very popular. The term describes a variety of swing dance moves
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Stamp-ctc-jitterbug.jpg/200px-Stamp-ctc-jitterbug.jpg width="200" height="202" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stamp-ctc-jitterbug.jpg"]]
 * Slinky is created and immediately catches on.
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/2006-02-04_Metal_spiral.jpg/250px-2006-02-04_Metal_spiral.jpg width="250" height="197" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2006-02-04_Metal_spiral.jpg"]]
 * TV Dinners and Refrigerators are created. The TV dinner is now easily usable because the refrigerators freeze them, while they are already easily thawed.
 * Juvenile Delinquent is a new trend. Bad is the new good.

Mother/daughter outfits were very fashionable in the 1940's.
 * Fashion**

The end of the war meant the end of the fabric rationing, which signified the emergence of longer skirts and full-length jackets.

The two-piece swimsuit was developed in the 1940's.

Men wore suits called "zoot suits." Nowadays, zoot suits are called "uni suits."


 * Key People**
 * Franklin Delano Roosevelt
 * Harry S. Truman
 * Joseph Stalin
 * Winston Churchill
 * Emperor Hirohito
 * Jackie Robinson
 * Alger Hiss
 * Walt Disney

> [|Wikipedia]
 * Other Links/Relevant Sites/Sources**
 * [|1940s]
 * [|Kingwood College Library]Kingwood College Library
 * [|The United States: 1940's]The United States: 1940's
 * [|Nostalgia Cafe]Nostalgia Cafe
 * [|Remembering the 1940's]Remembering the 1940's
 * [|Timeline of the Twentieth Century]Timeline of the Twentieth Century


 * We Helped Restart the Fire**

We helped restart the fire It was out before, but we relight it once more We helped restart the fire American spirit, we're back to hear it

FDR back in town, runs against the Wilkie Clown Hitler's strength, our relectance; 'mericans become rambunctious Axis power gripping hold, in a war that's never cold Gold Gate Bridge unveiled, time for a battle never hailed

Day living in infamy, say we send the infantry Fair Employment Act created, Animator strike inflated Eastern front, Sub-Saharan, Western front, land is barren People crying, people dying, bombs and missiles keep on flying

(chorus)

Never quiet on the Western Front, Keep Heydrich on the hunt Battle of Normandy, prattle with the gorgon D Of the racking war expenses, done with stupid mending fences Battle of the Bulge completed, Power in the war entreated

To a conference in Yalta, Make a new rock of Gibraltar What to do with Axis powers? 'Shima bombs in like showers Nagasaki blown up too, America's a brand new crew Truman make the right decision? Unknowingly we make our fission

(chorus)

Wonderful life made, Rock n' Roll a palisade Willy dies, Linda cries, Biff never bats an eye Hitchcock, Walt Disney, Pop culture in a tizzy 1920's legacy, birth control stops pregnancy

Big Cheeks, Bebop, Frank Sinatra, B-Drops Jackie Robinson the man, Dodgers start a whole new plan Red-scare starts its root, Dominos, off they shoot Creation of Cold War, I can't take it anymore

(chorus)