Misplaced Pages

1940s: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 00:12, 27 August 2008 edit99.158.56.240 (talk) →Musicians← Previous edit Latest revision as of 21:53, 7 January 2025 edit undoKMaster888 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users12,260 edits ce 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Decade of the Gregorian calendar (1940–1949)}}
{{Articleissues|refimprove=April 2007|expand=July 2008|globalize=July 2008}}
{{Redirect|'40s|decades comprising years 40–49 of other centuries |List of decades}}

<imagemap>File:1940s decade montage.png|'''Above title bar:''' events during ''']''' (1939–1945): From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching ] on ''']'''; ] visits ], soon after the ''']'''; ''']''' occurs as ] carries out a programme of systematic state-sponsored ], during which approximately six million ] are killed; The ] ''']''' launches the ] into the war; An ] spotter scans the skies of ] during the ''']''' and ''']'''; The creation of the ] leads to the ''']''', the first uses of ]s, which kill over a quarter million people and lead to the ]; Japanese Foreign Minister ] signs the ''']''' on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}}, effectively ending the war. <br />'''Below title bar:''' events after World War II: From left to right: The ''']''' in 1948; The ''']''' are held after the war, in which the prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany are prosecuted; After the war, the United States carries out the ''']''', which aims at rebuilding Western Europe; ''']''', the world's first general-purpose electronic ].|335px|thumb
rect 1 1 224 195 ]
rect 227 1 407 195 ]
rect 409 1 488 195 ]
rect 490 1 572 195 ]
rect 1 198 148 383 ]
rect 151 198 288 383 ]
rect 291 198 420 288 ]
rect 291 290 420 383 ]
rect 424 198 572 383 ]
rect 0 384 572 411 ]
rect 1 412 125 599 ]
rect 128 412 290 599 ]
rect 294 412 438 599 ]
rect 441 412 572 599 ]
</imagemap>
{{Decadebox|194}} {{Decadebox|194}}
The '''1940s''' (pronounced "nineteen-forties" and commonly abbreviated as "'''the '40s'''" or "'''the Forties'''") was a ] that began on January 1, 1940, and ended on December 31, 1949.
The '''1940s''' decade ran from 1940 to 1949.
==Events and trends==


Most of ] took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on most countries and people in ], ], and elsewhere. The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war-weary Europe divided between the jostling ] of the ] and the ], leading to the beginning of the ]. To some degree internal and external tensions in the ] era were managed by new institutions, including the ], the ], and the ], facilitating the ], which lasted well into the 1970s. The conditions of the post-war world encouraged ] and the emergence of new states and governments, with ], ], ], ], and others declaring independence, although rarely without bloodshed. The decade also witnessed the early beginnings of new technologies (such as ]s, ], and ]), often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era.
The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves:


The world population increased from about 2.25 to 2.5 billion over the course of the decade, with about 850 million births and 600 million deaths in total.
The first half of the decade was dominated by ], the widest and most destructive armed conflict in human history. So consequential was this event and its brutal aftermath that it laid the foundation for other major world events and trends for decades to follow. This war was also the first modern civilian war.


{{TOC limit|3}}
The second half of the 1940s marked the beginning of the ].


==Politics and wars==
* ] loses the ] 1940
{{See also|List of sovereign states in the 1940s}}
* ] invades ], ], ], ], and the ] from 1940-1941.
]
* The ] enter ] after the ] on ], ].
* Germany and Japan suffer defeats at ], ], and ] in 1942 and 1943.
* ] escapes from house-arrest and founds the ] in ]. The INA made of Indian POWs held by the Japanese accompanies the Japanese to the borders of India. However, Axis defeat results in the annihilation of the INA and surrender following Nethaji's death in 1945.
* ] (], ])
* ] surrenders ], ]
* ] (] and ], ]); Japan surrenders on ].
* ] officially ends on ], ].
* The ] (the ])
* ] established in 1945
* In 1946, former British PM Winston S. Churchill gives his famous "]" speech with US President Harry S Truman present.
* Beginning of the ] (generally thought of as somewhere from 1946-1949)
* ] for some former ] (including ] and ] in 1947, ] in 1948, and ] in 1949)
* ]
* The ] becomes a republic in 1948
* ] founded in 1949
* The ] ends in victory for the ] in 1949. The ] government retreat to ].
* The ] in 1948.
* ] period in ] begins
* ] is created.
* Soviets tested their first nuclear bomb in 1949 (]). This is seen by some as the beginning of the ].'''


== Culture == === Wars ===
{{Main|List of wars 1900–1944#1930–1944|List of wars 1945–1989#1945–1949}}
===Sports===
]]]
*'']''
[[File:German Reich 1942.svg|220px|thumb|In Green: {{flag|Nazi Germany|name=German Reich}} at its peak (1942):
*'']''
{{legend|#336733|]}}
*'']''
{{legend|#55c255|Civilian-administered occupied territories ''(]'' and ])}}
*'']''
{{legend|#a5dfa5|Military-administered occupied territories ''(])''}}]]
*'']''
* ] (1939–1945)
*'']''
** ] invades ], ], ], ], and the ] from 1939 to 1941.
*'']''
** ] invades ], ], occupies ], ], ] and Romanian region of ] from 1939 to 1941.
*'']''
** Germany faces the ] in the ] (1940). It was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign up until that date.
** Germany ] the ] (June 22, 1941).
** ] (Second Soviet-Finnish War), was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 25 June 1941 – 19 September 1944.
** The ] enters ] after the ] on December 7, 1941. It would face the ] in the ].
** Germany, Italy, and Japan suffer defeats at ], ], and ] in 1942 and 1943.
** ] in 1943 was the largest Jewish uprising in Nazi-occupied Poland.
** ] against Nazis in 1944 in Poland was the single largest military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II. The United States Army Air Forces send support for Poles on September 18, 1944, when flight of 110 ]s of the 3 division Eighth Air Force airdropped supply for soldiers.
** ]. The forces of the ] land on the beaches of ] in Northern France (June 6, 1944).
** ], wartime meeting from February 4, 1945, to February 11, 1945, among the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union—] ], ] ], and ] ], respectively—for the purpose of discussing Europe's postwar reorganization, intended to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe.
** ], also known as The Shoah (]: ''{{lang|he|השואה}}'', Latinized ''ha'shoah''; ]: ''{{lang|yi|חורבן}}'', Latinized ''{{transliteration|yi|churben}}'' or ''{{transliteration|yi|hurban}}''<ref name=Britannica>: "the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question ..."</ref>) is the term generally used to describe the ] of approximately six million European ] during ], a program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by ], under ], ], and ].<ref name=Niewyk1>Niewyk, Donald L. ''The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust,'' ], 2000, p. 45: "The Holocaust is commonly defined as the murder of more than {{formatnum:5000000}} Jews by the Germans in World War II." Also see "The Holocaust", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007: "the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women and children, and millions of others, by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question".</ref> Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including ], the ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>Niewyk, Donald L. and Nicosia, Francis R. ''The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust, Columbia University Press'', 2000, pp. 45–52.</ref> By this definition, the total number of ] is between 11 million and 17 million people.<ref>Donald Niewyk suggests that the broadest definition, including Soviet civilian deaths, would produce a death toll of 17 million. Estimates of the death toll of non-Jewish victims vary by millions, partly because the boundary between death by persecution and death by starvation and other means in a context of ] is unclear. Overall, about 5.7 million (78 percent) of the 7.3 million Jews in occupied Europe perished (]. ''Atlas of the Holocaust'' 1988, pp. 242–244). Compared to five to 11 million (1.4 percent to 3.0 percent) of the 360 million non-Jews in German-dominated Europe. Small, Melvin and J. David Singer. ''Resort to Arms: International and civil Wars 1816–1980'' and ] ''A Mosaic of Victims: Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis. New York: New York University Press, 1990''</ref>
**]
** The ] signed (May 7–8, 1945). ].
** ] (August 6 and August 9, 1945); ] on August 15.
** ] officially ends on September 2, 1945.
*]
**]
* ] (Early 20th century–present)
** ] (1948–1949) – The war was fought between the newly declared State of Israel and its Arab neighbours. The war commenced upon the termination of the ] in mid-May 1948. After the Arab rejection of the 1947 ] (UN General Assembly Resolution 181) that would have created an Arab state and a Jewish state side by side, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria attacked the state of Israel. In its conclusion, Israel managed to defeat the Arab armies.
*] (1945–1949)
*] (1946–1954)


===Major political changes===
* Establishment of the ] (June 26, 1945) effective (October 24, 1945).
* Establishment of the defence alliance ] April 4, 1949.


===Fashion=== ===Internal conflicts===
* ].
Many fashion houses closed during occupation of Paris during ], including the ] and the ]. Several designers, including Mainbocher, permanently relocated to ]. In the enormous moral and intellectual re-education program undertaken by the French state couture was not spared. In contrast to the stylish, liberated Parisienne, the ] promoted the model of the wife and mother, the robust, athletic young woman, a figure who was much more in line with the new political criteria. Germany, meanwhile, was taking possession of over half of what ] produced, including high fashion, and was also considering relocating French haute couture to the cities of ] and ], neither of which had any significant tradition of fashion. The archives of the ] were seized, most consequentially the client list. The point of all this was to break up a monopoly that supposedly threatened the dominance of the Third Reich.
* ] of ] led by ] in the ].
* Beginning of ], which extends from 1946 to 1949.


===Decolonization and independence===
Due to the difficult times, the number of models in shows was limited to seventy-five, evening wear was shortened and day wear was much skimpier, made using substitute materials whenever possible. From 1940 onward, no more than thirteen feet (four meters) of cloth was permitted to be used for a coat and a little over three feet (one meter) was all that allowed for a blouse. No belt could be over one and a half inches (four centimeters) wide. Despite this, haute couture tried to keep its flag flying. Humor and frivolity became a way of defying the occupying powers and couture somehow survived. Although some have argued that the reason it endured was because of the patronage of the wives of rich Nazis, in actuality, records reveal that, aside from the usual wealthy Parisiennes, it was the wives of foreign ambassadors, clients from the black market, and a whole eclectic mix of people who carried on to frequent the salons, among whom German women were but a minority.
] (1940–1943), photographed using ] process.]]
] proclaiming Israeli independence from the United Kingdom on May 14, 1948.]]
* ] – ] declares independence from ].
* ] – ] declares independence from the Netherlands (effective in 1949 after a ]).
* ] - ] is liberated after ] surrenders.
* ] – The ] dissolves to the independent states of ] and ]. The French settlers are forced to evacuate the French colony in Syria. The ] declares independence from the US.
* ] – The ] of the ] into a secular ] and a predominantly Muslim ] leads to the deaths of millions.
* ] – ] ends. The ] is ].
* ] – The ] is officially proclaimed.
{{clear}}


=== Prominent political events ===
Though many fashion houses closed down or moved away during the war, several new houses remained open, including ], ], ], ], ], and ]. During the Occupation, the only true way for a woman to flaunt her extravagance and add to color to a drab outfit was to wear a hat. In this period, hats were often made of scraps of material that would have otherwise been thrown away, sometimes incorporating butter, bits of paper, and woodchucks. Among the most innovative milliners of the time were Pauline Adam, Simone Naudet, Rose Valois, and Le Monnier.
{{expand section|date=July 2018}}
* Postwar occupations of ] and ] from 1945.
* The ] replaces the ] with a republic.
* Dissolution of the ] on 20 April 1946. Much of its assets were transferred to the ].
{{clear}}


==Economics==
Paris' isolated situation in the 1940s enabled the Americans to exploit the ingenuity and creativity of their own designers. During the ], ] presented co-ordinates in plain, simply cut outfits and also introduced innovations to men's work clothes. ] transformed boots into a major fashion accessory, and, in 1944, started to produce original and imaginative sportswear. ], ], and ] formed a remarkable trio of women who were to lay the foundations of American sportswear, ensuring that ] was not simply thought of as second best, but as an elegant and comfortable way for modern women to dress.
{{expand section|date=July 2018}}
The ] was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 ] at the ], situated in ], ], United States, to regulate the ] after the conclusion of ]. The conference was held from July 1–22, 1944. It established the ] (IBRD) and the ] (IMF), and created the ].<ref>{{Cite book |title= John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace |last= Markwell |first= Donald |publisher= ] |year= 2006 |isbn= 978-0-198-29236-4 |location= Oxford |author-link= Donald Markwell }}</ref>


== Assassinations and attempts ==
Among young men in the War Years the ] (and in ] the ] suit) became popular. Many actresses of the time, including ], ], and ], had a significant impact on popular fashion.
Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:
]]]
]]]
]]]
]]]


* August 20, 1940 – ], a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician is attacked by ] using an ]. Trotsky died the next day from ] and shock.
The couturier ] created a tidal wave with his first collection in February 1947. The collection contained dresses with tiny waists, majestic busts, and full skirts swelling out beneath small bodices, in a manner very similar to the style of the ]. The extravagant use of fabric and the feminine elegance of the designs appealed greatly to a post-war clientèle and ensured Dior's meteoric rise to fame. The sheer sophistication of the style incited the all-powerful editor of the American ], ], to exclaim 'This is a new look !'.
* May 27, 1942 – ], a high-ranking Nazi official who played a key role in the ], helping to develop the ], is assassinated with a converted anti-tank mine in an ] by two British-trained and equipped Czech paratroopers in Prague, dying of his wounds on June 4.
* December 24, 1942 – ], French ] and political figure, is assassinated by ] in ], ].
* April 18, 1943 – In a ], Japanese admiral ], who oversaw the operation against ], is killed when the bomber transporting him is shot down by ] fighters over ].
* July 20, 1944 – ], German fascist ] is attacked with a bomb by anti-Nazi Colonel ] and others of the ] in the ]. Hitler survives with minor wounds and the suspects are either arrested or executed.
* January 30, 1948 – ], Indian activist and leader of the Indian independence movement is ] by ] using a pistol.

==Science and technology==
===Technology===
* The ] is now considered one of the first electronic digital computing device built by ] and ] at ] during 1937–1942.
* Construction in early 1941 of the ] ] & the ], which was used by British codebreakers at Bletchley Park and satellite stations nearby to read ] encrypted German messages during World War II. This was operational until 1946 when it was destroyed under orders from Winston Churchill. This is now widely regarded as the first operational computer which in a model rebuild still today has a remarkable computing speed.
* The ] as world's first working programmable, fully automatic computing machine was built.
* The first test of technology for an atomic weapon (]) as part of the ].
* The ] was broken in October, 1947.
* The ] was invented in December, 1947 at ].
* The development of ].
* The development of ].
* The development of ].
* The ].
* The development of commercial ].
* The ].
* The ].
* The invention of ].
* The invention of ].
* The invention of the ].
* The invention of ].
<gallery widths="160px" heights="160px" perrow="4">
File:Two women operating ENIAC.gif|], the first general-purpose electronic ], operated by ] and ]
File:Atanasoff-Berry Computer at Durhum Center.jpg|] replica at 1st floor of Durham Center, Iowa State University
File:Trinity shot color.jpg|July 16, 1945 - The ] - The atomic age begins with the ], during which the United States detonates a nuclear bomb based on plutonium at the Trinity Site in ]
</gallery>

===Science===
* Physics: the development of ] and ].
* Mathematics: the development of ] and ].
* In 1947, ]'s raft '']'' crossed the ] from ] to ] proving the practical possibility that people from ] could have settled ] in ], rather than South-East Asia as it was previously believed.
* June 14, 1949, ] a ] monkey, became the first mammal is space during a U.S. suborbital flight on a ].
* ] developed ]—a process that revolutionized ].
* The development of the ].
<gallery widths="160px" heights="160px" perrow="4">
File:First photo from space.jpg|October 24, 1946: V-2 rocket takes first picture of Earth from outer space
File:Expedition Kon-Tiki 1947. Across the Pacific. (8765728430).jpg|]'s raft '']'' crossed the ] from ] to ] proving the practical possibility that people from ] could have settled ] in ]
</gallery>
{{clear}}

==Popular culture==
===Film===
{{Main|1940s in film}}
] as Charles Foster Kane in '']'' (1941)]]
] and ] as Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund in the trailer for '']'' (1942)]]
* Oscar winners: '']'' (1940), '']'' (1941), '']'' (1942), '']'' (1943), '']'' (1944), '']'' (1945), '']'' (1946), '']'' (1947), '']'' (1948), '']'' (1949).
* Some of Hollywood's most notable ] of the 1940s include: '']'' directed by ] (1941), '']'' directed by ] (1946), '']'' directed by ] (1944), '']'' directed by ] (1944), '']'' directed by ] (1942), '']'' directed by ] (1941), '']'' directed by ] (1940), '']'' directed by ] (1946), '']'' directed by ] (1941), '']'' directed by ] (1940), '']'' directed by ] (1949), '']'' directed by ] (1942), and '']'' directed by ], (1946). The ] released the animated feature films '']'' (1940), '']'' (1941), '']'' (1940), and '']'' (1942).

Although the 1940s was a decade dominated by ], important and noteworthy films about a wide variety of subjects were made during that era. Hollywood was instrumental in producing dozens of classic films during the 1940s, several of which were about the war and some are on most lists of all-time great films. ] survived although obviously curtailed during wartime and yet many films of high quality were made in the ], ], ], the ] and elsewhere in Europe. The ] also survived. ] and other directors managed to produce significant films during the 1940s.

Polish filmmakers in Great Britain created anti-nazi color film Calling Mr. Smith (1943) about current nazi crimes in occupied Europe during the war and about lies of nazi propaganda.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/ressources/oeuvre/cAXbMp|title=Calling Mr Smith|website=Centre Pompidou|access-date=2021-02-13|archive-date=2021-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221202910/https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/ressources/oeuvre/cAXbMp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

], a film style that incorporated crime dramas with dark images, became largely prevalent during the decade. Films such as '']'' and '']'' are considered classics and helped launch the careers of legendary actors such as ] and ]. The genre has been widely copied since its initial inception.

In France during the war the tour de force '']'' directed by ] (1945), was shot in Nazi occupied Paris.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/Films-Dr-Ex/Les-Enfants-du-Paradis.html|title=Les Enfants du Paradis - Film (Movie) Plot and Review - Publications|website=www.filmreference.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eufs.org.uk/films/les_enfants_du_paradis.html |title=Les Enfants du Paradis |website=www.eufs.org.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113153911/http://www.eufs.org.uk/films/les_enfants_du_paradis.html |archive-date=2009-01-13 }} Gio MacDonald, Edinburgh University Film Society program notes, 1994–95</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020106/REVIEWS08/201060301/1023|title=Quoted by Roger Ebert, ''Children of Paradise'', ''Chicago Sun-Times'', 6 January 2002 review of the Criterion DVD release|access-date=27 December 2021|archive-date=20 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920084900/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20020106%2FREVIEWS08%2F201060301%2F1023|url-status=dead}}</ref> Memorable films from post-war England include ]'s '']'' (]) and '']'' (]), Carol Reed's '']'' (]) and '']'' (]), and ]'s '']'' (]), '']'' (]) and '']'' (]), ]'s '']'', the first non-American film to win the ] and '']'' (]) directed by ]. ] of the 1940s produced poignant movies made in post-war Italy. '']'' directed by ] (1945), '']'' directed by ] (1946), '']'' directed by Roberto Rossellini (1946), '']'' directed by ] (1948), '']'' directed by ] (1948), and '']'' directed by ] (1949), are some well-known examples.

In Japanese cinema, '']'' is a 1941 black and white two-part ] directed by ]. '']'' (1945), and the post-war '']'' (1948), and '']'' (1949), directed by ] are considered important early works leading to his first masterpieces of the 1950s. ''Drunken Angel'' (1948), marked the beginning of the successful collaboration between Kurosawa and actor ] that lasted until 1965.

===Music===
{{expand section|date=July 2018}}
{{Main|1940s in music}}
] gained massive popularity during the decade, becoming one of the first ]s, and one of the pop artists who sold the most records in the 1940s]]
* ] was the best selling pop artist of the 1940s. Crosby was the leading figure of the crooner sound as well as its most iconic, defining artist. By the 1940s, he was an entertainment superstar who mastered all of the major media formats of the day, movies, radio, and recorded music.
* The most popular music style during the 1940s was ], which prevailed during World War II. In the later periods of the 1940s, less swing was prominent and crooners like ], along with genres such as bebop and the earliest traces of rock and roll, were the prevalent genre.


===Literature=== ===Literature===
{{Main|List of years in literature|List of years in poetry}}
* ]
* '']'' by ] in 1940.
* ]
* '']'' by ] in 1942.
* ]
* '']'' by ] in 1942.
* ]
* '']'' by ] in 1943.
* '']'' by ] in 1943.
* '']'' by ] in 1943.
* '']'' by ] in 1944.
* '']'' by ] in 1945.
* '']'' by ] in 1947.
* '']'' by ] in 1949.
* '']'' by ] in 1949.
* '']'' by ] in 1944.

===Fashion===
] {{Circa|1941}}, who popularized ] for women]]
Because fashion items and fabrics were ] due to ], fashion became more utilitarian. Women's fashion started including suits, which were feminized with straight knee-length skirts and accessories. There were challenges imposed by shortages in rayon, nylon, wool, leather, rubber, metal (for snaps, buckles, and embellishments), and even the amount of fabric that could be used in any one garment.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} After the fall of France in 1940, Hollywood drove fashion in the United States almost entirely, with the exception of a few trends coming from wartorn London in 1944 and 1945, as America's own rationing hit full force. The idea of function seemed to overtake fashion, if only for a few short months until the end of the war. Fabrics shifted dramatically as rationing and wartime shortages controlled import items such as silk and furs.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Floral prints dominated the early 1940s, with the mid-to-late 1940s also seeing what is sometimes referred to as "atomic prints" or geometric patterns and shapes. In response to the war effort, patriotic nautical themes and dark greens and khakis dominating the color palettes, as trousers and wedges slowly replaced the dresses and more traditional heels due to shortages in stockings and gasoline. The most common characteristics of this fashion were the straight skirt, pleats, front fullness, squared shoulders with v-necks or high necks, slim sleeves and the most favorited necklines were sailor, mandarin and scalloped.

<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.womeninwwii.com/fashion/1940sfashion.asp |title=1940's Fashion Trends |access-date=2011-03-01 |archive-date=2011-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718075216/http://www.womeninwwii.com/fashion/1940sfashion.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{See also|1930–1945 in fashion|1945–1960 in fashion}}


==People== ==People==
===Military leaders===
<gallery widths="140" heights="125" perrow="5">
File:General Dwight D. Eisenhower.jpg|], American General who led the Allied forces during the ].
File:Zhukov-LIFE-1944-1945.jpg|], Soviet Union Field Marshal who led the Red Army during the ].
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-018-13A, Erwin Rommel(brighter).jpg|], German Field Marshal who led the Nazis during the ].
File:Portrait of Yamamoto Isoroku.jpg|], Japanese Fleet Admiral who led the Imperial Army during the ].
</gallery>
* {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Reichsmarschall ]
* {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Finland}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Romania}} Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} General ]
* {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} General ]
* {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} ] ]
* {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} ] ]
* {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} General ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} General ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} General ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} General ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} General ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} ] ]
* {{flagicon|USA|1912}} ] ]
* {{flagicon|UK}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|UK}} Field Marshal ]
* {{flagicon|France|1794}} ] ]
* {{flagicon|France|1794}} ] ]
* {{flagicon|Netherlands}} General ]
* {{flagicon|Netherlands}} General ]

===Activists and religious leaders===
<gallery widths="140px" heights="125px" perrow="5">
File:MKGandhi.jpg|] during the 1940s
File:Raoul Wallenberg.jpg|], c. 1944
File:Jinnah Gandhi.jpg|] with Gandhi, 1944.

File:Sugihara b.jpg|] c.1940s
</gallery>
{{See also|List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust|List of Righteous among the Nations by country|Resistance during the Holocaust|Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

===Politics===
* ], Secretary-general Arab League
* ], Chairman of the Executive Committee Communist International
* ], Managing Director International Monetary Fund
* ], Secretary-general Council of Europe
* ], President of the Council International Civil Aviation Organization
* ], Director International Labour Organization


=== Scientists and Engineers===
* President ] (])
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* Prime Minister ] (])
*]
* Prime Minister ] (])
*]
* President ] (])
*]
* President ] (])
*]
* General Secretary ] (])
*]
* Governor ] (])
*]
* President ] (])
*]
* President ] (])
*]
* Prime Minister ] (])
*]
* Chancellor ] (])
*]
* Prime Minister ] (])
*]
* Prime-Minister ] (])
*]
* General ] (])
{{div col end}}
* Governor-General ] (])


===Entertainers=== ===Actors / Entertainers===
<gallery widths="140px" heights="125px" perrow="5">
{{col-begin}}
File:Rita Hayworth in Blood and Sand trailer.jpg|] as Doña Sol des Muire in '']'' (])
File:Cary Grant 1947 (cropped).jpg|]
File:Clark Gable - publicity.JPG|]
File:Gangs all here trailer.jpg|] in '']'' (])
File:Annex - Stewart, James (Call Northside 777) 01.jpg|]
</gallery>
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
Line 103: Line 351:
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
{{div col end}}
* ]
* ]


===Musicians=== ===Musicians===
<gallery widths="140px" heights="125px" perrow="5">
{{col-begin}}
File:Glenn Miller Billboard.jpg|], 1942
{{col-2}}
File:BennyGoodmanStageDoorCanteen.jpg|] performing in '']'' (1943)
File:BingCrosbyTheBellsofSaintMarysTrailerScreenshot1945.jpg|], 1945
File:Piaf Harcourt 1946.jpg|], 1946
File:Frank Sinatra by Gottlieb c1947- 2.jpg|], 1947
</gallery>
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
{{col-2}}
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
{{Div col end}}

===Bands===
] in 1944, a popular ] band of the era]]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


===Sports===
{{col-end}}
During the 1940s, sporting events were disrupted and changed by the events that engaged and shaped the entire world. The 1940 and 1944 ] were cancelled because of ]. During ] in the United States ] ] and numerous stars and performers from American baseball and other sports served in the armed forces until the end of the war. Among the many baseball players (including well known stars) who served during World War II were ], ], ], ], ] (in 1945), ], and ]. They like many others sacrificed their personal and valuable career time for the benefit and well-being of the rest of society. The Summer Olympics were resumed in 1948 in ] and the Winter games were held that year in ], ].


In 1947, ] of the ] became the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, just months after ] had broken the color barrier in ] for the ].<ref>{{cite news|title=New York Times|date=22 November 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/sports/basketball/wat-misaka-dead.html|access-date=November 26, 2019|last1=Goldstein|first1=Richard}}</ref>
]


====Baseball====
]
] with the ] in July 1946]]
]
{{See also|History of baseball in the United States#The war years|All-American Girls Professional Baseball League}}
]
During the early 1940s ] had an enormous impact on Major League Baseball as many players including many of the most successful stars joined the war effort. After the war many players returned to their teams, while the major event of the second half of the 1940s was the 1945 signing of ] to a players contract by ] the general manager of the ]. Signing Robinson opened the door to the ] of Major League Baseball finally putting an end to the professional discrimination that had characterized the sport since the 19th century.
]
*]
]
] *]
*]
]
] *]
*]
]
] *]
] *]
] *]
] *]
*]
]
] *]
] *]
] *]
] *]
] *]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]


===Others=== ====Boxing====
] in 1941, world ]]]
* ]
{{See also|Ring Magazine fighters of the year|List of The Ring world champions}}
During the mid-1930s and throughout the years leading up to the 1940s ] was an enormously popular Heavyweight boxer. In 1936, he lost an important 12 round fight (his first loss) to the German boxer ] and he vowed to meet Schmeling once again in the ring. Louis' comeback bout against Schmeling became an international symbol of the struggle between the US and democracy against Nazism and Fascism. When on June 22, 1938, Louis knocked Schmeling out in the first few seconds of the first round during their rematch at ], his sensational comeback victory riveted the entire nation. Louis enlisted in the ] on January 10, 1942, in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Louis' cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first ] to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during ].<ref name=matters>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC4qYeafQzMC&pg=PA64 |location=New York |title=Sports Matters: Race, Recreation, and Culture |editor=John Bloom |editor2=Michael Nevin Willard |year=2002 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9882-9 |pages=46–47 |author1=Bloom, John |author2=Willard, Michael Nevin}}</ref>
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]

====Track and Field====

==See also==
{{Portal|1940s}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] (the remaining members of that generation came of age in the first half of the decade to serve in WW II).
* ] (the older members of that demographic had matured in the second half of this decade).

===Timeline===
The following articles contain brief timelines listing the most prominent events of the decade.
*] • ] • ] • ] • ] • ] • ] • ] • ] • ]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Buchanan, Andrew. "Globalizing the Second World War," ''Past and Present'' no. 258 (February 2023): 246–281. ; also see
*Lewis, Thomas Tandy, ed. ''The Forties in America.'' 3 volumes. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2011.
*Lingeman, Richard. ''The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War'' (New York: Nation Books, 2012. xii, 420 pp.)
* Yust, Walter, ed., ''10 Eventful Years'' (4 vol., Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc, 1947), encyclopedia of world events 1937–46

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* - slideshow by '']''
*

{{Events by month links}}
{{20th century}}
{{Authority control}}

]
]
]

Latest revision as of 21:53, 7 January 2025

Decade of the Gregorian calendar (1940–1949) "'40s" redirects here. For decades comprising years 40–49 of other centuries, see List of decades.
D-DayBattle of FranceThe HolocaustAuschwitz concentration campPearl HarborThe BlitzHiroshima and NagasakiManhattan ProjectSurrender of JapanWorld War IIIsraeli Declaration of IndependenceNuremberg trialsMarshall PlanENIAC
Above title bar: events during World War II (1939–1945): From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching Omaha Beach on D-Day; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurs as Nazi Germany carries out a programme of systematic state-sponsored genocide, during which approximately six million European Jews are killed; The Japanese attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor launches the United States into the war; An Observer Corps spotter scans the skies of London during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz; The creation of the Manhattan Project leads to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first uses of nuclear weapons, which kill over a quarter million people and lead to the Japanese surrender; Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board USS Missouri, effectively ending the war.
Below title bar: events after World War II: From left to right: The Declaration of the State of Israel in 1948; The Nuremberg trials are held after the war, in which the prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany are prosecuted; After the war, the United States carries out the Marshall Plan, which aims at rebuilding Western Europe; ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic computer.
Millennium
2nd millennium
Centuries
Decades
Years
Categories

The 1940s (pronounced "nineteen-forties" and commonly abbreviated as "the '40s" or "the Forties") was a decade that began on January 1, 1940, and ended on December 31, 1949.

Most of World War II took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on most countries and people in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war-weary Europe divided between the jostling spheres of influence of the Western world and the Soviet Union, leading to the beginning of the Cold War. To some degree internal and external tensions in the post-war era were managed by new institutions, including the United Nations, the welfare state, and the Bretton Woods system, facilitating the post–World War II economic expansion, which lasted well into the 1970s. The conditions of the post-war world encouraged decolonization and the emergence of new states and governments, with India, Pakistan, Israel, Vietnam, and others declaring independence, although rarely without bloodshed. The decade also witnessed the early beginnings of new technologies (such as computers, nuclear power, and jet propulsion), often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era.

The world population increased from about 2.25 to 2.5 billion over the course of the decade, with about 850 million births and 600 million deaths in total.

Politics and wars

See also: List of sovereign states in the 1940s
Flag map of the world from 1942, during World War II

Wars

Main articles: List of wars 1900–1944 § 1930–1944, and List of wars 1945–1989 § 1945–1949
World War II
In Green:  German Reich at its peak (1942):   Germany   Civilian-administered occupied territories (Reichskommissariat and General Government)   Military-administered occupied territories (Militärverwaltung)

Major political changes

  • Establishment of the United Nations Charter (June 26, 1945) effective (October 24, 1945).
  • Establishment of the defence alliance NATO April 4, 1949.

Internal conflicts

Decolonization and independence

Warsaw Ghetto (1940–1943), photographed using Agfacolor process.
David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli independence from the United Kingdom on May 14, 1948.

Prominent political events

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018)

Economics

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018)

The Bretton Woods Conference was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to regulate the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War II. The conference was held from July 1–22, 1944. It established the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and created the Bretton Woods system.

Assassinations and attempts

Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:

Leon Trotsky
Reinhard Heydrich
Isoroku Yamamoto
Mahatma Gandhi

Science and technology

Technology

Science

Popular culture

Film

Main article: 1940s in film
Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane (1941)
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund in the trailer for Casablanca (1942)

Although the 1940s was a decade dominated by World War II, important and noteworthy films about a wide variety of subjects were made during that era. Hollywood was instrumental in producing dozens of classic films during the 1940s, several of which were about the war and some are on most lists of all-time great films. European cinema survived although obviously curtailed during wartime and yet many films of high quality were made in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Soviet Union and elsewhere in Europe. The cinema of Japan also survived. Akira Kurosawa and other directors managed to produce significant films during the 1940s.

Polish filmmakers in Great Britain created anti-nazi color film Calling Mr. Smith (1943) about current nazi crimes in occupied Europe during the war and about lies of nazi propaganda.

Film Noir, a film style that incorporated crime dramas with dark images, became largely prevalent during the decade. Films such as The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep are considered classics and helped launch the careers of legendary actors such as Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. The genre has been widely copied since its initial inception.

In France during the war the tour de force Children of Paradise directed by Marcel Carné (1945), was shot in Nazi occupied Paris. Memorable films from post-war England include David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (1947) and The Third Man (1949), and Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1946) and The Red Shoes (1948), Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, the first non-American film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) directed by Robert Hamer. Italian neorealism of the 1940s produced poignant movies made in post-war Italy. Roma, città aperta directed by Roberto Rossellini (1945), Sciuscià directed by Vittorio De Sica (1946), Paisà directed by Roberto Rossellini (1946), La terra trema directed by Luchino Visconti (1948), The Bicycle Thief directed by Vittorio De Sica (1948), and Bitter Rice directed by Giuseppe De Santis (1949), are some well-known examples.

In Japanese cinema, The 47 Ronin is a 1941 black and white two-part Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945), and the post-war Drunken Angel (1948), and Stray Dog (1949), directed by Akira Kurosawa are considered important early works leading to his first masterpieces of the 1950s. Drunken Angel (1948), marked the beginning of the successful collaboration between Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune that lasted until 1965.

Music

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018)
Main article: 1940s in music
Frank Sinatra gained massive popularity during the decade, becoming one of the first teen idols, and one of the pop artists who sold the most records in the 1940s
  • Bing Crosby was the best selling pop artist of the 1940s. Crosby was the leading figure of the crooner sound as well as its most iconic, defining artist. By the 1940s, he was an entertainment superstar who mastered all of the major media formats of the day, movies, radio, and recorded music.
  • The most popular music style during the 1940s was swing, which prevailed during World War II. In the later periods of the 1940s, less swing was prominent and crooners like Frank Sinatra, along with genres such as bebop and the earliest traces of rock and roll, were the prevalent genre.

Literature

Main articles: List of years in literature and List of years in poetry

Fashion

Katharine Hepburn c. 1941, who popularized trousers for women

Because fashion items and fabrics were rationed due to World War II, fashion became more utilitarian. Women's fashion started including suits, which were feminized with straight knee-length skirts and accessories. There were challenges imposed by shortages in rayon, nylon, wool, leather, rubber, metal (for snaps, buckles, and embellishments), and even the amount of fabric that could be used in any one garment. After the fall of France in 1940, Hollywood drove fashion in the United States almost entirely, with the exception of a few trends coming from wartorn London in 1944 and 1945, as America's own rationing hit full force. The idea of function seemed to overtake fashion, if only for a few short months until the end of the war. Fabrics shifted dramatically as rationing and wartime shortages controlled import items such as silk and furs. Floral prints dominated the early 1940s, with the mid-to-late 1940s also seeing what is sometimes referred to as "atomic prints" or geometric patterns and shapes. In response to the war effort, patriotic nautical themes and dark greens and khakis dominating the color palettes, as trousers and wedges slowly replaced the dresses and more traditional heels due to shortages in stockings and gasoline. The most common characteristics of this fashion were the straight skirt, pleats, front fullness, squared shoulders with v-necks or high necks, slim sleeves and the most favorited necklines were sailor, mandarin and scalloped.

See also: 1930–1945 in fashion and 1945–1960 in fashion

People

Military leaders

Activists and religious leaders

See also: List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust, List of Righteous among the Nations by country, Resistance during the Holocaust, and Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust

Politics

Scientists and Engineers

Actors / Entertainers

Musicians

Bands

The Ink Spots in 1944, a popular swing band of the era

Sports

During the 1940s, sporting events were disrupted and changed by the events that engaged and shaped the entire world. The 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled because of World War II. During World War II in the United States Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis and numerous stars and performers from American baseball and other sports served in the armed forces until the end of the war. Among the many baseball players (including well known stars) who served during World War II were Moe Berg, Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial (in 1945), Warren Spahn, and Ted Williams. They like many others sacrificed their personal and valuable career time for the benefit and well-being of the rest of society. The Summer Olympics were resumed in 1948 in London and the Winter games were held that year in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

In 1947, Wataru Misaka of the New York Knicks became the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, just months after Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Baseball

Jackie Robinson with the Montreal Royals in July 1946
See also: History of baseball in the United States § The war years, and All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

During the early 1940s World War II had an enormous impact on Major League Baseball as many players including many of the most successful stars joined the war effort. After the war many players returned to their teams, while the major event of the second half of the 1940s was the 1945 signing of Jackie Robinson to a players contract by Branch Rickey the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Signing Robinson opened the door to the integration of Major League Baseball finally putting an end to the professional discrimination that had characterized the sport since the 19th century.

Boxing

Joe Louis in 1941, world heavyweight boxing champion
See also: Ring Magazine fighters of the year and List of The Ring world champions

During the mid-1930s and throughout the years leading up to the 1940s Joe Louis was an enormously popular Heavyweight boxer. In 1936, he lost an important 12 round fight (his first loss) to the German boxer Max Schmeling and he vowed to meet Schmeling once again in the ring. Louis' comeback bout against Schmeling became an international symbol of the struggle between the US and democracy against Nazism and Fascism. When on June 22, 1938, Louis knocked Schmeling out in the first few seconds of the first round during their rematch at Yankee Stadium, his sensational comeback victory riveted the entire nation. Louis enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 10, 1942, in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Louis' cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II.

Track and Field

See also

Timeline

The following articles contain brief timelines listing the most prominent events of the decade.

Notes

References

  1. "Holocaust," Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009: "the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question ..."
  2. Niewyk, Donald L. The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust, Columbia University Press, 2000, p. 45: "The Holocaust is commonly defined as the murder of more than 5,000,000 Jews by the Germans in World War II." Also see "The Holocaust", Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007: "the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women and children, and millions of others, by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question".
  3. Niewyk, Donald L. and Nicosia, Francis R. The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust, Columbia University Press, 2000, pp. 45–52.
  4. Donald Niewyk suggests that the broadest definition, including Soviet civilian deaths, would produce a death toll of 17 million. Estimates of the death toll of non-Jewish victims vary by millions, partly because the boundary between death by persecution and death by starvation and other means in a context of total war is unclear. Overall, about 5.7 million (78 percent) of the 7.3 million Jews in occupied Europe perished (Gilbert, Martin. Atlas of the Holocaust 1988, pp. 242–244). Compared to five to 11 million (1.4 percent to 3.0 percent) of the 360 million non-Jews in German-dominated Europe. Small, Melvin and J. David Singer. Resort to Arms: International and civil Wars 1816–1980 and Berenbaum, Michael. A Mosaic of Victims: Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis. New York: New York University Press, 1990
  5. Markwell, Donald (2006). John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-198-29236-4.
  6. "Calling Mr Smith". Centre Pompidou. Archived from the original on 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  7. "Les Enfants du Paradis - Film (Movie) Plot and Review - Publications". www.filmreference.com.
  8. "Les Enfants du Paradis". www.eufs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Gio MacDonald, Edinburgh University Film Society program notes, 1994–95
  9. "Quoted by Roger Ebert, Children of Paradise, Chicago Sun-Times, 6 January 2002 review of the Criterion DVD release". Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  10. "1940's Fashion Trends". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
  11. Goldstein, Richard (22 November 2019). "New York Times". Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  12. Bloom, John; Willard, Michael Nevin (2002). John Bloom; Michael Nevin Willard (eds.). Sports Matters: Race, Recreation, and Culture. New York: New York University Press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-8147-9882-9.

Further reading

  • Buchanan, Andrew. "Globalizing the Second World War," Past and Present no. 258 (February 2023): 246–281. online; also see online review
  • Lewis, Thomas Tandy, ed. The Forties in America. 3 volumes. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2011.
  • Lingeman, Richard. The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War (New York: Nation Books, 2012. xii, 420 pp.)
  • Yust, Walter, ed., 10 Eventful Years (4 vol., Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc, 1947), encyclopedia of world events 1937–46

External links

Events by month
1949
1948
1947
1946
1945
1944
1943
1942
1941
1940
History of the 20th century
Topics
Lists
Categories: