A Comparison Of National Support During World War II And The Vietnam War - Essay Example

A Comparison of National Support during World War II and the Vietnam War Introduction In comparing the social context of World War II and the Vietnam War, a great diversity of cultural opinions and behavior can be observed. During the 1940’s when World War II began, there was a different society within the world. The progression of societal changes that occurred during World War II changed the world until it was a very different place in the 1960’s when the Vietnam Conflict would take place. The spirit of change had been sown deep within the hearts of Americans, providing fertile soil from which resistance and enlightenment would rule the hearts of the people, spurring them forward to active social change. The speed at which life changed and the number of social issues that were in conflict made the world a very different place, thus supporting a citizenry that was in conflict with its government, a nation that was in a social civil war trying to change what would lead toward a more enlightened society. Social Changes during World War II The 1940’s was a time that marked the beginning of world in which the oppressed would stand tall and the domination of the white male social group would come into challenge. However, this was not seen from inside this time, only from the retrospective point of view that represents the changes that took place during this time. The social control of the world before this time resided deeply within the group defined by white Western males who dominated in the economic and social spheres from which the world was primarily defined. However, this group had taken some damage during the press of the economic pressures during the 1930’s that had whittled away both pride and resources. As World War II took those same men far from the shores of the United States, a new world would blossom during their absence. During World War II, the support for the war extended into most aspects of life within the United States. The first sacrifice was made by the men who enlisted in droves to support the end of tyranny within the world by participating in the military efforts. However, there was a great deal of sacrifice made on the home front because of the participation of men and the use of resources that might not have been required without the existence of the war. The entry into World War II came on the heels of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which incited the passions of the citizens towards revenge and preservation of the way of life that was the American culture. According to Hormats, “On the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed his confidence that the American people, “in their righteous might” would prevail over their enemies”.1 Sacrifices on the home front were numerous. In 1942 the Emergency Price Control Act was put into place which gave the Office of Price Administration the power to set the maximum of prices on commodities, rents, and rationed products. This was done to prevent price gouging so that the economic stability of the country could be retained. Certain items that were required in the manufacture of items of value to the war were put into rations; each person allotted a certain amount. Items such as sugar, meat, butter, and lard had experienced a price jump as the war had begun, demand bringing a jump in prices. The Emergency Price Control Act, along with the implementation of rationing became part of the cooperation between the government and the people in order to support the war effort.2 However, the long lasting social effects would be through a number of other factors that would affect the socioeconomic balance of the world as well as within the borders of the United States. One of the first factors that would not be immediately recognized for its capacity to change the world was that women would go to work in the factories, taking on the jobs that were once held by their husbands, brothers, and fathers whose uses were now more valued as soldiers within the war. According to Griswald del Castillo, “Some researchers believe that the experience of women workers during World War II laid the foundation for the women’s movement”.3 The emergence of the working woman created a social ripple that would develop through the following decades. The patriotism during World War II created great shifts in many of the aspects of social order that had previously been in place. While the female ability to succeed outside the home was well proven during World War II, it was not recognized and she was pushed back once again to reside within the walls of the home, but the seed was planted towards the desire for equality. Honey states that “the great puzzle of the 1940’s has been the paradoxical spawning of a reactionary postwar feminine mystique by a crisis that necessitated radical revision of traditional views”.4 World War II opened the doors through the pressure that would be put on men by their daughters and wives after the proof of their independent socioeconomic value had been proven. Griswald del Castillo states that “it loosened the traditional control of fathers and husbands over women. The exigencies of war and the appeal of high wages, patriotism, and new job opportunities operated to force men to make exceptions for their daughters and wives to leave the home and go to work or socialize in new ways with non-family”.5 During the 1950’s the propagation of the woman in the home, the Donna Reed, June Ward syndrome of the woman in pearls vacuuming the carpet, became the popular point of view of the place of the female, placidly behind her husband and creating a home for the successful nuclear family. However, the pop culture iconic representations were not what was in the hearts of women as they began to form feminist points of view and think toward fighting for freedom from the constraints put upon them through gender. Meanwhile, racial minorities were beginning to make strides towards finding their equality within the socioeconomic status of the United States. According to Griswold del Castillo, the status of Mexican Americans became elevated as they stood shoulder to shoulder with white males as brothers in arms within the war, those left at home taking on factory positions and moving through social barriers because of necessity.6 African Americans were limited to joining troop that were segregated from the overall army, their denied rights also spurring forth their pursuit of equality in the following decades. The results of the power shifts during World War II were not immediately apparent. The men came home to parades giving them honor for the deeds that had been done for the purposes of protecting their people. With the events of Pearl Harbor, there was a need to publicly support the idea of protection, homelands, while removed from the main continent, had been severely threatened with many deaths resulting from the attack by the Japanese air assault and the country was fueled by thoughts of vengeance and security for those actions. The many other issues that had come to light created a spirit of cooperation, the entire nation supporting the efforts in a wave of patriotism. The Vietnam War The mood of the country had greatly shifted, the social structure of the country in turmoil as various factions were moving to find an equality within the world. African Americans and women were moving the social cultures with the most prominent protestations that provided a structure in which great social change could take place. The Civil Rights movement was gaining ground with actions both pushing and pulling the group forward and back throughout the decade. The prejudices were supported by strong opinions, the enlightened thoughts of equality navigating both social and political waters that were fraught with dangers. The women’s movement, too, was beginning to form. The concept of the independent female was beginning to take ground, her needs becoming less of an extension of a the male influences in her life, but more grounded in her own needs for education, success, and independent identity. The growth of the female spirit towards independence was promoted both through socially influenced writing and through popular culture entertainments that supported her need to be a singular entity within the world. As well, a new form of revolutionary thought was being brought about through the movement of the youth. The various movements that were associated with the concept of a counterculture grew from the mainstream structure of the 1950’s that was developed through the proliferation of capitalism that was the result of the success that was found through the many technological advances during World War II and the exploitation of those advances for financial gains. The consumerist culture that blossomed from the success of the exploitation of technological advancement spurred forward contempt by the youth for corporate power, an anarchist’s point of view growing from a desire to rail against the authority that appeared to represent corruption and an impurity towards life. Because of the counterculture attitude that had taken hold of the nation’s youth, the conflict that would begin in Vietnam would not hold the same support that World War II held. Initially, the primary reason that might be cause for such rebellion against the use of troops within the war might be blamed upon the lack of a centralizing event that would mobilize patriotism. In World War II, the events at Pearl Harbor gathered the people together and created a cause in which their spirit could be used and at times, manipulated if necessary in order to create a unified support that allowed for sacrifice from the people in order to support the efforts. In the conflict with Vietnam, no such event or purpose existed behind which the citizens could rally. The Vietnam War was a conflict of ideology, the need to stop the advancement of communism used as the reasoning behind joining the efforts. However, the concept of forming patriotism behind an abstract concept, or at least one that held a great deal of abstraction among the American people, did not work as a force that would create a wave of support. One of the central galvanizing issues behind protests was that soldiers were being conscripted into the armed forces through the draft. A war that was not being fought to defend the people of the nation was being supplied soldiers through a program designed to force men into battle. Due to the changes in the social ideologies that underscored the concept of patriotism, the draft was seen as an affront to the American people by many factions. This protest resulted in some who were to be drafted to run to Canada to seek safety from being forced into the army. While some saw this as cowardice, others saw it as bravery in having the courage to defy authority and stick to principles by abandoning home and family in order to actively protest the draft.7 Unfortunately, some of the protest came down upon those men who were serving their country, and through no fault of their own, were treated with contempt for having entered into the military. Jane Fonda became an activist against the war, going so far as to go over to Vietnam and talk to prisoners of war, suggesting that they were indeed the war criminals that the Vietnamese who held them were trying to claim.8 Through this effort, she brought great shame to those soldiers and diminished the pain and suffering that they were going through under the cause of duty to the country that had sent them into war. This type of counter patriotism is in sharp contrast to the actors and actresses who actively made promotional announcements during World War II asking for audiences to buy war bonds. Conclusion The differences between public activism during World War II and the Vietnam War are in sharp contrast. The nation’s people were galvanized to act toward making sacrifices and supporting the war effort during World War II as they felt the impending threat to the things they held dear in regard to their nation. During the Vietnam War, there was no galvanizing action that brought the people together. In addition, the great many social changes that were taking place created an atmosphere of protest, the world changing as enlightened thinking began to support issues of equality. This type of thinking helped to create the counterculture movements in which active protest was made against seeing our men killed for a cause that was not clear to the American people. A striking difference can be measured in looking at the actions of celebrities during World War II in comparison to those of celebrities like Jane Fonda whose role, while pointed towards the wrong opposition, that of the soldiers, was intended to protest the government for an action with which she did not agree. The support found in World War II for the action was not present in the general public during the Vietnam War. The respect and blind obedience that existed during World War II was changed through social changes that would provide for an active body of protesting citizens, despite the various causes, that showed that the American people still had the spirit for revolution as well as patriotism. References Bloch, Avital H., and Lauri Umansky. 2004. Impossible to hold: women and culture in the 1960s. New York University Press, New York. Craats, Rennay. 2001. History of the 1960s. Weigl, Mankato, Minn. Griswold del Castillo, Richard. 2008. World War II and Mexican American civil rights. University of Texas Press, Austin TX. Honey, Maureen. 1984. Creating Rosie the Riveter: class, gender, and propaganda during World War II. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst. Hormats, Robert D. 2007. The price of liberty: paying for Americas wars. Times Books, New York. Hurt, R. Douglas. 2008. The Great Plains during World War II. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln NE. Jacobs, James B. 1986. Socio-legal foundations of civil-military relations. Transaction Books, New Brunswick NJ. Read More