Comparing the Effects of the Second World War on British and American Society - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... In addition to the Jews, the Roma and Sinti were targets of the Holocaust; about 220,000 Sinti and Roma died in the Holocaust (some estimates are as high as 800,000), between a quarter to a half of the European population (Holocaust).
However, the impact of the Second World War on society does end on these statistics. Its impact can still be felt in today's modern society especially on the British and American. World War II cost the United States a million casualties and estimated 400,000 deaths. In both domestic and foreign affairs, its consequences were far-reaching. It ended the Depression, brought millions of married women into the workforce, initiated sweeping changes in the lives of the nation's minority groups, and dramatically expanded government's presence in American life (Learn about). Although World War II was not the bloodiest in American history, the war consolidated the nation's role as a global power and ushered in social changes that established reform agendas that would preoccupy public discourse in the United States for the remainder of the 20th century. (The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945).
For the British, the Second World War is sometimes regarded as simply a continuation of the previous war after a brief period of peace, but the conflicts were significantly different, particularly for British society. The war started with a phoney war in which threats of major actions did not materialize, but thousands of children were moved from the cities into the country. Ten times the number of children was evacuated in 1939 when there were troops on the early expeditionary force in France, but many returned some months later and remained in the cities until the end of the war (History of British Society). There was half the number of military casualties in this war than the World War I, however, the improvements in aerial warfare meant that there were many more civilian casualties and a foreign war seemed much closer to the British territory. The early years of the war in which Britain "stood alone" and the Blitz spirit which developed as Britain suffered under aerial bombardment helped pull the nation together after the divisions of the previous decade, and campaigns such as "Dig for Victory" helped give the nation a common purpose (History of British Society).

During the course of the Second World War, food, clothing, petrol and other items were rationed among the British citizens. Access to luxuries was badly restricted, though there was also a significant black market. Families also grew victory gardens, small home vegetable gardens, to supply themselves with food. Civilians also served as Air Raid Wardens, volunteer emergency services and other critical functions. Schools and organizations conducted scrap collecting drives and money collections to help the war effort. Many things were conserved to turn into weapons later, such as fat to turn into nitroglycerin. A notable case was the collection of street railings as scrap iron, which changed the 'feel' of many older urban streets. This metal, however, was unsuitable for reuse and subsequently dumped (World War II). For some of the very poorest, though, rationing was beneficial as their rationed diet was of greater nutritional value than their pre-war diet.   ...Download file to see next pagesRead More