Blog #2

Ben Mertz           

Blog#2

            There are many profound ways that World War II had a permanent impact on the world. With the ending of the Nazi regime and Japans fall after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world was in the grip of change. From all of the chaos many things emerged that have forever impacted today’s societies all around the world. The baby boomer generation and America emerging as one of the world’s superpowers

            The baby boomer generation is defined as the one hundred twenty-five million people that were born after World War II. The actual ‘generation’ happened between 1946 and 1964. The reason I mention the baby boomer generation as such a large impact is because of all the things it brought. Firstly it brought my parents and most of the parents of every kid my age. For example my father was born in 1959 and my mother was born in 1964, meaning they are both product of the baby boomer era. Another reason why he baby boomer generation was so important was because many of the most famous musicians we know today became famous from the aftermath of the baby boomers. The Beatles and Bob Marley are two examples of musicians that grew prominent during this time period. Imagine a world where these two musicians hadn’t grown to as much prominence? Thank god for the baby boomer era!

            From the destruction of the Nazis and the Japanese empire America grew to much of the power that it has today. World War II gave reason for America to strengthen its military to all new heights. Due to the attack that we had on American soil in Pearl Harbor the government freaked out and started to pump up our military. The started to build tanks, planes, guns and everything needed war. This attitude seems to have continued its way into America even today, we have the biggest and most advanced military in today’s modern world. A crazy thought is perhaps if we hadn’t gotten involved in World War II would America be where it is today? With all the wars we have fought in the past, would they have still happened? World War II was also one of the first times women played a large role in the military. The war boosted women's rights all across the country and even different parts of the world. 

CITES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

http://www.mscd.edu/history/camphale/chm_001.html

http://members.tripod.com/~Ras_Richard/bobsbio.htm

http://www.thebeatles.com/

Blog #1

Ben Mertz

Blog #1

            On the morning of December 7, 1941, A day That will Live in Infamy,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt…out of nowhere, some 343 heavily armed warplanes launched from six aircraft carriers attacked, in wave after wave, the United State’s massive naval base in Hawaii.

            It was a complete surprise. Japanese bombers attacked at 7:51 in the morning and sank ships with sleeping men on board. The USS Arizona plunged to the bottoms with more than 1,117 men getting watery graves. The attack destroyed 188 aircraft, sank four US navy battleships and crippled another eight, killing 2,402 personal.

             The attack was intended to knock a hole in America’s Pacific fleet so the Empire of Japan could attack, conquer and torture the people of the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and other countries. In this campaign the they attacked and killed people from the United States, Australia, the Philippines, England and the Netherlands. The brutality, and torture inflicted by Japanese male soldiers rank as some of the lowest moments of humanity in the history of the world.

             It was a complete shock, called a “sneak attack,” and it jumped the US into both wars, against Germany and Japan. Anti-war Americans quickly caved in, and the entire country mobilized for war, An explosive manufacturing sector launched names like Uncle Sam and Rosie the Riveter and nationalism ran high as the USA readied for war. USA had survived the Great Depression. Programs like FDR and WPA , got the economy on track. The USA was rebuilding, Japan was attacking China and all hell was about to break out in Germany.

       The rise of Hitler’s 3rd Reich reached an evil crescendo when Germany attacked the Netherlands and Poland (1939). Poland fell in less than a month to the massive German assault war machine called Blitzkrieg, and unstoppable air force bombing squadrons called Luftwaffe.

             While the US had avoided war in the 1930s, the war found America soon enough. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor America entered and changed the face of the war forever.

Works Cited


http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/ww2/index.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II