9781422282793

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD 1 94 5 TO THE P R E S ENT

Culture and Customs in a Connected World

John Perritano

Series Advisor: Dr. Ruud van Dijk, Contemporary History and History of International Relations, University of Amsterdam

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

1 94 5 TO THE P R E S ENT

Culture and Customs in a Connected World

BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Culture and Customs in a Connected World Education, Poverty, and Inequality Food, Population, and the Environment Governance and the Quest for Security Health and Medicine Migration and Refugees Science and Technology Trade, Economic Life, and Globalization Women, Minorities, and Changing Social Structures

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

1 94 5 TO THE P R E S ENT

Culture and Customs in a Connected World

John Perritano

SERI ES ADVI SOR Ruud van Dijk

Mason Crest

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ISBN: 978-1-4222-3635-2 Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3634-5 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8279-3

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First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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CULTURE AND CUSTOMS IN A CONNECTED WORLD

Contents Series Introduction 6 CHAPTER 1: The “Modern” World of World War II 9 CHAPTER 2: Culture and the Cold War: 1950s and 1960s 19 CHAPTER 3: The Counterculture and East Meets West: 1960s 31 CHAPTER 4: Equal Rights and the End of the Cold War: Into the 1980s 41 CHAPTER 5: Globalization and Today’s Challenges 49 Timeline 58 Further Research 60 Index 61 Photo Credits 63 About the Author and Advisor 64

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CONTENTS

Series Introduction I n 1945, at the end of World War II, the world had to start afresh in many ways. The war had affected the entire world, destroying cities, sometimes entire regions, and killing millions. At the end of the war, millions more were displaced or on the move, while hunger, disease, and poverty threatened survivors everywhere the war had been fought. Politically, the old, European-dominated order had been discredited. Western Euro- pean democracies had failed to stop Hitler, and in Asia they had been powerless against imperial Japan. The autocratic, militaristic Axis powers had been defeated. But their victory was achieved primarily through the efforts of the Soviet Union—a communist dictatorship—and the United States, which was the only democracy powerful enough to aid Great Britain and the other Allied powers in defeating the Axis onslaught. With the European colonial powers weakened, the populations of their respective empires now demanded their independence. The war had truly been a global catastrophe. It underlined the extent to which peoples and countries around the world were interconnected and interdependent. However, the search for shared approaches to major, global challenges in the postwar world—symbol- ized by the founding of the United Nations—was soon overshadowed by the Cold War. The leading powers in this contest, the United States and the Soviet Union, represented mutually exclusive visions for the postwar world. The Soviet Union advocated collec- tivism, centrally planned economies, and a leading role for the Communist Party. The United States sought to promote liberal democracy, symbolized by free markets and open political systems. Each believed fervently in the promise and justice of its vision for the future. And neither thought it could compromise on what it considered vital interests. Both were concerned about whose influence would dominate Europe, for example, and to whom newly independent nations in the non-Western world would pledge their alle- giance. As a result, the postwar world would be far from peaceful. As the Cold War proceeded, peoples living beyond the Western world and outside the control of the Soviet Union began to find their voices. Driven by decolonization, the devel- oping world, or so-called Third World, took on a new importance. In particular, countries in these areas were potential allies on both sides of the Cold War. As the newly independent peoples established their own identities and built viable states, they resisted the sometimes coercive pull of the ColdWar superpowers, while also trying to use them for their own ends. In addition, a new Communist China, established in 1949 and the largest country in the developing world, was deeply entangled within the Cold War contest between communist and capitalist camps. Over the coming decades, however, it would come to act ever more independently from either the United States or the Soviet Union. During the war, governments had made significant strides in developing new tech- nologies in areas such as aviation, radar, missile technology, and, most ominous, nuclear

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energy. Scientific and technological breakthroughs achieved in a military context held promise for civilian applications, and thus were poised to contribute to recovery and, ultimately, prosperity. In other fields, it also seemed time for a fresh start. For example, education could be used to “re-educate” members of aggressor nations and further Cold War agendas, but education could also help more people take advantage of, and contrib- ute to, the possibilities of the new age of science and technology. For several decades after 1945, the Cold War competition seemed to dominate, and indeed define, the postwar world. Driven by ideology, the conflict extended into politics, economics, science and technology, and culture. Geographically, it came to affect virtual- ly the entire world. From our twenty-first-century vantage point, however, it is clear that well before the Cold War’s end in the late 1980s, the world had been moving on from the East-West conflict. Looking back, it appears that, despite divisions—between communist and capitalist camps, or between developed and developing countries—the world after 1945 was grow- ing more and more interconnected. After the Cold War, this increasingly came to be called “globalization.” People in many different places faced shared challenges. And as time went on, an awareness of this interconnectedness grew. One response by people in and outside of governments was to seek common approaches, to think and act globally. Another was to protect national, local, or private autonomy, to keep the outside world at bay. Neither usually existed by itself; reality was generally some combination of the two. Thematically organized, the nine volumes in this series explore how the post–World War II world gradually evolved from the fractured ruins of 1945, through the various crises of the Cold War and the decolonization process, to a world characterized by inter- connectedness and interdependence. The accounts in these volumes reinforce each other, and are best studied together. Taking them as a whole will build a broad understanding of the ways in which “globalization” has become the defining feature of the world in the early twenty-first century. However, the volumes are designed to stand on their own. Tracing the evolution of trade and the global economy, for example, the reader will learn enough about the polit- ical context to get a broader understanding of the times. Of course, studying economic developments will likely lead to curiosity about scientific and technological progress, social and cultural change, poverty and education, and more. In other words, studying one volume should lead to interest in the others. In the end, no element of our globalizing world can be fully understood in isolation. The volumes do not have to be read in a specific order. It is best to be led by one’s own interests in deciding where to start. What we recommend is a curious, critical stance throughout the study of the world’s history since World War II: to keep asking questions about the causes of events, to keep looking for connections to deepen your understand- ing of how we have gotten to where we are today. If students achieve this goal with the help of our volumes, we—and they—will have succeeded. — Ruud van Dijk

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SERIES INTRODUCTION

In Paris, U.S. servicemen and women celebrate the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, marking the end of World War II.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND annihilation: destruction. consensus: general agreement. fascism: ideology marked by extreme nationalist ideas, a totalitarian system of govern- ment, and a strict regimentation of public and private life. fatalism: attitude and belief that life is subject to fate and outside of one’s control. nationalistic: devoted to one’s nation. propaganda: writings, speeches, films, and other cultural products designed to influence someone’s thinking.

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CULTURE AND CUSTOMS IN A CONNECTED WORLD

C H A P T E R 1 The “Modern” World of World War II

W e want Harry! We want Harry!” the crowd shouted. It was August 14, 1945, and President Harry S. Truman had just announced that Japan had surrendered. World War II, which began for the United States on December 7, 1941, was over. Crowds had been gathering in front of the White House all day, hoping to see the president. Finally, Truman, with his wife, Bess, at his side, stepped out onto the front lawn and greeted the throng. “This is a great day,” Truman said, speaking into a microphone. “This is the day we have been looking for. . . . This is the day when fascism and police government ceases in the world. This is the day for democracies. This is the day when we can start our real task of implementation of free government in the world.” Cheers rang out and echoed down Pennsylvania Avenue. Across the nation people danced. Cars dragged tin cans behind bumpers. People waved flags. Strangers in New York City kissed. San Francisco burned with celebratory bonfires. In Seattle, a sailor was walking down the street with his girlfriend when someone asked him about his plans for the future. “Raise babies and keep house,” the sailor answered. Just three months before, a similar scene of jubilation spread across Europe after Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied nations led by Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Yes, the war was over, but within a short time, the grave realities of a conflict that killed some 60 million people and devastated much of the world had set in. The war had stopped, but not the dying. Civil wars raged in China and Greece. The Soviet Union began its oppressive domination of Eastern Europe. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East exploded in conflict as European colonies shook off the shackles of their colonial rulers in nationalistic wars of liberation.

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Moreover, World War II had turned cities across much of Europe into rubble. Bombs and artillery oblit- erated factories, rail links, and schools. There was no water, no sanitation facilities, no place to live. Lawlessness prevailed. Bands of outlaws with weapons roamed the streets. Women prostituted themselves so they could eat. Thousands starved to death. Millions more, their homes and families destroyed, became refugees. Each looked to start a new, more secure life somewhere else. The future looked even grimmer in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both of which were devastated by the atomic bombs dropped by the Allies at the end of the war. Yet, amid the destruction, a new world order was slowly taking shape, one that would eventually plunge the planet into a more ideologically driven conflict be- tween the Western democracies and communism: the Cold War. This conflict would manifest itself in many ways, including culturally. From the music people lis- tened to and the books they read, to the values they held as a people, and to how societies and economies were organized—the Cold War was all-encompassing. Culture and the Atomic Age O n August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another American atomic bomb was dropped onNagasaki. Within that week, the Atomic Age was born. For more than four decades, the threat of nuclear annihilation and the fear of a growing Cold War would play a revolutionary role in literature, music, the movies, and art. In the immediate aftermath of the nuclear blasts, some people, including many scientists, protested the proliferation of nuclear weapons. However, their pro- tests were often drowned out by others who encour- aged the West to formulate a consensus as it battled Japanese poster for the movie Godzilla Raids Again , 1955. Science fiction, in both books and film, represented people’s anxiety about the Atomic Age.

WHAT IS CULTURE?

Culture is often defined as a way of life for an entire society. It is reflected in a wide range of ways: by how people dress and how they speak, what movies they see, and what food they eat. This book looks at three essential elements of culture— values, norms, and artifacts—and how each pertained to the postwar world. Values are the ideas that people believe are important. Norms are the standard patterns of behavior considered normal in a society. Artifacts are the materials, such as books, movies, and music, among others, born out of shared values and norms. Each of these elements played an essential role in the anxieties, frustrations, successes, joys, and social beliefs that defined the Cold War.

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communism. Nevertheless, dissent arose as writers, filmmakers, musicians, and others expressed their anger and anxiety through their art. Much of that fear could be seen in the era’s science fiction movies, where filmmak- ers expressed anxiety about the possibility of nuclear destruction, the threat posed by communism, and the impact of radioactive fallout. These and other issues showed up in sci-fi movies in all sorts of ways: through obsessed mad scientists, invasions by aliens from outer space, and by giant mutant ants, grasshoppers, and other monsters un- leashed by nuclear radiation. In Japan, which had suffered greatly because of the atomic bomb, filmmakers created a series of antinuclear films, including one called Gojira , or Godzilla . When the movie was shown in Japanese theaters, many people silently watched while others cried.

Other movies and books, including Fail-Safe and Dr. Strangelove , highlighted Cold War tensions and anxiet- ies. In addition, the anger and angst of the age also gave voice to new poets and rock ’n’ roll musicians, many of whom are discussed in the chapters that follow. New forms of culture, such as film noir (movies marked by pessimism, distrust, and fatalism ) and others, also sprang from the nuclear age. Such “nontraditional forms of culture created in the atomic age conformed to the disorder of the age,” historian Margot A. Henriksen writes in her book Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture in the Atomic Age . More Connected D espite the tension and anxiety prevalent in the world, something else was occurring. A more culturally, politi- cally, and economically connected world was emerging. The United States was the only major power that came out of the conflict virtually intact. For the time being, America was the only superpower, and its leaders envi- sioned a postwar world of free trade and open markets. Free markets, the Americans and their allies believed, would forge international connections that would keep the peace, spur democracy, and bring people together on economic and cultural levels. This interconnectedness haltingly began during the war as soldiers and civilians from different cultures came together on each side of the conflict. They explored

FILM OF PROTEST In 1959, French filmmaker

Alain Resnais directed a critically acclaimed movie called Hiroshima Mon Amour (Hiroshima My Love). The film focused on a French actress who travels to Hiroshima to film an antiwar movie. While in the rebuilt city, the actress, played by Emmanuelle Riva, has an affair with a Japanese architect who lost his family in the atomic blast that devastated the city. As the two lovers talk about the effects of the blast, they begin to recall previous romances, including the woman’s relationship with a German soldier during the Nazi occupation of France. The film, which uses archival footage of Hiroshima after the blast, contrasts the couple’s personal pain with the devastation wrought by the bomb. The film was a success and paved the way for others in the French New Wave, a type of dramatic filmmaking that used elements of a documentary.

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places they had never seen before and interacted with people they normally would not have met. These relationships created an overarching worldview for many. Each person shared his or her personal stories and traditions, triumphs and tragedies. While some could not wait to return home, others relished these new experiences. The war had also fostered a resurgent interest in Asia, especially East Asia, which had been brutalized by the Japanese. The Austrian mountaineer and explorer Heinrich Harrer—who gained fame in 1939 as part of the first team to ascend the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland—helped raise this renewed awareness in his book Seven Years in Tibet . When the war began, the British captured Harrer on a climbing expedition in what is today Pakistan. Harrer eventually escaped and traveled to Tibet, where he became an advisor and tutor to the ten-year-old Dalai Lama. Harrer’s chronicle about Many Americans of Japanese descent were taken to internment camps during World War II. However, some worked in the U.S. military as interpreters, a service much needed for operations in East Asia. Here are interpreters Herbert Miyasaki, on the left, and Akiji Yoshima, on the right, with Brigadier General Frank Merrill, who was commander of infantry troops in Burma.

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his life in Tibet and with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, underscored that even though war had made the world a much smaller place, certain parts remained free and undiscovered. The Role of the Media The media played a major role, both during and after the war, in forging connections and influencing univer- sal views of humanity. The popularity of “Lili Marleen,” a song based on a poem written by a German soldier in World War I, for example, transcended politics. Recorded in both German and English, the love ballad was immensely popular among Allied and German forc- es. It was even used for propaganda purposes: Marlene Dietrich, a much-loved German-American singer and film star, recorded a version used by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services to dishearten German soldiers missing their home during the war. At home, the media shaped attitudes about the war. Americans, for example, keenly followed what was hap- pening on the battlefield by listening to radio broadcasts, reading about it in newspapers, and watching newsreels at local theaters. These sources were key in connecting the home front to the battle front. Although the U.S. government censored reports coming from Europe and the Pacific with a heavy hand, war correspondents traveling with the troops were able to tell the soldiers’ stories. Ernie Pyle was one of the most famous. Pyle tried his best to recount the personal details of individual GIs, bringing the war home in vivid detail. “I was at the foot of the mule trail the night they

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Austrian Explorer Heinrich Harrer

Wherever I live, I shall feel homesick for Tibet. I often think I can still hear the cries of wild geese and cranes and the beating of their wings as they fly over Lhasa in the clear, cold moonlight. My heartfelt wish is that my story may create some understanding for a people whose will to live in peace and freedom has won so little sympathy from an indifferent world . — From Seven Years in Tibet (1952).

brought Capt. Waskow’s body down,” Pyle wrote from Italy on January 10, 1944. “The moon was nearly full at the time, and you could see far up the trail. . . . Dead men had been coming down the mountain all evening, lashed onto the backs of mules. They came lying belly-down across wooden pack-saddles, their heads hanging down on the left side of the mule.” Newspapers—there were more than 10,000 of them in the United States at the time—were not the only sources of news. Every night families sat around the radio and listened to accounts of what was happening thousands of miles away. Still

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A young Marlene Dietrich, whose recording of “Lili Marleen” was widely heard by soldiers on both sides of World War II.

photographs, published in magazines such as Life , illustrated the horrors of war in both color and black and white. The war hit home at every level, not only in the United States but around the world. The media brought to the world’s attention the horrors of the Holocaust, the systematic murder of millions of Jews and others by the Nazis. The first reports came in August 1944, when the Soviet Red Army began liberating Nazi death camps in Eastern Europe, including Auschwitz and Treblinka. Reporters in Asia later brought the world tales about the mistreatment of Japanese prisoners of war and female civilians in China, Korea, and the Philippines.

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