What are the social and cultural influences of the Second World War?

[Todd Edwards]

[Christian101]

D.Y.O.H.W.

[Cleo]

z

[Winston Chau]

One of the social effects which affected almost all participants to a certain degree was the increased participation of women in the workforce (where they took the place of many men during the war years), though this was somewhat reduced in the decades following the war, as changing society forced many to return to home and family.

The German soldiers left many war children behind in nations such as France and Denmark, which were occupied for an extended period. After the war, the children and their mothers often suffered recriminations. The situation was worst in Norway, where the “Tyskerunger“ (German-kids) suffered greatly. However, today that factor is not present in Norway.

The casualties experienced by the combatant nations impacted the demographic profile of the post war populations. One study[9] found that the male to female sex ratio in the German state of Bavaria fell as low as 60% for the most severely affected age cohort (those between 21 and 23 years old in 1946). This same study found that out-of-wedlock births spiked from approximately 10-15% during the inter-war years up to 22% at the end of the war. This increase in out-of-wedlock births was attributed to a change in the marriage market caused by the decline in the sex-ratio.

World War II had a considerable effect on the literature and media of today. It provided a diverse array of materials for books, television programmes, movies which began during the war period. The book "The Longest Day" was made into a movie in the 1960's which was a time that war movies reached their peak. Other movies made around this period which were directly influenced by World War II include; Battle of Britain, The Great Escape and Patton.

This war also features in many thousands of novels and other works of literature which include many published in the 1990's. There are also comedy programmes based on this war including Blackadder, Dad's Army and the British sitcom "Allo Allo". In the USA many non-war related TV programmes such as The Simpsons, Sienfeld frequently make reference to World War II related subjects and people such as Adolf Hitler, the Holocost and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.