1940s

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dn1=1950s | dn2=1960s | dn3=1970s |

Events and trends

World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. From top going counterclockwise: Allied landing on D-Day 1944, the Nuremberg Rally 1936, the Nagasaki atom bomb 1945, the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin 1945 and the Gate of Auschwitz.

The 1940s were seen as a transition period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves:

The first half of the decade was dominated by World War II, the widest and most destructive armed conflict in human history. So consequential was this event and its brutal aftermath that it laid the foundation for other major world events and trends for decades to follow. This war was also the first modern civilian war.

The second half period marked the beginning of the East-West conflict and the Cold War, together with major social upheaval caused by the destruction of the war, the large number of refugees, and soldiers returning home and demanding government recognition for their sacrifice, especially in colonies of European countries, many of which gained independence.

Technology

* The first nuclear weapon is built and tested in 1945.
* First cruise missile, the V-1 flying bomb (in 1941 or 1942), and the first ballistic missile, the V-2 rocket (in 1942) are invented.
* ENIAC is invented in 1942.
* Colossus, the world's first totally electronic and digital computer is built in 1944.
* The first transistor is invented in 1947.
* The first supersonic flight is performed by Chuck Yeager on October 14, 1947.

Science

* Quantum electrodynamics developed by Feynman, Dyson, Schwinger, and Tomonaga
* Mathematics: cybernetics, game theory, cryptology
* TRIZ

War, peace and politics

* Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Benelux, France, and the Soviet Union from 1940-1941.
* The United States enters World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
* Germany and Japan suffer defeats at Stalingrad, El Alamein, and Midway in 1942 and 1943.
* D-Day (June 6, 1944)
* Germany surrenders May 7, 1945
* Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9, 1945); Japan surrenders on August 15.
* World War II officially ends on September 2, 1945.
* The Holocaust (the shoah)
* United Nations established in 1945
* In 1946, former British PM Winston S. Churchill gives his famous "Iron Curtain" speech with US President Harry S Truman present.
* Beginning of the Cold War (generally thought of as somewhere from 1946-1949)
* Independence for some former colonies (including India and Pakistan in 1947, Israel in 1948, and Indonesia in 1949)
* 1948 Arab-Israeli War
* The Irish Free State becomes a republic in 1948
* NATO founded in 1949
* The Chinese Civil War ends in victory for the Communists in 1949. The Nationalists government retreat to Taiwan.
* The Berlin blockade in 1948.
* Informbiro period in Yugoslavia begins
* US Air Force civilian auxiliary the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) formed
* Truman Doctrine is created.
* Soviets test their first nuclear bomb in 1949 (Soviet atomic bomb project). This is seen by some as the beginning of the Cold War.

Economics

* The Great Depression ends in the United States after it begins participation in World War II, creating millions of jobs for unemployed workers.
* The Marshall Plan is implemented by the United States, giving billions of dollars in aid to reconstruct the war-devastated economies of Europe
* International Monetary Fund
* World Bank

Literature and Arts

* George Orwell publishes Animal Farm

Culture, religion

* Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life
* The Basketball Association of America, soon to be renamed the National Basketball Association (NBA), begins play in 1946
* Rhythm and blues emerges
* Rock and roll emerges

Others

* Alcohol exclusion laws first passed in US.

People

1940s: Encyclopedia BETA

Contents