Transcript MEMORY OF WWII IN BRITAIN

MEMORY OF
WWII
IN
BRITAIN
Introduction
Memory:
Collective way at looking at the past
When a group creates its own consensus on the past
and its meaning
Sometimes the state might wish to influence or control
the way citizens look at some events
There are many myths about WWII, pointed by: Clive
POINTING in his book from 1990: « Myths and
reality»
-Britain fell into WWII unprepared
-Britain gained a great leader Churchill
-The Battle of Britain was an outstanding British
victory, Britain standing alone
-In 1945 Britain deserved the applause of the
world because it was the only nation to have been in
WWII from first to last
Let’s see if these myths are true by using a three-part
layout
-The early events: the bore war and evacuation
-Three key events: Dunkirk, the batlle of Britain
and the Blitz
-The home front
Timeline
1939
Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France
declare war on Germany two days later.
1940
Rationing starts in the UK.
German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and
France.
Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to cancel his
invasion plans.
1941
Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.
The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.
1942
Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
American naval victory at Battle of Midway: turning point
Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.
1943
Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.
Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be
launched.
Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.
1944
Allies land at Anzio in Italy
Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.
D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in
August.
1945
Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany
surrenders on 7 May.
Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death,
and Attlee replaces Churchill.
After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Japan surrenders on 14 August.
I/ Ealy stage of WWII
A/ The bore war ( Phoney war): September 39-May 40
Memory
-lack of preparation and a common desire to pretext the war
was not happening
-the « Munich spirit »: Chamberlain the Prime minister from
37 to 40: Britain started on the wrong foot
-September 3rd 39: the declaration of war was a surprise
Ex: Series by Grenada television « Family at war »
Fearing a German invasion, the British government printed a
posters to reassure the population.
One of them was never displayed although 2.5 millions were
printed
It has been found in an attic in
2001 and has now become a
trade-mark ( in 2005)
A petition was launched in 2011
to protest against this !
B/ Evacuation
It was about displacing 3,7 million people to places safe from
bombing
This was explained in popular newspaper such as the « daily
express » and the « daily mirror »
Myth: Children only were displaced: all left sining the popular
tune « Wish me luck when you say goodbye »
Truth : only 800 000n kids were displaced like explained by Ben
Wicks in his book « No time to say goodbye » in 1988
Myth: All classes came together during evacuation
Truth: Class antagonism rose: lots of kids were poor and
uneducated and Jewish evacuees were treated with suspicion
TEXT source 2
The children went round the house urinating on the walls. Although we had two toilets
they never used them. Although we told the children and their mother off about this
filthy habit they took no notice and our house stank to high heaven.
Source 1: from an interview in 1988 with the mother of a host family
Unfortunately many evacuees could not settle in the countryside. The country people
were shocked at the obvious poverty and deprivation of the town children, not to
mention their bad manners. There were reports of children 'fouling' gardens, hair
crawling with lice, and bed wetting.
Source 2: D Taylor, Mastering Economic & Social History (1988)
The order issued this week, by Mr Malcolm MacDonald, Minister of Health is that the
state of health and physical condition of the children are to be looked after as it is
essential that children from bombed areas should run as little risk as possible during the
winter season, as far as their bodily health is concerned.
Source 3: Article titled ‘Evacuees’ in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald dated 25th
October 1940
Evacuees enjoy a bath in this official government photograph
II/ Three main key events engraved in British memory
Some historians speak of a triptych
A/ First part of the triptych: Dunkirk and the fall of France
Definition: Dunkirk is the evacuation of British troops from
Dunjkirk’s shores when France was invaded by Germany
Memory: Not a debâcle but a strategical withdrawal to keep
fighting helped by the Almighty
See 1968 TV series « Dad’s army » ( TV comedy )
B/ The Battle of Britain June- September 1940
Hitler’s idea was that German bombers would attack
British airfields and destroy all the RAF’s aircraft.
“Operation sea lion”
Throughout August 1940 the German attacks increased –
on airfields, radar stations, factories, towns and ports.
The RAF lost large numbers of planes.
The Battle of France is over. I
expect the Battle of Britain is
about to begin…let us therefore
be prepared to do our duty so
that…men will say, ‘This was our
finest hour’.
8th June, 1940
We shall fight them on the
beaches, we shall fight them on
the landing grounds, we shall
fight them in the field and in the
street, we shall fight them in the
hills. We shall never surrender.
(3rd June 1940)
However the Germans had problems. They could only
carry enough fuel to fly for 30 minutes at a time.
The RAF had an edge over the Germans with their new
fighter planes: The SPITFIRE .
SPITFIRE
Memory
The army and particularly the RAF
pilots were seen as heroes
They witnessed also British
stoicism, phlegm and
professionalism
All the victories were the ones of
the people’s army that overcame
setbacks and defeats to beat off its
enemies
Never was so much owed by so many to so
few was a wartime speech made by the British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 20 August
1940
Facts
Commonwealth troops’ contributions stillbhave to be added
to collective memory
For the most part history textbooks ignore the contributions
and experiences of peoples from the Empire and
Commonwealth during the Second World War.
Ex Christopher Somerville: « British Commonwealth in the
second World war »
A new exhibition about Commonwealth troops has been
added in the Imperial war museum
The Empire fell into two distinct parts:
- There were the self-governing 'white' Dominions Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The
Dominions made their own decision to enter the war on the
British side.
-The Irish Free State opted for neutrality.
-And there were those regions that were wholly or partly
governed from London, including India and British colonies in
Africa and the Far East.
During the war the British Empire and Dominions raised a total
of 8,586,000 men for military service.
This toy aeroplane came in a
kit and children would put it
together following the
instructions
C/ The Blitz:
Definition: German bombing campaign against
Britain whichn started with the bombing of
London on September 40
It was a 76-night-raid
It then extended to other British cities
The Blitz did not end until May 1941. By that time
1,400,000 people were made homeless in London
alone.
Across the UK 43,000 people were killed.
Britain was blacked out.
The Blackout imposed on all civilians in all cities
was absolute : light ( even the red glow of a
cigarette) was banned.
Memory:
-It’s the symbol of British resistance, Britain fighting
alone
-By surviving the experience, Britain brought
freedom to the world, but there are two versions:
Left/labour: The Blitz represent hte triumph of the people
gather in the face of adversity .
It allowed the birth of a Welfare state after the war
Right/ Conservative: The Blitz witnessed deep patriotism
and Churchill’s efficient leadership
-The Blitz pulled all the British together
In the imperial war museum of london « the Blitz
experience » prposes to visitors to seat in a replica
of an East-end bomb shelter
Some, like Peter Stansky,
in his book "The first days
of the Blitz" question the
heroism of the population
"Looking back, in the
course of revisionist
history, the distressing
aspects of the Blitz might
be overemphasized.”
The British nation is stirred
and moved as it never has
been at any time in its long
and famous history, and
they mean to conquer or to
die. What a triumph the
life of these battered cities
is over the worst that fire
and bomb can do!
……..This, indeed, is a
grand, heroic period of our
history, and the light of
glory shines upon all.
Winston Churchill, broadcast
27 April 1941
He also thinks that
the Blitz heroic
dimension was
purposly created
during the war, and
maintained afterward
with an inch of
manipulation.
This is a form of
revisionist vision
Houses and buildings
damaged and destroyed
People killed or injured
Thousands of people
made homeless
‘WAR’S GREATEST PICTURE: St. Paul’s Stands
UNHARMED in the Midst of the Burning City.’
photograph from 1941 of bus which had fallen into the crater of a
bomb which blasted through the roof of an underground railway
station.
Young children were given these red and blue gas
masks. They were called "Mickey Mouse" masks
III/ The home front
For the British people WWII was a total war.
It demanded the mobilization of every resource, every
citizen, every source of energy
A/ Rationing
Myth: everything was on ration
Truth: No.
Cafés and restaurants continued to operate
A lot of cheating and black market but not very often
mentioned in popular memory
The BBC was a crucial instrument of national
information entertainment and unity
Ex: Radio program « The kitchen front » every
weekday morning at 8.15 taught how to use
rationed food best
Weekly ration for one person
B/ A social unity?
Memory:
In the mid-WWII a common sense of unity and cooperation
asserted
It enabled the rise of the working-class and the conception
of the Welfare-State which was enforced post-war
Fact:
1942 the BEVERIDGE REPORT by the economist William
Beveridge discussed the enforcement of a Welfare State.
This idea was defended by a new party born during the war:
The COMMON-WEALTH PARTY
Truth:
Social dissent was a fact
But it is not easy to incorporate it when memory
praises uniformity and unity
C/ WOMEN
From spring 1941, every woman in Britain aged 18-60
had to be registered, and their family occupations were
recorded.
Each was interviewed, and required to choose from a
range of jobs
it was emphasised that women would not be required
to bear arms.
Many women, however, were eventually to work - and
die - under fire.
The Land Army
The Women's Land
Army/Scottish Land Army was
reformed in 1938 so that women
could be trained in agricultural
work, leaving male workers free
to go to war.
The ministry of the information sponsored a film celebrating
women in factories
« Millions like us »
Or some artists like the impressionist painter Dame Laura
Knight
Truth:
Absenteism in such groups was high since women
were either mothers or housewives or both
There were lots of illegetimate births ( linked with
emancipation of women)
Between 1940-1944: 255 000 births and 102 000
were illegitimate
The ministry of health even launched a series of
posters warning against sexually transmitted
diseases and advising sexual hygiene
The Monument to the Women of
World War II is
a British national war
memorial situated on Whitehall in
London unveiled in 2005
D/ Relations with the US and D day
1- Relations with the US
Memory
There was a close Anglo-American partnership
Gi’s were depicted in a very glamorous way
Ex: Films
-Hanover street with Harisson Ford
-Yanks with Richard Gere
-Hope and glory in 1987
Truth:
Britain was bankrupt and in debt to the US
It was no way an equal partner
D/ Relations with the US and D day
2- D-Day
The
avoided
TheAllies
Germans
this as it was the
expected
most
heavilyan
invasionlanding
to
fortified
zone
and decided
be launched
to
landCalais.
upon the
upon
Normandy beaches.
Memory
It’s the fourth most important campaign in the British
popular memory of WWII
It was felt like the final act of a drama
It is well depicted in numerous films like:
1962 the longest day
1998 saving private Ryan
Over the summer 2013 , a band of British men and women
started recording for posterity the part that they played in the
battle of Normandy June 6th 1944 or the 10 weeks of bloody
fighting that followed.
The Independent publicised an appeal on behalf of the
Normandy Veterans’ Association (NVA) to record their
memories
There is also the D-DAY museum in PORTSMOUTH
http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk
The BBC also gathered testimonies and sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/categories/c5466
5/index.shtml
CONCLUSION
WWII had left lots of memories in the UK
It remains a key event in British history
Since 1945 nearly every crises involving Britain has been
compared with WWII
Some historian interpretate this by saying:
-It allowed the British to ignore the decline of their
nation
-This « British victory » with « glorious isolation » has
accentuated a distrust for « the continent »
Cenotaph for the British
Empire (later
Commonwealth) deads of
both World Wars, and the
British military in later
wars ( 1920)
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice
Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries
since the end of World War Ito remember the members of their
armed forces who have died in the line of duty.
It’s also for memory of WWII
Poppies have become symbols after the
1915 poem « In Flanders fields » by a
canadian soldier
Some can use white poppies as a symbol
of pacifism
It’s used in the USA too
THE USA AND
THE MEMORY
OF WWII
The American public remembrance of WWII was seldom
concerned with providing an objective account of what had taken
place
We’ll see that WWII in the USA has been presented Not as a
human tragedy but an opportunity to assume a position of
dominance in the world
Indeed, Americans have always been torn between
-being morally superior, heroic and committed to
defending human rights: they call the generation of the veterans
the “greatest generation”
-being stained by racists impulses and praising a sort of
state-sponsored violence
When studying the memory of WWII in the USA, three aspects
have to be dealt with
-The war itself: battles, soldiers’ accounts
-The home front
-The remembrance through monuments
I/ WARTIME MEMORY
A/ what meaning to give to the war?
There is a debate
1)Roosevelt’s idealistic view to break isolation
-His speech: « Four essential freedoms » in 1941
-Utopian justification for a PEOPLE’S WAR
-Based on a moral-building state propaganda of the OFFICE
OF WAR AND INFORMATION OWI
-Sometimes backed by famous artists as NORMAN
ROCKWELL
2) A means to take revenge on Pearl Harbor and defend the US
interest and supremacy
I/ WARTIME MEMORY
B/ Soldiers write the war
Soldiers soon started to fashion memories of the war after it
ended
1)Some soldiers' testimonies expressed their disillusion of the
war
EX: Andre Murphy 1949: « To the Hell and back »
Ex: Joseph Heller in 1962: Catch-22: the hero is a paranoid soldier
who tries to avoid combat saying he is insane
2) Others took pride in the war effort:
EX: Eisenhower’s book: « Crusade in Europe »
He is remembered as the man who
led the D-Day : a national hero (
« Ike »)
On D-Day he broadcasted a
message for US troops saying :
« You are about to embark upon a
great crusade, toward which we
have striven these many months.
The eyes of the world are upon
you »
3) examples of dividing memories:
the battle of BATAAN when Japanese invaded the Philippines
It’s a surrender of US and Filipino troops in 1942 ( 77,000)
It was followed by a death march of captured soldiers without
adequate food or water
Although it was a clear defeat it’s not portrayed as a tale of
American bravery and heroism: a BATAAN day is celebrated since
1961 on April 9th
Pearl harbor
It caused the US declaration of war against Japan
It’s in Hawaii island and it was bombed by Japanese air force
December 7th 1941
The Pearl Harbor conspiracy theory is the idea that
American officials and Roosevelt had advance knowledge of
Japan’s attack
It was used as a pretext for Roosevelt to force the USA into war by
the « back-door »
One of the evidence was to say that in 1941, Japanese
communication codes had been already officially broken.
But it’s still rejected by some historians.
D-Day
It’s still remember as the event which ended WWII in Europe
It’s in Hawaii island and it was bombed by Japanese air force
December 7th 1941
The Pearl Harbor conspiracy theory is the idea that
American officials and Roosevelt had advance knowledge of
Japan’s attack
It was used as a pretext for Roosevelt to force the USA into war by
the « back-door »
One of the evidence was to say that in 1941, Japanese
communication codes had been already officially broken.
But it’s still rejected by some historians.
C/ Hiroshima
In 1945 it was Truman’s decision: the US people supported it
Enola Gay a B29 bomber dropped the A bomb on Hiroshima
August 6th( little bomb) 1945 and BobScar ( fat man) August 9th.
it was presented as the only means to avoid a costly invasion of
Japan
But after the war critical memories of the bombing and the
suffering it caused broke in the open
EX: 1955: NORMAN COUSINS anti nuclear and peace activist
arranged for a group of 25 young radiated Japanese women to
come in the USA for medical treatment:
HiROSHIMA MAIDENS
Today there is still the question to know if Hiroshima and Nagasaki
were necessary to end WWII
Still many Americans and war veterans don’t even want to
remember this and commemorate.
For the first time in 2010 ( 65 years after) , US ambassador in Japan
John Roos was present in Hiroshima commemoration in Japan.
However, no American president has ever been back in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki since 1945.
I
D/ Victory
In the postwar years, war remembrance varied
1)Some saw victory as a sense of relief and used remembrance as
a means to spread a need to protect human rights and a peaceful
America away from divisions ( even race divisions)
Ex: the AMERICAN VETERAN COMMITTEE
2) Others used remembrance as a means to put the stress on the
need to fight evils that would threaten the nation again
It justified militarization of post-war US
E/ Hollywood
Hollywood played an important role in interpreting the war and
had a huge role in the debate over remembrance
During the war, films were patriotic and depiction of violence were
rare : OWI
After the war the spotlight on violence and cruelty was intensified
Post war Hollywood demystified the war:
EX: 1946 « The best years of our lives » focused on the bad impact
of the war on people’s family life
Ex: 1948: « All my sons » focuses on black market on the home
front
Ex: 1998: Spielberg’s SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
Spielberg made the film to help his dad’s generation to be
recognized as fighters for « God and country »
It returned public attention to European war theater and DDay
It’s a kind of morality tale, presenting GI’s as good men and
model citizens
EX:
2001 film « Pearl Harbor »
Clint Eastwoods’ 2006 « Letters from IWO JIMA »
II/ THE HOMEFRONT
A/ A harsh reality at home
-30 million Americans were forced to move: 16 million went to the
army, many sharecroppers drifted from the land to get jobs in town
-Rationing
-Drafted men were trained in boot camps and training praised the
need to be subordinated and taught a sense of individualism
EX: YANK MAGAZINE :
war department newspaper
given to servicemen so
they could express
criticisms
-40,000 conscience objectors
-Race clashes were common in the army and also in the home
front
- Reality of war love affairs: armed forces were forced to be
educated on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases
-Rationing was used to save wealth or the soldiers
-People were also encouraged to buy WAR BONDS :
The war bonds actually were a loan to the government to
help finance the war effort.
B/ Women at war
1) Myth
-Some only want to
remember the myth of
« Rosie the riveter » by the
OWI
-They want to remember
women stayed loyal and
kept their traditional
domestic role as well as
working to help the war
effort
Norman Rockell made it the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1943
-2) Other vision
-Women were faced to discrimination even if they were 36% of the
workforce
-After the war many women were under pressure to leave their job
-Commemorations
-EX1: 1997 Women in the Service of America Memorial at the
entrance of Arlington Cemetery
-EX2: 2000 Rosie the riveter memorial in Richmond California
C/ Racism and discrimination
1)Japanese Americans
120,000 Japanese American citizens imprisoned in camps or pulled
from their homes after FDR’s order to remove people who were
threats to national security
They reclaimed remembrance of « their » war
1974: Birth of the Japanese American Citizens League to seek
payments for the losses
1992: Opening of LA museum: Japanese American Musuem (
facebook page)
In February 1942, president
Franklin
Roosevelt signed executive
order 9066 that required all
people of Japanese descent—US
citizen or not—to be relocated
from their homes and moved
into concentration camps.
2) Black people
Some black were quick to see that patriotic service offered the
prospects of long-time gains in civil rights
1992: an independent commission reviewed archival records to
know if African Americans were sometimes denied the medal of
honor because of racism: 6 awards posthumously
III/ MONUMENTS
There are two types of memorials
A/ Traditional memorials : for veneration of national sacrifices
Arlington memorial in
Washington
Opened in 1864 to commemorate all the deaths of
conflicts; 290,000 buried
2) Washington world war two memorial
Opened 2004
Honors the 16 million
soldiers who served
during WWII for the
USA
3) Normandy American cemetery
In Colléville-sur-Mer
Not far from OMAHA BEACH one of the
beaches of D-Day
Opened in 1956
B/ Living memorials: to improve quality of life of those who
survived and their families
EX: Civic centres
C/ Memorial day
Memorial Day is a federal holiday which is celebrated
every year on the final Monday of May.
Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and
women who died while serving in the US armed forced
since the civil war
It now includes WWII veterans