Collapse of Peace, The: Wartime Diplomacy
Allied leaders periodically hold strategy talks during World War II, but the relationship is more a marriage of convenience. Stalin agrees to enter the Pacific conflict once the war in Europe is over. In turn Roosevelt promises to launch the long-aw...
Global Politics: Changing Attitudes Toward World Affairs
The relationship between the United States and the world community, as important as it has been at times in our history, may not be considered as much of a priority today as it was during World War II and the Cold War. Although opinion is divided, t...
Post World War II Housing Segregation
Professor of history Gary Gerstle talks about the racial fallout that ensued as many African-Americans moved from the rural south to the urban north in the 1940's and beyond. "These Blacks are coming into urban centers populated by Whites," Professo...
Labor Market For African-Americans and Women in the 1940's, The
Professor of history Gary Gerstle explains that World War II marked a time of historic economic and industrial opportunity for African-Americans and women. Professor Gerstle talks about the iconic Rosie the Riveter image, as well as the fact that th...
Racial Politics and War
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson talks about the evolution of attitudes towards African-Americans in the United States, as well as the growth of the civil rights movement. Professor Jacobson links both in part to chang...
Post World War II Labor Market, The
Professor of history Gary Gerstle talks about the shifting labor market in the years following World War II. "Most of the servicemen who had gone abroad...if they had had jobs in the private sector before they left were, in most cases, guaranteed a ...
Loyalty and Patriotism Following Both World Wars
Professor of history Gary Gerstle talks about the mood of the United States following World Wars I and II. In both instances, there was what Professor Gerstle calls an "...ideological intensity expressing itself in demands for patriotism (and) loyal...
Taking the Offensive: Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The
Different alternatives are available to ending the war in the Pacific. Truman's decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still being debated. Harvard historian Akira Iriye talks about the shock of the bombing, the Soviet Union's entry into the war...
Presidency, The: Challenges of Governing
Presidential advisor, political analyst and university professor David Gergen talks about some of the factors that have changed the fabric of political institutions in America and made governing more difficult than ever before. These factors include...
Taking the Offensive: Liberation of France; Germany's Surrender, The
By mid 1943, the United States and its allies begin to slow the Nazi Advance. England witnesses a gathering of 3 million troops in preparation of a major advance off the Normandy Coast of France. Generally known as D-Day, Dwight D. Eisenhower leads ...