![]() ![]() Tensions among the Allies had existed from the beginning of World War II, and after the war profound conflicts continued to separate the superpowers. The war also set the stage for the dominant political and diplomatic reality of the postwar years-the Cold War. Millions took advantage of the opportunities to buy new houses in the suburbs, shop for new cars and appliances, and join the burgeoning “affluent society” of the 1950s. Those funds were then available to fuel the consumer boom that followed the war. In the meantime, workers with rising incomes put their money into savings accounts, since rationing limited their ability to purchase consumer goods like cars and clothes. Membership in the NAACP-the largest African American protest organization-skyrocketed from 50,000 to 500,000. While facing ongoing discrimination, black Americans pursued the “Double V” campaign-victory against racism at home as well as victory against fascism abroad. ![]() African Americans joined the Armed Forces in record numbers, while two million left the South for factory jobs in the North and West. Whereas before the war, the average woman worker was young, single, and poor, by the end of the war she was married, middle aged, and increasingly middle class. More than 6.5 million women took jobs for the first time, increasing the female labor force by 57 percent. Although the war lasted only four years for the United States, its impact endured for generations.ĭomestically, the war triggered massive social changes. And the contours of postwar diplomacy took shape in response to issues dividing the Western Allies on the one hand from the Soviet Union on the other. African Americans and women experienced more dramatic change than they had in decades. Technology boomed, and the computer age began. ![]() ![]() Moreover, the poorest 40 percent of the population saw its share of the national income grow, while the top 5 percent witnessed a decline. It rescued the country from the Great Depression, created full employment, and for the first time in a generation increased real income for American workers. The war cast America onto the world stage as a mighty economic and military giant. No event proved more important to the course of modern American history than World War II. ![]()
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