1. Meaning of freedom to Hitler and Roosevelt.

In 1933, both historical figures, Adolf Hitler and Franklin Roosevelt, rose to power. Hitler became Germany’s Chancellor while Roosevelt became America’s president, and the duo remained in power until 1945. Notably, the two leaders believed in freedom, but their societies were different, fueled by their different understanding of freedom. Unlike Roosevelt, Hitler was a fascist and dictator. Hitler supported fascism whereby “it was a political drive that opposed democracy, and it began in Italy during the 1920s and spread to other countries like Germany, Spain, and Japan” (Edwards et al. 768). As a result, the NAZI dictator organized Germany into an authoritarian and militaristic society. From the examination and use of “Nation and Race,” freedom to Hitler meant a society where the Aryan race was more powerful, and other people were inferior. Hitler emphasized the essence of “Nation and Race,” claiming that Aryan people were more powerful than other people in Germany. Hitler also argued that other inferior races had to be eliminated for the superior race to survive. In his 1925 Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote, “the lesser people residing in Germany like the Gypsies and Jewish would be expelled or subjected to Nordic’s powerful race,” which was the Aryan (Edwards et al. 768). Nationally, Hitler’s goal was to “conquer and annex huge territories of East Europe and bring together the people of true German origin residing across various territories in Central Europe to form a powerful German nation” (Edwards et al. 768). Thus, Hitler’s understanding of freedom was limited to the supremacy of the Aryan race making true Germans, and the freedom to dominate other inferior races. This limited and exclusionary understanding was the definition of Hitler’s society which persecuted other races that were not Aryan.

Contrarily, Roosevelt’s understanding of freedom was based on democracy focusing on civil rights and the welfare of all people. Roosevelt was a democratic leader, and his society was based on and governed by democracy. Unlike Hitler’s freedom which focused on one race, Roosevelt’s freedom was more inclusive as it included people outside America. Notably, “Roosevelt saw that a portion of Americans had disregarded their inheritance of liberty beginning in1936, thus, the president requested Americans to fight for their democracy to survive in America and other nations outside America” (Edwards et al. 768). Using “the Four Freedoms,” these privileges were “highlighted by Roosevelt as fundamental rights that people must enjoy: freedom of expression, worship, from want, and from phobia” (Edwards et al. 771). Generally, these freedoms were war objectives that Roosevelt aimed to achieve after the war upon which his society would be based. Most importantly, these freedoms were not meant for one race or country only; rather, they were universal. Thus, Roosevelt’s society had the liberty to speak as it pleased, worship whichever God they desired, or not worship at all, including liberty from want and fear, which was not the case in Hitler’s society. His ideas in the “Four Freedoms” portrays that Roosevelt’s understanding of freedom was not centred on individual rights only or one race. Instead, Roosevelt’s freedom also meant happiness for all people and their general welfare, as the four freedoms brought happiness and well-being to Americans and other people outside America. Unlike Hitler’s society, limited to one race only, Roosevelt’s society was diverse and perceived a nation’s strength in embracing differences.

2. American civilians’ life during WWII.

The infamous WWII had devastating impacts on American civilians’ lives. As the war raged across Europe, civilians’ lives were altered significantly as their lives became stressful and challenging. Some civilians were killed during the period of the war. Evidently, “approximately more than two thousand Americans died in 1941 after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor” (Edwards et al. 773). Similarly, the constant fear of their husbands, fathers, and sons’ reports of deaths weighed heavily on their minds. Civilians also lived in constant fear of enemy attacks or their loved ones being drafted into the military. Also, the war tremendously impacted their daily lives as most resources were directed toward fighting the war. Fueled by the war and its cost, there were shortages in food, gasoline, clothes, rubber, shoes, cigarettes, and other essential resources necessary for survival. Consequently, American civilians were subjected to rationing and restrictions by the governments. Evidently, “as early as the 1940s, the federal government rationed and regulated all the things its citizens fed on, wore or utilized” (Edwards et al. 783). The government introduced ration coupons to restrict the amount of goods a civilian could buy. Some civilians resorted to the black market to buy essential resources. Civilians’ life was also characterized by migration in search of high-paying jobs or following their husbands to training camps.

On the other hand, American civilians were forced to contribute to war efforts. This included taking up work in factories and volunteering for organizations like Red Cross to help their country win the war. Also, the wartime responsibilities undertaken by civilians included “taking part in non-military defense groups, recycling scrap material, collecting newspapers, and offering their services at the local rationing agencies” (Edwards et al. 782). The war also led to labour shortages as millions of men left their works to join the military. Consequently, women, mostly houseworkers and mothers, were forced to work to replace the men. Evidently, “a high percentage of women and people of color offered to work in the factories taking positions that were previously unattainable to them” (Edwards et al. 777). During the course of the war, the percentage of working women was high, making up 36%. In the long run, the Union fought for better wages resulting in improved living conditions for civilian workers. Notably, “towards mid-1940s when the economy was at its peak, there were no longer existence of breadlines and double-digits cases on joblessness, by 1943, they were history ” (Edwards et al. 777). Unfortunately, women were still paid low wages compared to men and often faced sexual harassment.

Another significant aspect relating to the lives of civilians during the war period was racial discrimination. In most cases, people of colour, Black Americans and Mexican Americans, were subjected to racial discrimination in terms of job opportunities and housing. For instance, Unions and employers adopted the Jim Crow policies in hiring workers, hence excluding African Americans. Mexicans were also not employed and were mostly excluded and paid low wages, particularly in the Southwest States. Civilians of colour mostly faced labour exploitation from white workers. Fueled by war migration, the coming together of different races often led to racial conflicts, especially in Detroit. For example, “there was a violence breakout in 1943 between White supremacist in the South and Polish Americans which was directed at Black America. The violence claimed thirty-four souls with hundreds of injuries” (Edwards et al. 783). As a result, people of colour resorted to protests during the war to fight racism and social injustices. Apart from racial conflicts, WWII created a conducive environment for homosexual civilians in America to create their communities and prosper in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Buffalo, and Kansas for the first time. Despite the stressful and challenging life, the civilians had unity and patriotism towards the war and their country’s victory.

4. Iron Curtain and Cold War.

The iron curtain was a national barrier put forth by the Soviet Union following WWII to separate central European allies from the West and non-communists. The concept was widely adopted following Winston Churchill’s 1946 speech in Missouri, where he used the word (Edwards et al. 823). Generally, it is a word referring to Europe’s partition into two military and political sides; the Soviet Union and its allies vs the Western democracies in Europe and America. The Cold War, on the other hand, was a dispute between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the U.S. The conflict was fought through the means of politics and ideologies. The two-sided rivalry started in 1947 in Europe, and its impact was felt in far territories like Asia and Latin American. The war commenced with the end of WWII, whereby only two world powers remained. Accordingly, “In 1945, just the United States and the Soviet Union were the two global powers still in existence, with Japan and Germany beaten and Britain and France decimated by years of conflict” (Edwards et al. 806). As other powers were defeated and became weak, the remaining world powers resorted to competition. Basically, the fall of the Axis powers created an ideological and political rivalry between the two remaining world powers prompting the Cold War. The struggle to achieve influence and power to determine the world order was the main objective of the conflicting countries. During the Cold War, U.S.’s objective was to spread democracy and promote a capitalistic free market. Contrarily, the USSR wanted to spread its communism and socialism ideas to other nations. The dispute came to an end when USSR fell in 1991.

In the course of the mid-20^th century, the conflicting powers were competing for a proxy war, arms race, space race, and military alliances. Atomic developments were a major threat at the time. Consequently, the U.S. and USSR sought to seek more military alliances. “The U.S. became part of NATO membership which was made of twelve countries” (Edwards et al. 812). Contrarily, the “USSR formed the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Warsaw Pact, which was an Eastern European armed cooperation” (Edwards et al. 812). At the aforementioned time also, the Cold War had developed into a competition in space exploration whereby the Soviet Union pioneered the launching of Sputnik and America followed with Explore 1. The early mid-20th century war in Korea was also a proxy between the two powers whereby the Soviet Union provided assistance to communist North Korea while the U.S. aided South Korea (Edwards et al. 817). In both countries, the Cold War consisted mostly of espionage and propaganda campaigns against each side at the time. Based on how the text describes the Cold War, nobody thinks it was all paranoia. Despite instances of exaggerated phobias, suspicions, and propaganda like communism and the Red Scare, real threats, like the possibility of a nuclear war, existed during the war. In addition, the measure taken by both countries, like military alliances, proxy wars, the space race, and military alliances, significantly reshaped global politics and nations. Basically, the Cold War was a significant landmarking dispute that cannot be reduced to paranoia.