World War II in contemporary culture
From Freepedia
The influence of World War II has been profound and diverse, having an impact on many parts of life.
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Movies and television
It has provided numerous opportunities for a slew of movies, television programmes and books, beginning during the war itself. The movie aspect had reached its peak by the 1960s, with movies such as The Longest Day (which had been adapted from a book), The Great Escape and Battle of Britain. Movies about WWII continued for the rest of the 20th century, though less in number, and included The Thin Red Line (1998) and Saving Private Ryan (1999). Movies and television programmes about the war continued to be made into the 21st Century, including the television mini-series Band of Brothers and Dunkirk. The vast majority of WWII movies are portrayed from the Allied perspective (increasingly being limited to that of the Americans). Some exceptions include Das Boot and Cross of Iron. World War II provides a large percentage of the material for the History Channel.
Computer and video games
One relatively new development of the "WWII media franchise" is that of video games. They are an extremely lucrative aspect of the gaming industry, and many titles are usually released every year. Some established games series about WWII include Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Commandos. In 2001, a massively multiplayer online game MMORG World War II Online was introduced, and has thousands of players refighting the 1940 Western Europe campaign.
Traditional board wargaming has replicated World War II from the tactial to the grand strategic levels. Axis and Allies and other "beer and pretzel" games continue to be popular. Avalon Hill and other wargame companies produced such complex games as Squad Leader and Panzerblitz in the 1970's. Other popular World War II games still in production include Australian Design Group's World In Flames and Decision Games reproductions of SPI World War II games.
Other
The war has also influenced footballing (soccer) rivalries. Most notably, the subject of WWII is used as chants by fans of the English football team. One such chant is "2 World Wars and 1 World Cup, do dar, do dar." Before the Euro '96 match between England and Germany, one British editorial stated:
- "If perchance, on the morrow, Germany should beat us at our national game, let us take comfort in the fact that we have twice beaten them at theirs."
Campaigns, battles and so on have been commemorated throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, mostly by veterans of the war and people that lived through it. In 2004 the commemoration of the D-Day landings took place which included, for the first time, German veterans of the war. Later that year, the commemoration of the campaigns in Italy and the Netherlands also took place. The liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp was commemorated in early 2005, while many other campaigns will also be commemorated, as-well as the end of the war in Europe and the Far East.
Reasons
World War II is generally considered to be much more interesting than other wars for a variety of reasons. It included the rapid conquest and attack of several major nations, the Holocaust, and the beginning of nuclear warfare. It also presented a variety of interesting technologies without becoming extremely high-tech (such as smart bombs).
Another reason for the popularity of World War II is that it is seen by many people as much more than just a military conflict between the Axis and the Allies. The virulent ideology, unprecedented aggression, and barbarism subscribed to by the Nazi regime and the Japanese regime removes any moral equivalency between the Axis and the Allies that is present between the sides in most other conflicts. Because of this, many see World War II as a war between right and wrong; a war between good and evil; a war that had to be fought; a war that had to be won.
