Studying a 历史(荣誉)文学士 向你展示历史如何每天塑造和重塑大的外围app的世界. History can also help us challenge our interpretations of the past so we can use that knowledge to inform the present. In this 75th 欧洲胜利日周年纪念, 或者欧洲胜利日(还有这个月即将到来的对日胜利日), 两位伍斯特历史学家, 完全不同的专业, 给出他们对这一重要历史时刻的见解.
麦琪·安德鲁斯教授
文化历史学家，名誉教授， Maggie Andrews, 反映了庆祝活动背后英国人的现实生活, 人们所忍受的一切和不确定的未来, difficulties, and social and political change that lay ahead as the country emerged from the rubble.
欧洲胜利日纪念的是这一标志性事件, 在英国历史上的决定性时刻, 经过一场巨大的斗争, 庆祝战胜希特勒和法西斯的胜利. 1945年5月8日是街头派对的一天, 醉酒狂欢, 不检点的性行为或粗俗的行为. 然而，其他人的反应则更为复杂. Jack Gillard stationed at RAF Defford recalled ‘we simply felt a drained sigh of relief that the nightmare in Europe was at last over and done with’.
为欧洲胜利日做铺垫
六年的战争使后方的人付出了代价. Rationing, the conscription of men into the forces and the threat of invasion and then the London blitz had spread fear amongst the population in 1940. However, 到1944年底, victory over Germany seemed at last in sight; the threat of invasion had evaporated, 海滩上的地雷和铁丝网已被清除. The Home Guard, seen a symbol of British defiance in the face of Nazi aggression, stood down. 1945年4月，空袭警报终于沉寂下来. Families who gathered around their wireless sets to keep abreast of the news were informed at the end of the month that Mussolini had been shot and Hitler had committed suicide. It was not however until the 7 April that a much-anticipated announcement informed the population that the war had ended and the next day would be VE Day. Many British people however looked to the future with mixed emotions: trepidation and joy, 兴奋和焦虑.
英国展望未来的社会变革
为一个新的战后世界做计划是这场战争的本质. 1943年，人们排队购买威廉·贝弗里奇的报告, which provided a blueprint for the organisation of welfare and how the country could address the five giant evils of: want, disease, ignorance, 肮脏和懒惰. 1944年巴特勒教育法案, 保障所有儿童接受中等教育, 似乎是这条道路上的第一步. When the summer General Election gave the Labour Party a parliamentary majority of 145, this was seen by some as another step towards significant social and political change.
战争在国外肆虐
The transition from war to peace was inevitably fuzzier than a focus on VE day suggests. The conflict in the Far East did not end until the middle of August and many service personnel instead of coming home were redirected to take part. 战争的后果在大后方随处可见. 伍斯特皇家空军飞行学校, in Perdiswell, closed but a German Prisoners of war camp remained on the site until 1948; in other parts of the county camps of displaced people from war-torn Europe awaited their fate. Significantly, Britain was virtually bankrupt – massively in debt to the United States. 欧洲胜利日之后，与战争有关的紧缩和困难加剧了, 政府在三周后减少了培根和猪油的配给量. 面包配给于1946年开始实行，食品配给直到7月4日才结束, 1954年，肉和培根的定量配给终于取消了.
战争遗留的长期问题
被战争撕裂的家庭不一定能重新团聚. 250万对夫妇在战争期间长期分居. 三分之一的男女军人和商船水手失去了生命. Some evacuees never returned home; many were adopted by their foster parents. 许多家长无法找到, some had died and some felt their children would be better away from the poor housing of the cities. 战时轰炸的遗留问题是住房短缺. 1946年和1947年建造了15.6万多座预制件. 到1947年，有6万多人可以居住，但这并没有缓解问题. 和平和重建国家被证明是, if not more, 比打仗更有挑战性.
尼尔·弗莱明博士
近代史首席讲师 尼尔·弗莱明博士, explores the importance and impact of the British empire in bringing about that victory, 以及它与现代多元文化英国的相关性.
The message of triumph over adversity gave the 75th anniversary of VE Day a special resonance during a global health crisis. 然而，还有另一个相似之处. 前首相, Theresa May, 警告各国政府不要将冠状病毒大流行视为“国家问题”.’ Likewise, historians challenge the still popular image of plucky little Britain standing alone against the might of Nazi Germany. 正如英国对COVID-19的科学应对是全球努力的一部分一样, 1939年至1945年的战时动员也是如此. 英国从一开始就受到其全球帝国的支持, 在全球范围内大规模集结人力和资源.
帝国在战时被遗忘的角色
第二次世界大战的帝国层面在今天基本上被遗忘了. 罗马帝国不复存在的事实是一个显而易见的解释. 另一个原因是学校和博物馆不愿处理这个问题. There is wariness too of doing anything that has the potential to glorify or excuse imperialism.
无论初衷多么美好，“帝国健忘症”已经产生了意想不到的后果. In the 1960s, opponents of non-white immigration to the UK claimed that the Welfare State was meant to reward the nation’s wartime sacrifice, 因此对南亚人是不公平的, Caribbean, 非洲移民也从中受益.
军队服役
而不是迟到, 非白人社区, 在英国已经存在了几个世纪, 是英国战争中不可分割的一部分. Moreover, almost as many non-white men as white men volunteered to serve in the ‘British’ armed services. 到目前为止，最大的队伍来自英属印度(今天的印度), 巴基斯坦及孟加拉国), 尽管非洲人和西印度人也加入了大量的队伍. 回顾穆斯林在战争中的角色也很重要. 正如穆斯林领导人所要求的那样, why is it not better known that over a million Muslims volunteered to serve in the armed forces of the British empire?
帝国如何在后方帮助英国
Civilian work was also vitally important; in agriculture, 工业和运输业, 女人和男人都被动员起来. 加拿大在大西洋护航中的作用在英国仍被铭记, but almost completely forgotten are the large numbers of South Asian and African sailors. Equally less known are the hundreds of Caribbean workers in British munitions factories.
帝国的异议?
在传递这一切的过程中，重要的是不要用一个神话取代另一个神话. 英国和自治“自治领”加拿大之间的关系仍然紧张, South Africa, 澳大利亚和新西兰的战争战略和组织. 更重要的是, the image of a united front was undermined by nationalist opposition to participation in the conflict. The Indian National Congress chose to boycott the war effort despite being sympathetic to its aims. Ireland (excepting Northern Ireland), demonstrated its sovereignty by remaining neutral.
这些民族主义反对的例子并不完全有效. 43,000 Irish citizens joined the British forces and many Irish people moved to Britain to perform civilian war work. 令人震惊的是，有225万印度男子在军队中服役. 但并不是每个人都是志愿者. 在尼日利亚和坦噶尼喀, the colonial authorities were so determined to extract certain resources that they used techniques of forced labour.
帝国变革的进程?
这表明, racism remained a marked feature of the British Empire despite waging a war against the Nazis. 不过，还是取得了一些进展, such as removal of the ‘colour bar’ preventing non-white men serving as commissioned officers in 1939 and Jamaica’s House of Representatives elected on a universal franchise in 1944. Still, this should not disguise the fact that the British were determined to remain in control of the pace of constitutional reform. 他们愿意, 在二战期间以及战后的近20年里, 对积极挑战其权威的人使用胁迫.
That determination reminds us that the Second World War did not herald the end of the British empire, 至少不是马上. The independence granted to India and Pakistan in 1947 was part of a process of constitutional reform dating back to 1919. 英国在战争期间被美国取代, 尤其是在加勒比和太平洋地区, 并没有完全消除英国在这两个地区的影响.
铭记胜利
“帝国健忘症”是可以理解的，因为帝国与种族主义密切相关, violence, and oppression. Equally, a determination to avoid repeating Europe’s destructive wars has encouraged precious habits of reconciliation. Yet, it has meant that Victory in Europe Day looms larger in the British imagination than Victory over Japan Day in August 1945. 如果这种对欧洲胜利日的偏好不太可能改变, 让大的外围app希望英国的多元文化社会能记住那个亚洲人, African, 加勒比海的男男女女为胜利做出了贡献.
All views expressed in this blog are the Academic’s own and do not represent the views, 大的外围app都有哪些或其任何合作伙伴的政策或意见.
大的外围app提供本科生 历史文学士(荣誉) 学位和研究生学历包括 History MA and History MRes 在大的外围app都有哪些.