Negative Effects Of The 1940's

The 1940’s was dominated by numerous major events which would influence and shape the future of the American society. Some of the events that took place in the 1940’s involved breaking the sound barrier, the NBA being founded, NATO being established, and of course World War 2 along with many more events. Life back then was nothing like it was today. Most of the men were off fighting in the war, minimum wage was $0.43, and the women were trying to support their families. The base of the 1940’s revolved around World War 2. The era of the 1940’s introduced us to many events that had positive and negative impacts that would help shape the world and the United States as we know it today.

The sound barrier was broken on October 14th, 1947
It was a necessary step for security in the wake of the end of World War II just passed and the continuously emerging threat of the Cold War on the rise. Before NATO, there was already an attempt to secure the states of the North Atlantic but failed. That treaty was called the Treaty of Brussels. The Treaty of Brussels had been signed on March 17, 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom as a mutual defense pact against the Soviet Union. About 8 days later, the Soviet Union issues a ban on military and passenger traffic between the countries. Soon would come the Berlin Blockade and the treaty would fall through. NATO proved to be the stronger pact and best bet for all of the countries involved. Basically, all of the countries involved with NATO would all work together in times of need, a political and military alliance, this case being prepared for the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Next comes one of the darkest times in United States History, World War
naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, taking the Americans completely by surprise and taking the lives of more than 2,300 troops. The attack on Pearl Harbor served to unify American public opinion in favor of entering World War II, and on December 8 Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote. Germany and the other Axis Powers promptly declared war on the United States. The United States seemed to struggle with Japan during the beginning of the war, them having won numerous battles. After a long string of Japanese victories, the U.S. Pacific Fleet won the Battle of Midway in June 1942, which proved to be a turning point in the war. On Guadalcanal, one of the southern Solomon Islands, the Allies also had success against Japanese forces in a series of battles from August 1942 to February 1943, helping turn the tide further in the Pacific. Later on, North Africa, British and the American forces had defeated the Italians and Germans by 1943. Also during 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad took place. Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles of World War 2, which led to the Germans to surrender that battle. Many more battles took place during the war. On June 6, 1944–celebrated as “D-Day”–the Allied began a massive invasion of Europe, landing 156,000 British, Canadian and American soldiers on the beaches of Normandy, France. In response, Hitler poured all the remaining strength of his army into