Start Date
April 2025
Location
3rd floor - Library
Abstract
In public memory of World War II, the British and Germans are diametrically opposed in an ideologically fueled, devastating conflict. Scholarship following the war fed into the memories of national unity, how each nation ‘stuck with’ their stories as a comprehensive, national coping mechanism to deal with the aftermath of total war. While having opposing goals in war, Germany and Britain share similarities in which demographics of their nations are othered or shut out of the supposed ‘nationwide’ collective war effort. Through a comparative examination of primary sources and decades of evolving scholarship, I wish to show that total war designates a certain path of action for a nation that proclaims unity for survival but categorizes and separates people like wheat from the chaff. Both nations emphasize proper citizenship and morality in their war efforts and move to systematically discourage or eliminate those that do not ‘fit’. The research culminates in a comparative Museum-style exhibit, demonstrating that the democratic and fascist lens or actions result in similar lived experiences of everyday citizens.
"National Unity": A Comparative Analysis of the German and British Home Fronts in WWII
3rd floor - Library
In public memory of World War II, the British and Germans are diametrically opposed in an ideologically fueled, devastating conflict. Scholarship following the war fed into the memories of national unity, how each nation ‘stuck with’ their stories as a comprehensive, national coping mechanism to deal with the aftermath of total war. While having opposing goals in war, Germany and Britain share similarities in which demographics of their nations are othered or shut out of the supposed ‘nationwide’ collective war effort. Through a comparative examination of primary sources and decades of evolving scholarship, I wish to show that total war designates a certain path of action for a nation that proclaims unity for survival but categorizes and separates people like wheat from the chaff. Both nations emphasize proper citizenship and morality in their war efforts and move to systematically discourage or eliminate those that do not ‘fit’. The research culminates in a comparative Museum-style exhibit, demonstrating that the democratic and fascist lens or actions result in similar lived experiences of everyday citizens.
