18: Postwar Europe and North America (after 1945)

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Introduction

The victorious in wars often reap the spoils and in some cases those benefits are somewhat surprising. After entering WW II in both the European and Pacific theaters, the United States military proved itself as a modern force that was capable, and considered morally superior to their German, Japanese, and Italian adversaries. Liberating cities and towns across Europe, as well as the islands and regions of the Pacific, made the U.S. troops heroes to many people across Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. Couple this with many intellectuals, academics, artists, and architects fleeing Europe during the war and you have a country ready to push ahead in many cultural and economic areas. Europe and Japan needed rebuilding due to the large scale bombing and devastation. America was there to either lend financial support or help with the physical rebuilding process. America was now a major global economic and cultural influence, and with this status replaced Paris as the center of the Western Art World with New York City.