Editing Greatest Generation

{{Short description|Cohort born from 1901 to 1927}}
{{other uses}}
{{Generations Sidebar}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}

The '''Greatest Generation''', also known as the '''G.I. Generation''' and the '''World War II Generation''', is the [[Demography|demographic]] [[Cohort (statistics)|cohort]] following the [[Lost Generation]] and preceding the [[Silent Generation]]. This generation is generally defined as people born from 1901 to 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://time.com/5618238/democrats-age/|title=Is It Time to 'Pass the Torch?' The Generational Dilemma of the 2020 Democratic Primary|access-date=December 22, 2019|date=July 30, 2019|archive-date=2021-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222113500/https://time.com/5618238/democrats-age/|url-status=live}}</ref> They were shaped by the [[Great Depression]] and were the primary generation composing the enlisted forces in [[World War II]]. 

==Terminology==
An early usage of the term ''The Greatest Generation'' was in 1953 by U.S. Army General [[James Van Fleet]], who had recently retired after his service in [[World War II]] and leading the [[Eighth United States Army|Eighth Army]] in the [[Korean War]]. He spoke to [[United States Congress|Congress]], saying, "The men of the Eighth Army are a magnificent lot, and I have always said the greatest generation of Americans we have ever produced."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tBEAQAAMAAJ&q=war+%22greatest+generation%22 |title=Full Committee Hearing on Statement Made by Gen. James A. Van Fleet |year=1953 |access-date=2022-01-19 |archive-date=2023-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122014320/https://books.google.com/books?id=4tBEAQAAMAAJ&q=war+%22greatest+generation%22&dq=war+%22greatest+generation%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1nvHWyt3aAhUF0mMKHYFCD0wQ6AEIUTAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The term was popularized by the title of a [[The Greatest Generation (book)|1998 book]] by American journalist [[Tom Brokaw]]. In the book, Brokaw profiles American members of this generation who came of age during the [[Great Depression]] and went on to fight in World War II, as well as those who contributed to the war effort on the home front. Brokaw wrote that these men and women fought not for fame or recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQagD17IFS4C&q=the+greatest+generation |title=The greatest generation – Tom Brokaw – Google Boeken |access-date=2013-12-16 |isbn=978-0-375-50202-6 |year=1998 |last1=Brokaw |first1=Tom |publisher=Random House |archive-date=2023-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203081930/https://books.google.com/books?id=rQagD17IFS4C&q=the+greatest+generation |url-status=live }}</ref>

This cohort is also referred to as the "G.I. Generation"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTGY-uoCCCoC&q=generations|title=Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069|first1=William|last1=Strauss|first2=Neil|last2=Howe|publisher=Harper Perennial|year=1991|isbn=978-0-688-11912-6|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2023-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203081919/https://books.google.com/books?id=FTGY-uoCCCoC&q=generations|url-status=live}}</ref> and the "World War II Generation".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Kenneth D. |title=Myth and the Greatest Generation |date=2008 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group, LLC |isbn=978-0-415-95677-2 |doi=10.4324/9780203941461 }}</ref> 

==Date and age range definitions==
[[Pew Research Center]] defines this cohort as being born from 1901 to 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people-press.org/2016/12/15/americans-name-the-10-most-significant-historic-events-of-their-lifetimes/|title=Americans Name the 10 Most Significant Historic Events of Their Lifetimes|date=December 15, 2016|publisher=People Press|access-date=January 2, 2017|archive-date=January 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102180330/http://www.people-press.org/2016/12/15/americans-name-the-10-most-significant-historic-events-of-their-lifetimes/|url-status=live}}</ref> Strauss and Howe use the birth years 1901–1924.<ref name = "Howe">{{cite magazine|last1=Howe|first1=Neil|title=The G.I. Generation and the "Triumph of the Squares"|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2014/07/30/the-g-i-generation-and-the-triumph-of-the-squares-part-2-of-7/#14f6fc301a1d|access-date=November 26, 2016|magazine=Forbes|date=July 30, 2014|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118150129/https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2014/07/30/the-g-i-generation-and-the-triumph-of-the-squares-part-2-of-7/#14f6fc301a1d|url-status=live}}</ref> The first half of this generation, born between 1901 and 1912, is sometimes referred to as the [[Interbellum Generation]]. The majority of veterans who served in World War II were born during the second half of this generation, from 1913 to 1924. While the oldest members of the Interbellum Generation came of age at the close of the 1910s in 1919, the majority reached maturity in the 1920s and the minority had grown up in the initial years of the [[Great Depression]] from 1929 to 1932. The "WWII Generation Proper" came of age in either the second half of the 1930s or the early years of the 1940s.

==Characteristics==

===United States===

====Adolescence====
{{Main|Belle Époque|Progressive Era|World War I|Great Depression in the United States}}
[[File:Buckler family 1914.jpg|thumb|right|Buckler family, 1914]]
[[File:Group portrait of young girls on Christmas card, Queensland, 1910-1920 (5279596344).jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Australian girls, circa between 1910 and 1920]]

US members of this generation came of age as early as 1919 and as late as 1945, were children, or were born during the [[Progressive Era]], [[First World War|World War I]], and the [[Roaring Twenties]]; a time of economic prosperity with distinctive cultural transformations. Additionally, many of those alive from 1918 through 1920 experienced the deadly [[Spanish flu]] pandemic; and, incredibly, a few rare individuals, such as Anna Del Priore, managed to survive infection from both the Spanish flu and the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] approximately 100 years later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Erica |date=October 23, 2020 |title=This 108-year-old woman survived two pandemics: The 1918 Spanish flu and Covid-19 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/23/this-108-year-old-woman-survived-two-pandemics-the-1918-spanish-flu-and-covid-19.html |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref> They also experienced much of their youth with rapid [[technological innovation]] (e.g., radio, telephone, [[automobile]]) amidst growing levels of worldwide [[income inequality]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eml.berkeley.edu//~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2012.pdf |title=Striking it Richer |website=eml.berkeley.edu |access-date=2018-04-30 |archive-date=2022-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209110827/https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2012.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/05/u-s-income-inequality-on-rise-for-decades-is-now-highest-since-1928/|title=U.S. income inequality, on rise for decades, is now highest since 1928|date=December 5, 2013|access-date=April 30, 2018|archive-date=February 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216234307/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/05/u-s-income-inequality-on-rise-for-decades-is-now-highest-since-1928/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/|title=5 facts about economic inequality|date=January 7, 2014|access-date=April 30, 2018|archive-date=April 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430182327/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/|url-status=live}}</ref> and a soaring economy.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Life and death during the Great Depression|first1=José A. Tapia|last1=Granados|first2=Ana V. Diez|last2=Roux|date=October 13, 2009|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=106|issue=41|pages=17290–17295|doi=10.1073/pnas.0904491106|pmid=19805076|pmc=2765209|bibcode=2009PNAS..10617290T|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shmoop.com/1920s/economy.html|title=Economy in The 1920s|website=www.shmoop.com|access-date=2018-04-30|archive-date=2018-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430182835/https://www.shmoop.com/1920s/economy.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>George H. Soule, Prosperity Decade: From War to Depression: 1917–1929 (1947)</ref> After the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929|Stock Market crashed]], when many had matured in the 1930s, this generation experienced profound economic and social turmoil.

Despite the hardships, historians note that the literature, arts, music, and cinema of the period flourished. This generation experienced what is commonly referred to as the "[[Golden Age of Hollywood]]". A number of popular film genres, including [[gangster films]], [[musical films]], [[comedy films]], and [[monster films]] attracted mass audiences. The Great Depression also greatly influenced literature and witnessed the advent of comic books, which were popular with members of this generation with such characters as [[Doc Savage]], [[the Shadow]], [[Superman]] and [[Batman]]. Next to [[jazz]], [[blues]], [[gospel music]], and [[folk music]]; [[swing jazz]] became immensely popular with members of this generation. The term "Swing Generation" has also been used to describe the cohort due to the popularity of the era's music.<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline: American Generations since 20th Century |url=https://projects.scpr.org/timelines/american-generations-timeline/ |website=projects.scpr.org |publisher=Southern California Public Radio |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=February 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202002947/https://projects.scpr.org/timelines/american-generations-timeline/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The popularity of the radio also became a major influence in the lives of this generation, as millions tuned in to listen to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s "[[fireside chats]]" and absorbed the news in a way like never before.<ref>{{cite web |title=Culture in the Thirties |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/culture-in-the-thirties/ |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |publisher=Lumen Learning |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=November 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129123416/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/culture-in-the-thirties/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Great Depression and World War II====
{{Main|Military history of the United States during World War II}}
[[File:Into the Jaws of Death 23-0455M edit.jpg|thumb|left|American G.I.s land on [[Omaha Beach]] on June 6, 1944]]
[[File:WomanFactory1940s.jpg|thumb|left|A woman working in a military aircraft factory in [[Fort Worth, Texas]], in 1942. Millions of American women found [[Rosie the Riveter|work in the defense industry]] during the war.]]

Over 16 million Americans served in World War II, the majority being members of this generation. 38.8% were volunteers, 61.2% were draftees, the average length of their service was 33 months, and total approximate casualties were 671,278 ([[Killed in Action|killed]] and [[Wounded in Action|wounded]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Research Starters: US Military by the Numbers |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers |website=nationalww2museum.org |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=May 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530153856/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> American journalist Tom Brokaw and others extol this generation for supporting and fighting World War II.

====Post-war====
{{Main|Demobilization of United States Armed Forces after World War II|Post–World War II economic expansion}}

Following the war, this generation produced children at an unprecedented level. Over 76 million [[Baby Boomers|babies]] were born between 1946 and 1964.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pollard |first1=Kelvin |title=Just How Many Baby Boomers Are There? |url=https://www.prb.org/justhowmanybabyboomersarethere/#:~:text=There%20were%20actually%20a%20total,leaving%20some%2065.2%20million%20survivors. |website=prb.org |access-date=January 4, 2021 |date=April 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108064716/https://www.prb.org/justhowmanybabyboomersarethere/#:~:text=There%20were%20actually%20a%20total,leaving%20some%2065.2%20million%20survivors. |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsidized by the [[G.I. Bill]], this generation moved their families into the [[suburbs]] and largely promoted a more conservative mindset as the country faced the challenge of the [[Cold War]], as some were again called to service in the [[Korean War]] alongside the [[Silent Generation]]. The first member of their generation to be elected US president, [[John F. Kennedy]], began a [[Space Race]] against the [[Soviet Union]], and his successor, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], further promoted a controversial "[[Great Society]]" policy. Research professor of sociology [[Glen Elder (sociologist)|Glen Holl Elder, Jr.]], a prominent figure in the development of [[Life course approach|life course theory]], wrote ''Children of the Great Depression'' (1974), "the first longitudinal study of a Great Depression cohort." Elder followed 167 individuals born in California between 1920 and 1921 and "traced the impact of Depression and wartime experiences from the early years to middle age. Most of these 'children of the Great Depression' fared unusually well in their adult years".<ref>{{cite web |title=About Glen H. Elder, Jr. |url=http://elder.web.unc.edu/about/ |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619193328/http://elder.web.unc.edu/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lives in Changing Times |url=http://elder.web.unc.edu/books/ |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024319/http://elder.web.unc.edu/books/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They came out of the hardships of the Great Depression "with an ability to know how to survive and make do and solve problems."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zernike |first1=Kate |title=Generation OMG |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090313friday.html |access-date=March 25, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=March 13, 2009 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024317/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090313friday.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Relationship to later generations====
This generation faced turmoil with their older [[Baby boomers|baby boomer]] children upon their maturing in the 1960s in the form of the [[Vietnam War]], [[civil rights movement]], [[Watergate scandal]], and a [[Counterculture of the 1960s|generational culture clash]].<ref>{{cite web |title=GI Generation |url=https://www.lifecourse.com/about/method/def/gi-gen.html |website=lifecourse.com |publisher=LifeCourse Associates |access-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107113336/https://www.lifecourse.com/about/method/def/gi-gen.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Attitudes shaped during World War II clashed with those of the Vietnam era as many struggled to understand the general distrust of the government by the younger generations, while some supported [[anti-war]] protests. The same applied to a lesser extent in the 1950s between the [[Interbellum Generation]] and their [[Silent Generation]] children.<ref>{{cite web |title=The World War II Generation and Vietnam |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/two-days-in-october-world-war-ii-generation-and-vietnam/ |website=PBS.org |access-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108123538/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/two-days-in-october-world-war-ii-generation-and-vietnam/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Later years and legacy====
[[File:Ruth Harden WWII memorial dedication ceremony Delaware.jpg|thumb|right|US Navy veteran Ruth Harden sings as "[[Anchors Aweigh]]" is played during the dedication ceremony of the World War II memorial at [[Delaware Legislative Hall|Legislative Hall]] in Dover, Delaware, November 9, 2013.]]

According to a 2004 study done by [[AARP]], "There are 26 million people aged 77 or older in the United States. These people are largely conservative on economic (59%) and social (49%) issues, and about one-third of
them say they have become more conservative on economic, social, foreign policy, moral, and legal issues as they have aged. Over 9 in 10 (91%) of this age group are registered to vote and 90% voted in the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Love |first1=Jeffrey |title=Political Behavior and Values Across the Generations |url=https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/general/politics_values.pdf |website=aarp.org |publisher=[[AARP]] |access-date=January 4, 2021 |page=3 |date=July 2004 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020065317/https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/general/politics_values.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The last member of this generation to be elected president was [[George H. W. Bush]] (1989–1993), and the last surviving president from this generation was [[Jimmy Carter]] (1977–1981). In its latter years, this generation was introduced to continued technological advancements such as mobile phones and the Internet.

As of 2024 some 66,000 (under 1%) of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II remain alive.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/wwii-veteran-statistics | title=WWII Veteran Statistics }}</ref> Living members of this generation are either in their late 90s or are [[centenarians]].

The lives of this generation are a common element of popular culture in the western world,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kenny |first1=Glenn |title=World War II According To Hollywood's Greatest Generation |url=https://decider.com/2016/05/30/best-world-war-ii-movies/ |website=decider.com |publisher=[[New York Post]] |access-date=September 16, 2021 |date=May 30, 2016 |archive-date=September 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916193813/https://decider.com/2016/05/30/best-world-war-ii-movies/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and media related to this generation's experiences continues to be produced.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ringel-Cater |first1=Eleanor |title=The Movie Biz: The Greatest Generation's war |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/07/28/the-movie-biz-the-greatest-generations-war.html |website=bizjournals.com |publisher=[[Atlanta Business Chronicle]] |access-date=September 16, 2021 |date=July 28, 2017 |archive-date=December 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217010507/https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/07/28/the-movie-biz-the-greatest-generations-war.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The romanticizing of this generation has faced criticism by some.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Palaima |first1=Thomas |title=Consider War Stories Without Romanticizing Them |url=https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2018/11/consider-war-stories-without-romanticizing-them/ |website=lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu |publisher=[[The University of Texas at Austin]] |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124004645/https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2018/11/consider-war-stories-without-romanticizing-them/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Klinkenberg |first1=Kevin |title=Dangerous Nostalgia: Why Romanticizing the 1950s and 1960s Won't Get Us Anywhere |url=https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/9/3/dangerous-nostalgia-why-romanticizing-the-1950s-and-1960s-wont-get-us-anywhere |website=strongtowns.org |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=September 4, 2019 |archive-date=November 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106153150/https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/9/3/dangerous-nostalgia-why-romanticizing-the-1950s-and-1960s-wont-get-us-anywhere |url-status=live }}</ref> However, some also praise the traits and actions of this generation and cite their sacrifices as a lesson for current generations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanson |first1=Victor |title=What Millennials Can Learn From the Greatest Generation |url=https://www.newsweek.com/what-millennials-can-learn-greatest-generation-766296 |access-date=January 6, 2021 |agency=[[Newsweek]] |date=January 1, 2018 |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116010006/https://www.newsweek.com/what-millennials-can-learn-greatest-generation-766296 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], living members of this generation have been impacted by the pandemic, such as Major Lee Wooten, who was treated in hospital for covid and recovered just before his 104th birthday in 2020; he died aged 105.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Amanda |title=A 104-year-old World War II veteran from Alabama has survived Covid-19 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/06/us/104-year-old-veteran-covid-trnd/index.html |access-date=January 8, 2021 |agency=[[CNN]] |date=December 6, 2020 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208101926/https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/06/us/104-year-old-veteran-covid-trnd/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Major Wooten Obituary – Huntsville, AL |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/huntsville-al/major-wooten-10949183 |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Dignity Memorial |language=en-us}}</ref>

===Britain===
{{Main|Britain in World War II}}

In Britain, this generation came of age, like most of the western world, during a period of economic hardship as a result of the [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|Great Depression]]. When the war in Europe began, millions of British citizens joined the war effort at home and abroad. Over 6 million members of this generation served in the war, and there were 384,000 casualties.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Fallen |url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/olympic-britain/crime-and-defence/the-fallen/#:~:text=In%20WWII%20there%20were%20384%2C000,half%20of%20them%20in%20London. |website=parliament.uk |access-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110202412/https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/olympic-britain/crime-and-defence/the-fallen/#:~:text=In%20WWII%20there%20were%20384%2C000,half%20of%20them%20in%20London. |url-status=live }}</ref> At home, [[the Blitz]] claimed the lives of thousands and destroyed entire British cities. The men and women of this generation continue to be honored in the U.K., particularly on [[V-E Day]]. In 2020, [[British Prime Minister]] [[Boris Johnson]] compared this generation to current generations and indicated his desire for them to show the "same spirit of national endeavour", in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Macer |title=Boris Johnson hails Britain's 'greatest generation' as he thanks WWII veterans on VE Day |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1279389/ve-day-boris-johnson-world-war-2-veterans-message-greatest-generation |access-date=January 8, 2021 |agency=Express |date=May 8, 2020 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026021324/https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1279389/ve-day-boris-johnson-world-war-2-veterans-message-greatest-generation |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Germany===
{{Main|Germany in World War II}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild Y 10-1020-79, SED-Delegiertenkonferenz der NVA, Honecker.jpg|thumb|East German leader [[Erich Honecker]], a communist of the [[German resistance to Nazism|German resistance]] during World War II, with [[National People's Army|NVA]] generals Walter Allenstein, [[Heinz Hoffmann]] and [[Kurt Wagner (general)|Kurt Wagner]] – The first a former [[Roter Frontkämpferbund]] militant, the second an [[International Brigades]] veteran of the [[Spanish Civil War]], the third a former political prisoner of [[Waldheim Prison]].]]

Members of the World War II generation in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] came of age following [[World War I]] and the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]]. They faced economic hardships related to the Great Depression and [[Treaty of Versailles]] as unemployment rose to nearly 40%. [[Adolf Hitler]] then rose to power, and many of this generation joined organizations such as the [[Hitler Youth]]. In 1935, Hitler instituted military conscription. During the war, nearly 12.5 million members of this generation [[Wehrmacht|served]] in the war and 4.3 million were killed or wounded.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simkin |first1=John |title=The German Army in the Second World War |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/2WWgermanA.htm |website=spartacus-educational.com |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=September 1997 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204091011/https://spartacus-educational.com/2WWgermanA.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the war, 5 million Germans were dead, including civilians. German cities and towns were devastated by Allied bombing campaigns. 12 million Germans were refugees and many were forced to settle in the Soviet Union. In addition, the [[Holocaust]] claimed the lives of millions of [[German Jews]] and others. Following the war, the Allies began the [[denazification]] and [[demilitarization]] of a post-war Germany. Returning German veterans found their country carved up into four zones of occupation; later becoming [[West Germany]] and [[East Germany]]. In the west, the [[Marshall Plan]] resulted in the "[[Wirtschaftswunder]]", an economic boom that caused 185% growth between 1950 and 1963.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Mark |title=How World War II shaped modern Germany |url=https://www.euronews.com/2015/05/05/how-world-war-ii-shaped-modern-germany |access-date=January 6, 2021 |agency=[[euronews]] |date=May 5, 2015 |archive-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419082522/https://www.euronews.com/2015/05/05/how-world-war-ii-shaped-modern-germany |url-status=live }}</ref> Surviving members of the German World War II generation would go on to experience the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] and the creation of the European Union. Unlike the Western allies and the Soviet Union, Germany did not honor its veterans, as the association with [[Nazism]] continues in contemporary Germany today.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barkin |first1=Noah |title=Where Veterans Aren't Thanked for Their Service. Because of Germany's tortured 20th-century history, its struggle to forge policies to support its veterans is in many ways unique. |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/what-makes-german-military-veteran/595381/ |access-date=January 6, 2021 |agency=[[The Atlantic]] |date=August 9, 2019 |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225134111/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/what-makes-german-military-veteran/595381/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Soviet Union===
{{Main|Soviet Union in World War II}}
[[File:RIAN archive 506113 Veterans of the Great Patriotic War.jpg|thumb|[[Red Army]] veterans of the Great Patriotic War Umar Burkhanov and Tatyana Didenko exchanging addresses in Moscow on [[Victory Day (9 May)|Victory Day]], 1979.]]

As children, members of this generation came of age during [[Joseph Stalin]]'s rise to power. They endured the [[Holodomor]] [[famine]], which killed millions. The World War II generation of the Soviet Union was further decimated by the war. Stalin's [[scorched earth]] policy left its western regions in a state of devastation worsened by the advancing German Army. The USSR lost 14% of its pre-war population during WWII, a demographic collapse that would have immense long-term consequences. Mass, forced labor was often used and there were between 10 and 11 million Soviet men returning to help rebuild along with 2 million Soviet dissidents held prisoner in Stalin's [[Gulag]]s. Then came the Cold War and the Space Race. Even in the mid-1980s, around 70% of Soviet industrial output was directed towards the military, one of the factors in its eventual [[Collapse of the Soviet Union|economic collapse]]. Members of this generation are known as "[[Great Patriotic War]]" veterans, such as poet [[Yuri Levitansky]] who wrote about the horrors of the war and [[Vasily Zaitsev (sniper)|Vasily Zaitsev]], a war hero who would later be detained for two years as a victim of the post-war atmosphere of paranoia. Today, former Soviet states celebrate an annual [[Victory Day (9 May)|Victory Day]]. The latest survey conducted by Russia's Levada Center suggests Victory Day is still one of the most important public holidays for Russian citizens, with 65% of those surveyed planning to celebrate it. But for nearly one third of people (31%) it is a "state public event" while for another 31% it is a "memorial day for all former Soviet people". Only 16% of those asked recognize it in its original context as a "veterans' memorial day". The predominant emotion the holiday provokes among Russians (59% of respondents) is national pride, while 18% said "sorrow" and 21% said "both". For modern Russians, the conflict continues to provide the population with a nationalistic rallying call.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Mark |title=How World War II shaped modern Russia |url=https://www.euronews.com/2015/05/04/how-world-war-ii-shaped-modern-russia |access-date=January 6, 2021 |agency=[[Euronews]] |date=April 5, 2015 |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421021258/https://www.euronews.com/2015/05/04/how-world-war-ii-shaped-modern-russia |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Japan===
{{Main|Japan during World War II}}

The World War II generation of [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] came of age during a time of rapid [[Japanese colonial empire|imperialism]]. One member of this generation, [[Hirohito]], would become [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] in 1926, when Japan was already one of the [[great power]]s. Nearly 18 million members of this generation would fight in World War II and approximately 3&nbsp;million, including civilians, would be [[World War II casualties|killed or wounded]]. Japanese cities, towns, and villages were devastated by Allied bombing campaigns. In an effort to prepare for the [[Operation Downfall|assumed Allied invasion]], the Japanese government prepared to submit this generation to "Operation Ketsugo", in which the Japanese population would fight a [[war of attrition]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Frank |first1=Richard |title=There Are No Civilians in Japan |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/there-are-no-civilians-japan |website=www.nationalww2museum.org |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=August 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125203019/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/there-are-no-civilians-japan |url-status=live }}</ref> Returning veterans found their country [[Post-occupation Japan|occupied]] and received little support or respect. Surviving members of this generation would see Japan emerge as the world's [[List of countries by past and projected GDP (PPP)|second-largest economy]] by 1989.<ref name="maddison">Maddison, Angus, ''Contours of the World Economy, 1–2030 AD''. 2007, p. 379, table A.4.</ref> Surviving veterans visit the [[Yasukuni Shrine]] to pay tribute to their fallen comrades.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smyth |first1=Tony |title=Yasukuni Shrine |url=https://tokyotales365.com/yasukuni-shrine/ |website=tokyotales365.com |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=October 22, 2014 |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120100252/https://tokyotales365.com/yasukuni-shrine/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|1920s|History|Society}}
* [[G.I. Bill]], in USA
* [[List of last surviving veterans of World War II]]
* [[Social history of soldiers and veterans in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Allport, Alan. ''Demobbed: coming home after the Second World War'' (Yale University Press, 2009) in UK.
* Ballard, Jack S. ''The shock of peace: military and economic demobilization after World War II'' (1983) [https://archive.org/details/shockofpeacemili0000ball online]
* Dodd, Lindsey. "Wartime rupture and reconfiguration in French family life: experience and legacy." ''History Workshop Journal''. Vol. 88. 2019.
* Summers, Julie. ''Stranger in the House: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War'' (Simon and Schuster, 2009) [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7VtSWsT0ce0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=stranger++in+the+hOUSE+SUMMERS&ots=KelVg2n3zB&sig=80UGumEaM-92zZUleIz2VY47CFU online].

===In United States===
* Altschuler, Glenn, and Stuart Blumin. ''The GI Bill: The new deal for veterans'' (Oxford University Press, 2009). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Of_ClUdHQYUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=BLUMIN+G+I+BILL+Veterans&ots=9zAK83mCfL&sig=OgSchajeGiy0GWibvuJheG2kZKw online]
* Bennett, Michael J. ''When Dreams Came True: The GI Bill and the Making of Modern America'' (Brassey's, 1996).
* Childers, Thomas. ''Soldier from the war returning: The greatest generation's troubled homecoming from World War II'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009) online.
* Frydl, Kathleen. ''The GI bill'' (Cambridge University Press, 2009).  [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ewBz5b9_QAwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA36&dq=frydl+bill&ots=B5LVOvQ8Ih&sig=EZ3e2VZwkGJ41Wtl6D7GlCYDk5E online]
* Gambone, Michael D. ''The greatest generation comes home: the veteran in American society'' (Texas A&M University Press, 2005) [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=hMivsITJikkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Gambone+Greatest&ots=vPcMRfLXMK&sig=y3kiXyMwCeLPSAr1ADXfDBgoq8Y online]
* Gambone, Michael D. ''Long Journeys Home: American Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam'' (Texas A&M University Press, 2017) online.
* Mettler, Suzanne. ''Soldiers to citizens: The GI Bill and the making of the greatest generation'' (Oxford University Press, 2007) online.
* Sparrow, John C.  ''History of Personnel Demobilization in the United States'' (Department of the Army, 1952; not copyright) 370pp; [https://archive.org/details/DA-Pam-20-210 online]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Lost Generation]]<br />1883 &ndash; 1900
| title = Greatest Generation
| years = 1901 &ndash; 1927
| after = [[Silent Generation]]<br />1928 &ndash; 1945
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Generation|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:20th century]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War II in the United States]]
[[Category:American people of World War II]]
[[Category:Cultural generations]]
[[Category:Cultural history of World War II]]
[[Category:People of World War II]]
[[Category:1950s neologisms]]