Greatest Generation

Cohort born from 1901 to 1927

For other uses, see Greatest Generation (disambiguation).

Part of a series on

Social generations

Generations

* Lost Generation
* Greatest Generation
* Silent Generation
* Baby boomers
* Generation X
* Millennials
* Generation Z
* Generation Alpha
* Generation Beta (proposed name)

Cusp groups

* Interbellum Generation
* Generation Jones
* Xennials
* Zillennials

Country-specific

* China (Post-70s, Post-80s, Post-90s)
* Czechoslovakia (Husák's Children)
* Iran (Burnt Generation)
* Japan (Satori generation)
* Poland (Generation of Columbuses)
* Romania (Decreței)
* Singapore (Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation)
* South Korea (386 Generation, Sampo generation)
* Taiwan (Strawberry generation)
* United States (Millennials, Generation Z)
* Vietnam (9X Generation)

The Greatest Generation, also known as the G.I. Generation and the World War II Generation, is the demographic cohort following the Lost Generation and preceding the Silent Generation. This generation is generally defined as people born from 1901 to 1927.[1] They were shaped by the Great Depression and were the primary generation composing the enlisted forces in World War II.

## Terminology

[edit]

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 Army in the Korean War. He spoke to 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."[2] The term was popularized by the title of a 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".[3]

This cohort is also referred to as the "G.I. Generation"[4] and the "World War II Generation".[5]

## Date and age range definitions

[edit]

Pew Research Center defines this cohort as being born from 1901 to 1927.[6] Strauss and Howe use the birth years 1901–1924.[7] 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

[edit]

### United States

[edit]

#### Adolescence

[edit]

Main articles: Belle Époque, Progressive Era, World War I, and Great Depression in the United States

Buckler family, 1914 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, 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.[8] They also experienced much of their youth with rapid technological innovation (e.g., radio, telephone, automobile) amidst growing levels of worldwide income inequality[9][10][11] and a soaring economy.[12][13][14] After the 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.[15] 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.[16]

#### Great Depression and World War II

[edit]

Main article: Military history of the United States during World War II

American G.I.s land on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 A woman working in a military aircraft factory in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1942. Millions of American women found 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 and wounded).[17] American journalist Tom Brokaw and others extol this generation for supporting and fighting World War II.

#### Post-war

[edit]

Main articles: Demobilization of United States Armed Forces after World War II and Post–World War II economic expansion

Following the war, this generation produced children at an unprecedented level. Over 76 million babies were born between 1946 and 1964.[18] 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 Holl Elder, Jr., a prominent figure in the development of 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".[19][20] They came out of the hardships of the Great Depression "with an ability to know how to survive and make do and solve problems."[21]

#### Relationship to later generations

[edit]

This generation faced turmoil with their older baby boomer children upon their maturing in the 1960s in the form of the Vietnam War, civil rights movement, Watergate scandal, and a generational culture clash.[22] 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.[23]

#### Later years and legacy

[edit]

US Navy veteran Ruth Harden sings as "Anchors Aweigh" is played during the dedication ceremony of the World War II memorial at 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 presidential election.[24] 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.[25] 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,[26] and media related to this generation's experiences continues to be produced.[27] The romanticizing of this generation has faced criticism by some.[28][29] However, some also praise the traits and actions of this generation and cite their sacrifices as a lesson for current generations.[30]

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.[31][32]

### Britain

[edit]

Main article: 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. 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.[33] 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.[34]

### Germany

[edit]

Main article: Germany in World War II

East German leader Erich Honecker, a communist of the German resistance during World War II, with NVA generals Walter Allenstein, Heinz Hoffmann and 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 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 served in the war and 4.3 million were killed or wounded.[35] 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.[36] 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.[37]

### Soviet Union

[edit]

Main article: Soviet Union in World War II

Red Army veterans of the Great Patriotic War Umar Burkhanov and Tatyana Didenko exchanging addresses in Moscow on 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 Gulags. 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 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, 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. 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.[38]

### Japan

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Main article: Japan during World War II

The World War II generation of Japan came of age during a time of rapid imperialism. One member of this generation, Hirohito, would become Emperor in 1926, when Japan was already one of the great powers. Nearly 18 million members of this generation would fight in World War II and approximately 3 million, including civilians, would be killed or wounded. Japanese cities, towns, and villages were devastated by Allied bombing campaigns. In an effort to prepare for the 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.[39] Returning veterans found their country occupied and received little support or respect. Surviving members of this generation would see Japan emerge as the world's second-largest economy by 1989.[40] Surviving veterans visit the Yasukuni Shrine to pay tribute to their fallen comrades.[41]

## See also

[edit]

* 1920s portal
* History portal
* Society portal

* 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

[edit]

1. ^ "Is It Time to 'Pass the Torch?' The Generational Dilemma of the 2020 Democratic Primary". July 30, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
2. ^ "Full Committee Hearing on Statement Made by Gen. James A. Van Fleet". 1953. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
3. ^ Brokaw, Tom (1998). The greatest generation – Tom Brokaw – Google Boeken. Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50202-6. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
4. ^ Strauss, William; Howe, Neil (1991). Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-688-11912-6. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
5. ^ Rose, Kenneth D. (2008). Myth and the Greatest Generation. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. doi:10.4324/9780203941461. ISBN 978-0-415-95677-2.
6. ^ "Americans Name the 10 Most Significant Historic Events of Their Lifetimes". People Press. December 15, 2016. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
7. ^ Howe, Neil (July 30, 2014). "The G.I. Generation and the "Triumph of the Squares"". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
8. ^ Wright, Erica (October 23, 2020). "This 108-year-old woman survived two pandemics: The 1918 Spanish flu and Covid-19". CNBC. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
9. ^ "Striking it Richer" (PDF). eml.berkeley.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
10. ^ "U.S. income inequality, on rise for decades, is now highest since 1928". December 5, 2013. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
11. ^ "5 facts about economic inequality". January 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
12. ^ Granados, José A. Tapia; Roux, Ana V. Diez (October 13, 2009). "Life and death during the Great Depression". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (41): 17290–17295\. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10617290T. doi:10.1073/pnas.0904491106. PMC 2765209. PMID 19805076.
13. ^ "Economy in The 1920s". www.shmoop.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
14. ^ George H. Soule, Prosperity Decade: From War to Depression: 1917–1929 (1947)
15. ^ "Timeline: American Generations since 20th Century". projects.scpr.org. Southern California Public Radio. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
16. ^ "Culture in the Thirties". courses.lumenlearning.com. Lumen Learning. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
17. ^ "Research Starters: US Military by the Numbers". nationalww2museum.org. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
18. ^ Pollard, Kelvin (April 16, 2014). "Just How Many Baby Boomers Are There?". prb.org. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
19. ^ "About Glen H. Elder, Jr". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
20. ^ "Lives in Changing Times". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
21. ^ Zernike, Kate (March 13, 2009). "Generation OMG". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
22. ^ "GI Generation". lifecourse.com. LifeCourse Associates. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
23. ^ "The World War II Generation and Vietnam". PBS.org. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
24. ^ Love, Jeffrey (July 2004). "Political Behavior and Values Across the Generations" (PDF). aarp.org. AARP. p. 3\. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
25. ^ "WWII Veteran Statistics".
26. ^ Kenny, Glenn (May 30, 2016). "World War II According To Hollywood's Greatest Generation". decider.com. New York Post. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
27. ^ Ringel-Cater, Eleanor (July 28, 2017). "The Movie Biz: The Greatest Generation's war". bizjournals.com. Atlanta Business Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
28. ^ Palaima, Thomas. "Consider War Stories Without Romanticizing Them". lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu. The University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
29. ^ Klinkenberg, Kevin (September 4, 2019). "Dangerous Nostalgia: Why Romanticizing the 1950s and 1960s Won't Get Us Anywhere". strongtowns.org. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
30. ^ Hanson, Victor (January 1, 2018). "What Millennials Can Learn From the Greatest Generation". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
31. ^ Jackson, Amanda (December 6, 2020). "A 104-year-old World War II veteran from Alabama has survived Covid-19". CNN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
32. ^ "Major Wooten Obituary – Huntsville, AL". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
33. ^ "The Fallen". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
34. ^ Hall, Macer (May 8, 2020). "Boris Johnson hails Britain's 'greatest generation' as he thanks WWII veterans on VE Day". Express. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
35. ^ Simkin, John (September 1997). "The German Army in the Second World War". spartacus-educational.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
36. ^ Davis, Mark (May 5, 2015). "How World War II shaped modern Germany". euronews. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
37. ^ Barkin, Noah (August 9, 2019). "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". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
38. ^ Davis, Mark (April 5, 2015). "How World War II shaped modern Russia". Euronews. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
39. ^ Frank, Richard (August 4, 2020). "There Are No Civilians in Japan". www.nationalww2museum.org. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
40. ^ Maddison, Angus, Contours of the World Economy, 1–2030 AD. 2007, p. 379, table A.4.
41. ^ Smyth, Tony (October 22, 2014). "Yasukuni Shrine". tokyotales365.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.

## Further reading

[edit]

* 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) 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) online.

### In United States

[edit]

* Altschuler, Glenn, and Stuart Blumin. The GI Bill: The new deal for veterans (Oxford University Press, 2009). 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). online
* Gambone, Michael D. The greatest generation comes home: the veteran in American society (Texas A&M University Press, 2005) 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; online

Preceded by

Lost Generation
1883 – 1900

|  Greatest Generation
1901 – 1927  | Succeeded by

Silent Generation
1928 – 1945

|
|

* v
* t
* e

Generations

In the Western world|

* Lost Generation
* Greatest Generation
* Silent Generation
* Baby boomers
* Generation X
* Millennials
* Generation Z
* Generation Alpha
* Generation Beta (proposed name)

| Cuspers|

* Interbellum Generation
* Generation Jones
* Xennials
* Zillennials

|

Related|

* Boomerang Generation
* Coronials
* Me generation
* MTV Generation

Country-specific|

* China
* Post-70s
* Post-80s
* Post-90s
* Czechoslovakia
* Husák's Children
* Iran
* Burnt Generation
* Japan
* Satori generation
* Poland
* Generation of Columbuses
* Romania
* Decreței
* Singapore
* Pioneer Generation
* Merdeka Generation
* South Korea
* 386 Generation
* Sampo generation
* Taiwan
* Strawberry generation
* United States
* Millennials
* Generation Z
* Vietnam
* 9X Generation

Types|

* Future generations
* Immigrant generations
* Revolutionary generation

Concepts|

* Generation gap
* Generational accounting
* Generationism
* Intergenerationality
* Equity
* Policy
* Shared site
* Struggle
* Parent–offspring conflict
* Parental investment
* Cost of raising a child
* Old-age-security hypothesis
* Sandwich generation
* Strauss–Howe generational theory
* Theory of generations
* Transgenerational design
* Voluntary childlessness

Related|

* Beat Generation
* Digital divide
* Digital native
* OK boomer
* The Greatest Generation

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