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World War 2

A comprehensive World War 2 history guide with facts and information on one of the most important events in British history.

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World War 2 Poems

Although the Second World War lasted two years longer than the First, it is World War One that springs to mind when one hears ‘War Poetry’. For whatever reason, there was significantly more poetry written between 1914 and 1918 that has become embedded into popular culture than that written between 1939 and 1945. There certainly was a lot of poetry composed, and much raw emotion stirred up in both civilians and the armed forces, and yet the poetry of the Second World War has never enjoyed the popularity that the poetry of the First World War did.

The First World War was the first time that many civilians were aware of the horrors of war. This was probably due to the fact that soldiers were conscripted during the First World War, and wrote home to inform their families of how much worse the experience was than they could have imagined. As such, much of the poetry from this conflict had a focus on how brutal the conditions of fighting were, and how mechanical warfare was a stark contrast to the battle-for-gentlemen that many conscript soldiers had come to expect.

By the time of the Second World War, anyone going away to fight in Europe had learnt from the previous generation that war would not be a picnic for gentlemen to enjoy, and braced themselves for the terror of 20th-century battles. The poetry then began to shift, and the focus widened to a variety of different social issues. Racism was examined in some poems, since many black members of the British Commonwealth were called up to fight, and experienced some unkindness at the hands of white soldiers. The Langston Hughes poem is an excellent example of this, as it examines whether or not both black and white men will be able to share together in the victory of war.

 

For other examples of poetry from the Second World War, the following writers are some that you may wish to investigate:

  • Langston Hughes

  • Timothy Corsellis

  • Keith Douglas

  • Randall Jarrell

  • Sidney Keyes

  • Alun Lewis

  • Karl Shapiro

  • John G. Magee

 

For much of the poetry written during the Second World War, the authors are unknown. There are many anthologies of war poetry available, and these will provide a substantial list of different poems and perspectives on the conflict.

 

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Overview

WW2 Summary
WW2 Facts
WW2 Timeline
Soldiers in WW2
WW2 Planes
WW2 Prisoners Of War

Leaders

Winston Churchill
Franklin D Roosevelt
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Emperor Hirohito
Joseph Stalin

Home Front

Evacuees of WW2
WW2 Recipes
WW2 Shelters

Misc

WW2 Books
WW2 Movies
WW2 Poems
World War One
The Phoney War
Blitzkrieg
WW2 Allies

Kids

WW2 For Kids
Children in WW2
WW2 Facts For Kids

Battles

The Blitz
Pearl Harbour
Battle of Britain
D-Day
Operation Barbarossa
The Battle Of Kursk
Operation Overlord
Battle Of Midway
Battle Of Stalingrad
The Invasion Of Poland
Operation Cerberus

Common Questions

Who started WW2?
Causes of WW2
When did WW2 finish?
Which countries were involved in WW2?
When was WW2?
Who won WW2?
How many people died?

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