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Our Community and the Holocaust: Why did our Community Go to War?

 

Statesboro newspapers often included articles from national news sources to discuss international concerns and struggles throughout the 1930s and 1940s. The George-Anne frequently reported on the South Georgia Teachers College’s International Relations Club (IRC) meetings that discussed European conflicts and American debates about international concerns. Before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, editorials and opinion pieces in The George-Anne and The Bulloch Times expressed a variety of opinions that both favored and opposed America’s involvement in the war. Much of the opposition came from youth-focused articles that often spoke directly to students, whereas the articles in favor of American involvement discussed preserving democracy by ending the spread of fascism and other Nazi ideologies. Although there was not much propaganda in The George-Anne and The Bulloch Times supporting the community’s involvement in war between 1933-1941, many articles expressed concern about overwhelming amounts of youth-focused war propaganda throughout the nation. More articles expressed concern about the United States economy, frequently discussing President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s National Recovery Administration (NRA). Many articles opposed US involvement in the war out of concern for the economy. Other articles expressed irritation about Germany’s failure to pay their war debts from WWI.

Subjects: History