Noun

Singular 1940s

Plural pluralia tantum

1940s (pluralia tantum)

1. The decade from 1940 to 1949.

The 1940s decade (the forties) ran from January 1, 1940 to December 31, 1949. The Second World War took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on many countries and people in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war weary Europe divided between the jostling spheres of influence of the West and the Soviet Union. To some degree internal and external tensions in the post-war era were managed by new institutions, including the United Nations, the welfare state and the Bretton Woods system. However the conditions of the post-war world encouraged decolonialisation and emergence of new states and governments, with China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Vietnam and others declaring independence, rarely without bloodshed. The decade also saw the early beginnings of new technologies (including computers, nuclear power and jet propulsion), often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era.

See also:

• Arts: Music: Styles: V: Vocal (54)

• 1940s
  1940.co.uk
  Includes a collection of audio files of songs, wartime sounds, and German propaganda.
• Songs of World War II
  fortunecity.com
  Collection of lyrics with background information and some audio files.