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The Stock Market Crashes
While not directly correlating, the stock market crash affected nearly every single country in the world. This caused Germany to be more desperate to repair their economy, causing the war to happen. -
Start of WW2 as Hitler becomes Chancellor before Germany invades Austria, Japan invades China, and Italy invades Ethiopia
This is important for LOTF as the reason they are on the island is because, "[they] was attacked!" (Golding 3) -
FDR elected president of the US
Although the US did not fight in the entirety of WW2, they still helped the UK with what might be some of the planes that caused the, "...sudden bright explosion and corkscrew tail across the sky..." (Golding 130) to bring down what would be thought of as the beast. -
Nuremberg Laws Enacted
The event in the war really pushed forward efforts from the Allied powers to stop the Germans. Causing more battles to be fought in the air, which may be the event that caused the boys to fall to the island. -
War of the Worlds debuted
Although not affecting the events that occur in the book, the story telling in this production of War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells probably influenced Golding's methods of storytelling. -
The UK declares war on Germany
As the UK's official entry into the war, it makes sense that the UK plane would be shot down above the island, as the Axis powers were against England. -
Leon Trotsky's assassination
The murder of this Russian Revolution leader signified a different era in Russian History, causing many conflicts to occur for the future. This allowed Golding to pull from more examples of war and conflict around the world when writing about the rivalry between Jack and Ralph. -
The Blitz
While not directly stated, this attack may be the battle that sent the boy's plane down, or it may be the battle that sent the pilot that, "fell and crumpled among the blue mountain." (Golding 130) -
Pearl Harbor
While providing an entrance for the US into WW2, this event would lead towards the Allied Powers gaining ground in the war, which may have been what lead to the boys being rescued as the war ended. -
Italy joins the Allied Powers
Once again, the power growing for the Allied Powers allowed for the war to end quicker, allowing the boys less time to kill each other. -
World War 2 ends in Europe
Following numerous fire bomb runs, Germany surrenders, ending World War 2 with the allies in favor. This event gives Golding 6 years of events to use as reference for his upcoming novel. -
Soviet Union develops their own atomic bomb
While yet to be used, Golding might have used this event as a way to write about a future war that might happen using, "the atom bomb..." (Golding 11) -
Baby Boom starts
Post-war, all of the soldiers are coming home and having children with their wives. Due to this, the generation after theirs is much larger, still carrying the repercussions nearly 70 years later. -
Joseph McCarthy's Red Scare starts
By pitting Americans against each other, falsely claiming one is a Communist and therefore a fake American, we're shown how nonsensical rivalry's can be, something that Golding could have used for building the rivalry between Jack and Ralph. -
The US and Japan sign a Peace Treaty
After dropping two atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese eventually agree to signing a peace treaty with the US, officially ending all WW2 activity. -
The reelection of Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Churchill, while not mentioned by name, is thought to have been the inspiration for different characters in the book such as Ralph and Piggy. His reelection allowed Golding to experience his political choices longer, leading towards more character traits he could use. -
Russia launches Sputnik I
This launch proved important in the development of international politics as the first space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, a race that would end up meaning much more
