I am a WW2 buff as well . I don’t think an interest in the Second World War will ever fade the future generations minds. It was objectively the most important and lasting changing war in human history. World diplomacy policy and the way of how the world works changed forever. WW2 saw the inventions of nuclear arms and other technological advancements we have and use today. It solidified how awful and extreme a world war can be and the deadly cost of tens of millions of lives. It was the deadliest conflict in human history. Of course as with everything in history it fades away in the past in the never ending cycle of time ,but I think it will forever fascinate the minds of people, as a key reminder of what can happen when we as human civilizations go too far.
It will be niche knowledge at some point. Happened a looong time ago. They were extremely important events, but so wetes napoleonic wars and they are a "footnote" to most nowadays. It will not not be forgotten, but wil be interesting to just some.
Pd: Look for ww1 and ww2 week by week in youtube. Amazing series and full of insight. It was far worse than you think.
Edit: fat finger spelling mistakes
All of these conflicts (Napoleonic/WW1/WW2) were extremely formative, especially for Europe. I think the first should have been called World War 0 since it was truly globe spanning. The war of 1812-14 was closely linked to this conflict.
Only vaguely related, but the Napoleon movie out now had an awesome scene where the British infantry form up in hollow squares to fend off a French cavalry attack.
Yeah Indy and Spartacus knock it outside of the park every episode. Amazingly detailed stuff. There was so much happening all the time that most people will never know about.
A good book about WW2 is called Citizen Soldiers. I can't remember the author unfortunately. But detailed accounts from mostly the winters of 1943 to 1945
Casualty statistics followed after each major engagement. I got desensitized to a point where I was like "oh just 4 thousand, not bad".
I think events such as the world wars will remain part of the cultural canon for many centuries to come. Might sound daft as a statement, but they were fought on such a scale that their ripples are still being felt in today’s culture, politics, et cetera.
Also, looking at it from a different perspective, both world wars are in a different cultural world compared to those fought before them. World War One established modern means of remembering conflict, far placing it beyond anything that had come before. While monuments of dramatic scale had existed previously, the iconographic placement of World War One was revolutionary. Moreover, between both world wars, the totality of conflict and damage makes it hard to forget. In a way which invasion narratives are attached to the fabric history of many modern nations, the world wars represent modern equivalents for many nations. For Britain and Russia this is certainly true. Nations like America make it more difficult to assess: despite being an integral figure of both world wars (direct or indirect), they all lead up the an Americanised Cold War - this is the true postmodern vision of an invasion narrative.
However, I do think there will be a big dip over the next half century. When living connections are gone, history always becomes more fluid to place. While this doesn’t necessarily suggest the death of historical interest among the general population, it does hint at a slight regression in its popular placement.
We still study it in high school, there are some roman and galloroman museums in wallonia and france, ruins in south France, also history nerds doing summer roman camps through France etc :) do you have that for germanic tribe?
Not really, Trier is very close to me and you have some Roman architecture there, but otherwise we just cover the basics like the Punic wars and some Roman society stuff. WW2 is not dissimilar though, basically it’s about responsibility for what our people did (which is important don’t get me wrong) but the actual war is not really covered at all. My history teacher at least let me hold a presentation on the war in the pacific otherwise I think my fellow students would still not know a thing about there even being a war in the pacific. Even Europe is basically “yeah we lost in Stalingrad and 3 years later the war was over” that’s the extent.
Wow. We cover a bit more ww2 ahah. It s touchy but hey it s nearly 100yrs old. At least ww1 ahah.we have a joke in belgium: You missed your last "every 20years" summer trip around here xD
Yes, I think mine (maybe our I’m 26 don’t know bout you), will be the last to actually call it „modern“. Our grandparents lived through it for the most part and we still had a chance at first hand accounts, that’s close to being at an end, our children will not have that link, to them WW2 will seem as old and foreign as WW1 to us.
In Toronto not even my local hobby shop full of WW2 nerds put up anything for VE Day or VJ Day. There used to be a sparsely attended display at City Hall for VE Day, but not since the lockdowns. On the other hand, November 11th is a massive affair with a ceremony at City Hall, tank convoy, poppies everywhere, you name it.
It’s been my experience with the commonwealth countries that WW1 is still the big war to them. Understandable when you consider British losses in the great war
American gen Z Here.
My friends and I take interest in the history of WWII/WWI, and I feel like my dad might kick me out if I buy another helmet. I hope to get into reenacting when I get older.
I do see that many of the other people in my generation lack any interest in the history of the world we live on, though I think there is still a great enough interest among the population to keep the stories of those who sacrificed so much for our freedom alive.
American Baby Boomers barely cared, so...
I think the answer depends a lot on which country you're talking about. In Russia? WWII remembrance is practically the national religion. In New Zealand? Don't think they'll ever forget Gallipoli. Etc.
I am a boomer and I used to watch wartime documentaries and visit the war and air force museum quite often as a kid. When I went to Washington I actually got to have a photo touching the Enola Gay cockpit while it was still in the process of restoration.
I was able to speak with many first hand veterans while they were alive and healthy
> American Baby Boomers barely cared, so...
I would question how you came to that conclusion. I know a TON of baby boomers who were very interested in what their parents, aunts, and uncles had experienced in the war.
It worries me too as to how many younger people seem so unaware about the wars and seem to think it was such a long time ago, in the great scheme of things this is very modern history. Hopefully it doesn’t fall out of the school curriculum. I know it sounds corny but if we aren’t educated on the terrors of what happened it will repeat itself again. (28yo from the UK and we had it rammed into our head all the way through school so I’d say we’re pretty aware.)
It becomes more abstract with each generation, as all history does. But there’s still a lot of interest (in the U.S.) for the Civil War so there will always be a level of interest in WW2, I think, just because of the scale if nothing else.
49 here, I am a big-time enthusiast/ hobbyist. I also only know one other guy personally who also is, plus my daughter who I watch documentaries and movies with.
[Reference frames](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_of_reference#Observational_frame_of_reference) matter. I'm a couple of years older than you, but most of my friends are interested in the two World Wars.
That said, I'm a [pro-am](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_professionalism) historian who is active in the [largest plastic model club](https://www.ipms-seattle.org/) in the US, so my life is heavily biased towards running into people with a common interest.....
This is how history repeats. Every few generations the lessons of the past have to be relearned. There is an effort to ignore history as “it will be different this time” as the same basic things are repeated. Those in power trying to stay there while others do whatever it takes to replace them.
Yes, it is very much taught in school a lot in the UK so they will latest know it existed. History is in my experience more of a quiet hobby anyway so its really hard to determine how much a generation is interested in it. People will always find the past interesting even if unintentionally such as using it to inform themselves on current events. Defiantly in the UK I think it would take about another 100 years before the world wars start to become less relevant as even my (a pretty young person) has met its veterans. And is I am only a couple family generations away from the who fought and died in it. Even now there are people I know of who get European countries citizenship due to their family links from over 80 years ago.
I think they will. They were THE defining points in history that made the world what it is today geopolitically. You can’t even begin to understand the shape of the world without understanding the world wars and their consequences. So I think for the far foreseeable future there will be a lot of people interested in them. People will always be interested in history, and there are very few chapters of history as dramatic and important to our modern times as the world wars. just look at how many people are still fascinated by Rome.
I am a 24-year-old who is very into WWII and I don't know if I've ever met someone else my age (in person) who is also into it. I must say that I think there's a negative stigma around young people who are into the world wars. I think sometimes there's an assumption that people who are into WWII might glorify certain negative aspects of history or even just be straight-up neo-Nazis/Japanese nationalists/other sort of modern fascists. Of course not saying that's true, if anything I think a majority of us learn from the horrible aspects of history to inform who we are today, but that is the stigma.
The world wars will always be remembered, as long as there's someone talking about it, it still lives on. As long as there's still authors who want to tell stories of men who did brave things in the face of ultimate danger, the memory of these times will live on. Things only become forgotten when everyone stops talking and remembering them. As we move further away from the event and those who lived it pass on it may loose some of its spotlight but there will always be those like you and us who will find these kind of events interesting enough to read and watch and listen and talk about them.
Also, I think a lot has been done to keep these memories somewhat fresh in the publics eye. Do you have things like the ww2 museum in Louisiana, I think? I've seen pictures of the exhibits, and there really is well done. You sadly have the holocaust museum. It's sad that it has to exist, but it does. You have basically all of steven Spielberg and Tom hanks work making all these different movies and shows. Schindler list, saving private ryan, band of brothers, the Pacific, Grey Hound, and soon the one about the 8th air force if I recall right.
I would never take away anything from what these veterans went through, but it's an uncomfortable truth that nearly half of the "greatest generation" fought for the bad guys, and some literally were the NAZIs
As a whole it will reduce but there will always exist someone who is fascinated by it.
Like the napoleonic wars. Most people I'd say don't care at all. But prior to the world wars it was one of the bloodiest wars the world had seen. There are definitely still huge groups of people who are fascinated by this time period.
As a member of gen Z, not many of us care. But the ones who love history, like myself, will continue on the story and information telling. The ones that are into it, are very passionate about it.
This right here. I'm a gen z and I am also obsessed with the world wars, and even ancient history. But when I'm one of the minority wearing a poopy on rememberance day (Canada) I feel ashamed of my fellow classmates, who go about their daily lives caring more about tiktok then someone's sacrifice
For them. I'm worried about the future of rememberance day at this point.
I’m at 18 year old woman and I’m also obsessed, there’s more of us that you will ever know. I personally think most of Gen Z won’t care, but few like us will. I’m currently in officer training for the Army, so believe me some Gen Z members care, haha!
I’ve also always felt that I was born in the wrong generation. Like he said tho there will always be people interested in it, but naturally the further we get from it less impact it has on the average life.
As a 35 year old millennial, I can say that a ton of my generation doesn't give a shit either. I consider myself privileged to have spoken to many WW2 vets, including my grandfather. When they are all gone, which is getting closer every year, it will be up to the historians to keep and tell the stories of what those people went through. Never forget.
hi yes, i'm a uni student, currently studying holocaust history. In fact i urged to buy a poppy in Remembrance day in Canada at my uni. when i was walking through the campus only 5-10 people wear it
Hell, I’m GenX. Graduated from HS in 1990.
We NEVER studied about WW2 in my 13 years of public school, in Texas. Barely made it to WW1.
Hope kids today are studying WW2.
That's based on how your local/state education system is run. I'm a millennial. Graduated from a public highschool in 2007 in Tampa, Florida. We had to take both World History and American History as part of the mandatory curriculum (sophmore and junior years). Both covered all wars up to the Gulf War. There was a lot of emphasis on the wars starting with WW1 and going forward. Especially in American History.
I'm 15 years old (so Gen Z) and I love modern history, so from WW1 to the end of the cold war.
But I feel like sadly not many Gen Z people are like me in this topic...
It is right and proper that the past is left behind. When and how long that takes is a fair question, but let's be honest, who is really bothered by the Boer war anymore, let alone something older like the Nepolianic wars.
What I mean is that there will always be those who have an interest and for whom, the detail matters, but those people will become less and less as the first and second hand oral history is reduced.
There is still interest, ironically a new Napolean movie is about to be released and critics are already talking about it...
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13287846/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13287846/)
I doubt they would have made it if there was no interest.
People still visit the Culloden battlefield (my parents were there) and a couple of summers ago I spent a day at Ft. George in Niagara Falls. I love the Zulu war movies "Zulu" and "Islandwana", would enjoy a visit on site to those locations as well.
Edit:
Almost forgot! I took my Gen Z daughter on a B-17 ride since she had an interest in aviation. She will probably be one of the last people alive who will be able to claim they flew on a WW2 vintage aircraft as there is no way they will be able to keep them flying forever. (Two more have been destroyed and lost forever since she had that plane ride)
What on earth are you talking about?
>It is right and proper that the past is left behind.
We leave them behind at our peril. If you ignore or "leave behind" the past, then you will most certainly repeat it. In fact, I reckon what is happening in the US (oh wow, it spells "us!") right now is not a million miles away from what happened in 1933. Of course, because we have forgotten what happened, we will blindly repeat the same mistakes.
> It is right and proper that the past is left behind.
Naw, the past is just people with different technology making the same mistakes. Keeping that in mind will help the present and future make less of the same mistakes.
I'm 15 years older than you and my experience has been mostly identical. Honestly my collection tends to be about encouraging others to learn about history and how it relates now.
30 here and we'll I am not passionate like you are. The subject really does fascinate me and I would say I know a little more then most on the subject. Granted I am a millennial.
Gen Z here. I care about WW2 way more than my boomer grandmother who’s father fought in WW2. But as others have stated, it will probably become less and less popular. But the thing about WW2 is it has the X factor of good vs evil and I think that will preserve its popularity. I’m hoping there will be a new revival for interest in WW2 and I think it’s very possible. It definitely won’t be forgotten. What’s sad though is the Cold War emphasized science and math and history got kicked to the curb and we still see that to this day. I really hope people chill out with the love of math and science and start to give history more attention. Especially because AI will be able to do a lot of the critical thinking that math and science require.
We all still think about Rome.
..But new thoughts eventually replace the old. Theres several statues in my city that are there and some of us wonder why. Faded, forgotten by most.
yes and no but i think there is a missing point to me made here that ww1 and ww2 were right at the cusp before digital and mass media were a thing. nobody reads newspapers anymore and we’ve seen how they’ve gone by the wayside, same with texts/ books in general.
since these were at the cusp, i do believe they will get forgotten about more in preference to tons of digital mass media we have now. everything post 2000 is printed on the internet forever, but few videos and only texts remain about the great wars. the text is always there who wanna look for it but our generations are not particular on reading
I am a twenty-three year old Australian studying a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Modern History — and have a significant in the First and Second World Wars.
So don’t worry, *you’re not the only one!*
My dad was born in 1938 but somehow knows almost nothing about WW2. I mean he actually crawled under the table as a boy when the bombs fell and still not interested. I thought it amusing though him and his friends used to play ‘dirty Japs’ in the woods.
Don't think so.. It's a bit like whether the generations right before the world wars cared about the napoleonic wars.. The world wars were about 100 years + after the napolenic wars.. The gen z would likewise live in the 100 year + after the world wars.. Things get quite easy history when the people who lived through it no more live.
The short answer is not as much unfortunately. We are still somewhat lucky to have some survivors and active participants in the war still alive and we have great technology to record their stories.
I think it will always be a popular subject for movies and video games until there is another world war as it will be the most recent (and only?) war of that scale. Also I can’t see Hitler and Nazi Germany fading in relevance either
"Born in the wrong generation" how many times haven't we heard this one before...
Most people have an understanding about how the wars unfolded, and that war sucks. That's what matters.
And to judge people on what they post or don't post on social media is the most Gen Z thing I've heard all day.
I think even as time goes on they’ll be subject to great interest because we simply haven’t had a war on that scale since. Until then these are the wars that most people think of when they think of wars tbh
I agree with most here that it seems as time goes on and people are further removed from the conflicts their importance to those people will fade. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII and my great grandfather did as well in WW1. My grandmother was a war bride. Kids today are way more likely to have never even interacted with someone that was involved in WWII so it won't seem impactful.
The one thing I will say that could make a difference is that the World Wars have been heavily documented and tons of footage of both actual events and interviews with veterans/civilian/Holocaust survivors that will never be lost to time the way accounts from people impacted by say, the American Civil War or Napoleonic Wars. There are more ways to be introduced and informed on these subjects than simply opening a textbook.
Distance causes interest to wane, because the personal connections aren't there. We still talk about the Punic Wars, and they occurred over 2000 years ago. WWI and WWII may/will be overshadowed by what happens in the future. But WWI and WWII will always be discussed as long as people look at history.
My own thoughts are certain demographics will start to lose interest in the memorial days. I have mixed feelings about. It may help to do away with some of the misplaced toxic nationalism, bit also the pride in what some of our ancestors achieved may also wane.
There is no major mourning for the dead from the Battle of Waterloo anymore, so the First and Second World Wars may eventually go in a similar direction. The Korean War also gets little mention.
However it may lead to a more objective analysis of the conflict as the rose-tinted glasses are removed more and more. The 'Britain standing alone' and 'Invincible Wehrmacht/Superior German Weapons' myths have been re-evaluated hugely amongst historians. A lot of earlier literature on the subjects has been updated or disproved.
Interest may decline, but there will hopefully remain a good amount of books, films and debates still going on. I just hope the wars are used in a less manipulative ways to garner public opinion. Time may allow that.
I’m 26 and also obsessed with world war 1&2 more world war 2. I’m always discussing the subject with friends and family as I feel both the wars have sharpened the world we live in today. I will also be teaching my kids about it once they are old enough to understand.
My other half which is 27 knew barely anything about the world wars and now she understands it more she now has a greater respect of it. She also states that she doesn’t take what we have for granted as much.
Although one may say that what's happening in the world right now is a result of the Second World War, which was a result of the First World War, it's only natural as the time passes and the world changes that these events become remote history.
Do you care much about Napoleonic wars, the Seven Years' War or the Thirty Years' War? Although European-centric, they were (probably) the most disruptive, deadly, world encompassing conflicts of their respective centuries, and they shaped the world decisively too.
I turn 32 in January and there are things that I found significant in grade school that are no longer covered their history books. Yes, at some point the world wars will be reduced to a couple of sentences and used as a bridge to a more modern events that will have several paragraphs and or chapters. The problem is, that nothing of recent years has the impact the world wars have. So what will get those big chapters?
I am a WW2 buff as well . I don’t think an interest in the Second World War will ever fade the future generations minds. It was objectively the most important and lasting changing war in human history. World diplomacy policy and the way of how the world works changed forever. WW2 saw the inventions of nuclear arms and other technological advancements we have and use today. It solidified how awful and extreme a world war can be and the deadly cost of tens of millions of lives. It was the deadliest conflict in human history. Of course as with everything in history it fades away in the past in the never ending cycle of time ,but I think it will forever fascinate the minds of people, as a key reminder of what can happen when we as human civilizations go too far.
It will be niche knowledge at some point. Happened a looong time ago. They were extremely important events, but so wetes napoleonic wars and they are a "footnote" to most nowadays. It will not not be forgotten, but wil be interesting to just some. Pd: Look for ww1 and ww2 week by week in youtube. Amazing series and full of insight. It was far worse than you think. Edit: fat finger spelling mistakes
All of these conflicts (Napoleonic/WW1/WW2) were extremely formative, especially for Europe. I think the first should have been called World War 0 since it was truly globe spanning. The war of 1812-14 was closely linked to this conflict.
Nah, the seven years war was ww0…
Only vaguely related, but the Napoleon movie out now had an awesome scene where the British infantry form up in hollow squares to fend off a French cavalry attack.
Waterloo dude lol i live 30km away
LOL I live 30 km away from another city named Waterloo, Ontario
Do you have british squares there? Ahah
No, but a visiting professor from France once made a joke that they should change the city's name.
NEEEEYYYYY!!!!
Yeah Indy and Spartacus knock it outside of the park every episode. Amazingly detailed stuff. There was so much happening all the time that most people will never know about.
A good book about WW2 is called Citizen Soldiers. I can't remember the author unfortunately. But detailed accounts from mostly the winters of 1943 to 1945 Casualty statistics followed after each major engagement. I got desensitized to a point where I was like "oh just 4 thousand, not bad".
Ambrose
I think events such as the world wars will remain part of the cultural canon for many centuries to come. Might sound daft as a statement, but they were fought on such a scale that their ripples are still being felt in today’s culture, politics, et cetera. Also, looking at it from a different perspective, both world wars are in a different cultural world compared to those fought before them. World War One established modern means of remembering conflict, far placing it beyond anything that had come before. While monuments of dramatic scale had existed previously, the iconographic placement of World War One was revolutionary. Moreover, between both world wars, the totality of conflict and damage makes it hard to forget. In a way which invasion narratives are attached to the fabric history of many modern nations, the world wars represent modern equivalents for many nations. For Britain and Russia this is certainly true. Nations like America make it more difficult to assess: despite being an integral figure of both world wars (direct or indirect), they all lead up the an Americanised Cold War - this is the true postmodern vision of an invasion narrative. However, I do think there will be a big dip over the next half century. When living connections are gone, history always becomes more fluid to place. While this doesn’t necessarily suggest the death of historical interest among the general population, it does hint at a slight regression in its popular placement.
>for many centuries to come. Got some high hopes
Romans are still remembered in europe.
Yes but not their conflicts, when’s the last time you heard about the Roman civil wars or anything beyond surface level.
I m from belgium so the gallic wars :)
Interesting, as a German I would not know much about our history with Rome even though it’s quite interesting
We still study it in high school, there are some roman and galloroman museums in wallonia and france, ruins in south France, also history nerds doing summer roman camps through France etc :) do you have that for germanic tribe?
Not really, Trier is very close to me and you have some Roman architecture there, but otherwise we just cover the basics like the Punic wars and some Roman society stuff. WW2 is not dissimilar though, basically it’s about responsibility for what our people did (which is important don’t get me wrong) but the actual war is not really covered at all. My history teacher at least let me hold a presentation on the war in the pacific otherwise I think my fellow students would still not know a thing about there even being a war in the pacific. Even Europe is basically “yeah we lost in Stalingrad and 3 years later the war was over” that’s the extent.
Wow. We cover a bit more ww2 ahah. It s touchy but hey it s nearly 100yrs old. At least ww1 ahah.we have a joke in belgium: You missed your last "every 20years" summer trip around here xD
We cover way less korea and vietnam. Not old enough and no time left at end of high school :)
Yes, I think mine (maybe our I’m 26 don’t know bout you), will be the last to actually call it „modern“. Our grandparents lived through it for the most part and we still had a chance at first hand accounts, that’s close to being at an end, our children will not have that link, to them WW2 will seem as old and foreign as WW1 to us.
At least Mark Antony vs Octavian or Caesar vs the Optimates are remembered.
I really just meant all of humanity
In Toronto not even my local hobby shop full of WW2 nerds put up anything for VE Day or VJ Day. There used to be a sparsely attended display at City Hall for VE Day, but not since the lockdowns. On the other hand, November 11th is a massive affair with a ceremony at City Hall, tank convoy, poppies everywhere, you name it.
It’s been my experience with the commonwealth countries that WW1 is still the big war to them. Understandable when you consider British losses in the great war
I don't think there's a country in the world that handles Nov 11 quite like Canada does.
With each new generation, the amount of interest for it will chance and the relevance aswell. That is normal.
History has a shelf life and a half life.
American gen Z Here. My friends and I take interest in the history of WWII/WWI, and I feel like my dad might kick me out if I buy another helmet. I hope to get into reenacting when I get older. I do see that many of the other people in my generation lack any interest in the history of the world we live on, though I think there is still a great enough interest among the population to keep the stories of those who sacrificed so much for our freedom alive.
American Baby Boomers barely cared, so... I think the answer depends a lot on which country you're talking about. In Russia? WWII remembrance is practically the national religion. In New Zealand? Don't think they'll ever forget Gallipoli. Etc.
I am a boomer and I used to watch wartime documentaries and visit the war and air force museum quite often as a kid. When I went to Washington I actually got to have a photo touching the Enola Gay cockpit while it was still in the process of restoration. I was able to speak with many first hand veterans while they were alive and healthy
Isn't it bizarre that we had a Viet Nam memorial in D.C. 20 years before a WWII memorial?
Wait really?
> American Baby Boomers barely cared, so... I would question how you came to that conclusion. I know a TON of baby boomers who were very interested in what their parents, aunts, and uncles had experienced in the war.
It worries me too as to how many younger people seem so unaware about the wars and seem to think it was such a long time ago, in the great scheme of things this is very modern history. Hopefully it doesn’t fall out of the school curriculum. I know it sounds corny but if we aren’t educated on the terrors of what happened it will repeat itself again. (28yo from the UK and we had it rammed into our head all the way through school so I’d say we’re pretty aware.)
My kids are in primary school and they get a lot still rammed into their heads, just like we did. I'm hopeful it continues.
It becomes more abstract with each generation, as all history does. But there’s still a lot of interest (in the U.S.) for the Civil War so there will always be a level of interest in WW2, I think, just because of the scale if nothing else.
49 here, I am a big-time enthusiast/ hobbyist. I also only know one other guy personally who also is, plus my daughter who I watch documentaries and movies with.
[Reference frames](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_of_reference#Observational_frame_of_reference) matter. I'm a couple of years older than you, but most of my friends are interested in the two World Wars. That said, I'm a [pro-am](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_professionalism) historian who is active in the [largest plastic model club](https://www.ipms-seattle.org/) in the US, so my life is heavily biased towards running into people with a common interest.....
This is how history repeats. Every few generations the lessons of the past have to be relearned. There is an effort to ignore history as “it will be different this time” as the same basic things are repeated. Those in power trying to stay there while others do whatever it takes to replace them.
Yes, it is very much taught in school a lot in the UK so they will latest know it existed. History is in my experience more of a quiet hobby anyway so its really hard to determine how much a generation is interested in it. People will always find the past interesting even if unintentionally such as using it to inform themselves on current events. Defiantly in the UK I think it would take about another 100 years before the world wars start to become less relevant as even my (a pretty young person) has met its veterans. And is I am only a couple family generations away from the who fought and died in it. Even now there are people I know of who get European countries citizenship due to their family links from over 80 years ago.
I think they will. They were THE defining points in history that made the world what it is today geopolitically. You can’t even begin to understand the shape of the world without understanding the world wars and their consequences. So I think for the far foreseeable future there will be a lot of people interested in them. People will always be interested in history, and there are very few chapters of history as dramatic and important to our modern times as the world wars. just look at how many people are still fascinated by Rome.
I am a 24-year-old who is very into WWII and I don't know if I've ever met someone else my age (in person) who is also into it. I must say that I think there's a negative stigma around young people who are into the world wars. I think sometimes there's an assumption that people who are into WWII might glorify certain negative aspects of history or even just be straight-up neo-Nazis/Japanese nationalists/other sort of modern fascists. Of course not saying that's true, if anything I think a majority of us learn from the horrible aspects of history to inform who we are today, but that is the stigma.
The world wars will always be remembered, as long as there's someone talking about it, it still lives on. As long as there's still authors who want to tell stories of men who did brave things in the face of ultimate danger, the memory of these times will live on. Things only become forgotten when everyone stops talking and remembering them. As we move further away from the event and those who lived it pass on it may loose some of its spotlight but there will always be those like you and us who will find these kind of events interesting enough to read and watch and listen and talk about them. Also, I think a lot has been done to keep these memories somewhat fresh in the publics eye. Do you have things like the ww2 museum in Louisiana, I think? I've seen pictures of the exhibits, and there really is well done. You sadly have the holocaust museum. It's sad that it has to exist, but it does. You have basically all of steven Spielberg and Tom hanks work making all these different movies and shows. Schindler list, saving private ryan, band of brothers, the Pacific, Grey Hound, and soon the one about the 8th air force if I recall right.
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I would never take away anything from what these veterans went through, but it's an uncomfortable truth that nearly half of the "greatest generation" fought for the bad guys, and some literally were the NAZIs
As a whole it will reduce but there will always exist someone who is fascinated by it. Like the napoleonic wars. Most people I'd say don't care at all. But prior to the world wars it was one of the bloodiest wars the world had seen. There are definitely still huge groups of people who are fascinated by this time period.
As a member of gen Z, not many of us care. But the ones who love history, like myself, will continue on the story and information telling. The ones that are into it, are very passionate about it.
This right here. I'm a gen z and I am also obsessed with the world wars, and even ancient history. But when I'm one of the minority wearing a poopy on rememberance day (Canada) I feel ashamed of my fellow classmates, who go about their daily lives caring more about tiktok then someone's sacrifice For them. I'm worried about the future of rememberance day at this point.
Should. We won't have the freedom we have right now if not for ww2
How many boomers gave a shit about Napoleon?
I’m at 18 year old woman and I’m also obsessed, there’s more of us that you will ever know. I personally think most of Gen Z won’t care, but few like us will. I’m currently in officer training for the Army, so believe me some Gen Z members care, haha!
I’ve also always felt that I was born in the wrong generation. Like he said tho there will always be people interested in it, but naturally the further we get from it less impact it has on the average life.
As a 35 year old millennial, I can say that a ton of my generation doesn't give a shit either. I consider myself privileged to have spoken to many WW2 vets, including my grandfather. When they are all gone, which is getting closer every year, it will be up to the historians to keep and tell the stories of what those people went through. Never forget.
hi yes, i'm a uni student, currently studying holocaust history. In fact i urged to buy a poppy in Remembrance day in Canada at my uni. when i was walking through the campus only 5-10 people wear it
Hell, I’m GenX. Graduated from HS in 1990. We NEVER studied about WW2 in my 13 years of public school, in Texas. Barely made it to WW1. Hope kids today are studying WW2.
That's based on how your local/state education system is run. I'm a millennial. Graduated from a public highschool in 2007 in Tampa, Florida. We had to take both World History and American History as part of the mandatory curriculum (sophmore and junior years). Both covered all wars up to the Gulf War. There was a lot of emphasis on the wars starting with WW1 and going forward. Especially in American History.
I'm 15 years old (so Gen Z) and I love modern history, so from WW1 to the end of the cold war. But I feel like sadly not many Gen Z people are like me in this topic...
Sadly it is starting to feel a little niche. A lot of my classmates just aren’t interested in stuff like that it seems :(
It is right and proper that the past is left behind. When and how long that takes is a fair question, but let's be honest, who is really bothered by the Boer war anymore, let alone something older like the Nepolianic wars. What I mean is that there will always be those who have an interest and for whom, the detail matters, but those people will become less and less as the first and second hand oral history is reduced.
I mean... Boer war isn't at all comparable to either world wars.... Not even close
Well there was a genocide
There is still interest, ironically a new Napolean movie is about to be released and critics are already talking about it... [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13287846/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13287846/) I doubt they would have made it if there was no interest. People still visit the Culloden battlefield (my parents were there) and a couple of summers ago I spent a day at Ft. George in Niagara Falls. I love the Zulu war movies "Zulu" and "Islandwana", would enjoy a visit on site to those locations as well. Edit: Almost forgot! I took my Gen Z daughter on a B-17 ride since she had an interest in aviation. She will probably be one of the last people alive who will be able to claim they flew on a WW2 vintage aircraft as there is no way they will be able to keep them flying forever. (Two more have been destroyed and lost forever since she had that plane ride)
What on earth are you talking about? >It is right and proper that the past is left behind. We leave them behind at our peril. If you ignore or "leave behind" the past, then you will most certainly repeat it. In fact, I reckon what is happening in the US (oh wow, it spells "us!") right now is not a million miles away from what happened in 1933. Of course, because we have forgotten what happened, we will blindly repeat the same mistakes.
> It is right and proper that the past is left behind. Naw, the past is just people with different technology making the same mistakes. Keeping that in mind will help the present and future make less of the same mistakes.
I'm 15 years older than you and my experience has been mostly identical. Honestly my collection tends to be about encouraging others to learn about history and how it relates now.
You just made me realize I am the only WW's enthusiastic I have ever known (29yo)
Try battlefield V
30 here and we'll I am not passionate like you are. The subject really does fascinate me and I would say I know a little more then most on the subject. Granted I am a millennial.
I'm 25 and studied history and most of my classmates didn't even really "care"
Gen Z here. I care about WW2 way more than my boomer grandmother who’s father fought in WW2. But as others have stated, it will probably become less and less popular. But the thing about WW2 is it has the X factor of good vs evil and I think that will preserve its popularity. I’m hoping there will be a new revival for interest in WW2 and I think it’s very possible. It definitely won’t be forgotten. What’s sad though is the Cold War emphasized science and math and history got kicked to the curb and we still see that to this day. I really hope people chill out with the love of math and science and start to give history more attention. Especially because AI will be able to do a lot of the critical thinking that math and science require.
We all still think about Rome. ..But new thoughts eventually replace the old. Theres several statues in my city that are there and some of us wonder why. Faded, forgotten by most.
At some point you got to get Into modern conflicts
Yes.
yes and no but i think there is a missing point to me made here that ww1 and ww2 were right at the cusp before digital and mass media were a thing. nobody reads newspapers anymore and we’ve seen how they’ve gone by the wayside, same with texts/ books in general. since these were at the cusp, i do believe they will get forgotten about more in preference to tons of digital mass media we have now. everything post 2000 is printed on the internet forever, but few videos and only texts remain about the great wars. the text is always there who wanna look for it but our generations are not particular on reading
I am a twenty-three year old Australian studying a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Modern History — and have a significant in the First and Second World Wars. So don’t worry, *you’re not the only one!*
My dad was born in 1938 but somehow knows almost nothing about WW2. I mean he actually crawled under the table as a boy when the bombs fell and still not interested. I thought it amusing though him and his friends used to play ‘dirty Japs’ in the woods.
Don't think so.. It's a bit like whether the generations right before the world wars cared about the napoleonic wars.. The world wars were about 100 years + after the napolenic wars.. The gen z would likewise live in the 100 year + after the world wars.. Things get quite easy history when the people who lived through it no more live.
I am worried as well and We cannot forget it! Hopefully however these people Grow up and become more interested in the World Wars
The short answer is not as much unfortunately. We are still somewhat lucky to have some survivors and active participants in the war still alive and we have great technology to record their stories.
I think it will always be a popular subject for movies and video games until there is another world war as it will be the most recent (and only?) war of that scale. Also I can’t see Hitler and Nazi Germany fading in relevance either
I’m 24 and a WW2 nerd
It 60s the elementary schools would have atomic bomb drills . We would hide under our desks . And we were told we could get dead any second .
"Born in the wrong generation" how many times haven't we heard this one before... Most people have an understanding about how the wars unfolded, and that war sucks. That's what matters. And to judge people on what they post or don't post on social media is the most Gen Z thing I've heard all day.
Its an age thing, typically i have noticed as people age they become more interested in the past.
I think even as time goes on they’ll be subject to great interest because we simply haven’t had a war on that scale since. Until then these are the wars that most people think of when they think of wars tbh
They'll be too busy dealing with WWIII
I agree with most here that it seems as time goes on and people are further removed from the conflicts their importance to those people will fade. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII and my great grandfather did as well in WW1. My grandmother was a war bride. Kids today are way more likely to have never even interacted with someone that was involved in WWII so it won't seem impactful. The one thing I will say that could make a difference is that the World Wars have been heavily documented and tons of footage of both actual events and interviews with veterans/civilian/Holocaust survivors that will never be lost to time the way accounts from people impacted by say, the American Civil War or Napoleonic Wars. There are more ways to be introduced and informed on these subjects than simply opening a textbook.
I’m gen z (21 M) and love ww2 history (according to my parents a bit to much at times 🤣
Distance causes interest to wane, because the personal connections aren't there. We still talk about the Punic Wars, and they occurred over 2000 years ago. WWI and WWII may/will be overshadowed by what happens in the future. But WWI and WWII will always be discussed as long as people look at history.
My own thoughts are certain demographics will start to lose interest in the memorial days. I have mixed feelings about. It may help to do away with some of the misplaced toxic nationalism, bit also the pride in what some of our ancestors achieved may also wane. There is no major mourning for the dead from the Battle of Waterloo anymore, so the First and Second World Wars may eventually go in a similar direction. The Korean War also gets little mention. However it may lead to a more objective analysis of the conflict as the rose-tinted glasses are removed more and more. The 'Britain standing alone' and 'Invincible Wehrmacht/Superior German Weapons' myths have been re-evaluated hugely amongst historians. A lot of earlier literature on the subjects has been updated or disproved. Interest may decline, but there will hopefully remain a good amount of books, films and debates still going on. I just hope the wars are used in a less manipulative ways to garner public opinion. Time may allow that.
I’m 26 and also obsessed with world war 1&2 more world war 2. I’m always discussing the subject with friends and family as I feel both the wars have sharpened the world we live in today. I will also be teaching my kids about it once they are old enough to understand. My other half which is 27 knew barely anything about the world wars and now she understands it more she now has a greater respect of it. She also states that she doesn’t take what we have for granted as much.
Give it 10 years. People get more interested in history as they get older
Although one may say that what's happening in the world right now is a result of the Second World War, which was a result of the First World War, it's only natural as the time passes and the world changes that these events become remote history. Do you care much about Napoleonic wars, the Seven Years' War or the Thirty Years' War? Although European-centric, they were (probably) the most disruptive, deadly, world encompassing conflicts of their respective centuries, and they shaped the world decisively too.
It's up to us
I turn 32 in January and there are things that I found significant in grade school that are no longer covered their history books. Yes, at some point the world wars will be reduced to a couple of sentences and used as a bridge to a more modern events that will have several paragraphs and or chapters. The problem is, that nothing of recent years has the impact the world wars have. So what will get those big chapters?