Author: irisswaney

After World War II, European powers were not only left to deal with rebuilding their infrastructures and economies, they were also being challenged abroad by their colonies, places that they had held power for sometimes hundreds of years. With the end of the war came ideological changes across the globe, including changes of how colonies […]

Post World War II, many Holocaust survivors and displaced Jews in Europe were without homes and felt as if they could never escape anti-Semitism. These Jews were enticed by the already-existing Zionist movement, a movement that believed that Judaism was not only a religion but a nationality that deserved a state, so Zionists were working […]

World War II led to both the greatest loss of human lives in any war as well as the greatest number of displaced people in both East and West Europe. With this combination of death and displacement leaving large numbers of their populations gone, countries like Britain, France, and Belgium had to figure out where […]

  After World War II, how to go about the reconstructing Europe was obviously not an easy task. There was no guide as to how to rebuild entire countries’ infrastructure, economy, and in parts, society. When entire counties are nearly in ashes, they are left vulnerable and anxious for help. The Marshall Plan was, on […]

In understanding the aftermath of World War II and all of the activity that surrounded it, it is important to think of the concepts of rebuilding versus replacing. To rebuild is to “build again after being damaged or destroyed” while replacing is to “take the place of something old, broken, or inoperative”. While many cities […]

Today, Americans have the utmost respect for veterans that fought abroad for our country’s freedom and many of us believe they deserve special treatment for their service. But this unfortunately was not the case for many decades, across many wars, across the globe. The treatment of veterans and veterans’ expectations when returning home, as pointed […]

A sense of place is important to humans. Sense of place is much more than just a reflection of a location, it’s built through the lived experience that involves a set of personal and community narratives. It’s built from the knowledge of the place, feeling oriented in one’s environment, as well as the feeling of […]

Hey everyone! I am Iris Swaney, a junior history major, also pursuing a master’s in secondary education . I was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia; I love vicinity to both D.C. and the great outdoors of the Potomac River and the Appalachian Trail. For those reasons, I also love Blacksburg. It’s a small town […]

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