American Militarism and Anti-Militarism in Popular Media 1945-1970

<p> Scholars have characterized the early decades of the Cold War as an era of rising militarism in the United States but most Americans continued to identify themselves as fundamentally anti-militaristic. To them militaristic defined the authoritarian regimes of Germany and Japan that the nation had defeated in World War II--aggressive power-hungry countries in which the military possessed power outside civilian authority.</p><p> Much of the popular culture in the decades following World War II reflected and reinforced a more pacifist perception of America. This study explores military images in television film and comic books from 1945 to 1970 to understand how popular culture made it possible for a public to embrace more militaristic national security policies yet continue to perceive themselves as deeply anti-militaristic.</p>