Music recorded in 1940
1940 was the year the world was fully engulfed in the reality of "total war." In Europe, Nazi Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in the north (Operation Weserübung), and then in the west, the invasion of France resulted in the Franco-German Armistice (June 22, 1940), redrawing the boundaries of French sovereignty and occupation. In Britain, aerial warfare intensified under the government of Winston Churchill (1874–1965), and the Battle of Britain (July 10–October 31, 1940) became a symbol of modern warfare as "national defense from the air." War also transformed political systems and forms of governance, with choices such as occupation, cooperation, exile, and resistance dividing national societies.
Meanwhile, in Eastern and Northern Europe, the logic of borders and security was being drastically restructured. Finland and the Soviet Union ended the Winter War with the Moscow Peace Treaty (12 March 1940), obtaining a ceasefire in exchange for territorial cessions. The three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) were forced into military pressure, occupation, and annexation by the Soviet Union over the summer of 1940, resulting in the loss of their national independence. These events demonstrated how the international order could be reshaped not only by victory or defeat on the battlefield, but also by the manipulation of treaties, occupation, and "recognition."
The chain reaction continued in the Asia-Pacific region. The Tripartite Pact (27 September 1940) between Japan, Germany, and Italy, which clarified the alliance structure for World War II, was concluded in Berlin, binding the wars in Europe and East Asia onto a single political axis. Japan expanded its military interests in French Indochina, changing the terms of governance and the conduct of war there. The international community witnessed a process in which reality was restructured not only through military force, but also through diplomatic documents, agreements, and terms such as "stationing" and "provision of facilities."
Total war also accelerated science, technology, and industrial organization. In the fields of aviation, communications, and detection, the Tizard Mission (September 1940), which promoted British technological cooperation with the United States, was a symbolic example. The transfer of classified information, including radar-related technology, expanded the scope of large-scale research and development. In medicine, a research report was published in 1940 demonstrating the therapeutic application of penicillin, marking a turning point in the treatment of infectious diseases. Furthermore, the Frisch–Peierls memorandum (March 1940), which provided the first concrete calculations on the technical feasibility of nuclear weapons, predicted that wartime research could change the "quality of the weapons system itself." The United States also prepared for mobilization in preparation for entering the war, and peacetime conscription began with the passage of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. In the same year, support for Britain was further advanced with the Destroyers-for-bases deal (2 September 1940).
Culture and popular entertainment also spread across the globe at the same speed as the war. International sports were hit hard by the war, and the 1940 Summer Olympic Games were ultimately canceled despite being relocated. In film, Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) released The Great Dictator, marking the moment when satire became the language of politics. The American popular culture industry continued to expand, and Walt Disney Productions, led by Walt Disney (1901–1966), pioneered the combination of music and images in films such as Pinocchio (1940) and Fantasia (1940). The depth of this "sound" and "reproduction technology" permeated everyday life through contemporary records, radio, and movie theaters, becoming a foundation for people to share the same melodies and stories even during wartime. 1940 was also a year that exposed the contradictions of modernity: while war divided the world, information, technology, and popular culture simultaneously connected it.
