Music recorded in 1945
The year 1945 saw the end of World War II and the redesign of the international order that began immediately after the war, all competing for space. In Europe, after the suicide of Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) and the execution of Benito Mussolini (1883–1945), the German Instrument of Surrender was signed on May 7–8, 1945, marking a definitive end to hostilities. The basic principles for postwar settlement were established at the Yalta Conference (February 4–11, 1945) and the Potsdam Conference (July 17–August 2, 1945), and negotiations among Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), Winston Churchill (1874–1965), Joseph Stalin (1878–1953), Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), and Clement Attlee (1883–1967), among others, shaped the framework for occupation, reparations, borders, and spheres of influence.
At the same time, efforts to solidify international cooperation as a system accelerated. Following the United Nations Conference on International Organization (April 25–June 26, 1945), the Charter of the United Nations was signed on June 26, 1945, and came into effect on October 24, 1945. The scale of destruction revealed by the totality of the war shook the idea of maintaining order through military force alone, and after the war, there was a shift toward mediation through norms and institutions. With a view to economic recovery and stability, the agreements for the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development came into effect on December 27, 1945, setting in motion an international foundation to support currency, finance, and reconstruction funds.
Postwar vision also took shape in the areas of food, education, and culture, which are directly linked to the foundations of society. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was established on October 16, 1945, positioning the issues of hunger and agriculture as central themes in international politics. Furthermore, the Constitution of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was signed in London on November 16, 1945, institutionalizing the idea of peacebuilding through education, science, and culture.
However, while the system was being established, the criminal nature of war became increasingly clear. The Auschwitz concentration camp (KL Auschwitz) was liberated on January 27, 1945, and the reality of the forced detentions and mass murders posed serious questions to postwar society. As a framework for pursuing accountability, the International Military Tribunal was established by the London Agreement (August 8, 1945), and the Nuremberg Trials, based on the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, began on November 20, 1945. This attempt to judge crimes committed in the name of a nation under international law expanded the prerequisites for subsequent human rights and international criminal justice.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the emergence of nuclear weapons changed the course of the war. Following the Trinity test (July 16, 1945), the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) occurred. Emperor Showa then broadcast the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War (also known as the Gyokuon-hoso) on August 15, 1945, and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2, 1945. During the occupation, General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) assumed authority as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, and political and social systems were restructured.
Furthermore, the decline of the empire spurred a chain of independence movements. Sukarno (1901–1970) and Mohammad Hatta (1902–1980) proclaimed independence in the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (August 17, 1945), and Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) proclaimed independence in the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945). In the Middle East, the League of Arab States signed its Charter on March 22, 1945, restructuring the regional political framework. The end of the war was not a "restoration" but also a process of reorganizing the principles of sovereignty, borders, and governance.
In the fields of technology and culture, we saw a turning point in which wartime research and development was transformed into peacetime industry and expression. Vannevar Bush's (1890–1974) report, Science, the Endless Frontier (published in 1945), promoted the idea of research as a sustainable foundation for the nation. In the field of sound media, magnetic tape recording and the Magnetophon, developed in Germany, were analyzed and expanded upon after the war, elevating editing and duplication to practical technologies in later broadcasting and sound production. In literature, George Orwell's (1903–1950) Animal Farm was published on August 17, 1945, casting a lasting shadow over postwar political consciousness and popular culture. The year 1945 was not simply marked by the end of the war, but rather was a year in which memories of violence, international institutions, a chain of independence, and updates in media technology all intertwined to form the framework of postwar society.
