Collective Memories across 11 Nations for World War II: Similarities and Differences Regarding the Most Important Events

World War II affected almost all nations of the world. The events of the war and their consequences are still being debated today, decades later. In two studies, we examined how people from different countries remembered the war. Over 100 people from each of 11 countries (Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, UK, and USA) provided their opinions of the 10 most important events of WWII. Participants also completed an event recognition test to assess their general knowledge of the war. The results demonstrate great consensus for important events, but also some striking differences wherein people frequently nominated events that were important to only their country. Particularly, Russians' collective memory for the war is quite different from that of its former allies and enemies. Study 2 replicated the findings in former Axis countries when the survey was provided in their native languages rather than in English.