In Salt to the Sea four teenagers are caught up in war. The novel mostly focuses on the harsh aggression of the Nazi Soviet front. Three of the four have been trying flee walking near paths to avoid needed attention from troops and getting to a place where the fighting isn't happening so they can wait the war out. They finally come across a large ship that is heading to safer ground. The fourth teen is a Nazi desperate to move up the ranks and be a hero; especially to be noticed by Hannelore in which he sends mental love letters to throughout the story. The four all finally meet up at the ship and hope nothing goes wrong as the ship already seems cursed. (The ship shares a name with a Nazi in a different country who was murdered). Historically near where the novel takes place, this is the front of the Soviets and the Nazis. Due to an already present mistrust between the Soviets and Allies, Stalin isn't a huge fan of America. This mistrust began as the Allies were against the Reds in the Russian Civil War. On top of that the Allies abandoned Czechoslovakia before World War Two. Stalin then signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Germany. After being invaded again, the Soviets were forced to join the Allies. After the war was over, the Soviets controlled a lot of Asia and Europe. The U.S. offered supplies to those in need in Soviet zones but Stalin rejected them for those offered. Finally America and the USSR couldn't take it anymore and the cold war started as disagreements in different areas led to the battles of the cold war. With disagreements the countries went out to prove themselves as better than the other. A lot more money was put into education to advance further with smarter people and this affect lasts until today as Americans realized the importance of putting money into education. Another affect is both countries built up a lot of nuclear weapons that are still here today. This made both the U.S. and Russia look stronger with so many nuclear weapons and less likely to be attacked present day. My novel has to deal with the Nazis and Soviets at war. This had a huge impact on society even today. If Hitler never broke the pact then Soviets and Nazis may be ruling the world right now. If the Allies still somehow pulled it off then there probably would never have been a Cold War. Therefor, the events of the Nazis and Soviets battling as included in Salt to the Sea has affects still present in today's society.
Sources: http://dailyhistory.org/How_did_World_War_II_Lead_to_the_Cold_War%3F http://abbywcoldwar.blogspot.com/2010/04/effects-of-cold-war-on-america-today.html
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Salt to the Sea is a novel told from four perspectives. Each of them is haunted and hunted by something. This book takes place during World War Two. Due to a Soviet advance on the German border the four teenagers are desperately fleeing from the land. Historically during this time period, Germany had broken the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and in 1941 invaded Russia. Stalin was took off guard and German offenses nearly reached Moscow. Enraged Stalin fought back hard. Russia and Germany fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Near these battles are where the novel takes place. The events in the book barely compare to the historical events as it they talk about minor battles that took areas and most of the action so far is with lost troops. They mostly compare as Russia attacks Germany and there are a lot of battles. Most of the people in the border wanted the fighting to stop. It was destroying their property, resources, and well being. People from Russia were angry of a surprise attack and wanted revenge. People from Germany felt the Russians were bloody and evil destroying everything and taking anything they could over. There are four characters in the novel. Three of the four appear to want the fighting to stop and are against both Soviets and Germans. The other one is strictly German wanting to help Germany and believes that Germany has the better cause. He often daydreams to Hannelore on how brave he is despite being obviously coward. The book goes into how cold and harsh the conditions are similar to how bad weather and disagreements between officers and Hitler slowed down their forces. In the book even from the very beginning the author goes into how horribly cruel the weather is by saying "She was dead, frozen solid..." (Sepetys 2). The History Channel puts that in to context by saying "...and the impact of the surprise invasion helped Germans get within 200 miles of Moscow by mid-July. Arguments between Hitler and his commanders delayed the next German advance until October when it was stalled by Soviet counteroffensive and the onset of the harsh winter weather." (History Channel 2017). Overall, Salt to the Sea compares to the real events occurring at the time.
This is the History Channel article I used http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history |
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