美国学术界关于“第二次世界大战对美国西部经济发展影响”的争论

Arguments of American Scholars on "The Impact of WW Ⅱ on the Economic Development of American West

第二次世界大战对美国西部经济发展产生了深远影响，战时动员促使西部摆脱了在全国经济中的落后地位。１９７３年美国新墨西哥大学教授杰拉尔德·纳什在史学界率先提出了二战是美国西部发展转折点的观点。此后他又在一系列论文与专著中深入探讨了二战对西部社会经济发展的影响。与此同时，美国学术界围绕这一问题也不断提出不同的看法。概括起来说，美国学术界的争论主要集中在两个基本问题上：一是西部经济在战时迅猛发展的动力问题；二是战后西部的经济地位问题。

The Second World War had a far - reaching impact on the economic development of the American west. The federal government's mobilization activities released the West off the underdeveloped situation. In 1973, a well - known professor from the University of New Mexico, Gerald D. Nash argued that WWⅡ was the turning point of the American West in the 20th century. In the following years, Nash explored the WWⅡ impact on the western social and economic development in aseries of influnetial studies. But still others hold different views and think that WW Ⅱ merely accelerated existing economic trends. In summary, the debates focus on two points: the engine of the wartime economic boom and the postwar economic status of the west in the context of the nation.