World War II began as a military disagreement in Europe in September 1939 but spread throughout the world in the years that followed, with much of the war in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The war in Europe ended in the summer of 1945, and the war in the Pacific ended when Japan surrendered in September 1945, with an estimated 50 million people losing their lives during the war. The years following World War II are considered a time of social and economic development, America had won the war and was on its way to becoming an extremely confident world power. At that moment, the hardships resulting from the war years were replaced by higher standards of living, growing opportunities for all, and a developing American culture confident of its place in the world. Little did America know that war was an influential tool that brought about substantial social and economic transformations, such as the end of the Great Depression, the beginning of the Women's Movement, and the beginning of other racial movements. Despite all these positive social and economic changes, there was still apprehension due to the Cold War. War is a powerful tool for both social and economic change. When World War II ended in 1945, life in the United States began to return to normal. Soldiers began to return home and discover peacetime occupations. Industry stopped producing war equipment and began producing goods that would make life pleasant in peacetime. The American economy was now at its strongest point. The 1950s are closely tied to the rise of suburban living. The most famous suburban housing project in Levittown, New York, opened its offices in March 1949 and experimented instantly... medium... audio and television, the purpose of which was to uncover the most significant pieces of communism efforts in America every week. The document “contains an alphabetical list of 151 individuals working in the broadcasting industry along with “citations” of their involvement in various suspicious organizations” (238). As a result, almost everyone on the list lost their jobs and were unable to find new employment in the sector. Society is a very complex system. One that change in one part produces changes elsewhere, and is therefore difficult to predict. Despite the damage, death, and devastation, World War II brought many great changes to society. The war finally ended the Depression, and job opportunities increased dramatically, for minorities, such as African Americans and women. The invention of the automobile made this easy and available to those who had never traveled much.