May the Fourth Be With You: WWII’s Effect on Star Wars

“Unintentionally, a significant portion [of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series “The Lord of the Rings”] can be interpreted topically,” Maj. Warren Lewis, C.S. Lewis’s brother, noted in what may have been the first-ever review of the book in 1949. “Sauron stands in for Stalin; the Shire represents England; Rohan represents France; and Gondor represents future Germany.” May the Fourth Be With You: The Impact of World War II on Star Wars WWII’s Effect on Star Wars

Furthermore, Tolkien subsequently and unequivocally denied the notion that his narrative represented any actual occurrence, particularly the current struggle against Nazism. The historian Alan Allport noted in his 2020 book “Britain at Bay,” which is about the social and military history of the United Kingdom during World War II, that “for all such protestations, Lewis had clearly been on to something back in 1949.” May the Fourth Be With You: The Impact of World War II on Star Wars WWII’s Effect on Star Wars

Allport said that Tolkien’s future audience “was going to see associations between events in Middle Earth and those in their own world,” rather than creating a completely utopian fantasy universe. May the Fourth Be With You: The Impact of World War II on Star Wars

But Tolkien was by no means the first or the last to find inspiration in the catastrophic carnage of World War II.

Fans of “Star Wars” may find it easy to discern that the galaxy is full with allegories pertaining to World War II, and their fandom may even eclipse that of J.R.R. Tolkien. This is especially true as fans commemorate May the Fourth (may you be with you) today.
In studying for the films, “Star Wars” creator George Lucas is renowned for having examined more than 25 hours of video including dogfights from World War II and shaky newsreel photography. Lucas even used some of the material as placeholders in the movie before special effects were incorporated.

“So, you’re at “The Bridges at Toko-Ri” one moment and on the spacecraft with Wookiee the next. I thought to myself, “George, what’s going on?” In a 1997 interview, Lucas’s close friend and screenwriter Willard Huyck said as much.

The World War II aviation tactics are still obvious, even if the b-roll was subsequently cut out.

One such picture “showed aircraft peeling out of formation and dropping from sight,” according to curator Corey Graff of the National WWII Museum and Memorial. The iconic image of the Rebel vessel plunging to assault the Death Star was modeled from this film. The fictitious spacecraft gracefully “aileron roll” across the screen one at a time, almost identically imitating the motions of the aircraft from the 1940s.
Such comparisons have been the subject of whole books, but we’ve compiled a list of our top picks for your May Fourth amusement.