During the plague, many believed that if they let immigrants into their nation, a major outbreak could occur. However, nearly all places in the world were affected by the disease anyways. (Except for American Samoa, who refused to let anyone on the island)
The statue is of John Steele who was part of the U.S. 2nd Battalion of paratroopers that dropped on the town in normandy on D-Day, June 5, 1944. The dropping operation was largely unsuccessful and many of the soldiers were killed before they reached the ground. John Steele managed to survive after his parachute caught on the steeple of a church and he spent the ivasion hanging from his harness. He was later able to rejoin american troops and survived the war.
The nations were all competing with imperialism. European powers were all fighting to get the African colonies.
