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Chapter 12:
America and World War II
1941 - 1945
Section 1: Mobilizing for War
Industry:
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Because FDR had already partially mobilized
the economy... it was easier to truly mobilize
the country, economy, and military quickly
FDR gave incentives to industry
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No more bidding for contracts
NOW- cost-plus contracts
Pay production cost + % of costs as profit
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•
More you make, faster you make it → more profit you get
$$$ Expensive system, BUT got jeeps and tanks
out quickly because of transformation of auto
industry
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Auto industry manufacture 1/3 of military equip. during
war
Financing the War
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Reconstruction Finance Corporation
• Loans to companies to help them convert to
producing war goods
• War Production Board (WPB)
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Set priorities and production goals for raw
materials and supplies
Supervised production of $185 billion in
military weapons and supplies in 3 years;
dysfunctional
Office of War Mobilization (OWM) handled
disputes
Military Mobilization

Selective Service
and Training Act
(June 1940)
• Peacetime draft
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Draftees
outnumbered
supplies and
facilities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78COT
wT7nE
Double V Campaign
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”Double V” for African Americans
• Victory in War, Victory over Segregation (at home)
and Racism abroad (remember Jesse Owens?)
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In segregated units, often w/ white cmdrs
• Separated for everything
• Often given non-combat jobs
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Pittsburgh Courier “Double V” campaign
99th Pursuit Squadron- Tuskegee Airman
• They were sent into combat, as were other Af. Amer.
units later in the war
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1943-military bases integrated
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1948-military fully integrated
Women in the War
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Women join the military!
Often administrative and clerical jobs
• *to release a man for combat
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WAAC's (auxiliary corps) → later WAC's (army)
WAVE's (Navy)- WASP's (Air)
Could move planes across Atlantic, nurses,
transport, lab techs + more
Section 2:
The Early Battles: Japan
Right after attacking Pearl Harbor,
Japan attacked airfields in
Philippines.
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•
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•
•
2 days later J. landed.
Amer. and Filipinos outnumbered.
MacArthur forced to retreat (he left!).
Bataan Death March- 65 miles.
78,000 marched.
24,000 died.
May 1942-Philippines fell.
The Early Battles: Japan

Doolittle’s Raid- April 18, 1942
• Bombs fell on Japan
• B- 25s had to land in China
• Japan changed strategy
•
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaDBEE2fe0k&feature=related
Problem for Japan: We had broken
Japanese code! Key to our successes!
• Get control of S. coast of New Guinea.
• Cut off Amer. supply lines to Australia
• 3 carriers assigned to the mission
Pacific Theatre

Battle of the Coral Sea (1st battle in
history fought entirely from aircraft
carriers.)
• Lexington sank
• Yorktown crippled
• But Japan called off landing on New
Guinea. 
• Early May, 1942
Pacific Theatre
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Japanese Plan: Take Midway Island
• Last Amer. base in No. Pacific
• West of Hawaii.
• Lure Amer. to attack and then annihilate them
• All other carriers sent to Midway.
Battle of Midway
• U.S. was waiting.
• 1st Wave - J. attacked island.
 Ak- ak guns ready. 38 planes down.
• 2nd wave - U.S. countered.
 Planes caught J. w/ fuel, bombs exposed on board.
Sank 3 carriers w/in minutes
*Major turning point
June 1942
• J. Navy lost 4 of its largest carriers, stopped J. advance in
Pacific
• 362 Amer.; 3,057 J. dead
In Europe

Vs. Germany:
• Stalin wanted a western front, but Churchill
and FDR decided to attack the periphery
instead
• → Invade Morocco and Algeria (Africa!)
• U.S./Brit. plan: Morocco, why?

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1. Give troops experience
2. Help Brits. hold on to Suez Canal (vital for
supplies and materials)
African Front
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Germans under Rommel (the
Desert Fox)
Brilliant strategist, although...
forced to retreat
• U.S. under Patton- also brilliant
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Problems/Challenges w/ Desert
Warfare
• hot and dry, sandstorms,
• when wet → impassable,
• high visibility, tanks made huge
dust clouds
• critters
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Nov. 1942-
• U.S. Captured Casablanca,
Algiers
• went E. into Tunisia;
• Brit. went W. into Libya.

Plan: Trap Rommel
1st U.S. Battle vs. German Forces
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Battle of Kasserine
Pass
• 7,000 casualties;
lost 200 tanks
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But, U.S. and Brit.
persisted.
May 13, 1943
Last Ger. forces in
Africa surrendered
Battle of the Atlantic
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German subs picking
on cargo ships
• Oil and gas hit hard,
rationed
→ long oil pipeline built
• Convoy systemimproved success
• Built lots of ships to
replace losses
Stalingrad
Ger. vs. USSR:
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Stalingrad
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Hitler felt only way to defeat USSR was
by hitting their economy
• May 1942- ordered army to
 Capture oil fields, industries and
farmlands in S. Russia and Ukraine
 Attack Stalingrad- major RR, Volga
R.
Entered Stalingrad in Mid- Sept.
Had to hold ground at all costs. Lost
thousands fighting house to house
Nov- Soviet reinforcements arrived.
• Trapped 250,000 Gers.
• Battle end in Jan.
• 91,000 Ger. surrendered, but only
5,000 of them survived Gulags, etc.
*Turning point- Put Germans the
defensive.
Section 3:
Life on the Home Front
For Women:
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“Rosie the Riveter”
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Women now did traditionally
male manufacturing jobs
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”I can make money.”
”I can do things I never thought I
could do.”
→ permanently changed
workplace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HofnGQwPgqs&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwme
pBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s
Home Front: Hispanics
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1942-1964 Bracero Program
• farmers in SW had labor shortage
• 1942-Bracero Program brought Mex.
farm-workers in to help w/harvest
• 200,000 came 1st year.
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Zoot Suit Riots
• pg. 590,
• → excessive material in the clothing
= “unpatriotic”
• rumors of attacks → sailors and
soldiers attacked Mex. Amer.
neighborhoods and zoot suits
outlawed in LA
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDEfhS-r_68
Home Front: African Americans
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A. Philip Randolph
threatened a march on D.C.
to demand jobs for African
Americans
→ FDR issued Exec. Order
8802 = “No racial
discrimination in workplace”
but...still- last hired, first
fired
severe housing
discrimination
Great Migration resumed
Home Front: For Everyone
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War created new jobs
Doubled avg. family income
Migration
Prices rose, short supply
Rationing → meat, sugar, gas, rubber, etc.
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Blue and Red coupons
Victory gardens
Recycling
Collection of vital items
Blackouts
War bonds, e-bonds
In Oregon:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/03/vanport_survivors_are_dying_ha.html#incart_2box
Japanese-American Relocation
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West Coast problems- fear/ suspicion of
Japanese Americans
FDR caved in to pressure- Executive
order 9066, removed all JapaneseAmer. on West Coast to internment
camps
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10 of them: CA, AZ, UT, ID, WY, CO, AR
Conditions in the Camps
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Lived in horse barns,
cramped conditions
Food lines -”foreign”
food ignorance/ignoring
customs
Lost houses,
businesses, etc. in
home cities
Korematsu vs. United States
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Went to Sup. Ct.
Relocation was
constitutional b/c
it was based on
“military
urgency”- not
race
Racism Everywhere!
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Italian and German
immigrants also
harassed, lost jobs,
had curfews, police
searches, forced
relocation,
internment
Propaganda
The Other Side of the Story…
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But many minorities served in military
• All-Japanese 100th Battalion- integrated
into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
(most highly decorated unit in WWII)
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Navajo Code Talkers
Mex-Americans fought in all theatres
Section 4:
Pushing the Axis Back
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Tehran Conference
• Iran
• Late 1943
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Plans:
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Invade France
Break up Ger. after war
USSR help vs. Japan
UN for after war
Strategy for the Pacific
• 1.Island hopping to
Japan
• 2. MacArthur's troops go
thru Solomon Islands,
capture N Coast of New
Guinea, retake Phil.s
Island Hopping Problems

Ctrl
Pacific
Problem- many islands are coral reef
atolls. Makes amphibious landing
difficult and dangerous
• Boats get struck, soldiers wade to
shore.
• Ex.- Tarawa Atoll, Central Pacific
under Nimitz
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Amphibious landing
At least 20 ships ran aground
1,000 died (5,000 landed).
Amphibious Assault Vehicles
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Success w/ LVT- a
boat w/ tank tracks
“The Alligator”amphibious
tractor- amphtrac
Several different
models
Then Kwajalein
Atoll
• Landing with all
amphtracs - much
better
Ctrl
Marianas
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Pacific
Gained Marshall Islands, then onto
the
Marianas
• U.S. invaded Saipan, Tinian, Guam
• June - Aug. 1944
• We controlled; used as bases for B-29’s
in order to launch bombing runs on
Japan
Southwestern Pacific
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SW Pacific under MacArthur
Guadalcanal -Aug. '42- early '43Rabawl- Japanese Base
Hollandia - on N. coast of New
Guinea
Morotai - last stop before Phil.s
Leyte Gulf
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Philippines
We goofed!
Largest naval battle in history
3-4 days
Oct. 1944
1st Kamikaze attacks
“Divine winds”
March 1945: MacArthur
captured Manila.
• Guerrilla warfare til end of
war.
I told you
I would
return!
SW
Pacific
Casablanca Conference
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Jan, '43
FDR and Churchill
• Decide upon “Sicily and
bombing of Germany”
as strategy to hopefully
end the war
Next Phase in War: Europe
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On Germany
• Step up bombing of strategic points (military,
industrial, economic system)
• → oil shortage, wrecked RR system, destroyed
aircraft factories, allied total control of air
(before D-Day) on “the soft underbelly”invading Sicily
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In approx. 1 month, w/ Patton and tanks
from West; Montgomery, from South:
Ger. surr.
Attack on Sicily = crisis in Italy.
• King had Mussolini arrested; negotiated w/
Allies for surrender.
• Ger. fight but Italy fell- May 2, 1945, hard to
keep control
Operation Overlord
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Eisenhower in ctrl.
Invade at Normandy, France
D-Day- June 6th, 1944
In favor- Low tide at dawn, moonlight,
break in weather, sm. window of
opportunity
Timing is bad- heavy cloud cover, strong
winds, high waves
7,000 ships, 100,000 troops, 23,000
paratroopers, 13,000 aircraft, 11,912 tons
of explosives
Beaches
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Utah – went rather smoothly, sandy
beach which made German defenses
weaker; there was a wall on the beach;
23,000 landed
Omaha – 34,000 + were to land, BUT
decimated (cliffs, misinformation about
who was there)
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Amer, Brit, France (naval support)
10 ships sunk before arriving
Lost 50+ tanks before nightfall
Losses: 1200 German; 9,387 (+1557 MIA) by
nightfall
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Gold – 25,000 landed; pushed Nazis back
6 miles by nightfall
Sword – British Infantry Division; 29,000
men, 223 tanks; German defense was
weak; Panzers counter-attacked
Juno – 359 Allies died; Canadians and
UK.
U.S., Brit, Canadian forces suffered high
casualties, but invasion successful!
Allowed ground and air presence in
France; went inland from there.
Section 5:
The War Ends
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We advanced in France, but tough
going!
French Resistance:
• Staged a rebellion in Paris
• Acts of sabotage on
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German holdings in Fr.
Railroads
Factories
• Collected intelligence
Battle of the Bulge
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We won!
• 100,000 German
casualties
• Lost tanks, aircraft
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 Germans left with
little to prevent allies
from entering
Germany
Dec. 16, 1944 –
Jan. 16, 1945
American
Hero:
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=ZX2PbzV
1go8
Nuts!
Soviets Pester Germany
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USSR picked on
German troops in
Soviet Union
•  Drove Germany
back across Poland
•  U.S. and USSR
troops squeezed
German troops in
Germany
FDR Dies
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April 12th, 1945
Truman sworn in
• VE Day within a
month
• Fight with Japan,
however, only
intensifying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Objoad6rG6U
&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s
Hitler Commits Suicide
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Suicide on April 30th/ May 1st
Successor tried to surrender
to U.S., Gr. Brit.
Eisenhower replied
“Unconditional Surrender”
May 7th, 1945: Surrender
May 8th, 1945: VE Day
(Victory in Europe Day)
To End the War with Japan
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Bombing Japan, but
not accurate enough
to cause enough
damage.
Need a closer base =
Iwo Jima
• Nasty topography
• Japanese had great
defenses
• 6,800 Marines died
• 19 February–26 March
1945
• “Operation
Detachment “
Napalm Bombs on Tokyo
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Napalm bombs
on Tokyo
• 80,000 died;
250,000 bldgs.
Destroyed
• By June of 1945,
6 most
important
industrial cities
been
firebombed;
• 67 cities hit by
end of war
Okinawa
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Belief…Japan won’t
surrender until it is
invaded.
U.S. goes for Okinawa
• 1 April – 21 June 1945
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Japan had fortified
mountains
• 12,000 Americans died
by June 22, 1945
Casualties and losses
U.S.
12,513 killed
38,916 wounded,
33,096 noncombat losses
Japan
About 95,000+
killed
7,400–10,755
captured
Estimated 42,000–150,000 civilians
killed
Emperor Hirohito
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Wanted to
surrender
Unconditional
surrender would
include removal of
Emperor
 “No.”
Several cabinet
members resigned.
How To End the War???
YES?
NO?
VJ Day
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August 15th, 1945
Japan surrendered
Building a New World
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Immediately after the war…
• Help Japan clean up
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MacArthur put in charge
United Nations
• Plans made before war was over
• 39 countries made plans
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General Assembly: every member nation has 1
vote
Security Council: 11 member (now 15)
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5 permanent: Gr. Brit., France, China, USSR, US
Veto power
• April 25, 1945: 50 countries got together,
write charter, vote on budget
Nuremberg Trials
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International Military Tribunal (IMT)
Nuremberg (Germany)
• Put Nazi leaders on trial for war crimes
• 22 leaders in first round:
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3 acquitted
7 prison sentence
12 death by hanging
• 24 more executed
• 107 more in prison
Tokyo Trials
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25 Japanese
leaders charged
• NOT the emperor
• 18 in prison
• Rest hanged
Test!
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The usual
Essays:
• Zoot suiters: What? Why anger so many
Americans?
• Different points of view/debate over use
of atomic bomb. Why did Truman finally
decide to use it?