Download Entered the World War II, 1941–1945 The Coming of World War II

Entered the World War II, 1941–1945
The Coming of World War II
War broke out in Asia in early 1930s and later spread to Africa and Europe. Japan, Italy, and
Germany were the aggressors. Following public opinion, the U.S. government pursued neutrality, but after the conflict expanded to include Russia, France, and Great Britain, Roosevelt
launched a preparedness campaign. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United
States into the Second World War.
Arsenal of Democracy
The government comprehensively mobilized the nation for war. Propaganda fueled public support and the New Deal focus quickly switched to a win–the–war effect based on reorienting the
economy to military production. The economic conversion ended the depression. Increased production fueled profits and job opportunities, especially for minorities and women. Growing labor
unrest before the United States conflict ceased and unions began admitting African Americans.
The Home Front
The war drastically alerted life in the United States. Families faced new strains and pressures.
Japanese Americans suffered the worst discrimination, but African Americans seeking a victory
at war and for their rights also experienced mixed results, as did Mexican Americans. Popular
culture promoted the “good war” to Americans of all ages.
Men and Women in Uniform
The military was unprepared for combat when the war broke out. The draft organized the male
population for military service. The process of building the military transformed the officer corps
and facilitated the forging of bonds among military personnel while “Americanizing” immigrant
groups. Women joined the military and played important roles. Despite racism, the same was
true of minorities. Great emphasis was placed on building a medical corps to handle casualties.
A major problem was the deplorable conditions American POWs lived under, especially those
captured by the Japanese.
The World at War
The war was fought on several fronts. Until 1942, the Allies were on the defensive. A variety of
successes changed the tide of the conflict. In Europe, the war was fought in the air and on the
ground, with the Soviets bearing most of the ground war burden. English and American forces
approached Europe from two directions, first through North Africa and Italy and then across
France. During this period, air strikes on Germany also occurred. The war in the Pacific involved
naval battles and island – hopping invasions. When the war ended in Europe, all resources were
trained on Japan. Air strikes took a heavy toll on the Japanese.
The Stages of War
By 1945, the war was coming to a close. Americans learned about the extent of the Holocaust,
though not until the concentration camps were liberated was the full horror known. At the Yalta
Conference, Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill negotiated terms to end the war and plan for peace.
Roosevelt’s death thrust Harry Truman into the presidency. One of his first decisions was to drop
the atomic bomb on Japan, ending World War II.
Review
American involvement in World War II and its effects on the United States was profound. At the
height of the depression, America tried to legislate isolation from any future foreign conflicts by
enacting a series of Neutrality Acts, but as wars broke out first in Asia and Africa and then in
Europe, the United States gradually amended these laws or President Roosevelt managed to find
ways to moderate their effects. Even before Pearl Harbor, the United States was involved in a
naval conflict with Germany in the North Atlantic. American policy sought to deal with Hitler’s
Germany as the most serious enemy, but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor partly changed that.
The United States and its Allies were on the defensive until mid–1942, when the North African
counter – offensive the Battle of Stalingrad in Soviet Russia, and the Coral Sea–Midway victories
in the Pacific marked the turning of the tide. The war became the battle of production, with the
United States possessing enormous advantages. While the United States fought the war for democracy, some constituencies still had to fight for democracy, in the war changed the lives of
many women and African Americans, who became essential to the wartime economy. Japanese
Americans, mostly from the West Coast, experienced a humiliating and unjust detention even as
many of their sons served with distinction in Europe. The United States became the world’s
greatest single power and stood at the center of global policies. Roosevelt and his successor,
Harry Truman, worked with a range of politicians and experts to develop a new foreign policy to
face these changing conditions.
.
Manchuria
Cordell Hull
Good – neighbor policy
Stimson Doctrine
fascism
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
Benito Mussolini
Francisco Franco
Italian Fascist party
appeasement
German Nazi party
Adolf Hitler
Ethiopia
America Committee First
Pan–American Conferences
Rhineland
Soviet Union recognized
London Economic Conference 1933
Axis Powers
neutrality acts
Tydings – McDuffie Act
isolationism
Nye Committee
Czechoslovakia
Sudetenland
quarantine speech
Office of Price Aministration
Munich
Battle of Midway
Poland; blitzkrieg
Atlantic Charter
Smith v. Allwright
Selective Training and Service Act
Pearl Harbor
cash and carry
destroyers–for–bases deal
Holocaust
Korematsu v. U.S.
General Douglas MacArthur
Chester Nimitz
Harry S. Truman
Battle of the Atlantic
Wendell Willkie
atomic bomb
J. Robert Oppenheimer
D – Day
Big Three
Hiroshima; Nagasaki
Yalta
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Four Freedoms Speech
United Nations
Battle of the Bulge
Lend – Lease Act (1941)
Terms:
Fascist (Fascism): a political system or philosophy that advocates a mass – based party dictatorship,
extreme nationalism, racism, and the glorification of war.
pinko: disparaging term for someone who is not a “red,” or Communist, but is presumed to be
sympathetic to communism.
militarist: someone who glorifies military values or institutions and extends them into the political and
social spheres.
exchange rate: the monetary ratio according to which one currency is convertible into another, e.g.,
American dollars vis–à–vis German deutschmarks, which determines their value relative to one
another.
totalitarianism: a political system of absolute control, in which all social, moral, and religious values and
institutions are put in direct service of the state.
quarantine: in politics, isolating a nation by refusing to have economic or diplomatic dealings with it.
division: the major unit of military organization, usually about 3,000 to 10,000 strong, into which most
modern armies are organized.
unilateral: in politics, concerning a policy or action undertaken by only one nation.
multilateral: in politics, referring to a policy or action undertaken by more than one nation.
steppes: the great plains of southeastern Europe and Asia
convoy: to escort militarily, for purposes of protection
war lord: a leader or ruler who maintains power by continually waging war, often against other similar
rulers or local military leaders.
hara–kiri: traditional Japanese suicide.
concentration camps: a place of confinement for prisoners or others a government considers dangerous or
undesirable
bracero: a Mexican farm laborer temporarily brought into the United States
U – boat: a German submarine (from German Unterseeboot)
depose(d); deposition: forcibly remove from office of position
beachhead: the first position on a beach secured by an invading force and used to land further troops and
supplies
underground: a secret of illegal movement organized in a country to resist or overthrow the government
acclamation: a general and unanimous action or nomination by a large public body, without a vote
bastion: a fortified stronghold, often including earthworks or stoneworks, that guards against enemy
attacks.
genocide: the systematic extermination or killing of an entire people
bazooka: a metal–tubed weapon from which armor–piercing rockets are electronically fired.
Essays
1. Discuss the view that a different American foreign policy could have prevented the outbreak of World
War II.
2. Assess President Roosevelt’s efforts to deal with the dangers of fascism and lead the nation away from
a policy of isolationism in the context of TWO of the following:
Panay incident
cash and carry
quarantine speech
destroyers–for–bases deal
3. Compare and contrast American reaction to war in Europe in 1914 with its reaction in 1939.
4. Analyze the discrimination TWO of the following groups faced during World War II, despite their
patriotism:
African Americans
Japanese Americans
Mexican Americans
women
5. Argue either for or against this statement: “President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb was
completely justified.”