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World War II
Geography Challenge - The United States in the Modern Era
World War II was a global war fought on an unprecedented scale. Historians estimate that as many
as 60 million people throughout the world died in the conflict. In the course of the war, U.S. troops fought
overseas in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The war also profoundly changed life within the United States
by providing new economic and social opportunities for many Americans.
The United States and its allies emerged victorious from World War II, but this did not mean an end
to conflict. The United States and the Soviet Union, who had been allies during the war, quickly became
rivals. The communist Soviet Union and the democratic and capitalist United States held fundamentally
conflicting worldviews. Their rivalry, known as the Cold War, was the central factor that shaped how the
United States engaged with the rest of the world for the next 40 years.
Like World War II, the Cold War was also fought on a global scale. As this map shows, the United
States and the Soviet Union competed to draw nations onto their side, creating a bipolar world. By 1955,
two opposing alliances had formed. The United States led NATO, the Western alliance. The Soviet Union
led the Warsaw Pact, the alliance centered in Eastern Europe. The two powers also fought to gain
influence in countries that were not formal members of either alliance. As a result, events in nations
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throughout the world were affected by the Cold War struggle. Some of these events are highlighted on the
map.
As the nation was engaged in a global struggle with the Soviet Union, many changes were
occurring within the United States. The African American civil rights movement, when activists and
ordinary people fought to end segregation and racial discrimination in the United States, had a profound
impact on the nation beginning in the 1950s. Americans also dealt with evolving economic conditions,
including periods of growth and periods of contraction. Additionally, the decades after World War II were
shaped by far-reaching political and cultural change.
Section 1 - Introduction
The peace settlement that ended World War I was unsatisfactory to many
nations, even some nations on the winning side of the war. As a result, the
peace of the 1920s was a troubled one, marked by instability within nations
and between them. Unrest intensified in the 1930s, as the Great Depression
that began in the United States spread around the world. The hard times that
followed, when added to tensions that already existed, caused people in
some countries to support dictators—rulers who have absolute power—who
promised order, prosperity, and a better future. Dictatorships developed in
Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union.
In Italy, a leader named Benito Mussolini overthrew the government in
1922. Within a few years, he turned the Italian government into a dictatorship based on a political
philosophy called fascism. Mussolini planned to expand Italy’s territory and to restore Italy to the glorious
days of the ancient Roman Empire.
Russia also became a dictatorship. In 1922, the Communist
Party in Russia formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union. By the 1930s,
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had established a dictatorship and
created a totalitarian state. The Communist Party totally
controlled all aspects of the government, economy, and
society.
Under the Nazi Party, Germany also fell to
dictatorship. In Germany, the effects of the Great Depression
were especially severe. By 1932, about a third of German
workers were out of work. Industrial production was cut nearly
in half, and German exports fell dramatically. Banks failed and
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could no longer make loans to businesses. Many German farmers lost their farms, which led to food
shortages.
In the 1930s, a leader named Adolf Hitler took advantage of Germany’s troubles to stir up German
nationalism. Hitler led the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, also known as the Nazi Party. The
Nazis wanted to create a powerful Germany, and to greatly expand German territory. They also believed
that ethnic Germans were racially superior to other peoples. They aimed to deny citizenship and political
power to those who were not ethnically German—and especially to Jews.
The Nazis promised to impose order, promote their racial policies,
and create a stronger, more prosperous Germany. Their message appealed
to unemployed workers, farmers, and young people eager to support the
ideals of German nationalism. The Nazi message also appealed to middleclass Germans who were being hurt by the depression. By the end of 1932,
the Nazis were the largest political party in the German parliament.
In 1933, Germany’s president named Hitler as chancellor—the top
position in the German cabinet. Once in power, Hitler moved quickly to
create a government based on the principles of fascism in which he held all
the power.
Hitler brought Germany under complete Nazi control and established
a totalitarian state. All other political parties were banned.Nazis were
appointed to head all state and local governments. In 1934, Hitler combined the offices of president and
chancellor and ruled Germany as a dictator.
Like the Nazis, in Japan military leaders also sought to greatly expand their nation’s territory. In the
1930s, the military began to gain more power and play a greater role in government. They used
aggressive military action to conquer new land and seize raw materials. In 1931, Japan invaded and took
control of a region in China called Manchuria. More aggression followed in 1937. The Japanese army
attacked Beijing, China’s capital, and went on to capture the city of Nanjing. In Nanjing, Japanese soldiers
massacred about 300,000 Chinese civilians.
Meanwhile, European leaders Mussolini and Hitler began to use military force to gain
territory. Mussolini invaded the East African nation of Ethiopia in 1935. In 1936, Hitler sent German troops
to occupy the Rhineland, a German region on the border with France.The Treaty of
Versailles prohibited military action in this region. But the League of Nations did nothing to stop
Germany. In 1938, Hitler annexed Austria and part of Czechoslovakia as part of his plan to unite all
German-speaking peoples.
At first, Great Britain and France chose to avoid war by allowing Hitler to expand German
territory. But in 1939, when Germany took over the non-German speaking area of Czechoslovakia, Britain
and France were prompted to take stronger action. They said that if Germany made further attacks on
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small states, they would declare war. Hitler had no interest in avoiding war. He had already made plans to
invade Poland.
On Hitler’s order, German troops invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later, Great
Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. Great Britain and France were
known as the Allied powers. In 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan formed a military and political alliance
called the Axis powers. When war broke out, the United States stayed neutral. Despite its tradition of
isolationism, however, the United States would soon join the Allies in the fight against the Axis powers.
Section 2 - The United States Enters World War II
At first, the Axis powers seemed unstoppable. By the end of 1941, Japanese forces had conquered
most of China and had moved into French Indochina. France had fallen to Germany, and the German
army had begun an invasion of the Soviet Union.The Axis powers also controlled most of North
Africa. Great Britain and the Soviet Union were the only powers left to fight against the dictators in
Europe.
The United States Provides Aid
President Franklin Roosevelt knew that Americans were not yet ready to abandon isolationism
and join the war. But he was able to persuade Congress to sell, lend, or lease war supplies to “any
country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” Passed in early
1941, this legislation was called the Lend-Lease Act. Over the course of the war, the United States gave
about $50 billion in war supplies to more than 40 Allied nations. Most of the aid went to Britain, France,
the Soviet Union, and China. At the same time, Roosevelt prepared for war. He got funding from
Congress for ships and planes, and started the first peacetime draft.
Japan Attacks the United States
While the war in Europe grabbed headlines, tensions were also rising between the United States
and Japan. In 1942, Japan began to occupy bases in southern Indochina (now Vietnam and
Cambodia). The United States protested by halting trade with Japan. This trade embargo cut Japan off
from the one thing its leaders could not live without—oil for their armed forces. They could get oil by
seizing the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). But the
United States and its navy stood in their way.
The morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941,
dawned cloudy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the home of the
U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet. Aboard the
battleship Oklahoma, crew members were eating
breakfast when loudspeakers blared out, “Real planes,
real bombs; this is no drill!”Japanese planes roared out
of the clouds, raining bombs on the naval base.
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The Oklahoma sank almost immediately. Four hundred and twenty-nine crew members aboard
were killed. Nearby, the battleship Arizona caught fire and disappeared beneath the waves, taking more
than 1,000 men with it. In a little more than two hours, the Japanese had sunk or damaged all eight
battleships in the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack destroyed or damaged 347 aircraft. More than 2,400
Americans were killed.
The next day, President Roosevelt spoke to a shocked nation. “Yesterday,” he began, “December
7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy [evil fame]—the United States of America was suddenly and
deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Within an hour, Congress declared
war on Japan. In turn, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. America was finished with
isolationism. It was time to fight.
Section 3 - The War in Europe
Great Britain and France had been fighting
Germany since 1939. In 1940, Italy entered the war
on the side of Germany and the Axis
powers. France surrendered to Germany in
1940. Great Britain fought on alone, led by Prime
Minister Winston Churchill. In the Battle of Britain,
the Royal Air Force successfully defended Britain
from bombing raids launched by German planes
over a devastating three-month period in the
summer and fall of 1940.
By the time the United States entered the war, the Axis powers controlled most of Europe. In late
December 1941, President Roosevelt met with Churchill in Washington, D.C. Believing that Germany
posed a bigger threat to the world than Japan, they agreed that the Allies should concentrate first on the
war in Europe.
The Allies Invade North Africa and Italy
When the United States entered the war, the Allied powers were not strong enough to attack
Germany directly. Instead, they began their campaign in North Africa, where German defenses were
weaker. In November 1942, more than 100,000 Allied troops landed in North Africa with a mission to
destroy the Axis forces. The bulk of the Axis troops in North Africa were Italian, but Germany’s Afrika
Korps formed the backbone of the force. The Afrika Korps was led by General Erwin Rommel, the
legendary “Desert Fox.” After months of fierce desert fighting, the Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943.
From North Africa, the Allies crossed the Mediterranean Sea to attack Italy. The Italian island of Sicily fell
quickly. But conquering the mountainous Italian peninsula proved to be far more difficult. Even after the
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Italians surrendered, German troops stubbornly
defended Italy. It took the Allies almost two years to
drive the Germans off Italian soil.
The Battle of Stalingrad
Meanwhile, beginning in June 1941, Hitler
launched an invasion of the Soviet Union. Under
the leadership of Joseph Stalin, the Soviets joined
the Allies and fought back against
Germany. Advancing rapidly, German troops
reached the industrial city of Stalingrad in the
summer of 1942. At Stalingrad, German firebombs
set most of the city ablaze, but Stalin ordered his
soldiers not to retreat. As the brutal Russian winter
set in, the German army attacking the city was surrounded by Soviet troops and forced to give up.
The bloody defense of Stalingrad cost the Soviets more than 1 million soldiers and civilians—more
than all the American casualties in the entire war. However, the victory marked a turning point. After
Stalingrad, the Russian army stopped retreating and began to advance on Germany. The Soviet struggle
on the Eastern front played a huge role in defeating Germany. In the course of the war, Soviet troops
destroyed more German divisions than the British, Americans, and other Allied countries combined.
The Allies Liberate France
While the Soviet Union prepared to invade Germany from the east, the Allies readied an invasion
of France from the west. They gave the mission the code name of Operation Overlord. D-Day, or invasion
day, came on June 6, 1944. Early that morning, about 176,000 troops, 4,000 landing craft, 600 warships,
and almost 14,000 planes left England for the beaches of Normandy, on the coast of German-occupied
France.
The D-Day invasion was the largest combined land-sea-air operation in history. It began with a
massive air and sea bombardment of German positions on the Normandy coast. Even with this support,
troops landing on the beaches were met by murderous fire from the cliffs above. “It seemed we had
entered hell itself,” an American recalled. “The whole beach was a great burning fury. All around were
burning vehicles, puffed-up bodies. . . . The water was burning.”
Despite heavy losses, the troops captured the Normandy beaches. Within two weeks, the Allies landed a
million soldiers in France and began to move inland.
German Concentration Camps
By 1945, the Allies were closing in on Germany. While marching across Poland toward the
German capital of Berlin, Soviet troops came upon Majdanek, a German concentration camp. There they
found a thousand people so weak and sick that they seemed like living corpses. They also found a huge
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crematorium—a furnace for burning dead
bodies. “This is not a concentration camp,” reported
a horrified Soviet war correspondent. “It is a
gigantic murder plant.”
He was right. Long before invading Poland,
Hitler and his followers had persecuted Jews and
other groups, including Gypsies and Poles. They
viewed these groups as inferior to the German
“master race.” When German troops invaded the
Soviet Union, they formed mobile killing squads,
and executed over 1 million Jews as the army
advanced into Soviet territory. Germany then turned to more industrial methods of killing. Wherever
German troops went, they rounded up Jews and other groups they considered inferior and sent them to
prison camps. Some were forced to work as slaves. The rest were murdered soon after their arrival. This
massive program of systematic murder came to be called the Holocaust. Across Europe, the Nazis
murdered 11 million people in the Holocaust. Six million of them were Jews.
As the Allies pushed toward Berlin from the west, they found more death camps, each more
horrifying than the last. After seeing the horrors at the Gunskirchen concentration camp, one American
said, “I finally knew what I was fighting for, what the war was all about,” and why Hitler had to be defeated.
The War Ends in Europe
By April 30, 1945, Hitler knew the war was lost. Rather than surrender, the German dictator
committed suicide in his Berlin headquarters. A week later, Germany surrendered to the Allies.
Throughout the Allied countries, people celebrated V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day). But the struggle was
only half over. On the other side of the world, the Pacific war still raged.
Section 4 - The War in the Pacific
The United States did not wait until V-E Day
to move against Japan. While the Americans rebuilt
their Pacific Fleet after the attack on Pearl Harbor,
Japan quickly expanded its Asian empire. By the
spring of 1942, Japanese forces controlled an area
covering almost a seventh of the earth.
The Battle of Midway
In May 1942, a huge Japanese fleet headed
for Midway Island in the Pacific. From that point,
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Japanese forces could easily invade Hawaii. Although outnumbered, U.S. bombers attacked the
Japanese fleet again and again. By the end of the Battle of Midway, Japan had lost four aircraft carriers
and 322 planes. Never again would Japan directly threaten the United States. The tide of battle in the
Pacific had turned.
Island Hopping
After Midway, the Allies began the task of driving the Japanese off hundreds of islands scattered
over thousands of miles of ocean. Rather than attack every Japanese stronghold, the Allies adopted a
strategy known as “island hopping.”
Using this strategy, Allied troops seized islands that were less well defended. Then they used these
islands as bases from which to attack Japanese ships supplying nearby islands. As a result, reported a
Japanese officer, “Our strong points were gradually starved out.”
While island-hopping worked, few islands fell easily. Japanese soldiers viewed surrender as deeply
shameful, and they offered fierce resistance. One U.S. marine observed, “You don’t really comprehend it
until you get out there and fight people who are faced with an absolutely hopeless situation and will not
give up.”
The Allies Push Toward Japan
The Allies’ push through the Pacific steadily shrank the defensive forces the Japanese had
established around Japan. Those forces disappeared after the Allies captured the key islands of Iwo Jima
and Okinawa in early 1945. The month-long Battle of Iwo Jima was among the bloodiest of the
war. Nearly all of the 22,000 Japanese troops fought to their deaths. More than 6,800 American troops
also died.
To capture the much larger island of Okinawa, the Allies mounted a huge invasion in April
1945. More than 1,300 American ships, including 40 aircraft carriers, supported a force of 182,000
American troops. As on Iwo Jima, the 120,000 Japanese troops defending Okinawa fiercely resisted the
invaders. The Battle of Okinawa continued for three months. It claimed the lives of some 12,000 American
and more than 100,000 Japanese soldiers.
Earlier in the Pacific war, the Japanese had introduced a new method of attack. Japanese pilots
flew planes filled with explosives into American warships to blow them up. The men flying these suicide
missions were called kamikaze pilots. Kamikaze, which means “divine wind,” was the name given to a
legendary storm that saved Japan from an invasion by sea in 1281. In the Battle of Okinawa alone,
kamikaze attacks killed 5,000 American seamen.
The United States Develops the Atomic Bomb
President Roosevelt did not live to see the hard-won victory in Okinawa. On April 12, 1945, he died
from a stroke. Vice President Harry S Truman became the nation’s new president.
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A few days later, Truman was handed a memo that began, “Within four months we shall in all probability
have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history.” This was the first Truman had
heard of the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb.
The Manhattan Project was a top-secret U.S. government program established to build an atomic
weapon. The program had been set up under Roosevelt in 1942 and was kept so secret that even his vice
president did not know about it. A team of scientists, many of whom had fled from fascist nations in
Europe, carried on the research and development. When the first bomb was successfully tested at a site
in New Mexico in July 1945, Truman faced a terrible choice. He could order an invasion of Japan, which
might cost half a million American lives. Or he could use this frightening new weapon.
The United States Uses the Atomic Bomb
Truman did not hesitate. “I regarded the
bomb as a military weapon and never had any
doubt that it should be used,” he wrote of his
decision. Japan was warned that it faced “prompt
and utter destruction” unless it surrendered at
once. No surrender came.
On August 6, 1945, an American plane
named the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on
the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A blinding flash
filled the sky. The explosion that followed killed
about 70,000 people, most in mere moments. “I felt
I had lost all the bones in my body,” recalled a
survivor. “I saw a beautiful blue sky and a dead
city.”
A stunned Japan did not surrender. Three days later, a second atomic bomb exploded over the city
of Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. “I cannot bear to see my innocent people suffer any
longer,” said Japanese emperor Hirohito. He announced Japan’s surrender.As many as 250,000
Japanese may have died from the two atomic bombs, either directly or as the result of burns, radiation
poisoning, or cancer.
On August 15, 1945, Americans celebrated V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day). After signing the
surrender treaty, American general Douglas MacArthur announced, “A great victory has been won. The
skies no longer rain death—the seas bear only commerce—men everywhere walk upright in the
sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace.”
Section 5 - The Aftermath of World War II
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Millions of people around the world celebrated
the end of World War II. But they also mourned the
terrible loss of life. As many as 60 million people died
in World War II. About half of them were civilians, or
people not serving in the military. The Soviet Union
suffered the highest losses. Perhaps 20 million or
more Soviet soldiers and civilians were killed,
although an accurate count was never made. Poland
was also hit hard, suffering about 6 million deaths,
nearly all of them civilians. Nearly 2 million Japanese
were killed and more than 7 mil¬lion Germans. Britain, France, and the United States each lost several
hundred thousand people.
More than 20 million Europeans were made homeless by the fighting.The huge number of dead
and homeless in China and the rest of Asia will probably never be known. Nor can the cost of all the
property destroyed, resources depleted, and economic activity disrupted by the war. Just the money
governments paid to fight the war totaled more than a trillion dollars.
The Allies Reshape Europe
The Allies set out to restructure Germany after the war. In February 1945, President Franklin
Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met in the Soviet city
of Yalta for the Yalta Conference. The Allied leaders agreed that after the war they would divide Germany
into four military zones occupied by American, British, French, and Soviet forces.
The German capital of Berlin lay entirely within the Soviet zone. In July 1945, Allied leaders met at
another conference in Potsdam, near Berlin. This time, the
United States was represented by President Truman, who
had taken office after FDR died.At the Potsdam
Conference, the Allies divided Berlin into four sectors—one
for each occupying power.
The Allies Occupy Japan The Americans took a different
approach to postwar Japan. They put American general
Douglas MacArthur in charge of the country. Allied soldiers
occupied Japan, but they did not control it directly as they
did in Germany. Instead, the Japanese government carried
out a series of political and economic reforms that
MacArthur and his staff prescribed. However, MacArthur
had ultimate power in Japan, and could overrule Japanese
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decisions as he saw fit. The Allies also disbanded, or broke up, Japan’s military.
The Allies worked to bring democracy to Japan. U.S. officials working under MacArthur’s command
prepared a new constitution. It set up a parliamentary government, based on the British model, with a
strong legislature and an independent judicial branch. The emperor would only have ceremonial
powers. Women as well as men could elect members of parliament. A bill of rights listed civil and political
liberties. MacArthur also made sure that the Japanese constitution banned the use of force as an
instrument of power. Japan’s new constitution took effect in 1947. The Allied occupation of Japan ended
in 1952.
War Crimes Trials
The Allies made a number of demands of the Axis powers at the end of World War II. Germany
and Japan had to disarm and give up all territory they had taken. The Allies did not want to inflict more
suffering on the people of these defeated nations. However, they did want to punish those who had
committed war crimes.
The most famous of the war crimes trials occurred in November 1945, when the Allies put 22 Nazi
leaders on trial in the German city of Nuremberg. They were charged not only with war crimes but also
with crimes against humanity, such as enslavement and extermination. Judges from the United States,
the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France heard their cases. Twelve defendants were condemned to
death by hanging, seven received prison terms, and three were acquitted, or found not guilty of any
crimes in the Nuremberg Trials.
In May 1946, a separate court in Tokyo put
28 Japanese war criminals on trial. All were found
guilty. Sixteen received life sentences. Seven were
sentenced to death by hanging, including
Japanese Prime Minister Tojo.
Section 6 - Life on the War Front
World War II changed life for all Americans,
most especially the people who served in the
military. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor,
thousands of Americans signed up to fight. More
than 5 million people volunteered for the military
during World War II. Another 10 million were
drafted.
Becoming a GI
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The military mixed Americans together as never before. Northerners and southerners, city dwellers
and farmers, Protestants, Catholics, and Jews all trained together. After three months of basic training,
they were battle-ready GIs. The term GI—meaning “Government Issue”— was stamped on governmentissued uni¬forms and supplies. Soon the troops were applying it to themselves.
Military life for GIs began at training camps, where new recruits were turned into fighting
teams. Officers expected obedience to every order. Recruits exercised, drilled, and crawled through the
mud with heavy equipment as machine guns fired overhead. After basic training, more than half the troops
were sent overseas. The rest worked on military bases in the United States in a wide variety of jobs.
Life in Combat
American GIs frequently complained about the military. But combat soldiers had the most to
complain about.They griped about their rations of dried and canned food. They complained about having
no beds, toilet paper, or showers. They grumbled about endless marching, about digging trenches, about
cold nights and hot days.
Combat was deafening and terrifying. “The ground all around us shook with gigantic explosions,”
said one soldier. “Each man is isolated from everyone else. Death is immediately in front of him. He only
knows that his legs and arms are still there and that he has not been hit yet. In the next instant he might.”
Yet even when overwhelmed by fear, most GIs did the job they were trained to do. Where did ordinary
men find such courage? When asked, they answered that they were motivated by patriotism and by the
desire to help their buddies.
More than 292,000 Americans died in World War II battles. Those who survived were proud of their
military service. “You felt you were doing something worthwhile,” said a GI who was part of the D-Day
invasion. “I always felt lucky to have been part of it.”
Section 7 - Wartime Government
When World War II began, the American economy was focused on producing consumer goods. The head
of the German air force joked that “Americans can’t build planes—only electric iceboxes and razor
blades.” It probably shocked Germany to see how quickly the American government transformed the
United States into what President Roosevelt called
the “arsenal of democracy.”
Increasing Production
In January 1942 , just a month after the
attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt set up
the War Production Board. This agency’s job was to
transform American factories into machines for
making war supplies and equipment. The board
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banned the production of nonessential civilian goods, from cars to coat hangers. Automakers began
making tanks, jeeps, and trucks.Shirtmakers went to work making mosquito nets to protect soldiers from
disease-carrying mosquitoes in tropical regions.
The War Production Board organized nationwide drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags,
and cooking fat for recycling into war goods. Children took part by searching through their homes, vacant
lots, and back alleys for useful scrap. During one paper drive in Chicago, schoolchildren collected 36
million pounds of paper in just a few months.
To prevent worker strikes that might shut down essential wartime production, the government also
established the War Labor Board. This agency worked with unions and workers to settle labor issues
without halting production.
Americans took pride in aiding the war effort. In 1939, U.S. aircraft companies turned out only
6,000 planes. By 1944, however, they were producing 96,000 planes a year. Shipbuilders cut the time
needed to make military cargo vessels, known as Liberty ships, from eight months to as little as two
weeks. Within two years of Pearl Harbor, U.S. factories were producing more military equipment than all
of the Axis countries combined.
Supporting the War Effort
Huge amounts of money were needed to fight the war. To raise these funds, the government
borrowed from banks, businesses, and individuals. Millions of Americans bought war bonds as a way of
lending the government money for the war.
To keep spirits high, the government established an Office of War Information. This office provided upbeat
stories and photographs to newspapers, magazines, and radio stations. Government officials read news
stories before they were published. Often they cut out reports of setbacks and tragedies to keep them
from reaching the public.
Section 8 - Wartime Consumers
As factories and farms focused on military needs, consumers were hit by shortages of almost
everything. While some complained, most Americans encouraged each other to “use it up, wear it out,
make it do, or do without.”
Price Controls and Rationing
Expanding war production created millions of new jobs, ending the Great Depression. With more
money flowing into workers’ pockets, the government feared that inflation would cause a rapid rise in the
price of scarce consumer goods. So the government established the Office of Price Administration (OPA)
to control the prices of most goods.
The OPA also set up a rationing system. Rationing means limiting the amount of scarce items that any
one individual can buy.Each person received ration coupons labeled for specific items. Anybody who
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wanted to buy a rationed item, such as shoes or gas, had to provide the proper coupons along with the
money.
Every meal reminded Americans of the war. Meat, sugar, and coffee were strictly rationed. Most
people understood why. Meat was needed to feed soldiers. Sugarcane was better used for making
gunpowder than sugar cubes. Importing coffee from Latin America required ships that were better used to
support troops overseas.
Victory Gardens and Pocketless Pants
To supplement their food rations, Americans
planted “victory gardens” in backyards and
playgrounds. By 1943, 20 million gardens were
producing over a third of all the vegetables eaten in
the United States.
Wartime shortages changed what was
available to Americans to buy.With steel needed for
weapons, stores no longer stocked lawn mowers,
bicycles, or even hairpins. With cloth needed for
uniforms, the War Production Board ordered that
women’s skirts be made without pleats and men’s trousers be made without pockets or cuffs.
In 1943, the government hired a Harvard professor to find out how Americans were reacting to
rationing. “The good temper and common sense of most people under restrictions and vexations
[annoyances] was really impressive,” he re¬ported. “My own observation is that most people are behaving
like patriotic, loyal citizens.”
Section 9 - Women in World War II
As men went into the armed forces, business owners worried that the nation would not have
enough workers to meet its military and industrial needs. They were wrong. By 1944, nearly 18 million
workers were laboring in war industries, three times as many as in 1941. More than 6 million of these
workers were women.
Women on the Job
At first, war industries were reluctant to hire women. Employers feared that women were not strong
enough for factory work. But once women showed they could use a riveting gun as well as a man,
employers couldn’t hire enough of them. Women worked as welders, electricians, and machinists. They
became police officers, doctors, taxi drivers, and railroad workers. No matter how well they worked,
however, women were paid only about 60 percent as much as men doing the same jobs.
New work also posed new difficulties. Women in industry were often criticized as being
“unfeminine,” especially those whose jobs required them to wear pants.
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Despite the challenges and lower pay, women valued their new opportunities. “Those years
changed our lives,” recalled one woman.“ All of a sudden I was making money. I was head of a household
and it made a different person of me.”
Most women wanted to keep their jobs after the war was over. “I like my work so much that they’ll
have to fire me before I leave,” said one electrical worker. As it turned out, many women were fired at
war’s end to make way for returning men.
Women in the Military
Women also took on new jobs in the military. Until World War II, the military had accepted women
only as nurses. Under the slogan “Free a Man to Fight,” women were now recruited into the armed forces
to take on a variety of noncombat assignments.
More than 200,000 women played vital roles in the armed services as radio operators, armed
guards, translators, codebreakers, and mechanics. Women served as test pilots and flight
instructors. More than 200 women, mostly nurses, died in the line of duty during the war.
Section 10 - Japanese Americans and the War
On December 7, 1941, an angry white neighbor came to the home of a Japanese American
family. “You . . . started the war,” the neighbor yelled. “You bombed Pearl Harbor!” Of course, Japanese
Americans had nothing to do with starting the war. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a cloud
of suspicion settled on these loyal citizens.
Internment Camps
Japanese immigrants to the United States had already endured decades of racial prejudice. After
Pearl Harbor, politicians, military leaders, and opinion makers warned that Japanese Americans might be
secretly working to help Japan attack the West Coast. The Los Angeles Times warned, “. . . a Japanese
American born of Japanese parents . . . grows up to be a Japanese, not an American.”
In response to these fears, President Roosevelt ordered
the removal of people of Japanese ancestry from the West
Coast in 1942. About 120,000 Japanese Americans were
forced to leave their homes and businesses and move to
distant internment camps. There they would remain for three
long years, even though not one Japanese American was ever
accused of spying or treason.
Most of the hastily constructed camps were located in
bleak deserts.Families were crowded together in flimsy housing with no running water. Barbed wire and
armed guards surrounded each camp. One resident recalled, “We struggled with the heat, the
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sandstorms, the scorpions, the rattlesnakes, the confusion, the overcrowded barracks, and the lack of
privacy.”
Overcoming Injustice
Despite the injustice suffered by their families, many young men in the camps volunteered for
military service. In the Pacific, Japanese Americans worked as interpreters. In Europe, the Japanese
American 442nd Regiment earned more medals than any other army brigade in U.S. history. President
Truman welcomed the brigade when they returned home. “You fought not only the enemy,” the president
said. “You fought prejudice—and you won.”
In 1988, Congress passed legislation that gave $20,000 to every Japanese American who had
been interned, or confined, in the camps. With each check came a written apology from President George
H.W. Bush for “the serious injustices that were done to Japanese Americans during World War II.”
Section 11 - African Americans in the War
When Japanese bombs hit the
battleship West Virginia at Pearl Harbor in 1941, an
African American cook named Dorie Miller grabbed
an antiaircraft machine gun and started
shooting. Miller, who had never been trained to fire
a weapon, showed immense bravery as he shot at
attacking Japanese planes. In 1942, the U.S. Navy
awarded him with the Navy Cross. He was the first
African American to earn such an honor.
Miller had no weapons training because the
military limited black soldiers and sailors to
unskilled support jobs. As a result, African
Americans in the armed forces faced what some
called the “Double Victory” campaign. They were
fighting dictatorship overseas as well as
discrimination at home.
African American Servicemen
Almost 900,000 African Americans served in the military during the war. Trained in segregated
camps, they were assigned to noncombat jobs such as driving trucks and cooking.
Under great pressure from civil rights organizations, the military changed its policy. African
Americans began to serve in every kind of combat position, from fighter pilots to tank operators to
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sailors. Although still in segregated units, by the end of the war blacks served alongside whites on Navy
ships.
Many black units distinguished themselves in combat. The 92nd Infantry Division, nicknamed the
“Buffaloes,” won more than 200 medals for courage under fire. The 99th Pursuit Squadron, better known
as the Tuskegee Airmen, won awards for its daring aerial combat against the German air force.
Progress at Home
As factories geared up for war production, many would not hire African Americans. An aviation
company expressed the attitude of many in the defense industry when it announced that African
Americans would be hired only as janitors. It was not company policy to hire them as mechanics or aircraft
technicians.
To protest such discrimination, the nation’s leading black labor leader, A. Phillip Randolph, called
for a march on Washington, D.C. President Roosevelt responded by issuing an order calling on employers
and labor unions to end “discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin” in defense
industries.
By 1944, some 2 million African Americans were working in defense plants across the nation. “The
war made me live better, it really did,” said one black woman. “My sister always said that Hitler was the
one that got us out of the white folks’ kitchen.”
Section 12 - Mexican Americans in the War
Sergeant José López was called a “one-man army.” In one battle, he singlehandedly held off
dozens of attacking Germans so that his company could retreat to safety. For his courage, he received
the nation’s highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Mexican American Servicemen
More than 500,000 Latinos, most of them Mexican Americans, served in the military during World
War II. Unlike African Americans, they did not fight in segregated units. But they did face prejudice. “I’ll
never forget the first time I heard [a racial insult],” one Mexican American soldier recalled. “It really hurt
me.” Still, military service had its rewards. A California soldier remembered:
I view the service and World War II, for me and many others, as the event that opened new doors. I, like
so many of the Hispanic people, was from a farm family. When I went into the Air Corps and I found that I
could compete with Anglo people effectively, even those with a couple years of college, at some point
along the way I realized I didn’t have to go back to the farm.
Braceros and Zoot Suits
To help American farmers grow more food, the United States began the Bracero Program
(after brazo, the Spanish word for arm). Under this program, large numbers of Mexican farmworkers were
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brought into the United States to harvest crops. Farmers liked hiring braceros because they were cheap
labor.Braceros were sometimes treated unfairly. One farmworker reported working for twelve hours a day,
but only getting paid for eight.
Many Mexican Americans moved to
cities to take jobs in defense industries. They
found housing in poor, mostly Mexican
neighborhoods called barrios. In the barrios,
young Mexican Americans developed a style of
dress called the “zoot suit” that featured a long
jacket and baggy trousers.
Influenced by generations of prejudice, whites
associated youths in zoot suits with gang
violence and crime. In June 1943, hundreds of
white soldiers and sailors roamed through Los
Angeles attacking zoot-suiters. The violence
quickly escalated to race riots that spread from
Los Angeles to other cities.
Section 13 - Jewish Americans in the War
When Hitler took power in Germany in 1933, the United States was
home to 4.5 million Jews. Some were recent immigrants.Others were
members of families who had come to America in colonial times. But
all lived under the shadow of anti-Semitism, or prejudice against
Jews. While this prejudice worried American Jews, they were far
more concerned about the fate of Jews in Europe.
Jewish Refugees
Hitler and his Nazi Party blamed Germany’s problems on
Germany’s Jews. After taking power, Hitler ordered Jews to be
removed from government jobs. They were stripped of their civil rights
and forced to wear a yellow star on their clothing to mark them as Jews.
Every year, tens of thousands of Jews fled Germany. But few countries would accept
them. Between 1933 and 1941, the United States admitted about 150,000 Jewish refugees. Despite the
persecution of Jews in Europe, the U.S. government refused to relax its strict immigration
limits. Widespread anti-Semitism played a part in this decision. In addition, many Americans worried that
accepting more refugees would mean added competition for jobs that were already scarce due to the
Great Depression.
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Many Jewish Americans protested the government’s reluctance to help Jewish refugees. In 1943,
when Americans began to hear stories about German death camps, more than 400 Jewish rabbis
marched in Washington, D.C., to urge the Allies to rescue Europe’s Jews from Nazi extermination.
In 1944, President Roosevelt finally created the War Refugee Board.In just a few months, the board
rescued 200,000 Jews from the Nazis. But this effort came too late to help the vast majority of Europe’s
Jews.
Jewish American Servicemen
More than 550,000 Jews served in the military during World War II, a greater proportion than
among Americans overall. By the end of the war, Jewish war heroes had received 52,000 decorations.
Jewish soldiers had even more reason than others to be horrified at what they found in Hitler’s death
camps. “Some cried,” wrote an officer, “while others raged.” A rabbi who served with the army said grimly,
“If my own father had not caught the boat [out of Europe] on time, I would have been there.”
Summary
In this chapter, you read about how the United States fought World War II and how the war
affected Americans at home. The war began in Europe and grew until it engulfed the globe. All
Americans were touched in some way by the war.
The United States Enters World War II The war began when
Germany invaded Poland in 1939. At first, the United States
remained neutral. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought
the United States into World War II.
The War in Europe In Europe, the Allies attacked Germany from
three directions before finally winning victory on V-E Day. Only
after defeating Germany did the Allies discover the full extent of
the Holocaust, Germany’s systematic murder of millions of Jews
and other peoples.
The War in the Pacific In the Pacific, Allied forces battled the
Japanese on many small islands before dropping the atomic
bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs
forced Japan to surrender, ending the war.
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The Aftermath of the War The Allied powers occupied Germany and Japan after the war and disbanded
their militaries. In the Nuremberg Trials, the Allies charged Nazi leaders with war crimes. Similar trials
were held in Japan, and U.S. officials drafted a new constitution for the country.
American Servicemen Millions of Americans served in the armed forces. More than 292,000 Americans
died in World War II battles.
Wartime Government The government created new agencies to manage the production of war materials
and to control the flow of war information. Americans at home aided the war effort by producing weapons,
planes, ships, tanks, and other vehicles.
Wartime Consumers and Women in World War II American consumers contributed to the war effort by
coping creatively with rationing and food shortages. Women replaced men in vital occupations and served
in noncombat roles in the armed forces.
Japanese Americans and the War For Japanese
Americans on the West Coast, the war was a painful time of unjust confinement in internment
camps. Despite this injustice, many Japanese Americans volunteered for military service.
African Americans and Mexican Americans in the War African Americans and Mexican Americans
also coped with prejudice even as they contributed to the war effort.
Jewish Americans and the War Jewish Americans witnessed how anti-Semitism and a fear of refugees
kept the United States from responding sooner to the plight of European Jews.
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Reading Further - The United States on the World Stage: Conflict and Cooperation
The United States emerged from World War II as one of the two strongest nations in the
world. Post-war American leaders resolved to use their power to promote U.S. interests and
increase world stability and security. Since then, the United States has been actively engaged in
foreign affairs, and has used many different methods to achieve its foreign policy goals.
Like no other conflict before it, World War II made a permanent impact on the United States. The
war taught American leaders that retreating into isolationism, as the nation did after World War I, could not
guarantee peace. They realized that the security of the United States depended on the security of the rest
of the world as well. President Franklin Roosevelt believed that stability could be achieved if nations
cooperated with each other.
Before he died in 1945, Roosevelt supported a new
international organization modeled after the League
of Nations. He argued that “we shall have to take
the responsibility for world collaboration
[cooperation], or we shall have to bear the
responsibility for another world conflict.” In 1944,
the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain,
and France drafted the charter for the United
Nations, the organization that would replace the
League. The UN charter declared the aims of the new organization:
To save succeeding generations from the scourge [curse] of war . . . to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights . .. to establish . . . respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other
sources of international law . . . and to promote social progress and better standards of life. . . .
The United Nations was committed to maintaining security and stability in the world, using military
force if necessary. The organization established a Security Council whose primary purpose was to
maintain peace between nations. The UN charter authorized the Security Council to take military action in
foreign nations, using troops from UN member states.
In the decades since World War II, the United States has worked with the United Nations to
confront threats to their interests and to world stability. But it has also used other methods to respond to
foreign policy challenges. In some situations, the United States has taken a multilateral, or “many-sided,”
approach to foreign policy, and has worked with other nations. In other situations, the United States has
acted unilaterally, in a “one-sided” way.
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This Reading Further will examine the different ways the United States has engaged with the
outside world. Some of the methods the United States has used include: multilateral military cooperation,
multilateral peacekeeping operations, unilateral military action, and diplomacy and treaty negotiations.
Multilateral Military Cooperation
In 1945 the Soviet Union founded the United Nations
along with the United States. But the two powers soon
became rivals. This rivalry, known as the Cold War,
began after World War II and lasted until the fall of the
Soviet Union’s communist government in 1991. The
Cold War profoundly influenced U.S. foreign policy in
the post-World War II era.
One of the first major actions the United Nations took—
its intervention in the Korean War—was motivated by
the Cold War conflict. At the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula was divided in half. In the north,
the Soviet Union put a communist government in power. In the South, the United States supported the
existing anticommunist government. In 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea with the aim to
unite all of Korea under communist rule. The United States feared that the North Korean attack on South
Korea was a first step in a Soviet plan to spread communism throughout the world. Truman ordered U.S.
forces to help South Korea repel the invaders.
Truman also turned to the United Nations for support. The UN condemned the North Korean
invasion and called on member states to aid South Korea. At the time, the Soviets had boycotted the
Security Council, so the UN did not face Soviet opposition to the operation. Troops from 16 nations joined
the UN force, although the vast majority of the soldiers came from the United States. In 1953, the war
ended in a stalemate. Aside from the Korean War, however, multilateral UN operations were largely
impossible during the Cold War. Proposals for multilateral action were often blocked by Soviet Security
Council vetoes.
But as the Cold War came to an end in the early 1990s, the United States was able to use
multilateral military action more effectively. For example, the United States led a multilateral force against
the country of Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. Iraq was ruled by the dictator Saddam Hussein. In August
1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, its much smaller neighbor. President George H.W. Bush condemned the
invasion. He called for a multinational coalition, or alliance, to force Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Thirty-
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four countries joined the UN-sponsored coalition. The coalition forces included more than 500,000 U.S.
soldiers.
On January 16, 1991, the Persian Gulf War began. Coalition forces chased Saddam Hussein’s
troops into Iraq and encountered little resistance. Iraq soon agreed to a cease-fire. For the United States
and its partners, the Persian Gulf War was a success.They had shown that multilateral military
cooperation could be used against a common enemy for the purpose of opposing aggression.
The Korean War and the Persian Gulf War are just two examples of how the United States has taken part
in multilateral military actions. Another way the United States has cooperated with foreign nations is
through multilateral peacekeeping operations.
Multilateral Peacekeeping Operations
The United States has also worked with the UN by
participating in peacekeeping operations around the
globe. In many different circumstances, the United Nations
has deployed peacekeeping forces to serve as a buffer
between warring parties. UN peacekeeping missions are
designed to be non-violent. They involve military troops
from several different nations, under the command of the
UN Security Council. In the 1990s, for example, the UN
undertook peacekeeping missions in Cambodia,
Yugoslavia, and Bosnia.
Beginning in 1992, the United States aided a UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia, an East
African country that had descended into civil war. But this peacekeeping mission ended in tragedy for the
United States. In 1993, 18 U.S. soldiers died in a firefight. Their bodies were dragged through the streets
of the Somali capital. News of this event outraged the American public, and the United States decided to
pull its troops out of Somalia. The UN mission ended shortly thereafter. The incident in Somalia
underscored the danger of sending U.S. troops on UN peacekeeping missions. It made U.S. leaders less
eager to participate in such ventures in the future.
Unilateral Military Action
As the previous examples show, the United States has often cooperated with nations around the world to
achieve its foreign policy goals. But there have also been times when the United States has acted alone
and pursued its interests using unilateral military action.Especially during the Cold War, the United States
sometimes took a unilateral approach to dealing with foreign countries.
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During the Cold War, if a foreign nation seemed to be in danger of becoming communist, the United
States would sometimes undertake a covert action
in the country. A covert action is a secret political,
economic, or military operation. Covert operations
were usually carried out by the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), an organization under the direction of
the executive branch. CIA agents tried to shape
events or influence affairs in foreign countries while
hiding their role in these events. Because the United
States wanted to keep its actions secret, it had to act
alone.
In 1954, the United States began a covert action in Guatemala. The CIA supported a military coup
that overthrew Guatemala’s elected president, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. The United States did this
because it was concerned Guatemala might become a communist state. U.S. leaders also opposed
President Guzmán’s plan to hand over thousands of acres of land to landless peasants because much of
this land was owned by an American company. The covert action successfully prevented Guatemala from
becoming communist. But U.S. intervention in Guatemala also caused many Latin Americans to view the
United States as an enemy of social reform. The United States also used covert actions to influence
domestic politics in Iran in 1953 and in Chile in 1970.
In addition to using unilateral military force in covert operations, the United States has also openly
sent troops overseas on unilateral missions. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush used the U.S. military
to overthrow General Manuel Noriega, who ruled as a dictator in Panama. The United States accused
Noriega of drug trafficking, violating human rights, and undermining democracy in Panama. President
Bush sent more than 20,000 U.S. troops to invade Panama where they captured General
Noriega. Eventually Noriega was convicted of drug trafficking charges and put in prison in the United
States. Many Latin Americans were angered by the American intervention, and thought it was unjustified.
The United States usually turns to unilateral military action only if it is unable to achieve its goals by
diplomatic means. In many cases, the United States can avoid using military force by engaging in
peaceful diplomacy—by conducting negotiations with foreign countries.
Diplomacy and Treaty Negotiations
Diplomacy is a valuable non-military method the United States uses to engage with the
world. American diplomats, such as the secretary of state or American ambassadors, negotiate with
foreign governments to achieve their foreign policy goals.
For example, the United States has used diplomacy to manage its changing relationship with
China. When China became a communist state in 1949, the United States refused to recognize the new
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state. U.S. leaders refused to negotiate with the Chinese communist government in any way. American
leaders hoped that by isolating China they could prevent communism from spreading elsewhere in Asia.
By the early 1970s, however, some U.S. leaders began to question the approach they had taken. China
and the Soviet Union had once been communist allies. But by the time President Nixon took office, the
two nations had become hostile neighbors.Nixon believed that establishing friendly diplomatic relations
with China might pressure Soviet leaders, who feared Chinese power, to cooperate more with the United
States. As a result, in 1972, President Nixon made an official state visit to China. By 1979, the United
States and China had established full diplomatic relations.
Since then, although tensions remain between the two countries, the United States and China
have continued to negotiate with each other. U.S. and Chinese leaders engage in diplomacy to ensure
continued peaceful relations. Diplomacy also protects the important economic ties that exist between the
two nations.
Another important result of American diplomacy is that the
United States has helped to negotiate treaties throughout
the world. U.S. leaders and diplomats have acted as
mediators between warring countries, helping to arrange
peace agreements.
One of the United States’ most successful treaty
negotiations occurred during the Carter administration. In
1978, President Jimmy Carter invited the leaders of Egypt
and Israel to engage in peace talks.The talks were held at
Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. Just five
years earlier, Egypt and Israel had fought each other in the Yom Kippur War. Still the leaders were able to
forge an agreement known as the Camp David Accords. The Accords provided a framework for peace
between the two countries. President Carter was praised as “the master builder responsible for the bridge”
that brought “two one-time enemies” together. By helping bring about peace between Israel and Egypt,
the United States also advanced its own foreign policy goal of creating greater stability in the Middle East.
In addition to negotiating treaties between other nations, the United States itself signs treaties.One
example of this is the arms control treaties the United States has negotiated with Russia.During the Cold
War, both nations developed large stockpiles of nuclear weapons. To restrain the dangerous buildup of
weapons, both President Nixon and President Carter signed Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I and
SALT II) treaties with the Soviet Union. In 2010, the Obama administration negotiated another weapons
reduction treaty with Russia, known as the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) treaty.
Today, the United States faces more foreign policy challenges than ever. Just as they did
throughout the post-World War II era, U.S. leaders today will continue to use many different foreign policy
strategies to face the challenges of the new century.
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