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Chapter 17
US @ War
US Military Grows
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5 million men volunteered after Pearl Harbor
10 million men added through the draft
Soldiers received 8 weeks of training before
shipping out
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1 million African Americans served in WWII
300,000 Mexican Americans served during
WWII
13,000 Chinese Americans served during WWII
33,000 Japanese Americans served during
WWIII
25,000 Native Americans served during WWII
Military Production in USA
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All manufacturing plants throughout the USA
stopped their normal production and started
making things needed for war, like tanks, planes,
etc
Some ships were built in less than week
Women in WWII
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6 million worked in factories
2 million minorities worked in the factories
WAAC-Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
Nurses
 Radio operators
 Anything else needed not including direct combat
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Scientists in WWII
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Some of the best scientists in the USA were
recruited by the gov’t to develop new weapons
One weapon was the atomic bomb
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Code name, The Manhattan Project
Cutbacks at Home
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Food, gas and clothing, etc was rationed to save
for the war effort
There was a price freeze
Income tax rates were raised as well to help fund
the war effort
Allies Plan of Attack
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Focus more on attacking Hitler b/c he posed a
greater threat than Japan
Battle for the Atlantic Ocean
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Hitler wanted to control the 3000 miles of sea
between North America and England
If he controlled this, England would fall
7 months into the war, 681 Allied ships were
sunk by German U Boats
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Allies began to use Convoy System, air support,
and radar and sonar
By mid 1943, the Allies were winning the Battle
of the Atlantic
Stalingrad
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1st major turning point of the war (land)
Hitler wanted to destroy Stalingrad, a major
industrial city in Soviet Union (Operation
Barbarosa)
Stalingrad was set ablaze
Stalin ordered troops to fight to the last man to
defend the city named for him
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By the end of September 1942, the Germans
controlled 9/10 of Stalingrad
Soviets used the cold winter to their advantage
and cut off the Germans from their supplies by
surrounding the city
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January 31, 1943-Germans surrender Stalingrad
to the Soviets
Soviets lost 1.1 million soldiers defending
Stalingrad
Operation Torch
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Invasion of North Africa by the British and
USA
Was planned by General Dwight D. Eisenhower
(USA)
100,000 troops, mostly American, against the
Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel
(Germany)
Lasted from November 1942-May 1943
Italian Campaign
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Began in summer 1943
1st Allies captured Sicily with the help of the
Mafia
After the fall of Sicily, Mussolini was forced to
resign and arrested
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Battle of Anzio lasted 4 months and 55,000 Axis
and Allies casualties total
Mussolini was killed and hung in a courtyard for
all to see
General Patton
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US general
Arguably our best general
Controversial general
Involved in battles in North Africa, Italy, and
push from France into Germany
Tuskegee Airmen
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99th Fighter Pursuit Squadron
Most decorated air unit of WWII
Fought in North Africa and Europe
At first, African Americans were not thought to
have the intelligence or ability to be a pilot
Training grades were the highest ever
Air War in Europe
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British RAF and American Army Air Corps vs
Nazi Luftwaffe
Allies made daily bombing raids on targets in
Europe (military targets like factories, etc)
Very dangerous-high casualty numbers
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Most of the POW that Germany had were
Allied airmen
Played a major part in Allies victory over
Germany (hurt morale and will of people to
fight along with destruction)
Effects of Allies Bombing
US planes- B 17 Flying Fortress bomber/P 51
Mustang Fighter plane
Operation Overlord
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Designed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower
(USA)
Invasion of Normandy, France (D-Day)
3 million soldiers
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Allies set up a fake invasion force in another
British port city to fool the Germans
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Used General Patton as a decoy
Allies sent fake radio messages so the Germans
would think the invasion was somewhere else
than Normandy
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June 6, 1944 was the day of the invasion
Soldiers parachuted behind enemy lines into
Normandy hours before the invasion
Largest sea, air, land invasion in history
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5 beach landing (Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword,
Juno)
Omaha beach was the bloodiest
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8000 ships landed 150,000 troops on D-Day
23,000 troops parachuted into France prior to
the invasion
7 days after D-Day, the Allies controlled an 80
mile strip of the French coast
Month after D-Day, Allies had landed 1 million
troops
Allies March through Europe
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August 25, 1944, Paris was liberated by the
combined French and American forces led by
General George Patton (USA)
By September 1944, Allies had freed France,
Belgium, and Luxembourg
The success of Operation Overlord, helped
FDR win a 4th term as President
Battle of the Bulge
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October 1944, Allies had moved into Germany
Hitler launched a last ditch attempt to stop the
Allies at the Ardennes Forest
German tank and infantry split a gap in the
Allies defenses creating a “bulge”
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German plan was to split up and cut off the
British and American troops
Germans used English speaking troops to sneak
behind American lines
Bastogne (Battle of Bulge)
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During the battle, Germans took 100 prisoners
and murdered them
Lasted more than a month
Germans lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks, 1600
planes during the battle
Marked the beginning of the end for the
Germans. They were now in full retreat
Audie Murphy
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Most decorated US soldier of WWII
24 medals including the Medal of Honor
Rose to the rank of Lieutenant from Private
Jumped aboard a burning tank to protect
retreating soldiers and killed 50 German soldiers
by himself
Valkyrie
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July 20, 1944
Attempt to kill Hitler led by Col. Von
Stauffenberg
Put briefcase bomb next to Hitler
It was moved and the desk blocked the blast
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Hitler was only injured
Stauffenberg and many of his co-conspirators
were executed
Many high ranking officers were part of the plot
Rommel was suspected part of the plot
Surrender in Europe
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April 25, 1945, Soviet Army entered Berlin
April 29, 1945, Hitler marries Ava Braun
Hitler’s final address to his people, blamed the
Jews for starting the war and his generals for
losing it
April 30, 1945, Hitler shot himself and forced
his wife to poison herself. Their bodies were
burned by German soldiers
V-E Day
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May 8, 1945, the war in Europe was over.
Germany had surrendered
FDR died before V-E Day of a heart attack
When he died, his VP Harry S. Truman became
president
Mistakes at Pearl Harbor
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Japanese did not attack and sink any of the US
submarines
Japanese did not sink or attack any of the US
aircraft carriers (out to sea during the attack)
Japanese Empire Grows
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Japanese empire dwarfed Hitler’s Third Reich
domination of Europe
Controlled almost all of Asia
Phillipines
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80,000 US and Filipino soldiers fought the
Japanese for control of the Filipino Islands
US controlled the Philippines and in charge was
General Douglas MacArthur
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US and Filipino soldiers were forced back to
Bataan and MacArthur was ordered to leave by
President Roosevelt
MacArthur pledged “ I shall return”
Doolittle’s Raid
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April 18 1942
16 bombers flew off an aircraft carrier to bomb
Tokyo and other major Japanese cities
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Led by Colonel James Doolittle
Landed in China after the attack
Most of the men were killed or captured (3 died,
8 captured, 3 executed, 1 died of starvation in
prison camp)
Battle for Coral Sea
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US and Australians stopped the Japanese
Japanese were trying to take Australia
Entire battle took place in the air between
aircrafts
1st time a Japanese invasion/attack was stopped
Battle of Midway
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US knew the attack was coming since they broke
the Japanese code
Midway was a strategic island between Hawaii
and Japan
US stopped the Japanese
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Admiral Chester Nimitz was in charge of the US
Pacific Naval Fleet
June 3, 1942, US attacked the Japanese fleet with
dive bombers, fighters, and torpedo planes
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Turning point of the Pacific war
Began the island hopping by the Allies
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Went from island to island working their way towards
Japan
Code Talkers
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US used Navajo Indians
Navajo language was never written down so it
was an unbreakable code
Battle for Gaudalcanal
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August 1942
1st time the US went on the “offensive”
US won; 1st Japanese defeat on land
The battle lasted six months and was one of the
costliest of the war
Phillipines
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US soldiers led by MacArthur returned in 1944
and forced the Japanese out, retaking the island
MacArthur declared, “I have returned”
Kamikaze
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Japanese suicide pilots/planes
Planes were loaded with as many bombs as
possible and then the pilots would fly their
planes directly into ships
Battle of Iwo Jima
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Critical for the US b/c they could launch
bombers against Japan from the island
US lost 6000 Marines
20,000 Japanese defended the island in caves
and tunnels, only 200 survived
Raising Flag at Iwo Jima
Battle for Okinawa
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April 1945, US Marines landed
2000 kamikaze attacks on US ships
8000 US soldiers died
110,000 Japanese died
Last island before invading Japan
Tokyo after US Fire Bombing
Atomic Bomb
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President Truman decided to use the bomb on
Japan rather than invade
Codename: Manhattan Project
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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August 6, 1945, Enola Gay dropped the first
atomic bomb, “Little Boy” on Hiroshima
The entire city was destroyed within 43 seconds
“Fat Man” was later dropped on Nagasaki three
days later
200,000 people were killed instantly
Fat Man
Japanese Surrender (V-J Day)
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September 2, 1945
On board the USS Missouri
Known as Potsdam Declaration
Yalta Conference (2/1945)
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Stalin (USSR), Churchill (Great Britain), FDR
(USA)
Developed a plan for after the war
Divided up Germany into four occupation
zones to later be reunited as a whole country
Stalin promised free elections in Poland and all
other Eastern Europe countries the Soviets
controlled
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Stalin promised to join in the war against Japan
Stalin also agreed to be part of the United
Nations (UN)
The UN was a plan by FDR to avoid war (better
version of the League of Nations)
Nuremberg War Trials
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24 Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes
12 were sentenced to death
12 were sent to prison
200 more were at later trials convicted of war
crimes
Did not and could not get everyone involved in
the Holocaust, but it was an example to the
world
Occupation of Japan
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US controlled Japan after the war for 7 years
US forces in Japan were led by General Douglas
MacArthur
1100 Japanese were tried and convicted for war
crimes
US helped them form a democratic government
with a constitution (MacArthur Constitution)