Download Americans in World War II

Americans in World War II
Bell Work
•  Read page 465.
•  How were the Atlantic and the Gulf Coasts
vulnerable?
•  What did the Germans start to do?
•  How did the U.S. respond?
War in the Pacific
• The Philippines were the major area of conflict
between U.S. and Japan in early years of war
• General Douglas McArthur: Commander of
U.S. and Fillipino troops in the Philippines.
• Lost the island to Japanese after retreating to
the Bataan Peninsula.
• Bataan Death March: U.S. and Filipino soldiers
who surrendered were forced to march through
terrible conditions where up to 10,000 died.
• Battle of Midway: Japan wanted to crush the
U.S. fleet in June of 1942 near the island of
Midway. The U.S. won even though they were
outnumbered.
Victory in Europe
•  By 1942 U.S. help had started to
make a difference in Europe. The
Allies decided to attack in North
Africa.
•  General Dwight D. Eisenhower –
U.S. General in charge of Allied
forces in Africa. After several hard
fought battles in Algeria and
Tunisia Axis powers in Africa
surrendered in May of 1943.
•  Invading Italy –General George
Patton led Allied troop invasion of
Italy.
• Allies captured Rome in June of
1944 making it the first Axis capital
to fall. Mussolini shot in 1945.
The Atlantic
•  The German U-Boats had still been
sinking many ships.
•  Sonar – Used sound waves to find
underwater targets. Greatly helped Allies
defeat the Germans in the Atlantic.
Europe
•  D-Day – June 6, 1944, some 150,000
Allied soldiers landed at Normandy in
France.
•  Heavy casualties by the Allies and slow
going but eventually were able to penetrate
France.
•  2 Million troops had landed by September
and they took Paris in August 1944.
 As Allied troops entered Germany in 1944, came in contact
with German Concentration Camps, part of Hitler’s “Final
Solution” to eliminate the Jews.
• The Battle of the Bulge was Germany’s last attempt at an
offensive. U.S. held and eventually Germans were forced
backwards.
•  Race to Berlin – Allied troops pushed toward Berlin in 1945.
Overwhelmed, Hitler committed suicide on April 7th and
Germany surrendered on May 7th 1945(V-E Day)
Victory in the Pacific
•  Air and Sea power became the key to
victory in the Pacific. Utilized technique of
leapfrogging.
• Philippines –The Allies began the attack on
the Philippines in June 1943.
•  The Battle of Leyte Gulf – The Japanese
counter-attacked the Allies at Leyte. The
Allies sank 4 aircraft carriers and several
other ships. After this the Japanese Navy no
longer threatened the Allies.
• Allies had several airstrips to launch attacks
on Japan from. Air-strikes were carried out
against several major cities in Japan to
decrease the peoples morale. Tokyo was
heavily fire-bombed to weaken spirits.
(Military refused to surrender)
•  Iwo Jima – In February 1945
U.S. Marines attacked the island
of Iwo Jima. They met strong
resistance. The battle lasted 6
weeks, 20,000 Japanese died as
well as several thousand
Marines.
•  Okinawa – April 1945, largest
Allied landing of war. Japan
had to fight to keep Tokyo out
of range of artillery. Launched
a counter-attack using mostly
planes.
The Atomic Bomb
• 
Manhattan Project – Top Secret U.S.
program in 1942 to build the first
Atomic Weapon.
• 
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and his
team worked at Los Alamos, NM.
• 
They successfully tested their bomb
in Alamogordo, NM on July 16,
1945. President Truman met with
Allied leaders the next day.
• 
On August 6th, the bomber Enola
Gay dropped the first Atomic Bomb
on Hiroshima killing 75,000 people.
3 days later another was dropped
on Nagasaki killing 80,000. Japan
surrendered the next day. Officially
the war ended on Sep. 2, 1945
aboard the USS Missouri.
Japanese American Relocation
•  Internment – forced relocation and imprisonment.
•  In 1942 Japanese Americans who lived on the
west coast were ordered to detention camps.
(120,000)
•  Issei – Japanese Americans who had been born
in Japan and were not U.S. citizens.
•  Nissei – Japanese Americans born in U.S. and
were citizens.
•  Hawaii’s population was too large to intern so
Martial Law was used until the end of the war.
•  Many of these people remained imprisoned until
1945
•  Office of Price Administration: Set maximum
prices on consumer goods and later started
rationing scarce resources.
•  Rationing: Limiting the amount of a certain
product to conserve for the war effort.
•  Ration Items:
1. Gas
2. Tires
3. Coffee
4. Sugar
5. Meat
•  Selective Training and Service Act:
Provided for the first peace time draft in
the U.S. history. (Men ages 18 to 45)
• 
Axis Powers 2 big advantages:
1.  Germany and Japan had firm control of the areas
they invaded.
2.  Germany and Japan were better prepared for war.
• 
The Allies 2 hopes:
1. Great production from the USA
2. Huge Soviet military.
•  U.S. Production: Before the war, the U.S. government
employed 22,000 workers.
•  Three years later there were 486,000 workers.
•  Production shifted from cars to tanks, airplanes, and ships.
•  War Production Board: Created in Jan. 1942 to maximize
wartime production. Worried about shifting all materials to war
production.
The Home Front
•  Office of War Information controlled the flow of war news at home.
•  Most Americans supported U.S. involvement in WWII. People put stars in their windows for
family that served or died in the
•  Victory Gardens – people grew vegetables in their backyards to help conserve goods for the
war effort.
Women during the War
•  Rosie the Riveter – A symbol for patriotic female workers during the war effort.
•  From 1940 to 1944 the number of women in the workforce increased by 6 million.
•  Women were still paid less for the same work.
•  African American women and women over 40 still had a hard time finding work.
Discrimination During the War
African Americans during the War
•  The war provided both more discrimination and
better opportunities.
•  Many African Americans moved to the cities for
better paying jobs.
•  A. Philip Randolph – planned a march on
Washington D.C. to protest treatment of black
workers.
•  FDR met with Randolph and told him he would
out-law racial discrimination in defense plants and
government offices.
•  Hate-Strikes – some white workers staged
these strikes to keep black workers out of high
paying factory jobs.