Download WASP (Air Force)

WWII IN REVIEW
Women During WWII
■ In the military
– WAVES (Navy)
– WAC (Army)
– WASP (Air Force)
– Nurses
■ On the home front
– Rosie the Riveter: symbol
to encourage women to
work in factories
– Women entered work
force in large numbers &
to jobs previously denied
to them
– https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=AE2z_N1fM5
E
Minorities During WWII
■ African Americans
– Tuskegee Airmen
– A. Philip Randolph led march ■ Latinos
against discrimination in
– Bracero Program: offered Mexicans temporary
gov’t jobs > showed direct
access to the US to work in agriculture
action for racial equality
– Zoot Suit Riots: Despite rationing, Zoot Suits were
– Like women, got jobs
popular among Latinos
previously denied to them
– Some sailors got into a fight with Latinos over Zoot
■ Navajo (Native Americans)
Suits
– Code talkers used in Pacific ■ Japanese Americans
to send coded messages
– Despite internment, many Japanese Americans
– Successful because their
joined the military to prove their loyalty
code was never broken by
– The 442nd Regiment (made up of
the Japanese
Japanese Americans) became the most
decorated group of WWII
Navajo Code
Dictionary
Bracero Program
Zoot Suit Riots
Japanese Internment
■ Executive Order 9066
– FDR’s order justifying internment of people associated with countries at war
(primarily Japanese Americans) due to security concerns of spying and
sabotage
■ Internment
– Camps were located on the West Coast in isolated areas
– Caused economic hardships
– Overall difficult conditions
■ Korematsu v. US
– Fred Korematsu sued the US for his freedom after he violated the curfew
but he was denied because during war, some rights can be restricted
– What other examples can you think of when the government limited a right?
Civilian Contributions
■
Civilians contributed on the home front by:
– Rationing
■ What types of products were rationed? Why?
■ Some products were limited due to disruption in international
shipping lanes
– Planting victory gardens
– Buying War Bonds
■ Factories converted production to military goods
Battles in the Pacific
■ Pearl Harbor
– Japan attacked the US because
we cut off their oil supply
– The Japanese desires to build
an empire conflicted with our
Open Door Policy in Asia
■ Bataan Death March
– US & Filipinos led by Gen.
MacArthur
– Retreated to Bataan Peninsula
where many died from
starvation, beatings, etc.
■ Doolittle Raid
– Despite doing “little damage” to
the Japanese, this raid increased
morale because we hit the heart
of Japan
■ Coral Sea
– This was the first time the US
stopped the Japanese advance
Battles in the Pacific continued
■ Midway
– With advanced knowledge of the
attack, the US won this battle.
– It became a turning point battle
where the US began to win more
battles
■ Island Hoping
– Strategy used in the Pacific to
prevent troops from getting bogged
down in one place & to get closer to
the Japanese mainland
■ Guadalcanal
– Miserable conditions led to a fight ■ Leyte Gulf
– Gen. MacArthur’s return to the
on land, sea & in the air
Philippines in this largest naval
– After this battle, the Japanese
battle
were on the run
– This was the first time the Japanese
– Strategy of island hoping was
used the kamikaze attack
used here
Island-hopping
Battles in the Pacific continued
■ Iwo Jima
– The Japanese refused to surrender here resulting in heavy casualties
– The iconic picture of marines raising the flag was taken here
■ Okinawa
– This was the bloodiest battle in the Pacific
Manhattan Project
■ Manhattan Project
– This was the secret code name
given to the project devoted to
building an atomic bomb
– Scientist Robert Oppenheimer led
the project in Los Alamos, New
Mexico
– The atomic bomb used energy
released by splitting an atom
End of the War
■ Yalta Conference
– The Big 3 – Stalin, FDR & Churchill met at Yalta to discuss what to do with
Germany
– It was agreed Germany & its capital (Berlin) would be divided into 4
sections/zones
– FDR was criticized for allowing Stalin to stay in Poland & Eastern European
countries where he said he would hold free elections (which he never did)
■ FDR Dies
– FDR’s death was traumatic for the American people.
– He was elected to 4 terms but died in office, leading us during the Depression &
WWII
– His Vice President, Harry Truman took over
Decision to Use the Bomb
■ President Truman had to decide if the bomb would be used, & if so, where
– He decided to drop the bomb:
■ Without warning
■ On a city that hadn’t seen much bombing/damage
■ On a city that had some factories/war production sites
■ The first bomb was dropped at Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945
■ The next bomb was dropped at Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945
Hiroshima bombing
Nagasaki bombing
Post War Developments
■ United Nations
– June 1945, members from 50 countries including the US & Soviet
Union met to establish the United Nations
– How was this similar & different from the League of Nations?
■ Potsdam Conference
– Truman, Stalin & Churchill met at Potsdam to discuss the issues from
the Yalta Conference but it was unsuccessful