Download The United States in World War II

The United States in
World War II
How can the United States use its
resources to achieve victory?
Propaganda Posters
Mobilizing for Defense
Main Idea
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the
United States mobilized for war.
Why it Matters Today
Military Industries in the United States today
are a major part of the American economy.
Americans Join in the War Effort
►
The Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor with the
expectation that once Americans had experienced Japan’s
power, they would shrink from further conflict.
War Effort
Selective
Service
Expanding the
Military
George Marshall
WAAC
Recruiting &
Discrimination
Dramatic
Contributions
300,000 Mexicans
1 mil African-Americans
25,000 Native Americans
13,000 Chinese Ams
33,000 Japanese Ams.
A Productions Miracle
►
►
Early in February 1942, American
newspapers reported the end of
automobile production for private use.
The Industrial Response
 Automobile plants began to produce
tanks, planes, boats, and command cars.
 Shipyards produced tanker, cargo carriers,
aircraft carriers.
►
Labor’s Contribution
 Women contribute in factories
 African Americans still faced discrimination
►
Mobilization of Scientists
 Office of Scientific Research &
Development (OSRD)
Improved radar and sonar
► Atomic Bomb
►
 Albert Einstein
 Manhattan Project
The Federal Government Takes
Control
► As
war production increased, there were fewer
consumer products available for purchase.
Government
Control
Office of Price Admin.
(OPA)
War Production Board
(WPB)
Department of Treasury
Freezing Wages,
prices,and
rent. Rationed food
Rationed fuel,
heating oil, metals,
Rubber, and plastics
Issued War bonds to
raise money for the
War effort and
to fight inflation
Mobilizing for Defense
Review
► How
did U.S. military reflect the diversity of
American society during World War II?
 It included large number of white, AfricanAmericans, Native Americans, Mexican
Americans, and Asian Americans.
► How
did the federal government’s actions
influence civilian life during World War II?
 It drafted civilians and established a system of
rationing and other economic controls.
The War for Europe and North Africa
Main Idea
Allied forces, led by the United States and
Great Britain battled Axis powers for control
of Europe and North Africa.
Why it Matters Today
During World War II, the United States
assumed a leading role in world affairs that
continues today.
The United States and Britain Join
Forces
► War
Plans
 On December 22, 1941 Churchill and Roosevelt met to
work out war plans.
 Churchill convinces Roosevelt to attack Hitler first.
► Battle
of the Atlantic
 Hitler orders submarine attacks on America’s east coast.
 Germany’s aim was to prevent food and war materials
from reaching Great Britain.
 Hitler wanted to cut Britain’s life-line.
 1st four months of 1942- 87 ships were sunk
 Convoys were formed
 Shipbuilding increased
The Eastern Front and the
Mediterranean
► By
the winter of 1943, the Allies began to see
victories on land as well as sea.
Eastern Front
Mediterranean
Battle of
Stalingrad
North African
Front
Italian Campaign
Summer 1942
Germans surrender
Jan. 31, 1943
Operation Torch
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Erwin Rommel
July 25, 1943
Mussolini stripped of power
“Bloody Anzio”
Heroes in Combat
► Tuskegee
Airmen- 99th
Pursuit Squadron
► 92nd Infantry DivisionBuffaloes
► Company E- All
Chicano unit
► Purple Heart BattalionHawaiian Nisei
The Allies Liberate Europe
Even as the Allies were battling for
Italy in 1943, they had begun work
on a dramatic plan to invade France
and free Western Europe from the
Nazis.
► D-Day
►
 3 million British, American, and
Canadian troops
 Operation Overlord (Allied invasion)
 June 6, 1944
 Omaha Beach
►
Allies Gain Ground
 General Omar Bradley
 General George Patton
 Aug. 23, 1944- Paris liberated
►
The Battle of the Bulge
 October 1944- Americans captured
their first German town, Aachen.
 Germans lost 120,00 troops, 600
tanks, 1,600 planes
►
Liberation of the Death Camps
 Soviets were the first to come upon
the death camps
 Majdanek in Poland
Allies Liberate Europe-cont’
► Unconditional
Surrender
 April 25, 1945- Soviet
storm Berlin
 Hitler and wife Eva
Braun commits suicide
 May 8, 1945- V-E Day
(Victory in Europe)
► Roosevelt’s
Death
 April 12, 1945Roosevelt dies of a
stroke
 Harry S. Truman- 33rd
President
The War for Europe and North Africa
► What
was the significance of the Battle of
the Bulge?
 Soviets stopped Hitler’s eastward expansion,
destroyed the German Sixth Army, and diverted
German troops from the western front.
► How
did the Battle of the Bulge signal the
beginning of the end of World War II in
Europe?
 Germany could not replace the manpower and
weapons it lost, and could not only retreat.
The War in the Pacific
Main Idea
In order to defeat Japan and end the war in
the Pacific, the United States unleashed a
terrible new weapon, the atomic bomb.
Why it Matters Today
Countries of the modern world struggle to find
ways to prevent the use of nuclear
weapons.
The Allies Stem the Japanese Tide
► While
the Allies agreed that the defeat of the Nazis
was their first priority, the United States did not
wait until V-E Day to move against Japan.
Battle with
Japan
Japanese
Advances
Douglas
MacArthur
Phillipines
Doolittle’s
Raid
James Doolittle
Raid on Tokyo
Battle of the
Coral Sea
Battle of Midway
Americans &
Australians
Chester Nimitz
Turning point in the
Pacific
“Island Hopping”
The Allies Go on the Offensive
►
►
►
The first Allied offensive began in August 1942 when
19,000 troops stormed Guadalcanal in the Solomon
Islands.
The victory at Guadalcanal marked Japan’s first defeat on
land, but not its last.
The Japanese Defense
 Battle of Leyte Gulf and a new tactic
 Kamikaze or suidcide-plane “Divine wind”
►
Iwo Jima
 “Sulfur Island”
 Most heavily defended spot on earth
 20,700 Japanese- 200 survived
►
Battle for Okinawa




Japanese send 1,000 kamikaze pilots
Fighting ended on June 21, 1945
7,600 Americans killed
110,000 Japanese killed
The Atomic Bomb End the War
► The
taking of Iwo Jima and Okinawa opened the
way for an invasion of Japan.
Atomic Bomb
Manhattan
Project
J. Robert Oppenheimer
July 16, 1945
July 25, 1945
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Enola Gay
Little Boy-Hiroshima
Fat Man-Nagasaki
Rebuilding Begins
► With
Japan’s
surrender, the Allies
turned to the challenge
of rebuilding war-torn
nations.
Yalta
Conference
Rebuilding
Occupation
Of
Japan
Nuremberg
Trials
The War in the Pacific
Review
► Briefly
describe the island war in the Pacific.
 The Allies adopted a policy of leapfrogging from
island to island, all the time moving westward
toward the Japanese homeland.
► Why
did President Truman decide to use
atomic weapons?
 The U.S. wanted to avoid the casualties that
would result from an invasion of Japan, and to
end the war quickly.
The Home Front
Main Idea
After World War II, Americans adjusted to
new economic opportunities and harsh
social tensions.
Why it Matters Today
Economic opportunities afforded by World
War II led to a more diverse middle class in
the U.S.
Opportunity and Adjustment
► In
contrast to the Great Depression, WW II was a
time of opportunity for millions of Americans.
Opportunities
Adjustments
Economic Gains
Population Shifts
Social Adjustments
Paychecks rose 35%
Crop production 50%
Women in workforce
Families uprooted and moved
California population increase
African Ams. Moved north
Mothers raise children
GI Bill of Rights-1944
Discrimination and Reaction
► Despite
the opportunities that opened up for
women and minorities during the war, old
prejudices and policies persisted, both in the
military and at home.
► Civil Rights Protests
 African Ams. Moved to the Midwest
 James Farmer
► Congress
of Racial Equality (CORE)
 1943 Riots in Detriot
► Tension
in Los Angeles
 Summer 1943- “Zoot-Suit” Riots
 11 Sailors reported they had been attacked by zoot-suit
Mexicans
Internment of Japanese Americans
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When the war began, 120,000 Japanese Americans lived in the U.S.
Frighten people believed false rumors that Japanese Americans were
committing sabotage by mining coastal harbors and poisoning
vegetables.
The War Dept. called for the mass evacuation of all Japanese
Americans from Hawaii.
U.S. is forced to order the internment or confinement of 1,444
Japanese Americans.
Feb. 19, 1942-Roosevelt signed an order requiring the removal of
people of Japanese ancestry from California and parts of Washington,
Oregon, and Arizona.
No specific charges were ever filed and no evidence of subversion was
ever found.
1944- Korematsu vs. U.S.
 Gov. decision was justified on the basis of “military necessity”
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
 Compensation for those sent to the camps
The Home Front
Review
► How
did the U.S. economy change during
World War II?
 Unemployment decreased, women took jobs
outside the home, and housing and food were
in short supply.
► What
events show the persistence of racial
tensions?
 Racial riots in Detroit, zoot-suit riots in Los
Angeles, and the internment of Japanese
Americans.