Download World War II

World War II
U.S. Enters the War
• After the attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S.
enters the war-1941
Objectives of the War
• The defeat of Germany was Top Priority
• Unconditional surrender would be acceptedsurrender without any concessions
• US would fight a defensive war against Japan
• Allies fight to defeat the Nazis
War at Home
• Attack on Pearl
Harbor ends the
debate about
intervention in World
War II
• Most people now
believed the war was
needed to fight for the
FOUR FREEDOMS
– Freedom of Speech
and Expression
– Freedom of Worship
– Freedom from Want
– Freedom from Fear
GIs
• American Soldiers called
themselves GIs after the
Government Issue stamp
that was on all of their
belongings
• Many soldiers were drafted
• Many volunteered after
Pearl Harbor was bombed
– Patriotism, anger towards
Nazis, adventure, joblessness
Women in the Army
• Women were used in
all areas except combat
– Typists, clerks, control
tower operators, radio
operators, parachute
riggers, mechanics,
ferried planes around
country, and towed
targets from antiaircraft
gunnery practice
African Americans
• Were officially segregated in the
Military
• Commanded by White Officers
• Had jobs as cooks and laborers
• Approximately 1 million served in
the armed forces
• Only at end of war, when there was
a shortage of soldiers were they
allowed to fight
– General Dwight D. Eisenhower
believed that integrated troops were
more successful in combat
Other Minorities
• Hispanic-Americans
– 350,000 served in the armed forces
– Were the most decorated ethnic group from the
war
– Suffered from discrimination as well
Minorities Continued
• Native Americans
were drafted and some
volunteered
– Navajo Code Talkersnative language was
used by marines to
transport messages by
radio and phone
– Outwitted Japanese by
sending messages in
code
Minorities Continued
– Japanese-Americans
• Offered to fight despite discrimination
suffered by families back home
• 442nd Regiment became the most
decorated unit in the war
Improvements on the European
Front
• Battle for Stalingrad, Spring 1942
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By September, Nazi troops begin major assault on Stalingrad
Battle continues for 5 months: February 1943 Germans surrender
Russia suffered more casualties than U.S. in entire war
Stalin does not forgive Allies for failing to help
• Didn’t want to face a winter deep within Russia
• 1943-Allies now move into Italy via bases from North
Africa thru Sicily
– Italians overthrow Mussolini after the invasion of Sicily
• September 8th unconditional surrender
– Germans in Italy dug in and contested every Allied move
• June 1944 Allies liberate Rome
Africa Campaign
• Operation Torch
– North African
Campaign 1942British gain victory at
El Alamein, Egypt
• Turning Point
– Axis powers forced to
surrender
• May 1943
Atlantic Ocean
• By late 1943 advances
in SONAR technology
allowed detection of
submerged objects by
means of sound waves
– Allies have the edge on
locating and sinking Uboats
Pacific Improvements
• May 1942 US forces
begin to reverse the
Japanese
– Battle of Coral Sea: stop
Japanese from advancing
towards Australia
• Midway Island
– Last offensive Japanese
operation in the war
– U.S. won and reduce threat
to Hawaii
• Adopt a policy of
“Island Hopping”
– Surround Japanese
strong holds and cut
them off from supplies
– Build bases from
which to attack
Philippines and
eventually Japan itself
st
1
US Offensive Battle
• Guadalcanal
– U.S. now has offensive in Pacific war
– November of 1942- U.S gains control of waters around
islands cutting of Japanese supply lines
• Have to fight Jungle Warfare on the island
• Battle enemy and jungle environment
– Heat, humidity, rotting gear, poisonous insects, and tropical
fevers
– 1943 U.S. secures the island
• 1st territory Japan loses
Office of Civilian Defense
• To raise and maintain the country’s morale,
citizens were asked to contribute
“An Hour A Day for the USA”
Choose from a number of
Civilian Defense Projects
“Victory Gardens”
• Some Americans
helped by growing
their own vegetables
– Farmers were busy
feeding the army
– 40% of all vegetables
grown, during the war,
planted in Victory
Gardens
Materials for the War
• Anything that could be
turned into armaments
was collected for the war
effort
– Newspapers, rubber, scrap
metal, aluminum pots, tin
cans, box springs
• 1942-Paper collection
temporarily called off
b/c some so much was
collected
• Much of the steel, half
the tin, and half the
paper that was needed
to fight the war was
collected by citizens
Media Goes to War
• Government creates the Office of War
Information
– Function was to coordinate war news from
various federal agencies
– Encourage newspapers, radio stations, and
movie industry to help Americans understand
the progress of the war and government’s
policies
Examples of Media at War
Hollywood
Comic Strips
Songs
Advertisements
Filmmakers hard at Characters go to war
work on their
version on the war
Patriotic
songs at the
beginning of
the war
Appeared in magazines
and newspapers and on
billboards and radio
shows
Heroes-gallant
Americans
After 1942more
sentimental
Stimulated National
Unity
Little Orphan Annie
collected scrap metal
and her Daddy
Warbucks was a
general
VillainsG.I. Joe cartoon is
Stereotypes
created
Germans, Japanese,
Italians
Urged Americans to use
less rather than buy more
“Use it up, wear it out,
make it do, or do
without”
New Markets and Methods
• War Production Board
– Helped to convert industries
to war production
• Convert factories from
civilian to military
production
– Limit the
production of
materials not
essential to the war
effort
» From shirts,
toys and cars
to uniforms,
bombs, tanks,
and aircraft
New Plants and Over Production
• Government paid companies to build new
plants
– Helped pay equipment as well
– Granted relief from antitrust laws to war-related
industries
– Such a surplus of armaments that eventually
asked plants to stop production
Wartime Economy
• Economy grows during the war
– Gross National Product
– Dollar value of all good and services produced
annually
• Rises from $90.5 billion to $211.9 billion
– War creates 17 million new jobs
– Farm production increases
Economy Grows too Fast
• FDR worries about inflation
– General rise in wages and prices
• 1st he freezes wages
– Trade Unions oppose a wage freeze
– Promise a No-Strike pledge during the war
• FDR creates the National War Labor Board
– Control wages and monitor inflation
• Workers also want prices controlled
– Office of Price Administration set a ceiling on all prices
• Reasonable balance in achieved throughout the war
Keeping Prices Down
• Rationing
– Distributing limited
goods fairly
– Reduces demand for
goods
• Controversial b/c even
though people were
earning more, they were
restricted in their
spending
Paying For the War
• Taxes met 40% of the war costs
• 1942-Revenue Act passed
– Increase corporate taxes and requires nearly all
American to pay income taxes
• 1943-Congress approves system for
withholding taxes through monthly payroll
deductions
Paying for the War Cont.
• Government borrows the rest of the money
– War Bonds-certificates that promised that the
government would pay the holder the amount borrowed
plus interest
• Also helped to control inflation
• Hollywood stars helped to sell bonds
• War stamps-children collected them and when they had $18.75
worth of stamps they received a bond for $25.00 in 10 years
• Families of those who served in the armed forces bought war
bonds to help them invest their money while they were away
Women on the Home Front
• Married women now
working-6 million women
joined the civilian labor force
• Now working non-traditional
roles
– Factories
• Defense Industries:Airplane
Manufacturing and
Shipbuilding
• Increase in African American
women in the work force
Women’s Roles Continued
• Problems
– Restrictions imposed by
managers, no fraternization
between men and women
– Women worried about leaving
children
– Low wages
• 60% less then men
– Little job security
– End of the war women are
urged to return home
• 4 Million women either lost
their job or left the
workforce
Japanese-American Internment
• Rumors of sabotage after Pearl Harbor
• Japanese were placed in internment camps
– Citizens and non-citizens
– Camps located in desolate areas
– Wooden barracks covered with tar paper and
protected by bared wire
Road to Victory-Europe
• Air attacks against Germany in
1943-44 softened German
resistance
• Operation Overlord-drive
Germans out of France and
defeat the the Third Reich
• D-Day June 6, 1944
• Land, sea and air invasion
– Beaches at Normandy,
Eisenhower
• August 1944 Paris is freed
• Battle of the Bulge-December
1944 German counterattack
• Last Offensive German Move
Allies moved into Germany
End of War in Europe
• Final Assault on Germany early 1945
• April 12th FDR dies after 12yrs in office
– Truman takes office
• April 30, 1945 Hitler commits suicide in a Berlin bunker
• May 2 Berlin Falls
• May 7, 1945 Germany’s unconditional surrender
• May 8, victory in Europe Day
End of War in Pacific
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By 1944 bombers close enough to attack Japanese mainland
Truman scheduled invasion for late 1945/46
By March of 1945 bombing Tokyo
July 1945-J. Robert Oppenheimer successfully detonates 1st atomic bomb in
New Mexico
• Decision to bomb Japan
– Invading Japan would result in high casualties figures
• Up to a million deaths
– Use of bomb in hopes of ending war without an invasion
• August 6, 1945
– Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima
• Killed 100,000 plus people instantly another 100,00 die later from
burns, radiation, or other wounds
• 4 square miles of city destroyed
• August 9, 1945
– “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki killing 40,000 plus people
– August, 1945 Japan formally surrenders