Download America in WWII

America in WWII
Plan of Action
• US citizen’s want “Get
Japan first”
• ABC 1 agreement(with England) get
Germany first
• Why-
Allie Trade Space for Time
• Isolationism has its
problems
• US was the most powerful
military power on Earth
(On paper)
• Biggest Challenge- can
America mobilize the
economy into war
production quick enough
• Other threat- German
scientists could create
upbeat weapons
Shock of War
• Pearl Harbor shuts up
isolationists
• Commies and socialists
backed war effort-why
• WW I- US is fearful of
immigrants
• WW II- speeds up
immigrant assimilation
(except Japanese)
Shock of War
• Executive Order 9066Japanese Interment camps
for 110,000 (2/3 American
born) concentrated on the
Pacific Coast
• Upheld by Supreme Court
in Korematsu v. U.S.
• 1988- US apology
• Germans in internment
camps as well (on much
smaller scale)
Shock of War
• CCC and WPA eliminated by
conservative congress in 1942
• “Dr. New Deal” in retirement,
replaced by “Dr. Win the
War”
• No idealism like WW I
• Some propaganda
• 1942- Opinion Poll- 9 out of
ten can’t recall information on
Atlantic Charter
• Majority of US- no clear idea
what the war was about
Building the War Machine
• WWII ends the Great
Depression
• War Production Board
• Henry J Kaiser “Sir
Launchalot” master of
quick ship building
Building the War Machine
• War production board
halted manufacture of nonessential items
• War industries had first
priority in transport and
raw materials
• National speed limit and
gas rationing (save rubber)
• Farmers have bumper crops
and boom time.
Building the War Machine
• Office of Price Administrationfood and price regulation
• National War Labor Boardceilings on wage increases
• Labor Unions resent wage
ceilings
• Many have no strike pledges, but
labor walk outs occur (United
Mine Workers- John L. Lewis)
• 1943, Congress passed the
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act,
which let the federal government
seize and operate industries
threatened by or under strikes.
Manpower and Womanpower
• 15 Million men served in
WWII.
• 216,000 women served in
military in one capacity or
another )
• WAAC’s (Army)
• WAVES (Navy)
• SPARS (Coast Guard)
• Some industries and
farmers exempt from draft
Manpower and Womanpower
• Severe manpower
shortage at home.
• Bracero programMexican agricultural
workers cross border
for harvest fruit and
grain crops (mainly in
the west) (around
many years after
WWII)
Manpower and Womanpower
• More than 6 million
women take factory
jobs outside the house
• Day Care centers are
established
• Post war- women
(33%) don’t want to
give up jobs (for
shadowing reversal)
• Women’s impact
sometimes exaggerated
War Time Migrations
• Many cities boom
• FDR on the south “ the
nations number one
economic problem”
• FDR- old confederate
states get disproportional
amount of defense
contracts
African Americans and WWII
• Racial tensions are national
issue, not regional
• A. Philip Randolph
threatens “Negro March on
Washington” in demand for
equal opportunities for
blacks in war industries
• FRD forbids discrimination
in war industry, creates the
FEPC- Fair Employment
Practices Commission
African Americans in WWII
• Military serviceblacks mostly receive
non-combat jobs
• Exception to the rule –
Tuskegee Airmen
• Double V- victory
over dictators abroad,
victory over racism at
home
African Americans in WWII
• NAACP membership
increases
• Congress on Racial
Equality (CORE)- forms,
militant organization
committed to nonviolent
“direct action”
• Mechanical cotton picker
means no need for cheap
labor in the south, along
with war industry jobs,
means more African
Americans leaving the
south
Native Americans in WWII
• American Indians leave
reservations for war time
jobs and military
• 25,000
• Code Talkers- Comanches
and Navajos use native
languages for radio
messaging, Germans and
Japanese can’t decipher
Mexican Americans
• Zoot Suit Riots- in LA
• Mexican, Mexican
Americans attacked by
soldiers returning home
• Zoot Suiters seen as anti
American
– 1. Should join war effort
– 2. Zoot Suits = waste of
materials
Holding the Home Front
• Americans at home suffered
very little from the war,
especially when contrasted to
the Brits and Russians.
• War invigorated the US
economy to an unprecedented
level.
– GNP doubled from 1940 to
1945 and pay checks went
way up.
• Disposable income more than
doubled, but not much to spend
on because all factories devoted
to war.
• The war, even more than the
New Deal, leads to the Big
Government of the second half
of the 20th Century.
• All the federal spending
finally cures the depression.
• War cost $330 billion.
• Where did money come
from?
– Forced US to borrow at
unprecedented level and to
raise taxes.
– Top brackets went as high as
90%.
– National debt goes from 49
Bill in 1941 to 259 Bill. in
1945.
National Debt
War in the Pacific
• Japan strategy- win
fast or loose slow
• Imperialism kicked
into high gear
• Guam, Wake, the
Philippines, Hong
Kong, British Malaya,
Burma), the Dutch
East Indies, and even
pushing into China.
• When the Japanese took over
the Philippines, U.S. General
Douglas MacArthur had to
sneak out of the place, but he
vowed to return to liberate the
islands; he went to Australia.
• After the fighters in the
Philippines surrendered, they
were forced to make the
infamous 85-mile Bataan death
march.
Japan’s High Tide at Midway
• Battle at Coral Sea- US
(Aussie help)- 1st time in
history battling done
completely by carrier based
aircraft
• Battle at Midway- US
stop’s Japanese expansion
• Japanese are moving
towards Alaska Islands
• Defense is increased in
North West- construction of
“Alcan” highway through
Canada
Leapfrogging toward Tokyo
• Americans won at
Guadalcanal in August 1942
and then got New Guinea by
August 1944.
• General MacArthurconvinces US to adopt
island hopping strategy
• U.S. also retook the Aleutian
Islands of
Attu and Kiska in August of
1943
• Island battles are costly for
Japan- losing air craft
carriers
• Japan uses Kamikaze Pilots
Stopping Hitler
• U boats – “wolf packs”
are causing chaos for
allied merchants
• Radar helps allies
• British crack German
“enigma” codes
• Battle of the AtlanticAllies victory “saves”
Atlantic Ocean
Stopping Hitler
• In Africa
• German General
Erwin Rommel
“Desert Fox”
• US and British drive
Nazi’s away from
Suez Canal
• In Russia
• 1942- Russia bravely
stops German
offensive at Stalingrad
• 1943- Soviets have
recovered 2/3 of the
land lost to Germany
A Two Front War
• Russians are losing man
power, beg for help from
allies
• 1942- FDR promises
invasion of Europe to help
USSR
• British don’t want agree,
want to attack Germany
through Mediterranean
• Dwight D Eisenhower
leads secret invasion in
North Africa, 1943 Germ.
Itl troops forced to
surrender
Casablanca Conference 1943
• FDR and Churchill meet,
Stalin too busy fighting off
Germany
– 1.Increase war in Pacific
– 2. More Pressure on Italy
– 3. Unconditional Surrender
• #3 controversial- some
believe that this makes
Hitler to want to fight till
the very end
Italian Invasion
• Falls in 1943
• But Nazi’s in Italy do
not surrender and
demonstrate strong
resistance
• 1944 Rome is taken
• Take over is slow and
frustrating, does pull
some Nazis off of
European Front, but
pace delays Allied
invasion of France
Tehran Conference 1943
• The Big three finally
meet
• Discuss war plans
• Agree to a two front
war on Europe, USSR
from the East, Brits
and US from the west
D-Day
• Normandy France
• Led by Eisenhower
• June 6, 1944. Biggest
sea-borne invasion in
history
• Five beaches. Gold,
Juno, Sword, Utah,
Omaha
D-Day
• Allies had control over Air of France
• Beach faced tough resistance
• General George S Patton ( Blood ‘n’ guts) makes name for
himself
• French “underground” is helpful
• 1944 Paris is liberated
Really…a
th
4
• Election of 1944
• Republicans – Thomas Dewey
(VP = isolationist) continue with
war plan, create international
peace org.
• Demos- FDR, most people
concerned about VP
• Demos VP- Harry Trumanefficient head of Senate
Committee investigating wasteful
war expenditures
term
Really… a
• Reps- don’t make a
huge deal about 4th
term
• CIO helps Democrats
• FDR basically wins
because the war is
going well
th
4
term
The Last Days of Hitler
• Soviet pressure from
the east, Allies
blockbuster bombs on
the west
• Battle of the BulgeGermany attempts to
break American lines,
but fails
The Last Days of Hitler
• Soviets and US
horrified at the
Holocaust
• US knew about
campaign, but slow to
act
– 1.Didn’t allow Jewish
refugees in the country
– 2.Declined to bomb
railways
•
•
•
•
The Last Days of Hitler
Soviets reach Berlin in 1945
Hitler kills himself 1945
FDR dies of a cerebral hemorrhage 1945
May 8 1945- VE day-
Japan Dies Hard
• US submarines destroy
50% of Japanese merchant
fleet
• Battle of Tokyo- Allies
burn down a ¼ of the city,
83,000 die
• Battle of Leyte- last
offensive move by Japan
• MacArthur re-conquers
the Philippines
• Battles of Iwo Jima,
Okinawa
Potsdam Conference
• US planning all out
assault on Japan,
Japan secretly tried to
negotiate peace with
Russia (We knew
about this)
• PD- HT, and Big twoJapan must surrender
or die
Manhattan Project
• Secret atomic bomb
creation
• Blank check from
congress- originally meant
for Germany
• 1945- Test in New Mexico
• Aug 6 1945- Bomb
Hiroshima(180,000 die)
• Aug 9- Bomb Nagasaki
• Sept 2 1914- VJ Day
Why Does Truman Use the Bomb?
• Avoid US casualties, but
clear Japan would likely
surrender before Invasion.
• To show Soviets what we
have
• To prevent Soviets from
being involved in Pacific
longer and grabbing more
territory and having a say
in rebuilding of Japan
Score one for the Good Guys
• Death in WW II smaller in comparison to other
wars ( Penicillin)
• 1st war in which more civilians than soldiers die
• American territory untouched, while rest of the
world in ruins
• Industrial strength huge reason we win war