Download US Involvement in World War 2

■Essential Question:
–How did the U.S. mobilize
civilians at home to help win
World War 2 & what impact did
this have on American society?
Mobilizing an
“Arsenal of Democracy”
The Home Front
■WW2 impacted all aspects of
American life:
–FDR hoped the U.S. would be
the great “arsenal of democracy”
–The boost of wartime industry
ended the Great Depression
–The war altered the lives of
women, African-Americans,
Japanese-Americans, &
Mexican-Americans
Thepower
Office
of Mobilization
The
to create
to censor the press
The Office of War
new Information
gov’t agencies
War
coordinated
■To win
wars inMobilization
Asia
& civil
Europe
&&
to limit
liberties
directed
press,
the
draft,
consumer
seize
personal
property
print, radio, &
meet civilian demands,
the
U.S.
prices,
&
the
labor
force
film propaganda
gov’t grew to its largest size ever:
The Office of Strategic Services gathered
–The
War Powers
Act gave
the
enemy
intelligence
& conducted
espionage
president unprecedented power
The U.S.
gov’t spent $250
million
–New
bureaucracies
were
formed
per day from 1941 to 1945
to direct the economy, create
This is 2x as
much
all
propaganda,
sell
warasbonds,
&
previous gov’t spending combined
prevent enemy subversion
Mobilization: The Demand for War
Equipment & Soldiers
The U.S. Government
■ Financing increased government spending:
• Bonds
• Higher taxes paid for 41% of war
■ Result: deficit spending and increase of
national debt ($43 billion in 1940 to $259 billion
in 1945)
Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond:
It Will Lead to VICTORY!
War bonds
helped raise
$187 billion
to support
the war
effort
Consumers
■ War production stimulated the
economy & created new jobs:
– Business & farm profits doubled
– Wages rose & people wanted to buy,
but wartime production led to
shortages of consumer goods
– Office of Price Administration fixed
prices & distributed ration books to
save gas, meat, butter
– Americans recycled & planted victory
gardens for the war effort
Wartime Ration Books
Victory Gardens: Grow Your Own
Example of support for war
effort. Everyone was involved in
supporting war.
Wartime production led to
shortages on consumer goods
WWII propaganda: was directed by the
Office of War Information
Propaganda: Fighting the Enemy on the
Battlefield & on the Home Front
Fear Propaganda
60% of America went to the movies
Hollywood Pitches
weekly
In
Jimmy Stewart goes
off to war
The U.S. Government Production
■ 1943: FDR created Office of War
Mobilization led by James F. Byrnes to
coordinate agencies regulating production
■ War Production Board (1942) directed
factories to produce war supplies so that
the Allies could out produce the Axis
Powers
■ Govt told companies to stop producing
consumer goods (converting heavy
industry) and allocated scarce resources
to war materials
The 2x
Wartime
Economy
U.S. made
more goods
than
Germany
& 5x
more thanfactor
Japan for Allied
■The
most
decisive
victory was America’s ability to
outproduce both Germany & Japan
■15 million U.S. soldiers fought but
60 million workers & farmers
supplied them with supplies
Ford
madeWillow
one B-24Run
bomber
every hour
Ford’s
Factory
Henry Kaiser’s West Coast Shipyards
The Allies won the Battle of the Atlantic, in part,
because the USA produced ships faster than
German u-boats could sink them
Kaiser standardized battleship building & reduced
the time it took to make a battleship from 355
days to 14 days
GIs
■ When the USA declared war, the military
needed soldiers to fight a two-front war in
Europe & Asia:
– 6 million men volunteered
– 10 million more were drafted
– Everything soldiers were given was
“government issue” so WWII soldiers
became known as “GIs”
– Homesickness among soldiers was
common
Preparing for a jump into
Nazi-occupied France
Marines at Iwo Jima
GIs missed the freedoms of “home”
GIs with movie star Marlene Dietrich
■Essential Question:
–How did the U.S. mobilize
civilians at home to help win
World War 2 & what impact did
this have on American society?
WW2 Changed
American Society
Regional Changes
■The war effort transformed the
9 million
defense
moved
to new
Western
&workers
Southern
U.S.:
factories & shipyards in South & West
–California became the major
center for industry to support
the war effort in the Pacific
–60 of the 100 new military
based were built in the South
–Southern textile factories &
industrial jobs helped end
sharecropping & tenant farming
Women
■ The war presented new economic
opportunities for women:
“To hell with the life I have had.
–This
350,000
serve
war isvolunteered
too [serious],toand
it isin army
too
[important]
to
win
it.”
– Dramatic rise in employment (14 million to
19 million by 1945)
– Most new female workers were married,
many middle-aged
– Clerical work but also entered “exclusively
male” fields
– Temporarily redefined “woman’s sphere”
from “just at home”
“Rosie, the Riveter”
S..t..r..e..t..c..h That Food!
Women
AcceptedWomen’s
for Volunteer
Army Air
Join the
Women’s
Emergency
Service Corps
(WAVES)
Pilots
Army Corps
(WACs)
Women served as military nurses &
photographers
Families
■ After the war, women were forced out of high…jobs
and high divorce rates
paying factory
■ The uncertainties of war & economic
affluence of the 1940s led to a dramatic rise
in marriage
■ The influx of women into the workforce led to
a new demand for daycare centers & to an
increase in child delinquency
■ Public health improved as more families had
access to doctors, dentists, & prescription
drugs
African Americans
■ During WWII, African Americans fought in the
military & at home:
– 1 million blacks served in U.S. military but not
all saw combat  Discrimination in military
and defense industry
– The war led to factory jobs & increased the Great
Migration of blacks in the North & west coast
• The led to racial tension and it became a
national issue
Randolph led the “Double V” campaign:
victory at home & abroad
A. Philip Randolph threatened a “March
on Washington” to protest the war time
discrimination not hiring African
Americans in defense industries.
Other groups, like the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), staged sit-ins in restaurants in major
cities to protest discrimination. (Chicago)
African Americans
■ As a result of the pressure, FDR took small steps:
1. Executive Order 8802 opened jobs and training
programs in defense industries without
discrimination
2. Fair Employment Practices Commission was
created to handle complaints about discrimination
as well as to establish for equal pay for black
workers.
African Americans
■ HOWEVER…
– More than 1 million black soldiers served in
segregated units under the command of white
officers
– Unlike WWI, black soldiers were allowed to fight;
the “Tuskegee airmen” in the U.S. military were
recognized for heroism & bravery
Segregated units…again
Tuskegee
Airmen
Mexican Americans
• Faced significant discrimination
• U.S. created Bracero Program with Mexican
government: Bring Mexican laborers to U.S.
to help fill shortage of farm laborers
• The increase in Mexican American population
led to racial tension in the SW, like the Zoot
Suit Riots in LA
• In general, 250,000-500,000 Hispanic
Americans fought during WWII
Mexican-Americans
■Mexican-Americans:
–Served in quasi-segregated
military units, often in the most
hazardous branches
–Mexican-American workers
found jobs in SW agriculture &
west coast industry
–Faced discrimination, especially
during the Zoot Suit Riots
“Zoot Suit” Riot in Los Angeles
JapaneseJapanese-Americans
who were not American
citizens living in the U.S.
■Due to Pearl Harbor, many in the
U.S. feared Japanese-Americans
were helping prepare for a
Japanese invasion in the West
■Civil liberties were restricted:
–Issei had their assets frozen
–Used racial stereotypes (“Japs”)
–In 1942, FDR ordered 112,000
Japanese-Americans moved to
internment camps
Japanese-Americans
ere not American
■ Due
g in the
U.S. to Pearl Harbor, many in the U.S. feared
Japanese-Americans were helping prepare
for a Japanese invasion in the West
■ Civil liberties were restricted:
– Issei had their assets frozen
– Used racial stereotypes (“Japs”)
– In 1942, FDR issued Executive Order 9066
which ordered 112,000 JapaneseAmericans to move to internment camps
– Korematsu vs. U.S.: Supreme Court
ruled that internment was Constitutional.
Executive Order 9066 forced Japanese
Americans into internment camps
Families
were given one week
to Division
The
all Japanese-American
442nd
close their
businesses
& homes
fought
in Europe
& received
over 1,000
citations for bravery
JapaneseAmerican
Internment
Camps
Japanese Americans were allowed to
return home in 1945, many had lost
everything.
Government gave some repayment to
survivors in 1988 and officially
apologized.
Win-the-War Politics
■In 1944, FDR used the war to
strengthen his leadership:
–“Mr. New Deal” had shifted to
“Mr. Win the War”
–Opponent Thomas Dewey
made communism & FDR’s
health the focus of the election
–FDR switched VPs from liberal
Henry Wallace to moderate
Harry Truman to gain appeal