Download 1943-1945 Classroom Notes

1943
 Home front:
o Dr. Seuss WWII propaganda:
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Rural areas lost population while coastal areas increased rapidly
Women entered the workforce in increasing numbers
 Rosie the Riveter symbolized American working women during the war.
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Girls took factory jobs vacated by men fighting (patriotic duty to work)
Women paid less than men, even in defense industry
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Women could join the Women’s Army Corp
After war women encouraged that now their patriotic duty to go back home &
be housewives (movie: Mona Lisa Smiles)
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2 Great Migration = Black Americans moved during & after WWII from the rural
South to Northern & Western cities with racial tensions often resulting
 June 1943 = race riot in Detroit, Michigan
Smith-Connolly Act (1943)
 Antistrike Act
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Congress gave the federal government the power to seize a plant or mine idled
by a strike if it hurt the war effort.
 Expired in 1947
United Mine Workers go on strike 
All-American Girls’ Baseball League is founded in 1943 
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 Movie: League of Their Own
 Wartime diversion for thousands of fans
Movies: Patriotic & Comedies
 Casablanca emphasized self-sacrifice & helping the war effort
 White Christmas evoked nostalgia & reminded why we were fighting
War Bonds
 Used in WWI to help finance the war & used in WWII as well
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Double V Campaign
 Many black Americans took important factory jobs & signed up for military
service
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Discrimination against blacks in military & it was still segregated
Black Americans on the home front started the Double V campaign = victory
over Germany & Japan but also defeat of racial prejudice
C.O.R.E. (Congress for Racial Equality) was founded in 1942 and organized the
1st racial equality sit-ins & boycotts (used in 1950s & 60s)
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European Theater
o Bombings of Europe
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 U.S. started helping bomb the European continent from planes in July 1942
 Bombing increased during 1943 & 1944 and lasted until the end of the war. 
 Purpose is to wear down the enemy until & for land invasion.
 Movie: Memphis Belle
o Nov.-Dec. 1943 = Tehran Conference
 It was the 1st WW II conference among the Big Three (the Soviet Union (Stalin),
the United States (FDR), and the United Kingdom (Churchill)).
 It’s followed by the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference.
 Why did they get together?
 To plan the final strategy for the war against Nazi Germany and its
allies.
 Stalin wanted a western 2nd front opened ASAP
 What did they agree to?
 Operation Overlord (D-Day): invade Normandy, France
 Agreed to schedule it in May 1944, in conjunction with the Soviet attack
on Germany’s eastern border.
 The attacks would combine the force of Canada, the United Kingdom,
the U.S., and numerous other countries, and would later be known as
"D-Day", the series of battles that decided the war’s end.
 Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander of the Allied Expeditionary
Forces
 The “Big Three” spent days wrangling about when Operation Overlord
should take place, who should command it, and where operations
should begin.
 The three countries also recognized Iran's independence.
 Pacific Theater
o The Allied strategy to defeat the Japanese by island hopping took effect.
 Goal = to neutralize Japanese strongholds with air and sea power and then
move on island to island until U.S. gets to island of Japan
 Land forces commanded by = Gen. Douglas MacArthur
 Naval attacked commanded by = Admiral Chester Nimitz
1944
 Home Front:
o Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)
 Supreme Court upheld FDR’s Executive Order 9066 (he made it in 1942) that
stated Issei (Japanese Americans who emigrated from Japan) and Nisei (nativeborn Japanese Americans) be relocated to internment camps
 Why? Camps based on “military necessity” The camps closed in March 1946.
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 U.S. formally apologized to them in 1988 & paid $20,000 to the living survivors.
Smith v. Allwright (1944)
 The Supreme Court struck down the Texas primary elections, which only
allowed whites to participate, for violating the Fifteenth Amendment. 
Presidential Election of 1944
 FDR with new vice-presidential candidate Harry S. Truman of Missouri
defeated Republican NY Gov., Thomas Dewey.
 FDR won on promise to begin postwar planning.
G.I. Bill of Rights (1944)
 Act that provided education, medical care, job training, unemployment
pensions, compensation, and offered mortgage loans to male & female war
veterans. 
Aug.-Oct 1944 = Dumbarton Oaks Conference
 Discussed the future make-up of the United Nations (UN) including which
states would be invited to be members of the General Assembly, the formation
of the United Nations Security Council, and the right of veto that would be
given to the Security Council's permanent members.
European Theater
o March 1944 = U.S.S.R. begins pushing into Eastern Europe 
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June 6, 1944 = D-Day
 Allied armies under Dwight D. Eisenhower, now commander-in-chief of the
Allied Expeditionary Forces, invade Normandy, France
 Largest amphibious attack in world history
 Over 1 million Allied troops storm the beaches & begin the march
toward Germany
 Allies use 4,600 ships to invade German held France
 Turning Point in WWII in Europe
 FDR finally opens 2nd Western front in Europe
 FDR promised Stalin he’d do this in 1942 & at the Tehran Conference in
1943. (Oops )
June 8, 1944 = Italy conquered completely by Allies
August 1944 = Allies liberated Paris (Eiffel Tower is now free  )
Mid-September 1944 = Allied army arrives at Rhine River, on the edge of Germany.
Dec. 16, 1944 = Battle of the Bulge
 Last German offensive
 (rubber band battle)
 Allies driven 50 miles back into Belgium
 Allies line bends “bulges” but does not break
 By Jan. 1945 Allies are once again marching toward Germany
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Pacific Theater
o Jan.-June 1944: Island Hopping is a success
 U.S. hopped from the Marshalls to the Marianas Islands
 After the U.S. captured the Mariana Islands, General Tojo Hideki resigned as
premier of Japan. 
o June 19-20, 1944: Battle of the Philippine Sea
 Big U.S. victory 
 Japanese lost 3 carriers, 2 subs, and over 300 planes
 America lost 17 planes
o Oct. 25, 1944: Battle of Leyte Gulf
 Japan lost most of its remaining naval power
 1st use of the Japanese kamikaze, or suicide, attacks by Japanese pilots who
crashed into American carriers 
o Late 1944 = American bombers can take off from controlled islands and reach major
Japanese cities & return back.
 Massive bombing attacks occur!
1945
 European Theater
o Feb. 4-11, 1945 = Yalta Conference
 “Big Three”= Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin met to discuss postwar Europe
 FDR was very ill at Yalta; he would only live another 2 months 
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Stalin agreed that the U.S.S.R would:
 Join the Pacific war 90 days after Germany surrendered to help the U.S.
o This made FDR happy 
 Keep temporary control of all areas the U.S.S.R. had freed from Nazi
control in Eastern Europe until free elections could take place!
o Churchill wanted the free elections & democratic governments
in Europe
o Stalin will manipulate this & while he has temporary control he
helped communist governments take control!!!  They have
“free” elections & they become communist countries.   No
more free elections for them. 
They all agreed to have a conference to finalize the world peace organization
(UN), to meet in the U.S. beginning on April 25, 1945 (San Francisco
Conference)
 Agreed U.S.S.R. would have 3 General Assembly votes
 Security Council would have 5 permanent members = U.S., Great
Britain, Soviet Union, France & China
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Veto power for permanent members to block unwanted
decisions (U.S.S.R.  w/ this)
 FDR won’t be @ Potsdam Conference b/c he died. Truman will attend
after being President for 2 weeks.
They agreed that the priority would be the unconditional surrender of Nazi
Germany.
Agreed to divide Germany into 4 occupation zones
 Administered by Great Britain, U.S., U.S.S.R. & France
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Berlin was located in the Soviet zone & was divided into 4 zones as well
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Agreed that Poland would be controlled by a coalition government of
communists & non-communists
 This doesn’t last for long & it is taken over by communists!
 Stalin doesn’t want to be attacked a 3rd time through Poland
 FDR accepted Soviet control of Outer Mongolia, the Kurile Islands, the
southern half of Sakhalin Island, Port Arthur, and the participation in the
operation of the Manchurian railroads.
 U.S. & U.S.S.R. agreed to attack Korea held by Japanese forces
 U.S.S.R. would attack North Korea (above the 38th parallel)
 U.S. would attack South Korea (below the 38th)
 These decisions made at the conference (& the U.S.S.R. does not totally
follow them) are major reasons for the beginning of the Cold War!!!!!!
March 1945 = Allies crossed the Rhine River & enter Germany 
April 1945 = Eisenhower’s forces met the Soviet army at the Elbe River.
April 12, 1945 = FDR dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warms Spring, GA
April 28, 1945 = Mussolini is executed after having been captured by Allied Italian
partisans
April 30, 1945 = Battle of Berlin
 Russians take over Berlin
 Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker before the Russians
captured him
 He shot himself while simultaneously biting into a cyanide capsule
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Hitler had his dog Blondi poisoned before his suicide to test the poison
he and Eva Braun (his mistress whom he had married the day before)
were going to take.
 Hitler's body and that of Eva Braun were put in a bomb crater, doused
in gasoline by Nazi loyalists, and set on fire as the Red Army advanced
 When Russians reached the area, they found Hitler's body and an
autopsy was performed using dental records to confirm the
identification.
 The remains of Hitler and Braun were secretly buried by the Russians.
In 1970, the remains were reportedly exhumed and thoroughly
cremated. A fragment of his skull may still be held by the Russians.
Creepy.
May 7, 1945 = Germany surrendered  = V-E Day = Victory in Europe Day
April-June 1945: San Francisco Conference
 1st session of the United Nations
 The Security Council veto powers were established and the text of the UN
Charter was finalized 
July 17-August 2, 1945 = Potsdam Conference
 Last conference among the allied leaders
 Participants =
 U.S.S.R. = Stalin
o He arrived at the conference a day late, citing "official business"
that required his attention, but he actually suffered a minor heart
attack.
 Great Britain = Churchill & then Attlee
o During the conference, the United Kingdom held its general
election and Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee.
 U.S. = Truman
o During the conference, Truman mentioned an unspecified
"powerful new weapon" to Stalin; Stalin, who had known of its
existence long before Truman ever knew, through espionage,
encouraged the usage of any weapon that would hasten the end
of the war.
o Truman ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
while at the conference
 Why did they hold this conference?
 To decide how to administer the defeated Nazi Germany, that had
agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier on V-E Day.
 What were the goals of the conference?
 The establishment of post-war order, peace treaties, and countering the
effects of war.
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Did much get done at the conference?
 No. Stalin & Truman had BIG philosophical differences on the
rebuilding of Eastern Europe
 Truman wanted free elections held in all Eastern European countries
 Stalin wanted those countries to be satellite countries to act as buffers
for potential future invasions of the U.S.S.R.
What did they actually decide?
 War-Crime Trials for top Nazi leaders would be held would be held
(Nuremberg Trials)
 Demilitarization & denazification of Germany
Pacific Theater
o March 1945 = Gen. Douglas MacArthur is BACK!!!!!! 
 MacArthur liberates Manila (Philippines)! Island Hopping Rocks!
 Atrocities for Bataan Death March revealed
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Feb-April 1945 = Battle of Iwo Jima
 25,000 American casualties 
 Famous photo of Marines raising U.S. flag
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April-June 1945 = Battle of Okinawa
 50,000 American casualties 
 Japan’s remaining defenses virtually destroyed.
 Nothing left (islands) to stop an Allied invasion of Japan.
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July 16, 1945 = Trinity Test
 a nuclear test of a plutonium bomb 35 miles from Alamogordo, NM
 The Fat Man bomb, using the same conceptual design, was dropped on
Nagasaki, Japan, a few weeks later.
 The detonation was equivalent to the explosion of around 20 kilotons of TNT
and is usually considered as the beginning of the Atomic Age.
July 26, 1945 = Potsdam Declaration
 Don’t get this mixed up with the Potsdam Conference!!!
 Participants = Churchill, Truman and Chiang Kai-shek (China)
 The Soviet Union was not at war with Japan during the Potsdam
Conference, so they weren’t participants to this.
 What did they do?
 Issued the Potsdam Declaration which outlined the terms of surrender for
Japan during WWII in Asia.
 What did they declare?
 The agreement stated that if Japan did not unconditionally surrender, it
would face "prompt and utter destruction". This was an ultimatum with
a big threat w/o specifically mentioning of the atomic bomb.
August = Japan's refuses to the terms of Potsdam Declaration
 Why?
 Refuse to unconditionally surrender.
 The day we bombed Nagasaki there is evidence Japan was trying to
make a conditional surrender that the Emperor remain in power 
August 6, 1945 = Atomic bomb “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima
 Why did the Truman drop the bombs instead of an ariel attacks & U.S.
invasion of Japanese mainland?
 #1 reason: To save American lives!!!!! If lives have to lost let it be theirs.
Iwo Jima & Okinawa invasions = 70,000 American casualties. Invasion
of Japan would be much higher! 
 #2 reason: payback for Pearl Harbor & the Bataan Death March
 #3 reason: to intimidate the Soviet Union (next potential enemy of the
U.S.) by showing them what we had
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“Little Boy” bomb supposedly named for FDR
Constructed through the Manhattan Project
1st uranium-based atomic detonation ever
Who dropped the bomb?
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Dropped by the 12-man crew of the B-29 Super fortress Enola Gay,
piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the United States Army Air Force.
 How many were killed? as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima
 Why drop it on Hiroshima & not another city?
 Industrial area with less civilians & the city had been spared
conventional bombing in order to serve as a pristine target, one where
the effects of a nuclear bomb on a previously undamaged city could be
observed.
 What did the tests reveal?
 The damage came from three main effects: blast, fire, and radiation.
August 8, 1945 = U.S.S.R. attacks North Korea & invades Japanese-held Manchuria
(fulfilling their part of the Yalta Agreement)
 The U.S. Senate ratified the UN charter becoming an official member, too. 
August 9, 1945 = “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki
 “Fat Man” supposedly named for Churchill
 It was a more powerful bomb with a plutonium core.
 Killed as many as 80,000 in Nagasaki
 The hilly terrain made damage somewhat less extensive than that in
relatively flat Hiroshima.
 Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed
to exposure to radiation released by the bombs.
August 15, 1945 = Japan surrendered, thus bringing the war to an end.
 Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s acceptance to the terms of the Potsdam
Declaration
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 V-J Day = Victory over Japan 
Sept. 2, 1945 = Japan signs the Instrument of Surrender = unconditional surrender
 Armistice ending the Pacific War and with it World War II.
 Signed on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay
 Gen. Douglas MacArthur signs it as a witness on behalf of the Allied Powers
 Allied Powers allow Japanese Emperor to stay in power
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War Crime Trials:
 1945-1946 = international military tribunal tried major war criminals in
Nuremberg, Germany; 12 criminals were sentenced to be hanged.
 1946-1948 = international military tribunal tried major war criminals in Tokyo,
Japan; 7 criminals were sentenced to be hanged
Minorities during WWII:
 Big Picture: The war helped to improve the conditions of some minorities, yet it also proved
to be a time of prejudice and discrimination for others.
 Black people and industry:
o 1941 = A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
demanded that the government require companies receiving defense contracts to
integrate their work force.
 He planned a march on Washington D.C.!!!
 FDR made Executive Order 8802 in exchange for the march being cancelled 
 Executive Order 8802 = integrated the defense industries
 The Fair Employment Practice Commission was established by
Executive Order 8802 within the Office of Production Management to
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investigate alleged violations and "to take appropriate steps to redress
grievances which it finds to be valid."
Other changes involving black people:
o 2nd Great Migration
o Race riots throughout the war in 41 cities 
o CORE est. using sit-ins & demonstrations against segregation
o Smith v. Allwright (1944) = TX all-white primary elections unconstitutional (15th)
Mexican-Americans:
o 1942 = Mexico & U.S. governments agreed to a program by which Mexican contract
laborers would be admitted to the U.S. to work for a limited time
 The labor shortage provided these laborers w/ opportunities to work in
factories instead of only on farms
 The presence of teenagers, some of whom belonged to street gangs, created
conflicts in Anglo communities
o June 1943 = riots against these Mexican-American “zoot suit” teenagers (so called b/c
of their style of dress), in response to their alleged attacks on WWII servicemen,
resulted in A Los Angeles law prohibiting the wearing of the suits.
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 Police & media tended to side with the service men
 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sided with the Mexican-Americans 
Native Americans:
o During WWII many Indians served in military communications (movie: Windtalkers)
o Many left reservations to work in war production.
o The wartime atmosphere encouraged conformity & undermined the revitalization of
tribal autonomy.
Legacy of WWII:
 New U.S. position: U.S. emerged w/ minor casualties compared to the other Allies and the
Axis Powers
o It was the only nation possessing the atomic bomb!
o It became a SUPERPOWER and assumed leadership in world affairs.
 Economy: The war had a BIG effect on the U.S. economy.
o Many items were rationed during the war & continued to be in short supply for some
time thereafter.
o After FDR’s death, some wanted to dismantle the “welfare state.”
o Others wanted to continue the progress made in regard to the unemployed, the
elderly, health care, and race relations.
o People feared a return of economic depression after the war.
 Legacy: Federal bureaucracy expanded dramatically during the war, as did federal power.
o Government became the single most important force in American life.
o Geographic mobility increased as labor shortages created job opportunities.
o Blacks, women, and Mexican-Americans benefited.
o Pent up consumer demands exploded after the war.
o Higher birthrate accompanied an increase in marriages for returning veterans,
foreshadowing the “baby boom”: was separation also led to an increased divorce rate
for some.
Stuff I may have forgotten to mention:
 FDR’s “arsenal of democracy” was his ways of helping the Allies (Britain) before the U.S.
joined WWII.
o Examples include: Atlantic Charter, stationing troops in Greenland, patrolling the se
lanes in the Atlantic w/ American destroyers, and the 1941 Lend-Lease Act
 Why did FDR give the 4 Freedoms speech? To get support for the Lend-Lease Act
 Who was the U.S. General who liberated Paris with his 3rd Army? Gen. George Patton
 To combat inflation during WWII the U.S. government:
o Increased interest rates
o Increased federal income taxes (& enforced them)
o Set price controls (ceilings) on staple goods
o Pressured some industries into canceling planned price increases
 2/3 of all people placed in the Japanese internment camps were American citizens 
 The home front during WWII was economically invigorated by military spending 
 During WWII, the U.S. tried to extend greater cooperation w/ the nations in Latin America.
o Why? Scared fascism might spread down there! So, tried to make the entire Western
Hemisphere solidly anti-fascist!
 Casablanca Conference (Jan. 1943)
o Who was there? FDR & Churchill (Stalin was invited but didn’t come)
o What did they agree to do there?
 To create a 2nd front by invading through Sicily & then Italy
 To provide aid to the U.S.S.R.
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 And to continue the war until all Axis powers “unconditionally surrendered”
Remember these important WWII Conferences:
o Casablanca
o Tehran
o Yalta
o Potsdam
Remember these important UN conferences:
Dumbarton
Yalta
San Francisco
Government forced rationing during the war!
o Production stopped on many civilian items, such as automobiles, new houses, and new
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appliances.
Meat, sugar, butter, coffee, gasoline, tires, shoes and clothing were rationed.
Local schools set up stations where people could get their ration coupons with teachers
handling the paperwork 
Each person (regardless of age) received the same food and clothing coupons.
To purchase an item three things were needed: the storekeeper had to have the item in
the first place; the purchaser had to have the cash, and had to have the coupons.
With half of all canned goods going to the military or to allies, Americans turned to
Victory Gardens, planting 20 million of them to provide vegetables for their families.
Most automobile drivers received coupons for 3 gallons per week; those who could
document special needs received extra gasoline coupons.
 There was plenty of gasoline; the rationing was an efficient way to ration
automobile tires, with rubber in very short supply. Sneaky 
 A national speed limit of 35 miles per hour was imposed to save fuel and tires.
Bread, milk and beer were not rationed.
People eating in restaurants had to pay with cash and ration coupons.
Rationing was generally supported by the civilian population, although there was some
black market activity, that is, purchase of an item without the coupons.
 The government prosecuted black marketers.
 There was much "gray market" activity—that is family and neighbors selling or
trading ration coupons; that was technically illegal but rarely prosecuted.
 Rationing was needed because of the needs of the men and women serving
overseas & a very important key to the success of the U.S. war effort.
 Rationing was also needed because of the limited shipping capabilities during
the war. Many cargo ships were converted from public use to military use to aid
in the war effort.
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Women during the war:
o Women joined Women branches of the armed services (WAVES, WACS)
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# of women in the workforce increased 60% w/ women taking servicemen’s jobs
Most new workers were married & older
Most worked in heavy industrial jobs (“Rosie the Riveter”
Paid less & unequal treatment
After war, forced to leave temporary jobs & return to full-time roles of housewives &
mothers so veterans could have their jobs back.
Albert Einstein’s letter to FDR (1939):
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