CHAPTER 21
AMERICA AND WORLD WAR II
(1941 - 1945)
21.1 – MOBILIZING FOR WAR
• American industrial
output during the war
was extremely high
Japan
– Turned the tide of the
war?
Germany
“Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the
power it can generate” Winston Churchill about America’s
industrial potential
21.1 – MOBILIZING FOR WAR
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor…..
• FDR announced a plan to build 50,000 war planes/year
• FDR asked Congress for $4 billion to build a 2-Ocean Navy
• FDR created the National Defense Advisory Board, War Production
Board and the Office of War Mobilization (last 2 were after PH)
• Congress increased the defense budget to more than $17 billion
• Use of the “cost-plus” system to get war materials built as fast as
possible
21.1 – MOBILIZING FOR WAR
Importance of mass production
LIBERTY SHIPS
Henry Kaiser – applied
construction industry
techniques to
shipbuilding
Took 244 days to build the first one, HK got that
down to 41days……he built 3,000 for the war
21.1 – BUILDING AN ARMY
• Selective Service and
Training Act – first
peacetime draft in U.S.
History (1940)
• Government Issue –
“GIs”
21.1 – BUILDING AN ARMY
• Army was segregated
– African Americans were
in separate units
– Led some AAs to oppose
the war
– Idea of a “double V”
– Tuskegee Airmen
21.1 – BUILDING AN ARMY
• Other minorities also
served
– Most not allowed in
combat positions
– Mexican Americans
(started joining NG in
‘30s)
– Japanese (internment
camps at first; extremely
decorated)
– Native Americans (fierce
fighters; huge % served)
21.1 – BUILDING AN ARMY
• Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
(1942)
– Mostly clerical work, freed up
men for combat
• Becomes the Women’s Army
Corps (WAC)
• Women Airforce Service Pilots
delivered planes (WASPS)
• 68,000 women served as
nurses during the war
21.2 – EARLY BATTLES – PACIFIC
THEATER
• Chester Nimitz –
commander of Navy in
the Pacific
– Pearl Harbor damaged,
but did not cripple the
U.S. Navy in the Pacific
21.2 – FALL OF THE PHILIPPINES
• Japan attacked
immediately after PH
– Gen. Douglas
MacArthur led the
defense
– Retreated to the Bataan
Peninsula (horrific
conditions)
– U.S. surrendered on
April 9, 1942
– Thousands died on the
Bataan Death March
DOOLITTLE RAID ON TOKYO
• James Doolittle leads a
raid of B-25s and on
April 18, 1942 American
bombs hit Japan for the
first time
• Infuriates Japanese
leadership, develop
new strategies to defeat
the U.S.
BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA
• Japan wanted to cut
off American supplies
to Australia by
attacking New
Guinea
• May of 1942 –
Massive battle holds
off the Japanese and
supply lines to
Australia remain
open
video
BATTLE OF MIDWAY
• U.S. had cracked the
Japanese code and
knew about the
planned attack at
Midway
• June 4, 1942 –
Japanese flew into an
ambush, many planes
and ships were
destroyed
Video
• Major turning point in
the Pacific theater;
only 6 months after
Pearl Harbor
21.3 – LIFE ON THE HOMEFRONT
• America gained some
benefits from the war,
such as…
– Increasing employment
– Rising wages
– Giving some minorities
new opportunities
– Pulled the country out of
the Great Depression
• There were some
negatives at home as
well, such as…
–
–
–
–
Longer workweeks
Higher taxes
Racial/ethnic tension
Poor living conditions
ROSIE THE RIVETER
• Women started getting
hired for work
– More married women started
working, not just single girls
– Women were now working in
factories, not just traditional
roles such as secretaries and
teachers
– Permanently changed views
of women, and attitudes of
women themselves
MINORITIES
AFRICAN AMERICANS
• FDR created the Fair Employment
Practices Commission in 1941 –
goal was to end discrimination in
hiring practices
• 2nd Great Migration
• Race riots – ex. Detroit in 1943
• Tuskegee Airmen
MEXICAN FARMWORKERS
• Bracero Program – federal
program that brought in
Mexican workers to help
with the harvests and to
build/repair railroads
• Zoot Suits – what were
they? Riots? Victory suits?
ZOOT SUIT
JAPANESE AMERICAN RELOCATION
•
Backlash against Japanese-Americans
after WWII
– Especially on the West Coast
•
1942 – most of the West Coast is
declared a military zone and
Japanese-Americans were relocated
to internment camps
– Korematsu v. United States
•
1945 – Gov’t began releasing
interned Japanese
•
100th Battalion – all Japanese unit,
most decorated American unit in
WWII
•
1988 – President Reagan apologized
the Japanese Americans on behalf of
the U.S. gov’t and granted $20,000 to
interned Japanese still alive
ORGANIZING & PAYING FOR WAR
• Government created
agencies to regulate
prices and wages
• Rationing – gov’t
agencies limited the
purchase of products to
make sure they were
available for military
use
– Ex. meat, sugar ,gasoline
ORGANIZING & PAYING FOR WAR
• Victory Gardens –
Americans used all types
of available land to plant
gardens in order to
increase food supplies
• Scrap Drives – volunteers
collected all types of
materials
– Rubber, tin, aluminum, car
bumper, bicycles
ORGANIZING & PAYING FOR WAR
• War Bonds – gov’t spent
more than $300 billion on
the war
– Taxes were raised but not
as high as FDR wanted,
why not?
– Buying bonds allowed
people to “lend” the gov’t
money
– Individuals bought about
$50 billion worth
– Banks, companies…bought
about $100 billion worth
21.4 – PUSHING BACK THE AXIS
• Casablanca Conference
(Jan. 1943)
– FDR and Churchill agreed
to:
a. Increase bombing of
Germany
b. Attack Sicily (soft
underbelly)
c. Unconditional surrender
for Germany and Japan
21.4 – STRATEGIC BOMBING
• Allies drastically
increase the bombings
on German as of early
1943…leads to….
– Oil shortage
– Destruction of RRs
– Destruction of factories
(aircraft)
– Eventual control of the
Air for the Allies
In an industrial war you need to destroy
the industrial capabilities of the enemy
21.4 – ITALY
• Eisenhower, Patton,
and Montgomery
lead the invasion of
Italy in July of 1943
• Germans evacuated
by August 18
• What happens to
Mussolini?
• Germans seized
northern Italy and
fighting continued
until 1945
21.4 – TEHRAN CONFERENCE
• FDR, WC, JS meet in
Tehran, Iran in
Nov./Dec. of 1943
– Stalin promises invasion
of Germany when Allies
invade France in 1944
– FDR and JS agree to
divide Germany after
the war
– JS promises to help the
U.S. against Japan after
Germany is divided
21.4 – FRANCE
• Operation Overlord –
invasion of France
– Led by Dwight Eisenhower
– “dummy” equipment
placed at Calais to fool the
Germans
– real landing was at
Normandy
– D-Day – June 6, 1944
21.4 – FRANCE
• 7,000 ships carried
over 100,000 troops
• Landed at beaches
named:
– Omaha, Utah, Juno…
• Largest amphibious
invasion in history
– Gave the Allies a
foothold in France/W.
Europe
Saving Private Ryan clip
CASUALTIES
AMERICAN
6,603
BRITISH
2,700
CANADIAN
946
KILLED
2,500
AMERICAN WAR CASUALTIES
THROUGHOUT HISTORY
21.4 – JAPAN
• Island hopping was led by
Nimitz and MacArthur
– Began in late 1943
– First attack showed need for
better equipment, such as
Amphtracs
– Targets included Marshal
Islands, Mariana Islands,
Philippines…
– Islands could serve as bases
for planes (B-29s) to bomb
Japan
– By Aug. 1944 the bombing of
Japan began
21.4 – JAPAN
• Guadalcanal
– MacA. Begins invasion
in August of 1942
– Lasts until early 1944
– Retakes the Philippines
in October of 1944 (he
did in fact return)
– Japanese attack the P.
at Leyte Gulf
• Largest naval battle in
history
• Kamikazes for the first
time
• Japanese eventually
retreat; both sides
suffer terribly
21.5 – END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE
• As the Allies advanced
from Normandy the
French Resistance
rebelled
• Aug. 25, 1944 – Paris is
liberated
• Battle of the Bulge(Dec.
1944 - Jan. 1945)
– Hitler’s last-gasp
offensive against the
Allies
– Patton eventually leads
the Americans to victory
in early 1945 (finally an
end in sight?)
videos
21.5 – END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE
• By Feb. 1945 the
Soviets had pushed the
Germans back close to
Berlin
• April 30, 1945 – Hitler
committed suicide
• V-E Day – May 7, 1945
– Germany surrenders,
war in Europe is over
• Allies insisted on
unconditional
surrender
21.5 – END OF THE WAR IN ASIA
• Iwo Jima – U.S. needed
a closer base for planes
to bomb Japanese cities
• Feb. 19, 1945 – 60,000
Marines land on IJ
– About 6,800 marines are
killed
– Island is captured
video
21.5 – END OF THE WAR IN ASIA
• Okinawa – U.S. needed a
base to launch a land
invasion of Japan, IJ was
too far away to serve this
purpose
• U.S. troops landed on
April 1, 1945
– More than 12,000
Americans died
– Island was captured on
June 22, 1945
video
21.5 – DEATH OF FDR
• FDR died on April 12,
1945 of a stroke
• Harry Truman became
president
video
21.5 – FIREBOMBING OF JAPAN
• By early 1954 the U.S.
developed a new strategy for
bombing Japan (Curtis LeMay)
– Use of napalm created horrific
fires
– Tokyo was firebombed in
March of 1945
– Thousands of civilians were
killed; about 80,000 people
killed in Tokyo alone
– Very controversial
– Why do this?
21.5 – SURRENDER?
• U.S. was demanding
unconditional surrender
• Japanese wanted to
ensure the Emperor’s rule
• Truman was hesitant to
agree to any Japanese
requests
– Why?
Emperor Hirohito
21.5 – ATOMIC BOMB
• Manhattan Project –
secret American program
to build an atomic bomb
– Led by Gen. Leslie Groves
– J. Robert Oppenheimer led
the team of scientists
working on the bomb in
New Mexico
– July 16, 1945 – detonation
of the world’s first atomic
bomb
J. Robert Oppenheimer
21.5 – ATOMIC BOMB
• Debate about if/how to
use the bomb?
• August 6, 1945 – first
bomb is dropped on
Hiroshima
– over 100,000 killed
• August 9, 1945 – bomb
is dropped on Nagasaki
• V-J Day – August 15,
1945 – Japan
surrendered; the war is
over
video
21.5 – NEW WORLD
• United Nations –
created on April 25,
1945
– Goal was to create
int’l cooperation and
to promote int’l
peace and security
– 5 permanent
members of the
Security Council
(U.S., USSR, China,
France, Great Britain)
21.5 – TRIALS
• International Military
Tribunal – set up trials for war
crimes committed by German
and Japanese leaders
• Nuremberg, Germany
• Tokyo, Japan
– Emperor was not put on trial,
why not?
– Results of the trials?
video