WW2 Impact on the US
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The Second World War had a significant impact on the US home-front as the federal
government mobilized its economic and human resources to defeat the Axis powers.
○ the economic impact was to return the economy to prosperity after a decade
of depression.
The war promoted the growth of big business and nurtured the link between US
industry and the military. The war increased the power of the Presidency and federal
government and through the sacrifices made by both those on the fighting fronts, and
those at home, the war became a catalyst for social and economic change.
Economic effects on the US
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The Second World War enabled the USA to expand its industrial and military
complexes on a huge scale.
By the end of the war it had emerged as the most powerful economy in the world.
Employment in the USA during the war
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According to Turrentino: End of the depression – Increased…
The mobilization of US industry
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As the US economy began to improve after 1939, it became clear that for industrial
output to increase, new factories would have to be built and existing ones reequipped with new machinery.
The main problem for US industry in the years 1940–1 was the shortage of machine
tools.
○ The situation was so grave that Roosevelt banned the export of machine tools
in 1941.
○ The shortage of machine tools was overcome by phenomenal work and
organization, although it was only in late 1941 that factories moved beyond
one shift per day.
■ LITERARY 24/7
○ By 1944, production of machine tools began to slow because US industry was
performing at maximum effciency.
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The USA began to increase its production of defence items from 1939 to 1941.
However, at the same time, civilian industries continued to produce for the home
market. Hence, there was an internal competition for basic materials.
○ 7 January 1941 Roosevelt established the Offce of Production Management
(OPM) by Executive Order 8629.
■ regulated the production and supply of materials required for national
defence and co-ordinated the work of all departments engaged in the
country’s defence.
■ crucial, especially after the Lend–Lease agreement
the OPM did not always regulate supplies effectively.
○ August 1941 Roosevelt stepped in and created the Supplies Priorities and
Allocation Board to serve as the co-ordinating centre ‘for the execution of the
powers and activities of the several departments and agencies relating to
priorities of materials’ and oversee the OPM.
○ After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt was forced to create a
single body to direct mobilization. This was the War Production Board (WPB).
■ able to increase US war production but could not always ensure a
constant fow of raw materials such as aluminium.
By 1944, the USA produced 25 per cent of the UK’s military equipment.
1945, half of the world’s manufacturing took place in the USA.
The US gross national product grew from about $200 billion in 1940 to $300 billion in
1950.
The recruitment of workers
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The War Manpower Commission (WMC) was set up on 18 April 1942 by Roosevelt
to establish a clear policy about the wartime labour force. There was tension between
the military, which sought to recruit huge numbers of men, and industry, which
required vast numbers of workers.
○ Training Within Industry (TWI) department. This helped to provide training
services for unskilled workers to cover the shortfall of those who had enlisted.
Inflation during the war
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During the First World War, retail prices in the USA rose by more than 60 per cent.
To combat infation during the Second World War, Roosevelt set up a specifc body,
the Offce of Price Administration (OPA), to control prices and rents.
○ Prices did remain relatively stable throughout the war years and the OPA kept
infation to an average of 3.5 per cent in the years 1942–6.
○ the government was able to encourage people to save and buy war bonds
which helped the government to fnance the war.
■ By 1945, about 85 million Americans had purchased almost $200
billion worth of war bonds mostly through automatic deductions from
their wages and salaries.
Problems after War
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Towards the end of the war, Congress anticipated a depression in the aftermath of
peace and worked on legislation to avoid a repetition of the 1930s.
Almost 10 million service people were looking for jobs in civilian life in 1945 and
1946.
The government realized that it had a central role to play in peacetime economic
affairs.
The GI Bill of Rights
○ the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944.
○ provide federal aid for the millions of returning war veterans and was to help
make the transition to work easier. It helped servicemen to start businesses
and go to college.
■ 8 million enrolled
○ The GI Bill also offered low-interest mortgages and this in itself created
employment by contributing to a construction boom. Aid from the GI Bill
amounted to almost $14 billion by 1951.
Women after the war
○ At the end of the war, because of the mass of returning soldiers, the
government and owners of industry urged women to ‘go back home’ and ‘give
your job to a vet [veteran]’.
○ By the end of 1946, there were 2.5 million fewer women in the workforce.
Strikes
○ There was often an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among workers during the
war and although there were strikes, the vast majority of workers refrained
from demanding huge and outrageous demands for higher wages or better
working conditions.
○ In 1945, unions had more than 14 million members. As price controls ended
and workers saw that they could spend their disposable income they
demanded more consumer goods. Not only did they demand consumer
goods, they demanded wage increases, pensions and health insurance.
■ The Taft–Hartley Act
● This allowed employees the right not to join unions and
required advance notice of a strike, authorized an 80-day
federal injunction when a strike threatened national health or
safety, narrowed the defnition of unfair labour practices,
specifed unfair union practices, restricted union political
contributions, and required union offcials to take an oath
pledging that they were not communists.
○ The government was surprised and concerned by the number and extent of
strikes after the war fnished and President Truman wanted to ensure that the
strikes caused minimal disruption to the USA.
Industries
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Mass production techniques were developed for fighter aircraft, aircraft carriers,
merchant vessels, trucks and jeeps.
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Government took control of industrial production.
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Jan 42 War Production Board set up tasked with changing production priorities to the
needs of the military. Silk ribbon factories now made silk parachutes, and car factories
made tanks and planes.
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The War Management Commission, 1942, recruited workers where they were
needed most.
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New industries were created particularly for synthetic materials such as rubber.
There was research into improving weapons, such as radar and the atom bomb.
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To keep industry profitable government contracts guaranteed profit and a triangle
developed of military needs – government contracts – business production
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By 1945 the US, with about 5% of the world’s population, was producing over 50% of
the world’s manufactured goods.
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Labor unions got increased membership. In 1941 they agreed to a no strike pledge
with employers, to aid war production. The National War Labor Board [NWLB] banned
closed shops.
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In 1943, after strikes including in the mines, the War Labor Disputes Act enforced a
30-day cooling off period before a strike. NWLB was authorized to settle disputes.
Agriculture
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Government encouraged ‘Victory gardens’ and canned excess product – ‘eat what
you can and can what you can’t.’
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Agriculture became more mechanized as farm workers were needed for fighting.
Number of family run farms reduced as land bought up by co-operatives, or became part of
large agribusiness units
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In 1944, American farms produced 324 million more bushels of wheat and 477 million
more bushels of corn than in 1939
Investement
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War bonds were set up by government: financing the war and taking money out of
circulation to hold down inflation. Bonds were loans from US public to the government.
Bond posters appeared in 1941.
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Hollywood stars promoted bond rallies and sporting events raised purchase of war
bonds. 85 million US citizens had bought bonds by 1945
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Men between the age of 18 and 45 were eligible for the military draft. Numbers
paying federal income tax rose from 13 million to 60 million.
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1943 Jan: President Roosevelt submitted his budget to the U.S. Congress. $100
billion of the $109 billion budget is identified with the war effort.
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1944 June: In the U.S., President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment
Act to provide funds for housing and education after the war. It is better known as the GI Bill
of Rights.
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1945 Dec: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was created.
Of the more than $7 billion contributed by 21 countries, the U.S. subscribed more than $3
billion to the World Bank
Diplomatic effects on the US
What were the diplomatic effects of the war for the US?
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As well as emerging as a superpower in terms of military and economic factors, the
US gained much political prestige from its involvement in the war and defeat of
Nazism.
American political ideals of liberal democracy had triumphed and Roosevelt was
determined that these ideals should be enshrined through the establishment of the
United Nations.
The US played a leading role in the wartime conferences of Tehran, Yalta and
Potsdam and the development of the post war order in Europe and Asia.
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This involvement in international politics was due to a growing realization
within the US that isolation was no longer a tenable policy and that America's
best interests were to be served by keeping Europe and Asia free from hostile
powers.
This was to bring the US directly into conflict with the post war aims of the
Soviet Union and thus to the development of a Cold War in Europe from
1946.
This Cold War hostility would in turn contribute to the Red Scare that
developed within the US form 1946.
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The USA/Soviet Relations – During the War…
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Roosevelt immediately promised Stalin Lend–Lease aid. The situation changed once
again following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when the two countries became
allies against Hitler. The USSR and Japan remained at peace as a result of their
Neutrality Pact of April 1941 . Now that there was a coalition of the USA, the UK and
the USSR, relations became more complex because fnding a compromise between
them in a diffcult situation would not be easy.
the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
○ Tehran: Tensions about opening a 2nd front to help the Soviets
■ Tension grew among the Big Three about the future of Germany and
there was a fear that the USSR might take advantage of a
dismembered Europe.
○ Yalta: How to deal with a defeat Germany (working together) and convincing
Stalin to help the USA against Japan…
■ Roosevelt was happy to guarantee friendly governments on the
USSR’s borders and accepted Stalin’s promise to hold free elections
in the territories liberated by Soviet forces.
■ Roosevelt succeeded in gaining a commitment from Stalin to enter the
war against Japan after hostilities with Germany ceased and he felt
thatthe USSR’s participation in the Pacifc War would also help to
strengthen relations between the two countries.
■ Developed a relationship with Stalin
● Roosevelt was convinced that his personal friendship and
rapport with Stalin would ensure solutions to the problems
facing post-war Europe. He believed that relations with the
USSR would be good after the war
○ Potsdam…reversal of everything…Truman becomes president…
■ When President Roosevelt died in April 1945, his successor, Harry S.
Truman, had opposing views about Stalin, the USSR and
communism. President Truman disliked communism and was
determined to be tough on Stalin and the USSR at Potsdam
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Growing US–Soviet rivalry
○ The ideologies which had caused suspicion in the inter-war period surfaced
once more after 1945.
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WW2 Impact on the Americas