Mobilization
Retaking Europe
The Holocaust
The War in the Pacific
The Social Impact of the War
 When the US declared war, they were not ready for war
 Mobilizing the US Armed Forces
 Selective Training and Service Act = The Draft (21-36 yrs)
 Military Spending went from $2 billion to $10 billion
 FDR’s “4 FREEDOMS” Speech
 Freedom from WANT
 Freedom of RELIGION
* Freedom from FEAR
* Freedom of SPEECH
 The GI War
 More than 16 Million served as “GI’s”
 Normal everyday American men who left home to fight for
freedom
 Diversity in the Armed Forces (despite facing
racism at home, they served)
 All racial/ethnic backgrounds served in the US Military
 300,000 Mexican American served
 25,000 “CODE TALKERS” (Native Americans) served
 1,000,000 African Americans served (Tuskegee Airmen)
 Women in the Military - 35,000 volunteered to serve
 Worked as clerks, typists, airfield control towers, mechanics,
photographers andrivers
 Anything to free up a soldier to fight
 Wartime Work Force
 War production will employ our nation (ending the Great
Depression)
 Wages rose by more than 50% from 1940-1945
 Union membership rose
 Labor and Business agreed: No Strikes, No Lockouts
 Financing the War (US Gov’t vowed to spend whatever necessary)
 Higher Taxes, War Bonds, borrowing financed the $321
billion it took)
 Daily Life on the Home Front (the war effected EVERYONE)
 Shortages and Controls
 People had money for first time since the 1920’s, but many things
were rationed
Metal, rubber, nylon stockings, certain foods
Ration cards (sugar, coffee, meat, butter, canned fruit, shoes)
Gasoline rationed too “Is this trip really necessary?”
 Popular Culture
 Books & Magazines
 Radio & Records
 Baseball & Movies
 Enlisting Public Support (Gov’t encouraged
people to take part in the war effort)
 Accept rationing, conserve precious resources
 Hired writers and artists to create posters/ads to




stir American patriotism
“VICTORY GARDENS” to grow veggies at
home
“Blackouts”- People shuttered their homes at
night
Civil Defense
Recycle efforts – metal, paper and other war
production materials
 (COLLECT AND CONSERVE)
 Americans Join the Struggle
 The Battle of the Atlantic
(France in German hands, London under seige )
 Convoys used to get American Soldiers and supplies by the German
Uboats
 “Wolf Packs” hunted military and merchant ships
 Sonar and better tactics will decrease the “Wolf Pack’s” success
 The North Africa Campaign
 Rommel and Montgomery fought for control of Northern Africa
 When US troops arrived, they lost their first battle but learned and won
later
 Churchill and Roosevelt will meet at Casablanca and mapped out their
strategy for the rest of the war: Europe first , then the Pacific
Only unconditional surrender from Italy and Germany
 The Invasion of Italy (2 front war)
 US and British troops hit Sicily and the Italian mainland
 The Fascist Italian government voted Mussolini out
 Allied troops advanced thru Italy, nearing Rome, and the
Italians surrendered
 The Germans did not give up – (Fight or Die)
 Many months of brutal fighting
 Finally, Germans surrender, Mussolini shot by Italians
 War in the Soviet Union
 The Germans Advance – Hitler breaks “non-aggression pact”
 Believing he could take Russia quickly, Hitler poured into
Russia
 100,000’s + Russian Soldiers taken prisoner
 Millions of Russian Soldiers and even more civilians dig in for a
fight
(some saw German’s as liberators because Stalin was brutal but
quickly found out the Germans were worse. They were forced
labor or executed)
 As Red Army retreated, Germans destroyed everything
 Russian’s asked America for LEND LEASE aid, and it was sent
 As Germans threatened Moscow and other key cities, Stalin
begged the Allies to attack Italy and take the pressure off
Russia. The Allies weren’t ready and left Russia to deal with the
full force of the German Army
 The Battle of Stalingrad (Winter will hit and change
everything)
 Germany’s Army will bog down in the winter
 The people of Stalingrad will hold out and the battle will
rage again in Spring
 When winter hit again, the Germans were stuck without
supplies
 By late January, 90,000 Germans surrendered. 330,000
dead
 Russian losses were worse. More than 1,000,000 died in
Stalingrad
 The Allied Air War (Allied planes also went after military and civilian targets)
 Carpet Bombing –scattering large numbers of bombs over a




wide area
Allied bombing of Germany intensified when US entered the
war
Hundreds of bombers would rain destruction on German cities
In 1943, Allies stepped up their bombing in advance of invasion
British and German citizens took to spending nights
underground to survive
 40,000 Germans will die in 4 nights in bombings on Hamburg
 By 1944, US and British coordinated attacks
 Americans bombed by day, British bombed by night
 3,000 planes a day took flight
Allies attack from England
Russia Attacks
from the East
Allies attack from Africa
Germany/Axis powers now had to deal with a 3 front war. Even with this,
the Allies put to the test and had to commit everything they had to the
effort to push Germany back
 Stalin (and some US Generals) were calling for the invasion of western Europe
 Operation Overlord would be launched from England
 General Dwight D. Eisenhower named Supreme Commander
 THE PLAN: To attack Europe from Britain in Normandy
Massive troops buildup began
 Germany, in response, fortified their defenses in N. France
 SUBTRIFUGE: The British were masters of trickery.
(youtube: D-Day Deception)
 A plan was devised to trick the Germans into thinking the attack
would come at Calais not Normandy
 Spys were turned and sent fake messages
 “Secret” battle plans were planted
 Fake troop build up across from Calais
D-Day
 4,600 invasion craft crossed the British Channel
 1,000 RAF aircraft bombed the coastline of France
 23, 000 airborne parachuted behind enemy lines
(British and American)
 150,000 troops landed along 60 miles of French coast
 Heavy casualties (2,000 on one beach), but the Allies
gained control (10,000 Allied casualties in one day)
 Within 1 week, ½ million troops and their
equipment were ashore
 By late July, over 2 million Allied troops in France
 Liberating France (Aug. ‘44)
 August, 1944 – The French Resistance began an uprising as




Allied troops neared
First objective, retake Paris . . . then on to Germany
Hitler ordered Paris burned, the generals ignored the order
Massive celebration as the Germans gave up control of Paris
By late September, Allied troops were nearing Germany
 The Battle of the Bulge (Dec.‘44 – Jan.‘44)
 Hitler’s last attempt to stop the Allies in a counter attack on
Allied lines
 Several units fought against overwhelming German attack
and held off assault
 80,000 Allies forces died, 100,000 German forces died
 After this battle, German general (not Hitler) realized the
war was lost
 The War in Europe Ends
 Soviet Forces Advance
 As Allied bombers continued to pound German cities, Soviet forces
hit from the east
 Fighting between Germany and USSR was horrific
9 million Russian soldiers (and as many as 9 million civilians) died
3 million German soldiers died
Soviet leaders viewed the capture of Berlin a matter of honor
Soviet Army meets up with Allied Armies outside Berlin
 Germany Surrenders
Hitler refused to leave Berlin (as his generals suggested)
 Went into his bunker and committed suicide
 A few days later, Germany surrendered (May 8, 1945) V-E Day
 War in Europe was over, but the War in the Pacific still going on

 The Yalta Conference
 Feb, 1945 – THE BIG THREE (Roosevelt, Churchill &
Stalin) met in Yalta
 Planned what would happen after the war ended
Split Germany (and Berlin) into 4 zones
Stalin agreed to elections in Eastern Europe and to
help in Japan
(promises he later broke)
Berlin
 Persecution in Germany
 Nazi Policies: The belief in “Aryan Superiority” drove German policies
 Anti-Semitism: discrimination or hostility (often violent) directed









at Jews
Anti-Semitism became official policy under the Nazi’s
Eventually 2/3 of Europe’s Jewish population (6 million +)
murdered
One-Day Boycott then a total boycott of Jewish owned businesses
German Citizenship stripped from Jews
Jews attacked as “enemies of the Germans” in the media
Jews expelled from German schools
Identification worn on clothing; Names changed to identify
SS used to enforce German policies
Most Jews believed they could endure until Hitler lost power
 (they were wrong)
 Kristallnacht (The Night of the Broken Glass)
 Nearly every Synagogue destroyed, 1000’s arrested and sent to “Labor
Camps”
 Jews forced to pay fines to pay for damages to German property on
that night
 Refugees Seek an Escape
 1 in 4 Jews fled Germany (with Nazi encouragement) to nearby
countries
 Few countries welcomed the refugees – The Great Depressions
 A conference was called to discuss the refugees. 32 nations refused to
take them in
 From Murder to Genocide
 The Warsaw Ghetto: An enclosed city
 Received little food (hunger, starvation the norm)
 Crowding brought disease; 1000’s died each month
 Still the Nazi’s sought more efficient ways to kill the Jews
 The Einsatzgrupppen (Mobile Killing Squads)
 Sent to kill Communist leaders and Jews in German occupied
territories
 Rounded up Jews, dug a big ditch and shot them
 Babi Yar: 33,000 Jews killed in 2 days and put in a mass grave
 Wannsee Conference
 Nazi officials met to discuss what to do with the Jews
 “Final Solution” = Genocide
 The Death Camps
 (Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Sobibor, Treblinka & others)
 Sorting process as trains deposited Jews
 The ones they could use for labor were sent to camps
 The young, old, infirmed, etc were sent to the showers
 Nazi’s decided that poison gas would be the most efficient way to kill
 Showers designed to allow as many to be killed at a time as possible
 Fighting Back
 Underground Resistance
 Escape
 Survival
 Rescue and Liberation
 US knew as early as 1942, but no political will to do anything about it
 1944 – FDR created War Refugee Board (WRB) to try to help those
threatened by the NAZI’s. It will help save more than 200,000 lives
 As Allies advanced on Germany, the camps were abandoned. Thousands
will die before the rescuers get to them.
 NUREMBERG TRIALS: Crimes against Humanity
 The Japanese Advance
 The Philippines Fall
 After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese move to take control of Asia
 The Philippines taken – 76,000 Filipinos and Americans taken
prison
 Bataan Death March – 10,000 die on march, 15,000 die in
camps
 Defending China and Burma
 Japan takes control of China and Burma, ending British aid to
the rebels
 2 Aircraft Carriers were out at the time of attack
 2 were damaged but reparable
 The War at Sea
 Pearl Harbor had crippled the US Navy, but not
totally
 Doolittle Raid
After PH, the US needed to strike back (for morale
reasons)
Plan devised to hit Japan and fly to China and land
Most pilots survived (many captured by Japanese in
China)
Minimal damage but a HUGE morale boost for US
and its military
 Allied Victories Turn the Tide
 The Battle of Midway
 Japan wanted to deal a final blow to the US Navy
 The base on Midway was the key to their plans
 US had a surprise for Japan – the 2 aircraft carriers damaged were
fixed
 Japan lost 4 carriers, 250+ planes, & most of its skilled pilots
 Last offensive attack by Japan
 The Battle of Guadalcanal
 1st island the Allies try to retake
 6 month battle – Japanese and Allies reinforced their troops
 Jungle warfare – fanatical Japanese fighters – heavy casualties
 1st Japanese controlled territory the Allies took back
 Struggle for the Islands
 Island Hopping
 Strategy to block food and supplies was successful
 Japanese fighters were still fierce fighters
 The Philippines Campaign
 Planners wanted to “hop” over the Philippines, but McArthur pressed
 Tough battles (Leyte Gulf), Japanese did not want to lose this base
 KAMIKAZES: used for the first time, to great effect
 Japanese Navy virtually destroyed, the Allies marched on toward Japan
 80,000 Japanese troops died, less than 1,000 taken prisoner
 The closer the US got the Japan, the deadlier the
fighting became
 Iwo Jima and Okinawa (now on to Japanese soil)
 Iwo Jima (700 miles from Japan)
 74 days of bombing to “soften up” the Japanese fighters
 100,000+ US troop vs. 25,000 Japanese soldiers = 1 month of brutal battle
 Only 216 Japanese fighters taken prisoner
 US lost 25,000 on this little island
 Okinawa (350 miles from Japan)
 US – 1,300 warships, 180,000+ troops
 Japan – 100,000 defenders who would fight until the death
 2000 kamikaze attacks on US warships
 Banzai attacks – to kill as many as possible before they were killed
 Only 7,200 surrendered
 US lost 50,000+ on this little island
 The Manhattan Project
 Super Secret Project to Build the Atomic Bomb






Einstein letter to FDR
Best scientists put on the project with unlimited funding
Segmented into different parts of project (only a few knew whole plan)
**Hanford, WA** **Oak Ridge, TN** **Los Alamos, NM**
Race to develop an atomic weapon
Los Alamos NM test sight
 Scientists sent letter to FDR to urge him NOT to use the weapon
 Truman informed of successful test (3 weapons ready for use)
 The Decision to Drop the Bomb





1. A Massive Invasion (millions of casualties)
2. Naval Blockade (long, conventional bombing needed)
3. A Demonstration (might not work, only 3 bombs)
4. Softening the Allied Demands
5. Drop the Bomb
 Japan Surrenders
 August 6, 1945 – The Enola Gay drops bomb on Hiroshima
 Japan given 3 days to surrender or another bomb dropped
 August 9, 1945 – Nagasaki is bombed
 August 14, 1945 – Japan surrenders
 (J-V Day)
 Effect of the use of the Atomic Bomb
 Quick surrender by Japan, end of World War 2
 Displayed U.S. power to USSR/world
 Showed U.S. would use any means necessary to win
 Established the U.S. as THE SUPERPOWER of the world
Instantly: 5-10 mile radius incinerated
Deaths: More than 150,000-200,000 died instantly
Cities destroyed
Japanese culture forever altered
US – Only country EVER to use an atomic bomb
Began the “COLD WAR” arms race with the Soviet Union
 Use your books to find 2-3 facts about each area on the
worksheet
 You can work in groups of 2-4, but each must complete
the worksheet
 If time, teacher will use power points to review each
different group that was covered
 What were the conditions life for African Americans
just before WWII?
 What were the following acts of government and what
were they trying to achieve?
 Executive Order 8802
 FEPC
 Once the US entered the war, how were African
Americans treated by the military?
 Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
 What was CORE and what were they formed to do?
 African Americans
 Economic Discrimination: Industry needed millions of workers
 Still 1 of 5 African Americans out of work at the beginning of war
 Executive Order 8802: Desegregated Defense Programs
 FEPC (Fair Employment Practices Committee) set up to hear
complaints about hiring/work practices
 Soldiers and Segregation: Both served, but in different units
 Tuskeegee Airmen
 Divided Opinions
 Most whites believed African American soldiers satisfied with
conditions in the military and new opportunities in society
 CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) formed to fight for equality
 Mexican Americans
 The BRACERO Program: to meet the need for agricultural
workers during the war, 200,00+ Mexican workers were
brought in
 Also worked in military programs (aircraft industry)
 Zoot Suit Riots: Mexican Bracero’s livedin BARRIO’s,
especially in LA and SD. Military soldiers based in area
conflicted with “Zoot Suiters”
 Soldiers confined to base
 Native Americans (Culture Shock)
 Most N.A. lived on reservations in abject poverty
 Most N.A’s had never left the reservation, in their entire life
 25,000 volunteered
 23,000 worked in war industries
 “CODE TALKERS”
 Unique unwritten language
 Difficult for Japanese to infiltrate
 Japanese Americans
 Japanese Internment
 Executive Order 9066 – Presidential order for interment of Japanese
 Remove “any or all persons” of Japanese dissent
 (2/3 were American born)
 They would be “interned” or contained during war
 Poor conditions common
 Legal Challenges
 There were legal challenges to this policy
 Korematsu v. US (1944) S.C. found US government acted within the rules
of a nation at war. The S.C. would later overturn this ruling
 Japanese Americans in the Military
 17,000+ will volunteer, would serve in segregated units
 After the War
 Those in camps returned to find their property had been taken
 They had to start all over
 1988 – US Congress passed a law giving $20,000 to each surviving
internee or their family
 Working Women
 New Kinds of Jobs
 Traditional jobs for women no longer enough for war effort
 Higher paying jobs in factories and plants opened as men went to war
 By 1944, 19.4 million women working in war industries
 “Rosie the Riveter”
 Benefits and Problems with Employment
 Women got more money and more self-confidence
 They earned less than men, often faced resentment for working
 Had to juggle home and work
 After the War
 “For the duration”, women expected to give up jobs when men returned
 Most content to leave, but many wanted to stay
I.
Mobilization
I.
II.
II.
How the US mobilized for war
Effect of war on daily life
Retaking Europe
I.
II.
III.
War in the Soviet Union (impact on Allies decisions)
Invasion into Italy
Invasion into Northern Europe (D-Day, Battle of the Bulge)
III. The Holocaust
I.
II.
How/why the Nazi’s used the “Final Solution”
US response to the Holocaust
IV. The War in the Pacific
I.
II.
III.
V.
Midway & Guadalcanal
Island Hopping (Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa)
The Atomic Bomb (Choices, Decision to use, Effects)
The War’s Social Effects
I.
II.
III.
IV.
African Americans & Mexicans
Native Americans
Japanese Internment
Women
 1) What factors motivated Italy, Germany and
Japan and its leaders to pursue aggressive foreign
policies during the 1930’s?
 2) Do you think the Allies could have won World
War II without the aid of the United States?
EXPLAIN!!
 3) What were some alternatives to using the atomic
bomb against Japan? EXPLAIN whether or not you
think dropping the atomic bomb was the best
strategy and WHY
 4) How might the events of World War II have been
different if Germany had honored its nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union?