ENDURING VISION – CH. 27 – WAGING GLOBAL WAR 1939-1945
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY NOTES
WALTON
“The Good War”
“This war is not a war only, but an end and a beginning – an end to things known and a beginning of things unknown.
We have smelled the wind in the streets that changes weather. We know that whatever the world will be when the war
ends, the world will be different.” Archibald MacLeish – poet
Into the Storm, 1939-41
Germany, Italy, and Japan = Rome Berlin Tokyo Axis
Storm in Europe
Sept. 1, 1939 Hitler invades Poland. 2 days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. The U.S. followed the
Neutrality Acts and stayed out. But FDR declared, “even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his
conscience.”
FDR asked in 1939 for revision of Neutrality Act prohibition against sale of weapons to belligerents. New version
prohibited U.S. ships from entering war zones but could help belligerents with “cash and carry” version. You pay
cash and you get goods in your own ships.
Germany made headway in Europe. Seized Denmark and conquered Norway April 1940, overran Dutch and Belgians
in May, attacked France with British barely escaping at Dunkirk. Churchill said “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall
fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields; we shall never surrender.” Germans continued on past the
Maginot Line. June 22 France surrendered. Hitler turned toward Britain. He sought to destroy the British air force and
terror-bombed British cities.
Election of 1940
Rep. – Wendell Wilkie of Indiana – dark-horse candidate – favored aiding the Br.
Dem. – FDR – THIRD TERM – approved first peacetime draft, increased defense spending, bases for destroyer
deal – we give Br. 50 old destroyers in exchange for leases on Br. air and naval bases in Western Hemisphere.
His opponents – isolationists – created Committee to Defend America First – financed by Henry Ford, featured
Charles Lindbergh as speakers. Slogan of “Fortress America” – claimed U.S. had strength to stand along regardless
if Hitler won in Europe. Roosevelt pledged “I will never send an American boy to fight in a European war.” – FDR
won, carried 38 states and 55 % of votes.
From Isolation to Intervention
FDR moved to support Br.
Called upon U.S. to be “the arsenal of democracy.” Proposed “lend-lease” to lend or lease war supplies to any nation
deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.” Shipments to Br. and after Hitler invaded U.S.S.R., to Soviet Union.
FDR confided he “would hold hands with the devil” to defeat Hitler.
FDR turned next to German subs in the North Atlantic. American ships began to track German u-boats. U.S. Navy
started convoying Br. ships carrying lend-lease supplies, with orders to destroy if necessary any enemy vessel. U.S.
forces occupied Greenland and Iceland. FDR met Churchill on warship off Newfoundland to discuss joint military
strategy. Created Atlantic Charter. Similar to 14 Points – condemned aggression, affirmed national selfdetermination, endorsed principles of collective security, disarmament. German subs began to attack American military
vessels. “Rattlesnakes of the Atlantic” was FDR’s term for the German subs. FDR authorized shoot on sight Axis
vessels operating between U.S. and Iceland. American destroyer “Reuben James” sank by sub with death of 115 of
its 160 officers and enlisted men. U.S. armed merchant ships in Nov. 1941 and permitted sailing to belligerent ports.
The neutrality acts were basically gone; America was fighting a limited war; full-scale war seemed imminent.
Toward Pearl Harbor
1940 – Congress authorized a “two-ocean navy.” FDR said “I have simply not got enough navy to go around – and
every episode in the Pacific means fewer ships in the Atlantic.” President was counseled by army and navy to prolong
negotiations with Japan to gain time. Japan desired Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (an empire embracing
much of China, SE Asia, and the western Pacific). America supported Open Door. “Yellow-peril” propaganda, brutal
treatment of Chinese by Japan, desire for colonies – perceived by Washington as Japanese tactics. U.S. puts economic
pressure on Japan.
1939 – ends 1911 Treaty of Trade and Navigation with Japan
1940 – banned the sale of aviation fuel and scrap metal to Japan, extended embargo to steel and other metals
after Tripartite Pact whereby Japan, Germany, and Italy pledge mutual support. Japan occupied N. Indochina
(Vietnam). Washington added more products to embargo list.
1941 – Japanese overran rest of Indochina. Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in U.S. and put total embargo on trade
with Japan. Expansionist war minister Tojo became prime minister of Japan. Tojo opposed compromise with U.S., set
first week in Dec. as deadline for Japanese forces to take offensive if U.S. retained embargo. Japanese believed they
had to do this.
U.S. intelligence deciphered codes that Japanese attack was imminent. U.S. was insisting on complete withdrawal of
Japanese from China and Indochina. War warnings went out to all commanders in the Pacific advising of imminent
Japanese attack. U.S. officials expected it to come against Br. or Dutch possessions in south Pacific, maybe Philippines.
Japanese were planning aerial raid on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. – destroy Pacific Fleet and compel FDR – preoccupied
with Gr. – to make terms with Japanese.
Dec. 7, 1941 – Japanese bombed – in three hours, 188 aircraft destroyed, almost as many damaged, 8 battleships
destroyed, 3 light cruisers, 3 destroyers sunk or crippled. Killed 2,400 Americans. By April 1942, Japanese had
advanced to Australia. FDR asked Congress to declare war on Dec. 8. Unanimous except for Janette Rankin – pacifist
from Montana – had voted against WWI. Hitler then declared war on the “half Judaized and the other half
Negrified” United States. Mussolini did as well, Congress retaliated.
On the Defensive
Gr. u-boats prowled Atlantic, Caribbean, East Coast of U.S.- tankers, freighters, etc. sank – Chesapeake Bay bottled up
for 6 weeks. “Wolf packs” had sunk more than 1000 Allied ships by end of 1942. Battle of Atlantic was being lost by
U.S.
Early 1942 things were going bad for Allies. Hitler was 1000 miles deep into Russia, to the Pyrenees on Sp.-Fr. border,
from northern tip of Norway, to Libyan Desert. Hitler was poised to seize Caucasian oil fields in Crimea. Gr.
threatening Suez
Canal, the oil lifeline of the Brits. Japanese made big gains – took Guam 3 days after Pearl Harbor. Took Wake Island,
Hong Kong. Singapore fell, in Battle of Java Sea, oil-rich Dutch East Indies, Burma – last mainland link to China –
Burma Road “The Hump.”
Pushed U.S. garrison in Philippines to Bataan Peninsula (Bataan Death March) and then onto island of Corregidor.
Japan took more than 11,000 American soldiers prisoner. Poised to strike at Australia, west coast of U.S., India, etc.
AMERICA MOBILIZES FOR WAR
Dec. 1941 U.S. armed forces had combines total of only 1.6 million. War production was only 15% of industrial
output. No bureaucratic structure to direct mobilization.
One week after Pearl Harbor – War Powers Act – granted Pres. Unprecedented authority. Increased draft calls,
voluntary enlistments – 15 million men trained and equipped by end of war. 350,000 women serve, Joint Chiefs of
Staff formed – reps of army, navy, air force. Air force grew dramatically. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed
to conduct espionage, etc. Pentagon – 35,000 military personnel worked in new structure. 1942.
Organizing for Victory
1942 – Americans produced 60,000 planes, 45,000 tanks, 20,000 anti-aircraft guns, 8 million tons of shipping, huge
quantities of other supplies for Americans and Allies. War Production Board – WPB – allocated scarce materials,
limited/stopped production of civilian goods, distributed contracts among competing manufacturers. War Manpower
Commission (WMC) mobilized men and women for military, war industry, agriculture. National War Labor Board
(NWLB) mediated labor/management disputes, sought to prevent strikes and runaway wage increases. Office Price
Administration (OPA) imposed strict price controls to check inflation as more and more personal income pursued
fewer consumer goods.
Office of War Mobilization – created May 1943 – controlled all aspects of economy – coordinate agencies and reps
of industry and military in war effort.
“Americans can’t build planes, only electric iceboxes and razor blades.” Declared a Nazi commander. U.S. proved him
wrong! Planes, tanks, gun mounts, armor piercing shells came from auto manufacturers, merry-go-round factories,
pinball-machine makers! Double war production – 33% by late 1942. 50 new synthetic-rubber-making plants,
compensate for loss of 97% of crude rubber supply controlled by Japanese. Armaments j- produced more war materiel
than its Axis enemies combined. 300,000 military aircraft, 86,000 tanks, 372,000 artillery pieces, 2.6 million machine
guns, 6 million tons of aircraft bombs. 5,000 cargo ships, 86,000 warships. Went from 6 months to produce a Libertyclass merchant ship to using prefabrication to reduce time to less than 2 weeks! Henry Kaiser – supervisor – hailed
as “Sir Launchalot.”
Significant cost in all this. Federal budget leapt from $9 billion to $98 billion. Civilian employees of federal govt.
went from 1.1 million to 3.8 million. Executive branch grew most and merging of defense industry and the military
came to be called the imperial presidency and the military-industrial complex. Corporate profits rose. “Dr. New Deal”
became “Dr. Win The War.” Cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts, tax write-offs, and suspension of antitrust prosecutions
lent 2/3 of all federal war-production dollars to the 100 largest firms. 10 biggest businesses received 30% of dollar total
of all defense contracts.
A War Economy
$250 million a day to defeat the Axis. $320 billion total expenditures between 1941-45. 2X what was spent by the govt.
since its founding in 1788. The Great Depression vanished and industrial boom came. War spending doubled
industrial output, created 17 million new jobs, increased the GNP per capita from $573 in 1940 to $1,074 in 1945.
New farm income was 2X the 1940 level, corporate profits after taxes leapt 70%, real wages or purchasing power rose
50%.
Full employment, longer workweeks, payment of time and half for overtime, increased hiring of minorities, women,
youth, and elderly raised living standards. Farmers benefited. Parity rate paid by govt. jumped from 72% in 1939 to
110% in 1943. Agricultural productivity soared. Tractors, improved fertilizers and cultivation techniques helped. $20
billion was added to the value of farm property and $11 billion was accumulated in savings. “The farmer’s in the
dough.”
Organized labor expanded. Union membership up from 9 million workers in 1940 to 14.8 million in 1945. Increase in
work force and “maintenance-of-membership” rule, which required all workers already enrolled in a union to continue
their membership for the term of the existing contract. Wages increases were limited to restrain inflation. But unions
negotiated unprecedented fringe benefits – paid vacation time, health and pension plans. “No-strike” pledge mostly
prevailed although there were some”wildcat” strikes. Days lost during war because of strikes amounted to less that
1/10 of 1 % of total working time. Single major exception was John L. Lewis in 1943 with United Mine Workersled ½ million coalfield workers out on strike 3 times in 2 months. Over Roosevelt’s veto, Congress passed SmithConnally War Labor Disputes Act 1943 – limited workers’ right to strike in any facility deemed essential to the war
effort and empowered the president to seize and operate any such strike-bound plant.
Inflation? Constant battle to keep upward trend of prices under control – fueled by combination of greater American
spending power and fewer available goods and services. Steady 2% a month rise in prices. 90% Americans favored
price controls, but Congress was hesitant. End of 1942 Congress gave pres. Authority to freeze wages, prices, and rents.
RATIONING program. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Rationed gasoline, coffee, sugar, butter,
cheese, and meat. Meatless Tuesdays and cuffless trousers. Car pools, sherbet rather than ice cream, imitation
chocolate, imitation soap. Planted 20 million victory gardens, served as air-raid wardens, organized collection drives
to recycle cooking grease, used paper and rubber, and scrap metal.
Sale of war bonds – drained consumer purchasing power – helped decrease inflation. Gave civilians a sense of
involvement in war effort. $40 million “E” bonds sold to small investors through payroll-deduction plans and
organized bond drives. Raised ½ of war cost. Some tax increases. Revenue Act of 1942 raised the top income-tax rate
from 60% to 90%, added middle and lower-income groups to tax rolls for 1st time. Payroll-deduction system of
withholding taxes was begun as TEMPORARY war measure.
Science and the War
“A Wizard War.” National Defense Research Committee – arms race against Axis. Office of Scientific Research
and Development (OSRD) – development of new ordnance and medicines. Spent more than $1 billion to produce
improved radar and sonar, rocket weapons, proximity fuses for mines and artillery shells. Development of jet
aircraft, pressurized cabins for pilots and high-altitude bombsights. Operational analysis. Hastened widespread use of
DDT and other insecticides, improvements in blood transfusion techniques, miracle drugs such as penicillin,
synthetic drugs like Atabrine to substitute for scarce quinine. Toxicity was ignored. Synthetic rubber production
fouled the air with sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Vapors from steel plant in Fontana, CA destroyed the
grapefruit crop. Plutonium for an atomic bomb led to dumping of radioactive waste.
Atomic bomb. Began in Aug. 1939 when physicist Albert Einstein – Jewish refugee from Gr. – warned Roosevelt
that Nazi scientists were working on use of atomic physics to construct a catastrophic weapon. Late 1941 – launched
secret Anglo-America effort to product atomic bomb. Manhattan Project – worked to stockpile U-235, a rare uranium
isotope and plutonium. By July 1945 the Manhattan Project had secretly employed more than 120,000 people and spent
nearly $2 billion. July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico an atomic test worked. J. Robert Oppenheimer,
director of Manhattan Project quoted from scripture, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Propaganda and Politics
Govt. regulated the media. Office of Censorship established Dec. 1941. Examined all letters going overseas, worked
with publishers and broadcasters to suppress info. that might damage the war effort, such as details of troop movement.
Employed more than 14,000 people! A year passed before the casualty figures and extent of damage to naval fleet from
Pearl Harbor were disclosed. Photos of American dead on battlefields did not appear in newspapers until 1943, and
only a few photos were approved.
Office of War Information – created June 1942 – shape public opinion – headed by Elmer Davis- employed more
than 4,000 artists, writers, and advertising specialists to explain the war and counter enemy propaganda. Played up
barbarism of Axis nations. Hollywood portrayed American soldiers as freedom-loving heroes and vilified Axis
troops as sadistic murderers. Comics and cartoon strips also did the above. Anti-Japanese propaganda had strong dose
of racism.
Republicans criticized Roosevelt. Blamed wartime shortages and losses on Democrats in power. But full employment
and high wages undercut their criticism. Low voter turnout in 1942 elections hurt liberal Democrats. Rep. Gained 9
seats in Senate and 46 in the House. Power to make or break legislation was held by the conservative bloc of
Republicans and southern Democrats. Resented wartime expansion of executive authority and aimed to protect
states’ rights and curb labor unions and welfare spending. Abolished CCC and WPA and rebuffed liberal
proposals to extend the New Deal.
Still, war expanded the government and the executive to an unprecedented degree. $300 billion on war effort.
Prosperity returned. Changed the idea of what the federal government should and could be.
WAR AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
15 million American men and 350,000 women went to war. GI’s = Government Issue.
Some pre-1941 prejudices were reexamined – religions, nationalities, social backgrounds, sexual orientation, race, etc.
Sowed seeds of more homogenized, national culture. GI Bill of Rights 1944 – provided living allowance, tuition fees,
supplies to veterans for high school and college.
The New Mobility
Many moved to be near husbands and fathers or to get jobs. Pacific Coast states grew significantly. Half of wartime
shipbuilding and airplane manufacturing was here. 6 million people left farms to work in cities. Naval shipyards,
aircraft plants. Housing shortages. High divorce rates, mental illness, family violence, juvenile delinquency – lack of
privacy, sense of impermanence, absence of familiar settings, competition for scarce facilities. Urban blight
accelerated.
Education and Entertainment
350,000 experiences teachers left their jobs to join the armed services or take on better-paying war work. Many
rural schools were left without teachers. High-school enrollments sank as teens left school for employment
opportunities. Colleges admitted unprecedented number of women. Also colleges admitted many military
personnel for specialized training. They acquired skills in engineering, foreign languages, economics, sciences. Most
universities sought increased federal contracts and subsidies.
American culture – emphasis on mass production and mass audiences. Spending on books, theater doubled between
1941-1945. 60-100 million Americans a week went to movies (pop.=135 million). Film industry highest in 19451946.War oriented films came out – reinforced image of Nazis and Japanese as fiends. Mission to Moscow and Song
of Russia glorified Russian heroism. Hollywood moved to romance and adventure with Katharine Hepburn, Spencer
Tracy, Ingrid Bergman. Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland – nostalgic.
Popular Music – Goodbye Mama, I’m Off to Yokohama/Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition – patriotic
songs. Dreamy songs like I’ll Be Seeing You and White Cliffs of Dover. Bitter songs like Saturday Night is the
Loneliest Night of the Week.
Nonfiction overshadowed novels, although mysteries and historical romances remained popular. John Hersey – A Bell
for Adano – Italian-American occupation.
Magazines – biggest sellers – Life, Look, Saturday Evening Post, Time.
Wendell Wilkie’s One World – fast selling novel about world without military alliances and sphere of influence – hope
that international organization would extend the blessings of peace and democracy through the postwar world.
Government Printing Office published Armed Services Editions – reprints of classics and new works in doublecolumn paperback format. Sped up quality paperbacks – 1939 Pocket Book Company.
Significant jump in radio listening for wartime news. Edward R. Murrow and Eric Sevareid reported from
battlefields. Jack Benny and Eddie Cantor did comedy.
WOMEN AND THE FAMILY
Millions of American women donned pants and went to work in defense plants. “We’re the Janes Who Make the
Planes/ Rosie the Riveter – appealed to women’s patriotism. Women who had never before worked outside the home
worked. Some moved to higher paying positions. 6 million + entered the workforce. Number of employed women
was 19 million. Female union memberships went from 9% to 22%. Women were 1/3 of all workers in 1945.
75% of new women workers were married, 60% over 35, 33%+ had children under age of 14.
Every type of job, even “men’s” work. Blast furnaces, lathes, cranes, greased locomotives, drove taxis, welded
hulls, loaded shells, worked in coke plants, rolling mills, shipyards. “Making history working for victory.”
Challenged fundamental justification for sexual inequality, but also underscored men fight, women did not.
Women only earned about 65% of what men did for the same work. Women’s work was seen as only a temporary
response. A woman is a substitute. Work was pictured as extension of women’s traditional roles as wives and
mothers. The govt. resisted establishing child-care centers for women employed in defense. Terms like 8-hour
orphans and latch-key children entered the language. Social workers’ reports cited instances of infants locked in cars
in war-plant parking lots. Fears of juvenile delinquency, disintegration of the family increased – divorce rate zoomed
from 16 per 100 marriages in 1940 to 27% per 100 in 1944.
Marriage rate and birthrate also increased to highest levels in 20 years. 300,000 women joined the armed forces.
Female workers gained unprecedented employment opportunities and public recognition in spite of sustained
stereotypes. Many gave up their jobs at end of war but continued desire for income and self-esteem. War widened
public sphere for women and challenged sexist notions.
African-Americans and the War
Different from WWI – WEB DuBois had called for blacks to put aside grievances and “close ranks” behind the
president. In 1942 civil-rights spokesmen insisted that African-American support of the war hinged on America’s
commitment to racial justice. A Civil-WarII to destroy racism at home as well as Nazi racism abroad. “Double V”
campaign for victory over racial discrimination. Blacks were more militant. Membership in NAACP increased 10X
to ½ million in 1945. They pushed for anti-poll tax and antilynching legislation, criticized discrimination in defense
industry and in armed services. Sought to end black disfranchisement. Campaign for voting rights gained momentum
when Supreme Court in Smith v. Allwright 1944 ruled Texas’s all-white primary unconstitutional. 8 southern states
had followed this, but found other ways to minimize voting by blacks.
New organization – Congress of Racial Equality – CORE – 1942 – nonviolent resistance to challenge Jim Crow
laws. Also A. Philip Randolph, pres. Of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, labored to build his March-onWashington Committee into an all-black mass protest movement to challenge racial discrimination using civil
disobedience. Called for “thundering march” of 100,000 blacks to “wake up and shock white America as it has never
been shocked before.” June 1941 FDR issued Executive Order 8802 – first pres. Directive on race since
Reconstruction – prohibited discriminatory employment practices by federal agencies and all unions and companies
engaged in war-related work. Established Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to enforce this new
policy. Some 2 million blacks service in industry and another 200,000 in federal civil service. From 3% to (%
increase in proportion of blacks in war-production work. Black membership in labor unions had doubled to 1,250,000
and the number of skilled and semiskilled black workers had almost tripled. Avg. wage increased from $457 to $1,976
a year, compared with gain of $1,064 to $2,600 for white workers.
1 million African-Americans served in armed forces. Polices of excluding blacks from marines and coast guard
slowly ended. All-black 761st Tank Battalion gained distinction in Germany. 99th Pursuit Squadron won 80
Distinguished Flying Crosses for combat against Luftwaffe in Europe. Most blacks however served in segregated
service. Post exchanges, USO’s and base chapels barred or discriminated against them. Dr. Charles Drew – black
physician developed process of storing blood plasma. Racism prevailed on bases and overseas. Mid 1943 saw
pitched battles between whites and African Americans. Race riot in Detroit 1943. 25 killed and 9 whites dead, 700
injured, $2 million in property damages.
Significant changes for blacks:
700,000 blacks migrated from South. Greater educational and employment opportunities in other sections of
country. Greater voting power in North prompted Rep. And Dem. Parties to woo blacks.
Japanese propaganda highlighted U.S. racism. Americans had to see that this racism mirrored Nazi racism. “An
American Dilemma” 1944 – “not since Reconstruction had there been more reason to anticipate fundamental changes
in American race relations.” Black veterans had new sense of self-esteem. They returned to civilian life with high
expectations. Jackie Robinson – refused to take a seat at rear of segregated bus and fought and won his subsequent
court martial. “I’m damned if I’m going to let the Alabama version of the Germans kick me around.”
Native Americans
25,000 served. Navajo “code talkers” confounded Japanese by using Navajo language to relay secret messages
between U.S. command centers. 75,000 Indians left the reservations to work in defense plants and shipyards. After the
war, many preferred to remain in cities and hoped to assimilate. Reservations had suffered congressional cuts in Indian
budgets. Many who supported this coveted Indian lands. Many returned to reservations in light of discrimination in
cities and fought anti-reservationists. National Congress of American Indians organized. N.A. veterans were not
eligible for veterans’ loans, hospitalization, and other GI benefits.
Mexican-Americans
July 1942 govt. allowed importation of braceros – temporary workers. Classified as foreign laborers, not immigrants.
200,000 braceros, half of them in CA, received short-term contracts guaranteeing adequate wages, medical care, and
decent living conditions. Farm owners violated these contracts and encouraged influx of illegal migrants. Unlikely to
complain about their working conditions, hundred of thousands came and found work. Exploited by Anglo planters and
ranchers. Equal numbers moved to Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and other large cities. Worked in defense plants,
garment factories, shipbuilding yards, and steel mills. Most remained in separate communities called colonias. Much
hostility – focused on young gang members who wore “zoot suits” – long, broad-shouldered jackets and pleated
trousers tightly pegged at ankles. Pachucos – zoot-suited Mexican-Americans – made servicemen mad. Minor clashes,
but later bands of sailors and soldiers rampaged though Los Angles in early June 1943 stripping pachucos, cutting their
long hair and beating them. Military and city police looked the other way. City council made wearing zoot suits a
misdemeanor. 350,000 Mexican-Americans served in armed forces, volunteered in very high numbers. Organized
veterans groups like American GI Forum – pressed for equal right after the war.
Jews
Anti-Semitism persisted in restrictive covenants to prevent sale of home to Jews, in employment ads that stated that
only Protestants or Catholics need apply, in rigid quota systems to limit number of Jews in universities, and
“gentlemen’s agreements” to exclude Jews from certain professions. Many blamed Wall Street Jews or Jewish
communists for the war and thought that Hitler was justified in his treatment of Jews in Germany. Holocaust was
mostly seen as Jewish problem in 1942. Many tended to discount talk of Holocaust as propagandists’ lies. Late 1942,
the State Dept. admitted Hitler’s genocide. 14 more months passed before Roosevelt established a special agency, the
War Refugee Board – to assist in rescue and relocation of those condemned to extermination camps and slave-labor
concentration camps. Despite aerial photographs of death camp at Auschwitz in Poland, the Allies bombed factories in
the vicinity but left the gas chambers and crematoria, as well as railway lines leading to them. Would divert vital air
power. U.S. inaction was also colored by Britain’s’ wish to placate its Arab allies by keeping Jewish settlers out of
Palestine. Fear of an influx of destitute Jews into the U.S. also. The WRB saved only 200,000 Jews and 20,000 nonJews. 6 million Jews, about 75% of European Jewish population were gassed, shot, and incinerated, as were
several million gypsies, Poles, communists, and gay men.
Japanese –Americans
37,000 conscientious objectors – mostly Quakers and Mennonites – accepted work as noncombatants.
112,000 Japanese-Americans – 2/3 of them native-born U.S. citizens sent to relocation centers guarded by military
police. Rooted in racial prejudice and economic rivalry, as well as fear of Japanese sabotage in aftermath of Pearl
Harbor. Landholdings of JA were desirable. Feb. 1942 – FDR – authorized evacuation of all Japanese – Americans
from West Coast – not a single JA had been apprehended for espionage or sedition, no evidence of disloyal behavior.
Hawaii was exception. No Hawaiians of Japanese ancestry were interned despite large numbers in the population.
Forced to sell land and homes at whatever prices they could get. Barbed-wire encircled detention camps in desolate
areas of West. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality in Korematsu vs U.S. 1944. 1944 brought gradual release.
442nd Regimental Combat Team – made up entirely of Japanese-Americans – most decorated unit in all the military
service. 1982 special govt. commission formally blamed FDR’s administration for “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a
failure of political leadership” and apologized to JA for a “grave injustice.” In 1988 Congress voted to pay $20,000
compensation to each of the nearly 62,000 JA internees still alive.
THE BATTLEFRONT, 1942-1944
1942 – US, Britain, Soviet Union, and 23 other countries signed Declaration of the United Nations. “Grand
Alliance” of 26 nations opposing the Axis. 1942 looked bleak. Much of Europe conquered, threat to Suez Canal and
oil, Japan controlled much of western half of Pacific and significant part of Asia.
Allied Drive in Europe
Germany first, then smash Japan. Proposed invasion of France would force Hitler to divert troops from Russia. But
Churchill insisted on clearing Mediterranean before invading France – to protect Suez Canal – Soviets protested, but
U.S. delayed a “second front” in Western Europe. Operation Torch – Nov. 1942 Allied army of Americans and
Brits – commanded by Eisenhower –Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt. Win all in May 1943.
Eastern Front – Battle of Stalingrad – turning pt. In pushing Germans out of Russia. Russian winter was a factor.
Soviet Union suffered more battle deaths in four months than the U.S. did in the entire war. Soviets also hung on at
besieged Leningrad. Second front was again ignored and FDR supported Br. plan for invasion of Sicily in summer of
’43. Italian military leaders deposed Mussolini and surrendered on Sept. 8, 1943 – but fighting continued as Brits
and Americans crawled up the Italian peninsula. Hard fighting against elite German divisions – 8 months to go 150
miles to Rome.
1943 and 44 – thousands of bombers over Germany – radar – high-frequency direction finders, special torpedoes and
depth charges, signals intelligence, increasing numbers of planes and destroyer escorts produced helped. 1943 – Allies
had won Battle of Atlantic.
Royal Air Force and U.S. began around the clock bombardment of Germany. Hamburg – July 1943 – Allied planes
killed 60,000 people and leveled the city, Cologne also. By mid-1944 Soviets had cleared Germans out of Soviet
Union. Soviet troops advanced – Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia under Tito.
Finally Operation Overlord – second front assault – June 6,1944 – D-Day – 10,000 airplanes, 200,000 American,
British, Canadian troops at Normandy on coast of France.
Hitler on Dec. 16, 1944 – threw last of his reserves – ¼ million men against American position in Forest of Ardennes in
Belgium and Luxembourg – 10 days Hitler’s troops drove a bulge 80 miles long and 50 miles deep into Allied line –
Battle of Bulge. Christmas Day – Allies stopped the German attack and drove Gr’s back to Rhine. 55,000 combatants
killed or wounded and 18,000 taken prisoner.
War in the Pacific
Mid May 1942 – Americans defeat Japanese naval fleet at Coral Sea – ends threat to Australia – Naval battle fought
entirely from aircraft carriers. Larges naval battle since Salamis – in Persian Wars in ancient Greece. Midway – U.S.
Signal Corps had deciphered the Japanese naval code. Chester Nimitz – admiral – knew their plans and locations.
American dive-bombers sank four major aircraft carriers and destroyed several hundred planes.
Aug. 1942 – Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands – faced suicidal resistance – rampant malaria, dysentery, fungus, etc. –
Admiral Bull Halsey’s fleet destroyed the Japanese ships in the area. Took 3 more months to drive the Japanese off
the island. They left 25,000 dead.
Fall 1943 – 2-prong attack – Leapfrogging - MacArthur – from one strategic island to the next.
“Island hopping” – led by Nimitz – captured key islands from which U.S aircraft could bomb Japan – unsinkable
aircraft carriers – first island was Tarawa- cost 1,000 marine lives in 4 days. By late 1944 – 1.5 million marines and
soldiers, fast and large aircraft carriers in Pacific theater – but Germany first was still the goal.
New Guinea, Manila in the Philippines – MacArthur lost fewer than 28,000 men – Nimitz – Gilbert Islands,
Marshall Islands, Marianas – put Tokyo within range of B-29 bombers – each carrying 7 tons of bombs. Late 1944
incinerating cities in Japan. Japanese imperial fleet destroyed in battles of Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. But
Japanese would not surrender.
Grand Alliance
Churchill and Stalin had set goals beyond peace and alliances. Britain – retain its imperial possessions and gain balance
of power against Soviet Union on continent. Soviet Union – weaken Germany permanently and creat a sphere of
influence in Eastern Europe as “buffer” against future military attacks from West.
1943 – Casablanca, Morocco – FDR and Churchill – attack Italy, “unconditional surrender” of Axis
1943 – Cairo – FDR, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek – promised that Manchuria and Taiwan would be returned to
China and there would be a “free and independent” Korea.
1943 – Tehran – FDR, Churchill, Stalin – set invasion of France for May or June 1944 – agreed to divide
Germany into zones of occupation and impose reparations on Germany. STALIN PROMISED TO ENTER
WAR AGAINST JAPAN AFTER HITLER’S DEFEAT.
Election of 1944
Republicans had made gains in 1942 congressional elections. FDR dumped liberal Henry Wallace from ticket and
chose moderate Harry Truman from Missouri – “the new Missouri Compromise.” Republicans shunned liberal
Wilkie and chose moderate NY gov. Thomas E. Dewey. More a contest of personalities than of issues.
FDR won. 432 electoral votes to Dewey’s 99. Just 53% of popular vote, however. He won with urban vote and
organized labor in Democratic politics. Most voters not favorable to further New Deal programs. Conservative
coalition in Congress intact. Roosevelt was weary, wanting to end the war and construct a new international order
that would prevent future wars.
TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, 1945