Warm-Up
A major criticism of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
programs to combat the Great Depression was that these
programs
a)
b)
c)
d)
reduced the power of the Federal Government
ignored the plight of homeowners with mortgages
provided too much protection for big business
made people dependent on the Federal Government
Warm-Up
A major criticism of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
programs to combat the Great Depression was that these
programs
a)
b)
c)
d)
reduced the power of the Federal Government
ignored the plight of homeowners with mortgages
provided too much protection for big business
made people dependent on the Federal Government
Ignore #4, It is a
repeat question

World War II
Why it Matters
• World War II, the most destructive war in history,
resulted in the deaths of more than 40 million
people.
• More than half of the deaths were civilians,
including about 6 million Jews and many others
that were killed in the Holocaust.
• At the end of the war, the US emerged as the
strongest nation in the world and the possessor
of a powerful weapon, the atomic bomb.
The Impact Today
• World War II marked the beginning of the
nation’s roles as a superpower.
• The war also transformed the American
economy into an enormously productive and
enduringly prosperous economy.
World War II
PLAYERS
Rise of Dictators
Hitler
(Germany)
Mussolini
(Italy)
Stalin
(Soviet Union)
Japan
• Thought they could solve Japan’s problems by
expanding power in Asia
– 1931 – launched an attack on the province of
Manchuria in northeastern China
– 1937 – invaded northern China, moving southward
until it occupied most of the country
– 1940 – signed a pact of alliance, known as the
“Axis,” with Germany and Italy
The United States
• Wanted to remain neutral
• Isolationist ideas became even stronger in the
early 1930’s
• Nye Committee – documented profits arms
factories made during World War I, giving the
impression that these businesses influenced US
involvement
• Passage of Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937
World War II Timeline
America Enters WWII
EARLY AMERICAN
INVOLVEMENT
FDR: Four Freedoms
• Fighting for the “Four Freedoms”
(1) freedom of speech
(2) freedom of worship
(3) freedom from want
(4) freedom from fear
Early American Involvement
• The Neutrality Act of 1939
– “cash and carry” basis for arms sale with
Britain and France
• Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
– 1940: we give Britain old American destroyers
in exchange for the right to build American
bases on British-controlled Newfoundland,
Bermuda, and islands in the Caribbean
Early American Involvement
• Lend Lease Act – the US would be able to lend
or lease arms to any country considered “vital to
the defense of the United States”
• Hemispheric Defense Zones
– Declared that the entire western half of the
Atlantic was part of the Western Hemisphere
and therefore neutral
– US Navy patrol the western Atlantic and
reveal the location of German subs to the
British
Escalating Tensions: Germany
• September, 1941
– German U-boat fired on American ship
radioing the U-boat’s positions to the British
– FDR responded: shoot on sight policy toward
German subs
• October, 1941
– Germans target two American destroyers
Escalating Tensions: Japan
Britain needed to keep
most of its navy in Asia
to protect their interests
there from Japan
As Germany kept
taking out British ships,
the British had to pull
some from Southeast
Asia to the Atlantic
Enter FDR - - introduce
policies to discourage
the Japanese from
attacking the British
empire
Escalating Tensions: Japan
• July, 1940 – Export Control Act
– FDR has the power to restrict the sale of strategic
materials to other nations
• Immediately blocked the sale of airplane fuel and
scrap iron to Japan
• 1941
– FDR began sending lend-lease aid to China in an
effort to assist the Chinese in preventing the
Japanese from attacking elsewhere
• Did not work: Japanese sent troops into Indochina
Escalating Tensions
FDR responds
froze all Japanese assets in the US;
reduced the amount of oil being
shipped to Japan; sent General
Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines
to build up American defenses there
Japanese respond
War in China now in jeopardy
because of a lack of oil and other
resources; Plans to attack the
resource-rich British and Dutch
colonies in Southeast Asia; Decide to
seize the Philippines and to attack the
American fleet at Pearl Harbor
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live
in infamy – the United States of America was
suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and
air forces of Japan… I believe I interpret the will of
Congress and of the people when I assert that we will
not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but shall
never endanger us again… No matter how long it
may take us… the American people in their righteous
might will win through to absolute victory.”
~ FDR
America Enters WWII
CHANGES ON THE
HOMEFRONT
Mobilizing the Economy
• Government signed cost-plus contracts
– Government agreed to pay a company whatever it
cost to make a product plus a guaranteed percentage
of the costs as profit
– The more a company produced and the faster it did
all the work, the more money it would make
• War Production Board (WPB)
– Authority to set priorities and production goals and to
control the distribution of raw materials and supplies
– Still problems: clash with military who continued to
sign contracts without consulting the WPB
– Solution: Office of War Mobilization - - settle
arguments between different agencies
Mobilizing the Economy
• Wage and Price Control
– Office of Economic Stabilization (OES)
• Regulated wages and the price of farm products
– Office of Price Administration (OPA)
• Regulated all other prices
– Both worked to control inflation
– War Labor Board worked to prevent striking
Mobilizing the Economy
• Blue Points, Red Points
– Rationing (limiting the availability of many
products to make sure enough were available
for military use)
• Meat and sugar were rationed for the army
• Gas was rationed: driving restricted and speed
limit was set at 35 miles an hour
• Ration coupons
– Blue = controlled processed foods
– Red = controlled meats, fats, and oils
– Give over enough coupons to cover your purchases
Mobilizing the Economy
• Victory Gardens
– Planted gardens to produce more food
– Any area of land may be a garden
– Government encouraged
• Scrap Drives
– Collected spare rubber, tin, aluminum, and steel
– Donated pots, tires, tin cans, car bumpers, broken
radiators, and rusting bicycles
– Collect bacon grease and meat drippings
Mobilizing the Economy
• Paying for the war
– Federal government spent more than $300
billion
• Raised taxes (covered 45% of costs)
• Issued war bonds
– Buying a bond = loaning money to the government
– Bond can be cashed in at a future date with interest
– Most common = E bonds
» Buy for $18.75 and get $25.00 after 10 years
– Americans bought $50 billion worth
– Banks, insurance companies, and other financial
institutions bought over $100 billion worth
Japanese Relocation
• Korematsu v. United States
(1944) Henry Korematsu argued that his
rights had been violated. The Supreme
Court ruled against him, saying the
relocation was based on “military urgency”
and not on race.
• Overturned in 1945 in Ex Parte Endo
when it said that loyal American citizens
could not be held against their will
Effects of WWII
SOCIAL
Effects of WWII
ECONOMIC
Overall, the US
economy grew by 4%
in the 1950s, as
productivity rose
along with population.
Effects of WWII
POLITICAL
Building a New World
• Creating the United Nations (UN)
– A new international political organization
– General Assembly
• Where every member nation in the world would have one
vote
• Power to vote on resolutions, to choose non-permanent
members of Security Council, and vote on UN budget
– Security Council
• 11 members, 5 of them permanent: Britain, France, China,
the Soviet Union, and the US (had veto power)
• Responsible for international peace and security
• Investigate problems, propose solutions
• Take actions to preserve peace: use military force
Building a New World
• Putting the enemy on trial
– International Military Tribunal (IMT)
• Nuremberg Trials, the IMT tried German leaders
suspected of committing war crimes
– 22 leaders were prosecuted
» 3 acquitted, 7 given sentences, and remaining 12
sentenced to death by hanging
• Trials of lower-ranking government officials and
military officers
– 24 executed and 107 given prison sentences
Building a New World
• Putting the enemy on trial
– Similar trials were held in Japan
• Charged 25 Japanese leaders with a variety of war
crimes
• Did not indict the Japanese emperor
– Feared any attempt to put him on trial would lead to an
uprising
Exit Slip
In what ways did WWII end the Great
Depression?
*** 2 paragraph minimum ***