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Home > Chapter 36 - America in World War II
Chapter 36 - America in World War II
Major Themes
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Unified by Pearl Harbor, America effectively carried out a war mobilization effort that produced vast
social and economic changes within American Society..
Major Questions
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How did America’s domestic response to WWII differ from its reaction to WWI?
What was the significance of the use of the atomic bomb in 1945? Does its use have relevance today?
Outline
The Allies Trade Space for Time
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Americans wanted to "Get Japan First!" but Britain and America had already agreed to "Get Germany
First"
This was smart, because once Germany was out of the way, everything else wouldn't be as hard
Also, if the US was attacking Japan and Germany overran Europe, there would be no stopping Hitler
The Allies needed time to get supplies, men, and munitions across the ocean and such
The Allies had a bigger population
The USA had the best military (potentially)
America had to set itself up for war production all over again
Had to worry about the Allies in Europe being smushed by Germany
Germany could develop new weapons, changing the rules of the war
There wasn't help from foreign nations this time:
America would have to supply its own troops with necessities (food, clothes, transportation, munitions)
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It also had to give all of this stuff to its Allies
The Shock of War
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America was completely unified this time around
Communists in America had disagreed with the sar, but after Germany turned around on USSR, they
wanted total war against the Axis Powers
Immigrants (Italian-Americans, German-Americans) supported America
The Immigration Limits had helped these groups assimilate, so there was less worry about Hyphen
Americans
The exception was Japanese-Americans
There was a history of Japanese immigrant hatred, and it flared during the war
About 110,000 J-A's were put in "internment camps" which was a fancy way of saying concentration
camps
2/3 were American born citizens
There was a wide-spread fear that the J-A's would spy for their home country
Supreme Court upheld the Internment Camps in the Korematsu v. U.S. (later apologized and paid
$20,000 to each survivor)
The "new" Conservative Congress killed lots of New Deal Programs (CCC, WPA...)
The New Deal was done and the new goal was to Win the War
The government made a little propoganda, ubt mostly focused on action (lack of time)
9/10 Americans didn't know any of the Atlantic Charter
A majority didn't know what the war was about
All the same, America pushed hard and got down to work
They were mondo-efficient
Building the War Machine
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The economy was healed by the War
About $100 billion in military orders was made in 1942
This took up the overproduction of the G.Depression
War Production Board was created and American Factories made:
40 billion bullets
300,000 aircraft
76,000 ships
86,000 tanks
2.6 million machine guns
Henry J. Kaiser (strange the people would trust that last name in a time like this, but put the Japanese
in camps...)
Sir Launchalot made tons of ships
The WPB stopped production of nonessential things (passenger cars)
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Made a priority idea
When natural rubber supplies died, it made 51 synthetic rubber plants
Farmers also increased output (gotta feed the hungry and all that)
They had less workers, but better fertilizers and machines allowed for increased output
There were also economic strains
1942 saw serious inflation
The Office of Price Administration made regulations to stop the upward climb of prices
There was rationing (butter, meat...) but there was black markets that killed these ideas a little bit
The WLB made "ceilings" on wages
Labor Unions got angry about the wage-ceilings
Membership went from 10 mill. to 13 mill.
There were many violations of the no-strike pledges
United Mine Workers (led by John L. Lewis) were especially prominent
The government was concerned that strikes would lower production and therefore jeopardize victory
hence:
Passed the Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
Government could take over "tied-up" industries
Strikes against gov't owned industries were illegalized
Gov't took over the mines and RRs for a little while
Despite the strikes, American workers in general put out a great effort
Manpower and Womanpower
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The armed services enlisted nearly 15 million men in World War II and some 216,000 women who
were employed for noncombat duties.
Best known of these "women in arms" were the WAACs (army), WAVES (navy), SPARs (coast guard)
The US exempted certain key categories of industrial and agricultural workers from the draft in order to
keep its mighty industrial and food-producing machines humming.
But even with these exemptions thedraft left the nation's farms and factories so short of personnel that
new workers had to be found.
An agreement with Mexico brought thousands of Mexican agricultural workers across the borderto
harvest the fruit and grain crops of the West.
More than 6 million women took up jobs outside the home, over half of them had never before worked
for wages.
Many were mothers and the gov't was obliged to set up some 3,000 day-care centers to care for their
children.
The war foreshadowed an eventual revolution in the roles of women in American society.
The war's immediate impact on women's lives has frequently been exaggerated. the great majority of
American women did not work for wages in the wartime economy but continued in their traditional role.
In Bri. and the Soviet Union a far greater percentage of women, including mothers were pressed into
industrial employment.
A poll in 1943 revealed that a majority of American women would not take a job in a war plant if it were
offered.
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At the end of the war two-thirds of women war workers left the labor force.
Many were forced out of their jobs by employers and unions eager to re-employ returning servicemen.
Wartime Migrations
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During the war many people moved into boomtowns that had war industries
about 1.6 million blacks migrated west and north leaving the south to seek war jobs
After this migration race became a national issue
In 1941 Roosevelt issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in the armed forces
After the war millions more blacks migrated north
The war also brought about an exodus of the Native Americans from reservations to cities
Several native americans also served in the armed forces
A few race riots occurred in various cities caused by the influx of new people
Holding the Home Front
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Americans were the lucky few who saw no action on the home front
the war boosted our economy & brought us out of the Great Depression
businesses greatly benefitted from the war, doubling product $$ in 5 yrs
income increased despite wartime taxes
resulting in price controls being lifted (1946) & Am. consumerism raising prices to 33% in < 2 yrs
Europe struggled along due to the damages of war
the war ushered in major gov't interventionism
the rationing system
ppl working for the armed forces
ppl working for the defense industries (employers & unions monitered by FEPC& WLB)
ppl's need cared for by gov't-sponsered:
housing projects
day-care centers
health plans
Office of Scientific Research and Development
gov't & universites working together for scientific research, foreshadowing Am's technological &
economic leadership in the postwar era
1941-1945 are looked back as the origins of a "warfare-welfare state"
WWII war costs: $330 billion
10x more than WWI
twice as much as ALL federal spending since 1776
income-tax net expanded to include 4x more ppl
max. tax rates rose as high as 90%
2/5ths war costs paid from current revenues, the rest was borrowed
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Nation debt 1941: $49 billion; 1945: $259 billion
once production started running, the war cost $10 million per hour!
The Rising Sun in the Pacific
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Japanese militarists realized they had to win quickly or lose slowly
At the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched other assaults on various Far
Eastern places inluding:
U.S. outposts of Guam, Wake, & the Philippines
Hong Kong (British-Chinese port) & British Malaya
Burma-the U.S. was was trucking munitions over the Burma Rd. to a Chinese army under Jiang Jieshi
Dutch East Indies (oil-rich)
The Philippines succeeded in slowing down the Japanese mikado's warriors for 5 months
The Japanese then landed a small & effective army
Gen. MacArthur w/drew to Bataan to be on the defense
there 20,000+/- US troops & a bigger force of untrained Filipinos held off Jap. attacks until April 4, 1942
Before the US surrendered, MacArthur, w/ orders from Washington, secretly left Australia to head the
resistance against the Japanese
After surrendering, the remaining army was treated terribly in the 80-mile Bataan Death March to POW
camps
Corregidor(an island fort in Manila Harbor) held out until May 6, 1942
it then surrendered to the Japanese giving the complete control of the Philippine archipelago to Japan
Japan's High Tide at Midway
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The Japanese pushed southward
They invaded New Guinea, north of Australia, & landed on the Solomon Islands
May 1942, Japanese onrush was checked by a naval battle fought in the Coral Sea
a US carrier task force w/ Aussie support=heavy losses for Japan
for the 1st time ever, fighting was done completely by carrier-based aircraft, neither side fired directly at
one another
Then, Japan decided to seize Midway Island 1,000+ miles northwest of Honolulu
Could attack Pearl Harbor more
Hoped to negotiate a cease-fire in the Pacific with USA
Battle of Midway:
June 3-6, 1942
Americans led by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
Used a smaller fleet than the Japanese, but the Japanese lost 4 major carriers and retreated
Midway and Coral Sea were important
US had halted the Japanese
However, Japan took over Kiska and Attu (islands near Alaska)
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Americans sent troops to defend Alaska
Japanese were overextended, and so it was easier to dislodge them later on
The Allied Halting of Hitler
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Hitler entered the war with a fleet of ultramodern subs
Ship destruction far outran ship construction for Allies
Was a hard and slow battle turning the tides in subsea war
Tactics were strengthened by the use of air patrol and radar
Allied submarine tactics improved greatly when Britain broke the German code
Allowed the Allies to pinpoint German U-Boats
In the spring of 1943 the Allies first gained an advantage over the U-Boats
The Battle of the Atlantic was close, but the Allies won
The turning point for the land-air war had come late in 1942
The British were joined by the Americans in August 1942 and bombed many German cities
In late October the Germans were pushed back to Tunisia
On the Soviet front, the red army gave the Allies a new lift
In Sept. 1942, the Russians stalled the Germans at Stalingrad
The Russians launched a resiliant attack and never let up
Stalin had regained about 2/3 of the Soviet land that Hitler had taken
A Second Front from North Africa to Rome
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Soviet losses in 1942 were terrible millions had already died
The soviets wanted the allies to open a new front to give them cut them some slack
The Americans wanted to assault Frances coastline
Britain thought that would fail so the allies postponed an invasion of Europe
They did start a new front though in November 1942 about 400000 men invaded North Africa which
they took finally in may 1943
Roosevelt and Churchill meeting in Morocco decided to issue the terms of unconditional surrender
This move was partly to appease the soviets who still wanted a larger second front
The allies soon after took Sicily in August 1943
Italy also surrender around this time
However hitlers troops were still in Italy and they fought bitterly against the allies
The allies stalled out for many months in Italy and after D day it became a sort of sideline war
D-Day: June 6, 1944
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The Soviets had constantly pused for a second front agains Germany
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FDR, Stalin, and Curchill agreed to meet in Iran
they agreed on a two front assault on Germany
Elaborate plans were made for an invasion of Normandy
The assault was to be sent from England
millions of primarily American soldiors as well was munitions flooded the island
General Eisenhower was selected to be in charge of the assault
French normandy was chosen due to its reletively weak german defenses(still very strong)
allies already had control over the air and prevented reinforcement
a feint made Germans think the attack woiuld be farther north
the allies at first secured only a small beachead, but quickly spread on a relentless assualt twoard
Germany
FDR: The Fourth-Termite of 1944
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the Presidential Campaign of 1944 couldn't have come at a worse time i.e. the climax of the war
Repubs nominated Thomas E. Dewey, the 42 yr old, short, liberal, "mustachioed", dapper, NYC
prosecuter of grafters & racheteers from New York
he wan't very worldly so the convention nominated isolationist Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio for Vice
President
platform: prosecution of the war & creation of new international peace organization
Dems obviously nominated FDR, the "indispensible man" of the Dems
He was oddly forgotten & lots of attention was forcused on the Vice President nominee [lucky for FDR]
Henry A. Wallace, secretary of agriculture, desired a renomination but conservative Dems saw him as
ill-balanced & an unpredictable liberal
major "ditch Wallace" campaign emerged
nomination went to smiling Harry S. Truman of Missouri
had recently conducted and investigation of wasteful war espenditures as the chairman of the Senate
Commitee conducting that investigation
no one had much against him or on him
Roosevelt Defeats Dewey
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Dewey took the offensive because Roosevelt was too busy directing the war
Republicans feared the "lifer" in the White House
In the closing weeks Roosevelt left his desk finally
Roosevelt won 432 to 99 in the Electoral college
25,606,585 to 22,014,745 in the pop vote
Roosevelt won primarily because the war was going well
Foreign policy was also a decisive factor in the winning of FDR
Experience again played a role in the election of FDR
The Last Days of Hitler
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In mid-December the Third Reich was crumbling, allied bombers had decimated almost all German
factories and cities and the Western Allies were striking repeated heavy blows
At one last bid for the survival of Nazi Germany, Hitler through all of his reserves ( which he had been
secretly building up) at the Western Allies on December 16th, 1944
struck in the Ardennes Forest with the hope of reaching and capturing the key Allied supply point of
Antwerp, Belgian (a port)
somehow caught the Allies (mostly Americans) off guard and drove them back
the ten day penetration was finally stopped after the 101st Airborne Division had held their ground at
Bastogne
In March 1945, the Americans reached the Rhine River where by incredibly good luck, they found one
key bridge undemolished
soon reached the Elbe River in April and met up with their Soviet comrades
Found concentration camps where the Jews had been killed
the Washington Government had known about Hitler's campaign of genocide, but did not know how
serious it was
Soviets reached Berlin in April 1945
pillage and rape
After marrying his long time mistress (Eva Braun), Hitler commited suicied on April 30th
Roosevelt died in Georgia on April 12th
V-E (Victory in Europe) Day on May 7th, 1945
The Atomic Bombs
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Strategists had been planning the invasion of the Japanese homeland
it was expected to cost hundreds of thousands of American lives (and many more Japanese)
Japan still wouldn't surrender unconditionally and had no outward intention to
Potsdam Conference gave Japan an ultimatum: surrender or be destroyed
warning was showered over Japan by bombers
America had the a-bomb
had made it due to Einstein's pleas that America make one before the Germans did
Germany had lost before it got used, Japan became the next target
first a-bomb tested in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16th, 1945
A-bomb used on Hiroshima first on August 6th, 1945
180,000 died, 70,000 instantly
Japan would not yield, so on August 9th a second a-bomb was used on Nagasaki
80,000 died instantly
Japan finally surrendered on August 10th, 1945 under the condition that their Son of Heaven, Hirohito,
remained on the throne
allies accepted on August 14th
official surrender on September 2nd, 1945
ceremonies conducted by General MacArthur on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay
V-J Day celebrated at home
The Allies Triumphant
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America suffered nearly a million casualties
reduced greatly by advances in health care
America was one of the few nations not utterly destroyed by the war
Americans became known as the military power of the world
Won primarily through miricles of industry
America simply had more supplies
Subject:
US History [1]
Subject X2:
US History [1]
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apter_36_America_in_World_War_II
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