America During World
War II
December 7, 1941
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“A date which will live in infamy”
The Effects of Pearl Harbor
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Unified Americans
“Pearl Harbor Thinking” affects generations of
future foreign policy
Justified the crusade – “the noble fight”
Japanese Internment
Leads indirectly to Korean and Viet Nam
Wars
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December 8, 1941: Congress declared war
on Japan
January 1, 1942: 26 nations met in
Washington and signed the “Declaration of
the United Nations”
Pledged to agree to the ideals of the Atlantic
Charter, and to remain allies with each other.
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Tripartite Pact nations (Germany, Italy, Japan
declared war on the United States on
December 11, 1941.
US and Great Britain opened “Joint Chiefs of
Staff” to coordinate their war effort.
Note that the USSR was NOT included in this
joint planning, even though it had also
declared war on the Tripartite Pact nations in
1940.
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“Home front” mobilization for war was similar
to WW I:
War Production Board regulated use of raw
materials
Wage and price controls were put in place to
curb inflation
Wartime shortages of gas, sugar, rubber,
steel, etc. could drive prices high and overinflate the economy
America During World War II
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Revenue Act of 1942 extended the income
tax to include most Americans
Tax rates went up also.
America During World War II
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Draft now extended to all men age 18-40
The immediate need for a wartime draft took
men out of the job force
New PR (“public relations”) move urged
women to “join the war effort”
Glorified the image of “Rosie the Riveter.”
America During World War II
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“Rosie The Riveter”
Women entered
“non-traditional”
occupations
America During World War II
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Many higher-paying jobs opened to black
men
More black migration to northeastern
industrial cities making war products
Some racial tensions increased
Especially in the “motor cities” of the Midwest
America During World War II
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Congress passed Smith-Connolly Act in 1943
Allowing the federal government to take
control of any factory hit by a strike.
Similar to what Coolidge had threatened with
the coal strike of 1922
But this time there was little public complaint
because “there’s a war on.”
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Issei and Nisei
Issei (first generation) were Japanese
immigrants living in America
Nisei (second generation) were children born
in America of Japanese immigrant parents
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1942: FDR issued an executive order to
resettle Americans of Japanese descent to
“internment camps” in the far west, away
from the western seacoast
They remained “relocated” until 1946.
There was little complaint in California over
this system
California Governor (later Chief Justice) Earl
Warren enforced the order.
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Nisei lawsuit Korematsu v. United States
challenged FDR’s authority, citing 4th and 14th
amendment violations.
1946, Supreme Court upheld FDR’s and
Warren’s actions.
The Japanese Garden in Overton Park was
destroyed after Pearl Harbor
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World War II
USA faced a “two front war:”
The Atlantic Front (ETO, or “European
Theater of Operations”) was against
Germany and Italy
It was fought primarily by the Army.
The Pacific Front was against Japan
It was fought primarily by the Navy and
Marine Corps
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ETO strategy
Italy was considered the weak link in the Axis
Plans were to invade Europe from the south,
through Italy
Then eventually invade Germany itself
through France.
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ETO major battles:
Axis powers were driven out of Africa by
summer 1943
Italy invaded by US Army July 1943
Italy surrendered by Fall 1943
USSR began invasion of Nazi-held eastern
European countries in March 1944
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“Operation Overlord” (code name of invasion
of Nazi-occupied France) was being planned
as early as 1942.
Stalin urged allies to send assistance directly
to Russia
FDR and Churchill both felt too dangerous to
do so.
Stalin felt “abandoned by allies”
Furiously angry, possibly vowing revenge.
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“Big 3 Diplomacy” during the war
BIG 3: Churchill, FDR, Stalin
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Once France was liberated, it became the
“Big 4” with inclusion of Charles de Gaulle
Directed wartime strategy at several
conferences
Some conferences were secret, some were
not
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MOSCOW CONFERENCE 1943
Secretary of State Cordell Hull convinced
Stalin to promise to join the war against
Japan, once Hitler was defeated.
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TEHERAN CONFERENCE 1943
First time all of the Big 3 met face-to-face
Stalin re-stated pledge to fight against Japan
But FDR and Churchill didn’t believe him.
The three also discussed big strategic moves
Stalin insisted on direct support to the
Eastern front
FDR and Churchill resisted.
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CASABLANCA CONFERENCE, 1943
FDR and Churchill only
Pledged to accept nothing less than full
unconditional surrender by Axis Powers.
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CAIRO CONFERENCE 1943
FDR met with Chinese president Chiang KaiShek
China pledged whatever assistance it could
give against Japanese
FDR pledged that all Chinese lands taken by
Japan would be returned, not held by the
Allies
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Allied invasion of Europe was in the planning
stages for some time
Operation Overlord finally began June 6,
1944
“D-Day,” for “debarkation day”
American, British, and other troops made an
amphibious landing on the beaches of
Normandy
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US Army freed France from German control
by winter 1944
Invaded Germany immediately after.
Germans fought fiercely at the “Battle of the
Bulge” in January 1945
But this was last major German effort
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YALTA CONFERENCE 1945
By early spring 1945, war was all but over
Allies discussed how to run the peace, what
do to with countries liberated from Nazi
control
Agreed to administer them jointly
Stalin insisted that USSR get “charge” of
those countries in Eastern Europe
FDR and Churchill reluctantly agreed.
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Allied forces had already invaded Italy and
were moving up from the south
Now, after “Operation Overlord,” (6/44) the
Allies are moving in from the north and west
With USA and Great Britain pushing from the
north, west and south . . .
And the USSR pushing from the east . . .
Nazi Germany was being squeezed
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Hitler and his staff insisted on continued
resistance until the end
But knew victory was a hopeless cause
With the Allies closing in on his bunker in
Berlin, Hitler committed suicide on April 30,
1945
Berlin captured by the Allies
Germany surrendered May 7, 1945 (V-E Day)
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Pacific Theater strategy: re-claim the islands
that Japan had seized, one-by-one
If necessary, an actual invasion of Japan
would take place
IF that country could not be forced to
surrender.
This strategy called was “Island-Hopping”
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Pacific Theater operations (ATO):
Most Pacific Theater battles were naval
engagements and amphibious landings by
the Marines, followed by ground fighting
War went badly through most of 1942
USA lost Guam and Wake Island to
Japanese in 1941
Lost the Philippines in 1942
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Big victories for US Navy at the Battle of the
Coral Sea and Midway in late 1942 kept
Japanese from taking Australia
“The tide has turned”
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In the Pacific, fierce fighting continued
Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines cost
Japan most of its naval power.
Kamikaze flights began by Japanese after
this loss.
By Summer 1945, it was obvious that Japan
would never surrender.
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FDR re-elected to unprecedented 4th term in
November, 1944
No president had ever served more than two
terms before
FDR died in April 1945
Vice-President Harry S Truman succeeded to
the presidency
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ATO battle at Iwo Jima showed that Japan
would fight to last man.
Japanese attitude: We will not win, we will all
be killed, but each of us will kill ten of them
before we die
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (excellent motion
picture by Clint Eastwood)
By this time, FDR had died and Truman was
President
America During World War II
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POTSDAM CONFERENCE August 1945
Truman now in the “Big 3” due to FDR’s
death
Churchill had been voted out of office
Great Britain now represented by Prime
Minister Clement Atlee
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Stalin the only “old hand.”
Had contempt for others.
Stalin full of rumors about atomic bomb
Truman wouldn’t discuss.
“Big 3” planned war crimes trials of Nazis
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By summer 1945, it was apparent to Truman
that:
Great Britain and France were too weakened
to assist with defeat of Japan
USSR was unwilling to commit to any
assistance, as the threat to the USSR was
now over
And Stalin was still angry over being kept “in
the dark” by FDR and Churchill
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It was obvious to Truman that Japan would
have to be invaded
This was likely to make war last about 1 more
year (after V-E Day)
Joint Chiefs estimated that the invasion
would cost over 1 million American lives.
Unreasonable delay and risk for Truman
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USA, Great Britain and captured rocket
scientists from Nazi Germany had been
perfecting the atomic bomb
Code name: Manhattan Project
Stalin was suspicious that there was such a
weapon under development
But was never told this formally by FDR,
Churchill, or Truman
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Weapon tested in July 1945, above ground in
Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Destructive power confirmed.
Truman approved use of weapon against
Japan
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First bomb
August 6,
1945
Hiroshima
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Second bomb
August 9,
1945
Nagasaki
Effects of the Atom bombs
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“Little Boy” and “Fat Man” devastated Japan
80,000+ died instantly in Hiroshima
Radiation gets in food, soil
Military refuses to surrender
Emperor Hirohito seizes control and
surrenders
America During World War II
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Japanese surrender
August 15, 1945 (V-J
Day)
Signed aboard the
USS Missouri
Docked at Pearl Harbor,
September 2, 1945
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Huge numbers of casualties
Leningrad: 850,000
Stalingrad: 750,000
Berlin: 250,000 in three weeks
Okinawa: 148,000 (35,126 on a single day)