Chapter 36 Notes
AP US History
Mrs. Marshall
FDR decided to concentrate on the war in
Europe and place the Pacific on hold.
African Americans and WWII
Continued to serve in segregated units, sent
to segregated training camps
Civil rights organizations pressured military
to allow them to serve in combat. Finally
were given the opportunity
1942, civil rights leader, James Farmer
formed a new interracial organization to fight
discrimination-CORE-Congress of Racial
Equality
African Americans moved to west coast and
crowded cities of the north. Tensions among
races grew and led to race riots
Japanese Americans:
FDR signed Executive Order 9066 which
rounded up 120,000 Americans of
Japanese heritage and placed them in 10
internment camps/relocation centers.
2 landmark Supreme Court cases:
Hirabayashi v US and Korematsu v US
In both cases US Supreme Court ruled in
favor of the government saying it was
justified for “military necessity”
War Production Board (WPA)
Assigned priorities with respect to the
use of raw materials and transportation
facilities. It rationed fuel and materials
vital to the war effort such as gasoline,
heating oil, metals, rubber and plastic.
Office of Price Administration (OPA)
May 1942 froze prices on practically all
everyday good. War Ration Books
issued to each American family
Rationing was implemented to control
inflation.
National War Labor Board (NWLB)
It imposed a limit on wage increases.
Union membership grew during war
years. Even though there was a no-strike
pledge several unions did strike.
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
1943
Limited the right to strike in industries
crucial to the war effort and it gave the
President power to take over striking
plants.
“GI’s” name given to soldiers
(“Government Issue”)
15 million men served in armed forces
Nearly 216,000 women served in non
combat military jobs.
U.S. made an agreement with Mexico in 1942
bringing thousands of Mexican agricultural
workers to the US, called braceros.
“Rosie the Riveter” name given to
women who worked in the labor force.
Many of these jobs were in the heavy
manufacturing industries. More than 6
million women took jobs outside of home
during WWII, over ½ had never worked
outside the home before
Majority of women left the labor force
after WWII because
Forced out by employers and unions
eager to employ returning servicemen
Family obligations
“code talkers”
term used to describe Native Americans
who served in the military during WWII.
They transmitted messages over military
telephone and radio using codes built in
their native language.
Impact of WW II on south
Received defense contracts and
federally financed industrial facilities.
Nearly 1.6 million African Americans
moved to the north and west.
A. Philip Randolph
African American labor leader
responsible for Roosevelt issuing an
executive order banning discrimination
in defense industries.
WWII was financed primarily by
borrowing money.
Defense Bonds were sold. After Pearl
Harbor attack they were called War
Bonds.
WW II Generals
General Dwight David Eisenhower
General George S. Patton
General Douglas MacArthur
Admiral Chester Nimitz
Omar Bradley
Unconditional Surrender-FDR and
Churchill felt that complete victory was
necessary to protect human rights.
“Big Three”
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
Were the largest suppliers of goods and
troops for the war effort.
Battle of Stalingrad was a turning pointfrom then on Soviet forces moved
steadily west towards Germany.
November 1942 Allies invaded North
Africa.
Allies then invaded Italy and captured
Sicily.
Mussolini was stripped of power and
arrested.
Hitler seized Italy. Allies eventually
drove Germans out of Italy.
Teheran Conference
Big 3” met Nov28-Dec 1, 1943
Plans were made from the opening of a
second front in Europe
D-Day at Normandy
General Eisenhower commander in
charge
June 6, 1944-Invasion was known as
Operation Overlord. Allies crossed
English Channel and landed in Normandy,
France.
Largest land-sea-air operation in history.
Over 1 million Allied troops landed in
France and began to advance.
American general George Patton and
his army liberated Paris in August.
By September, Allies had liberated
other European nations and had
entered Germany.
November 1944
FDR elected to a 4th term with a new Vice
President-Harry S. Truman
December 1944 Hitler began a
counterattack. Following the Battle of the
Bulge the Germans could only retreat.
Soviets pushed through Poland toward
Germany.
Soviets were the first to liberate the
death camps and describe the horrors
they saw.
By April the Soviets were in Berlin.
April 1945 Hitler committed suicide.
Germany surrendered May 8, 1945
V-E Day Victory in Europe-the day
General Eisenhower accepted the
unconditional surrender of Germany
Nuremberg Laws
1935
laws which took away Jew’s civil rights
and their property.
Kristallnacht
German word meaning “crystal night” of
night of broken glass. Nazis
attacked/destroyed Jewish homes,
businesses and synagogues across
Germany and then blamed the Jews for
the destruction
Genocide-the deliberate and systematic
killing of an entire people.
Holocaust
The term used for the mass murder of the
Jews by the Nazis during WWII. Called it
the “Final Solution”
Over 6 million Jews were killed by 1945of that number more then 1½ million
were children under the age of 6.
A total of 11 million were killed across
Europe.
Nuremberg Trials
An international tribunal was held to try
Nazi leaders. First time a nation’s leaders
were held legally responsible for their
wartime acts.
Asia and the Pacific
After Pearl Harbor Japan conquered
large parts of Asia and the Pacific.
General Douglas MacArthur-commander
of American and Filipino troops-tried to
defend the Philippines but it fell to
Japanese in April 1942.
June 1942 Americans won an important
victory at Midway Island under Admiral
Chester Nimitz.
Japan was put on the defensive for the
first time.
Allies began to retake important Pacific
islands from the Japanese.
“island hopping”-they would attack only
key islands and skip over the smaller,
less important ones or the Japanese
strongholds.
Guadalcanal- August 1942. This was
Japan’s first defeat on land.
Kamikaze raids-suicide fighter plans
Battle of Leyte Gulf
located in the Philippines-Oct. 1944Japanese lost so many ships that the
navy was essentially knocked out of the
war.
Americans took island of Iwo Jima in
March 1945. It gave the U.S. a base to
launch heavy bombers that could reach
Japan.
June 1945 the Allies took Okinawa.
April 12, 1945 FDR dies. Harry Truman
becomes President
Manhattan Project
The secret development of the atomic
bomb. Project led by J. Robert
Oppenheimer
Reason Truman made decision to drop
bomb
He wanted to prevent a US invasion of
Japan in order to save lives. He wanted
to show the Soviets that the US had
nuclear weapons. He believed the bomb
would force Japan to surrender.
August 6, 1945 an atom bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima. Japan did not
surrender,
August 9, 1945 a second bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki.
Japan asked the Allies for peace.
September 2, 1945 on the battleship USS
Missouri in Tokyo Bay Gen. MacArthur
accepted Japan’s formal surrender and
WWII was over. VJ Day- victory in Japan
Yalta Conference
February 1945- “Big Three”
Discussed postwar world. They agreed
to create a new international
organization based on the Atlantic
Charter. The United Nations was
established in April 1945
United Nations
is an international peace keeping
organization to which most of the nations
of the world belong. Its aim is to promote
world peace, security and economic
development.
US Secretary of State
Cordell Hull
Potsdam Conference
in Potsdam, Germany in July 1945
“Big Three”-Stalin, Truman and Clement Atlee
Drew up a blueprint for disarming
Germany and eliminating the Nazi
regime. Germany was divided into 4
zones with each zone occupied by an
Allied Power. The capital, Berlin, was divided
the same way.