america in wwii 1941 - 1945. war begins for the us dec 8, 1941 – fdr asked & received from...
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America in WWIIAmerica in WWII
1941 - 1945
War Begins for the US Dec 8, 1941 – FDR asked & received from
Congress a declaration of war against Japan Dec 11, 1941 – Germany & Italy declare war on
US ABC-1 agreement with Britain- get Germany first
– Stop Hitler first & then all the Allies would focus on Japan
– Limited American strength would hold Japan
The Shock of War National unity – including immigrants
– WWII actually speeded the assimilation of immigrants
Japanese – Americans– Mainly on the Pacific Coast– Forced into internment camps for fear of sabotage– Many lost literally everything– Korematsu v. US – upheld gov’t action of camps
• 1988 – gov’t apologized & paid the survivors $20,000
The New Deal Ends
Conservative Congress was elected in 1942– Wiped out the CCC, WPA, & National Youth
Administration
Massive military orders ($100+ billion in 1942) helped relieve depression
Production & WWII War Production Board
– Halted production of nonessential items & focused on needed materials for war
Gov’t imposed a national speed limit & gasoline rationing & developed synthetic-rubber plants
Farmers – increased production Office of Price Administration
– Brought inflation under control through regulation – Rationing held down consumption of critical goods
Labor in WWII War Labor Board (WLB)
– Imposed ceilings on wage increases
Labor unions membership grew but resented the wage ceilings – United Mine Workers were
called off the job by John L. Lewis
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act – June 1943– Authorized the gov’t to seize & operate tied-up
industries– Made strikes against gov’t-operated industry a crime
• Gov’t took coal mine & railroads
Manpower & Womanpower Armed services – enlisted 15 million men &
216,000 women– Women /Noncombat units – WAACS, WAVES,
SPARS
Key industrial & agricultural workers were exempted from the draft
Draft left many jobs open– 1942 – Mexico sent “braceros” to work in the US– Resulted in Zoot Suit Riots – 1943 in L.A.
• Sailors on leave beat Mexicans
Impact for Women
More than 6 million women took jobs outside the home– Gov’t had to start some 3,000 day-care centers for
“Rosie the Riveter’s” children– Began the revolution in the roles of women– Most women left the workforce after the war– “Baby Boom” Generation occurred after the war
• Tens of millions of babies were born in the decade & a half after 1945
Wartime Migration
Major population boom in War Industries areas– Los Angeles, Detroit, Seattle, & Baton Rouge
FDR accelerated the South’s economic development
1.6 million African Americans moved out of the South to seek jobs in the North & West– Mechanical cotton picker eliminated the South’s need
for cheap labor – Race relations developed over
employment, housing, & segregated facilities
Fair Treatment
A. Philip Randolph – (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters)
– 1941 - Threatened a march on Washington:• demanded equal opportunities for
blacks in war jobs & the armed forces
FDR responds:– Forbid discrimination in defense industries – Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)
monitored compliance
Blacks were drafted but were still assigned mainly to service branches instead of combat
Minorities “Double V” - victory over the dictators abroad &
over racism at home – Membership in NAACP increased– 1942 – CORE is founded
• Congress for Racial Equality
Native American Exodus– Many left the reservations & moved to cities or
enlisted – 25,000 served
– “code talkers” – Comanches in Europe & Navajos in Japan
• codes were never broken
Holding the Home Front Americans at home suffered little from the war
compared to other countries– Economy was invigorated– Employment was high– Rationing– Office of Scientific Research & Development
• Established a partnership between gov’t & universities
National Debt skyrocketed - $259 billion in 1945
The Rising Sun in the Pacific
Japanese – win quickly or lose slowly– Allied defeats: during the first 6 months, it looked like
the Allied Powers would lose the war
Japanese took:– Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma,
Dutch East Indies, & the Philippines • Important Burma Road supply route into China from India
was cut
The Philippines US troops led by General Douglas MacArthur
withdrew to Bataan, close to Manila, but eventually surrendered – Bataan Death March – 85 mile forced march of GIs
who were tortured & eventually burned alive – MacArthur was ordered by Washington to leave
secretly for Australia – “I shall return”
Doolittle Raid : US executed a militarily insignificant raid on Japan in April, 1942– Helped US moral
Japan is Pushed Back
Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942)– Entire battle fought with aircraft– Japan prevented from successfully invading New
Guinea & Australia
Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942)– Turning point // Admiral Chester W. Nimitz– Allies broke the Japanese code– Japan suffered severe loses– Japan no longer had any hopes of attacking US
mainland
Island Hopping
Campaign begins in 1943– Eventually pushed Japanese forces all the way back to
Japan– Sought to neutralize Japanese island strongholds with
air and sea power & then move on– Battle of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands – Aug 1942 –
Feb 1943)• First Japanese land defeat after 6 months of bitter jungle
fighting
The Allied Halting of Hitler
German U-boats sunk 8 million tons of allied supplies (25% of USSR’s)
Germans were as far east as Stalingrad by fall 1942, & as deep as El Alamein, Egypt
Battle of Stalingrad (Sept 1942)– Very important battle – First major NAZI defeat on land– German army in retreat from the east until Berlin is
occupied by the Russians in the spring of 1945– Stalin never forgave the Allies for not opening a 2nd
front earlier, USSR had to bear the brunt of Nazi invasion
North Africa Operation “Torch” – led by
Gen. Eisenhower on Nov 8, 1943– Germans were led by General Erwin Rommel (the
Desert Fox)– Allied troops invaded N. Africa in Algeria & Morocco
Battle of El Alamein – major victory for Allies– Signaled end of Nazi presence in N. Africa
Italy Invasion of Italy commanded by George Patton
– July 10, 1943 – British & US forces land on Sicily; victorious within 1 month
– Mussolini was forced out of power (1943)– October 1943 – Italy declares war on Germany– June 4, 1944 – Allied march into Rome
• First capital city freed from Nazi control
– Other parts of Italy remain under NAZI control until Spring 1945
Tehran Conference
Nov 28 – Dec 1, 1943 First meeting of the “Big Three”
– FDR, Stalin, & Churchill
Agree on an invasion of Western Europe Stalin confirmed Soviet commitment to war
against Japan
D-Day June 6, 1944 – “Operation Overlord”
– Commanded by Eisenhower– 120,000 troops left England & landed at 5 beachheads
at Normandy Coast• 800,000 more men within 3 weeks, 3 million total
Significance: – Established a second front– Troops entered Paris on Aug 25
• By the end of summer, Belgium, France, & Luxembourg liberated
Presidential Campaign 1944
Democrat – FDR & Harry S Truman Republican – Thomas Dewey
– Platform: 12yrs was too long
FDR is elected to a 4th term– Experience played a major role
Last Days of Hitler Pre-invasion bombing
– Berlin & other major cities were hit repeatedly• Especially factories & oil refineries
Allied invasion (Sept 1944) repelled by Germany– Allies arrived on the edge of Germany by mid Sept
Battle of the Bulge – Dec 16, 1944– Germans launched a major offensive on US positions
in Belgium & Luxembourg – General George Patton & his
airborne division stopped Hitler’s last gasp counter-offensive
– By Jan, the Allies were again advancing toward Germany
War in Europe Comes to an End
April 1945– US approach Berlin from west
while Soviets come from east– Hitler committed suicide in an
underground bunker on April 30, 1945– FDR dies of natural causes – April 12, 1945
• Truman steps in
Depth of the Holocaust is uncovered V-E Day “Victory in Europe Day”
– May 7, 1945 – Germany surrendered unconditionally
Japan Dies Hard Feb 1945 – Iwo Jima
– Fighter planes were now close enough to bomb Japan
April – June, 1945 – Okinawa – Fierce fighting which virtually destroyed Japan’s
remaining defenses
Japan still showed no willingness to surrender
Potsdam Conference Held in near Berlin in July 1945 US & Soviet Union warn Japan to surrender or
be destroyed– Tens of thousands leaflets were dropped in Japan
Japan refuses removal of emperor – show some signs that they may surrender if they can
keep their emperor
The 1st Atomic Bomb Manhattan Project – secret plans
to build an atomic bomb– Albert Einstein worked on project
Bomb was tested in New Mexico July 16, 1945 Aug 6, 1945 –Atomic bomb dropped on
Hiroshima – 180,000+ died– Bomb was dropped by the Enola Gay– Japanese still refuse to surrender
The 2nd Atomic Bomb
Aug 9, 1945 – bomb dropped on Nagasaki– 80,000+ died
Japan agreed to surrender under one condition: keep Emperor Hirohito – Allies accepted condition on Aug 14, 1945
Sept 2, 1945 – Official surrender on board the USS Missouri
in Tokyo Bay (MacArthur was there)– V-J Day - “Victory in Japan Day”