World War II

WORLD WAR IIUnit Overview

ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE The 1930s began with a Great Depression that kept all

American eyes fixed on domestic affairs. However, the isolationism of the 1920s waned as a new international menace threatened the future of democracy. At the close of the decade, the United States was on the brink of war. Japan’s decision to bomb Pearl Harbor pushed us over the brink and dragged the U.S. into the conflict. During World War II, America experienced changes that reached into virtually every corner of the country. The conflict revamped the economy and pulled us out of the Depression. While the war effort started off as cumbersome, America shaped up and prevailed on both fronts and redefined America’s position in the world.

TRADING SPACE FOR TIME Pressing issues

Retooling for all-out war production Government and big business

German advancements Rocket bombs Atomic bombs?

Einstein’s letter Allied survival—US readiness Selective Service

5 million volunteer 10 million drafted

Distances to ship goods and troops Winning the minds:

Hollywood Propaganda

THE MIRACLE OF PRODUCTION Economic Recovery

Industry awakens Unemployment—decreases drastically

$100 billion in military orders R.I.P. Great Depression

Farmers European demand

Labor Opportunities in manufacturing

Discrimination in hiring Unions

Membership up 3 million (13 million total) Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (1943)

ECONOMIC PLANNING Office of Price Administration (OPA)

Battled inflation Taxes Rationing War bonds

National War Labor Board (NWLB) Ceilings on wage increases Restrictions on unions

War Production Board Halted the manufacture of nonessential items

Tanks, planes, boats, bomb parts, jeeps, liberty ships etc… Dictated transportation and access to raw materials

Rationing Office of Scientific Research and Development

(OSRD) Manhattan Project

WOMEN AND WWII Rosie the Riveter

6 million women working Wage prejudice “Men’s work”

WAACs, WAVEs, SPARs, WAFs “Auxiliary”—non combat

Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force Clerical work Ambulance drivers Radio operators Electricians Pilots

AFRICAN AMERICANS A. Philip Randolph

March for integration of workforce Fair Employment Practices

Commission (FEPC) Military

Black servicemen: 700,000 plus Served in segregated units Noncombat roles until 1943

Double “V” Tuskegee Airmen

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Sit-ins and demonstrations

Chicago, St. Louis

JAPANESE AMERICANS Discrimination

135,000 Japanese Issei Nissei

“Conspirators” Relocation Centers

Executive Order 9066 Prison camps in mountains

and deserts Korematsu v. U.S.

Supports internment

MINORITY WARTIME EXPERIENCE Mexican-Americas

300,000 served High casualties

Bracero program Contract laborers

Zoot-Suit Riots Asian-Americans

13,000 Chinese serve 30,000 Japanese serve

Native Americans 25,000 served “Windtalkers”

African-Americans Second Great Migration Detroit

HOLDING THE HOME FRONT Economic gains

Inflation, wage ceilings, expansive income tax Disposable personal income doubled

(GD!) Check please!

$ 330 billion Note WWI cost 32 billion!

2/5 of war costs paid by revenues National debt rose from 49 billion to

259 billion GDP

$100 billion to $200 billion in 4 years

HALTING HITLER The Battle of the Atlantic

U-Boat hunting Convoys, depth charges, air patrol, radar and code

breaking Kept Britain alive—allied springboard

Cologne 1,000 plane bombing raid

North Africa The “Desert Fox” Erwin Rommel

Nazi sought the Suez Canal Allies drove them back to Tunisia

Stalingrad The tide turns on the eastern front

ITALIAN CAMPAIGN The “soft underbelly”

Sicily falls in August 1943 Mussolini deposed Italy joins the allies

German occupied Italy Rome was taken 04 June 1944

Campaign diverts Nazi troop strengths

REOPENING THE WESTERN FRONT Teheran Conference (11/28-12/1/1943)

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin Coordinating attacks

D-Day 06 June 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe

Led by Eisenhower Began the decline of German dominance on the

Western front “Lafayette, we are here again.”

REOPENING THE WESTERN FRONT Teheran Conference (11/28-12/1/1943)

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin Coordinating attacks

D-Day 06 June 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe

Led by Eisenhower Began the decline of German dominance on the

Western front “Lafayette, we are here again.”

V-E DAY Germany collapsing

Soviets were closing on East British and Americans closing in on West

Battle of the Bulge Last German offensive

Winter of 1944—allies push them back Unveiling the genocide

Nazi death camps exposed Russians capture Berlin

April 1945 FDR passes Hitler takes his own life

V-E Day (07 May 1945)

THE RISING SUN IN THE PACIFIC Japanese imperialists

Guam, Wake, Philippines, Hong Kong, British Malaya, and Burma Strategic locations and natural resources

Struggle in the Philippines Bataan defensive MacArthur evacuated—“I shall return” Bataan Death March

POWs

THE SUN ALSO SETS…LEAPFROGGING TO CHECKMATE Japan sets its eyes on Australia

Battle of the Coral Sea Carrier based aircraft—Allied victory

Midway The tide turns—1,000 miles NW of Hawaii

Admiral Nimitz out maneuvers Japanese Japan loses three carriers

“Island-Hopping” U.S. strategy—capturing nearby islands to

weaken fortified ones

V-J DAY American Submarines

Sank 50% of Japanese merchant marine Firebombing in Tokyo

March 9-10, 1945 Killed 83,000

Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa Crippled Japanese fleet “kamikazes”

Little Boy and Fat Man Hiroshima—06 August 1945 Nagasaki—09 August 1945

V-J Day 10 August 1945— “unconditional” surrender