World War IIWorld War II Chapter 35 Allied Strategy Axis Powers - Germany, Italy, Japan Allied Powers - U.S., G.B., France, U.S.S.R.,# of others Many in the U.S. wanted to go after

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World War II

Chapter 35

Allied Strategy

 Axis Powers - Germany, Italy, Japan  Allied Powers - U.S., G.B., France,

U.S.S.R.,# of others  Many in the U.S. wanted to go after Japan

because of Pearl Harbor  Decided to begin the main thrust in

Europe- knock Hitler out first  Time was most important- must prepare

for 2 front war

Getting Ready for WWII

 Country was more united behind the war effort….why?

 Needed to prepare for war before it was too late  Had to feed and arm the U.S. military and Europe

and also fight a two theatre war

 Was very little witch-hunting compared to WWI  Immigration was slowed during the 1920s  The HUGE exception was U.S. treatment of

Japanese Americans

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Japanese Internment  Was a great deal of suspicion towards

Japanese-Americans and sabotage (W. Coast)  Combined with long-standing racism

 Thousands of Japanese-Americans and Japanese were placed in internment camps throughout the U.S.  Some actually asked to serve in the Army - Nisei  442nd Regiment - most decorated in history

 Was found constitutional in the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. U.S (1944).  Was a “military necessity”  U.S. govt. later apologized and gave $20,000 to

each camp survivor

Building the War Machine

 War Production Board  Oversaw production of war materials- 300,000

aircraft, 76,000 ships, 86,000 tanks, 2.6 million guns  Halted the manufacture of non-essential materials

(passenger cars)  Rationing - meat, butter, nylon, rubber, national

speed limit, gasoline rations

 Office of Price Administration  Dealt with inflation  People were making lots of $ and nothing to spend it

on

World War II & Labor  War Labor Board

 Dealt with labor issues during the war  Placed ceilings on wages to help with

inflation

 Labor Union membership went way up  Large # of walkouts, led by John Lewis  Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act

 Govt. could seize and operate industries tied up with labor disputes

 Strikes against govt. operated industries were illegal

 Govt took over coal mines and railroads

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Manpower & Womanpower

 15 million men were in the military  216,000 women (WAACS, WAVES, SPARS)

 Workers in certain key industries were exempt from the draft  Still short of personnel

 Braceros - was a deal made with Mexico for immigrant workers to come to the U.S.

 Agreement lasted for 20 years

Manpower & Womanpower

 Much of the labor loss in factories was filled by women  6 million women worked during WWII  Were paid less than men  “Rosie the Riveters”  Not just single women anymore either  About 2/3 left the workforce after the

war  Still, most women stayed home

Shifting Population

 WWII caused a huge demographic shift in the U.S.  From rural to urban areas  Migration North by many Southern blacks

to fill factory jobs  This made race more of a national issue  5 million tenant farmers and sharecroppers

would head North for the next 30 years

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African-American Rights During WWII  A. Philip Randolph

 Threatened a march on D.C. to protest discrimination in the workplace & hiring

 FDR want to prevent this  Created the Fair Employment Practices

Commission- monitored compliance  Monitored compliance with Exec. Order that

prohibited discrimination in defense industries

 Blacks were drafted, saw little action  Served in segregated units

 Membership in the NAACP & CORE went up

Other Minority Groups During WWII

 Native Americans  Also left reservations for urban areas  25,000 served in the military

 Navajo Code Talkers

 Hispanic Americans  Conflict in the SW US  Zoot-Suit Riots- LA

Changes in America After WWII

 The U.S. came out of WWII more powerful than ever  Business healthy, people had lots of $

 Govt. became more involved in daily lives of Americans  Draft, rationing, jobs in defense

industries, govt. health care, etc.  Govt./University partnership in research

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Major Battles-Pacific

 Japan successful in taking Guam, Wake Island, Philippines (Bataan Death March), Dutch East Indies- 1942

 Pivotal battles-  Coral Sea (May 1942)- fighting was done by aircraft

carriers (1st time in history)  Midway Islands-

 IF Japan takes islands, can launch assaults on Hawaii and later US

 US Admiral Chester Nimitz  US destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, stop Japan

aggression

Pacific War  After Midway, US goes on attack

 Guadalcanal (Aug. 1942)  Japanese loss- 20,000  US- 1,700

 US Begins “Island Hopping” Campaign  Bypass some of the heavily fortified posts,

capture nearby islands and begin heavy bombing  Move towards Japan’s mainland

 Marshall Islands (Jan-Feb 1944)  Marianas and the B-29 superbombers  Leyte Gulf (Oct. 1944)  Iwo Jima (March 1945)  Okinawa (June 1945)

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B-29 Superfortress

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Major Battles - Europe  Battle of the Atlantic - sonar  Battle of El Alamein

 stopped German advance in North Africa

 Battle of Stalingrad  Soviets stopped the German advance in the east

 Soviets wanted a second front opened to ease their fight - Europe or Africa?

 Operation Torch  Allied invasion of N. Africa - against E. Rommel  British pushed from the East (Egypt), U.S. from

the West (Morocco)

Major Battles - Europe  Decision was made to open a second front in

N. Europe  up against the Atlantic Wall - defenses set up by

Rommel

 Operation Overlord - D-Day invasion (June 6, 1944)  Largest invasion of its type in history

 Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes Forest-symbolism?)  Hitler’s last ditch effort at winning

 Was running out of supplies and oil

 A major counter-offensive to the Allied advance  Eventually pushed back - Battle of Bastogne

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Eisenhower

Patton

Macarthur

Nimitz

WWII Europe

Map

The End of WWII in Europe

 April 12, 1945- Roosevelt dies from cerebral hemorrhage

 April 30, 1945- Hitler dies from suicide  May 8, 1945- V-E Day

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The end for Japan

 Massive fire-bomb raids on Tokyo (March 9-10, 1945)  83,000 people dead

 Japan’s sea power gone  Lost 60 ships at the Battle of Leyte Gulf

Iwo Jima

 Purpose-Needed for damaged American bombers returning from Japan

 March 1945  25 days- 4,000 Americans killed

Okinawa

 April-June 1945  Purpose- needed for closer bases to

bomb Tokyo  Kamikaze pilots  50,000 Americans killed  Next stop…Japan

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Use of the Atomic Bomb

 Why?  Saved lives from an invasion of main

islands of Japan  Could cost 500,000 US lives?  One more year of war

 Stop the war before the Soviets got too involved

 Should it have been used?

 Hiroshima  Aug. 6, 1945  70,000 killed; 60,000 more later from

burns/radiation

 Nagasaki  Aug. 9, 1945  80,000 dead  V-J Day- Sept. 2, 1945

Little Boy- Hiroshima

Fat Man- Nagasaki

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Shadows of Atomic Bomb blast

Wartime Conferences  Tehran Conference

 The Big Three ( FDR, Churchill, Stalin)  Agreed to open a second front and attack

simultaneously with the Soviets

 Potsdam Conference  FDR has died, new Prez Truman attends  Agree to give an ultimatum to Japan

 Surrender or face total annihilation… bomb?