www.buschistory.netTopic 21 – World War II

Four Thoughts of World War IIAn Introduction

The European/Atlantic Theater

Primary focus of the early war years

Nazis – Hitler- The Holocaust

D Day

Domestic Polices and Implications

Wartime Economy ends Depression

Draft – Rosie the Riveter

Expanded Government

Rationing – Espionage – Red Scare

The Pacific/Asian Theater

Pearl Harbor

Japanese Imperialism

Island Hopping Strategy

The Atomic Bombs

International Relations

Which Ally to help first?

Stalin – Churchill rift

Post War Plans – impending Cold War

China and the Philippines?

Japan •Seized Manchuria in 1931

•Withdrew from the League of Nations

Adolf Hitler•Renounced the Versailles Treaty: rebuilt Germany’s

armed forces•Lebensraum through territorial expansion

•Sent troops to occupy the Rhineland•Annexed Austria to Germany in 1938

•Threatened for Czechoslovakia but France and Britain gave the Sudetenland – Munich 9/30/1938

•Less than 6 months later, seized the rest of Czechoslovakia.

•Kristallnacht

Benito Mussolini •Sent troops to Ethiopia, claimed the African kingdom as a colony

WAR BREAKS OUT

CAUSES:Failure of the League of Nations

Aggressive empire buildingAppeasement

U.S. Isolationism

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Germany made a pact with its sworn foe, the Soviet Union, and invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.

Britain and France declare war on Germany

Isolationism•World War I had left strong

isolationist sentiment.•American First

Committee: formed to oppose U.S. intervention

While Germany was using the technique of Blitzkrieg (lightning war) to take Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, what was happening in

the U.S.?

Roosevelt•Invoked the Neutrality Act of 1939 to sell arms to Britain, France and China

•Lend-Lease Act: made Britain the first beneficiary of massive aid. •Met with Britain prime minister,

Winston Churchill to declare their mutual desire to end Nazi tyranny.

Pearl Harbor•When Japan occupied Indochina in July 1941, the U.S.

responded by cutting off trade with Japan.•The angered Japanese launched a surprise attack on December 7, 1941 on Pearl Harbor, destroying nearly 200 American planes

and killing more than 2,400 Americans with nearly 1,200 wounded.

On December 8th, Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan. The same day, the United States recognized the existence of a state of

war with Germany and Italy, and World War II began for the Americans.

Mobilizing for War•War Powers Act

•Supply Priorities and Allocation Board (SPAB)

•Office of Price Administration (OPA)•National War Labor Board (NWLB)

•War Manpower Commission (WMC)•Office of War Mobilization (OWM)

Propaganda•Office of War

Information (OWI): sold the idea of war to the American people through radio & film.

•Fueled selling of war bonds

•The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was used to monitor

espionage •The Office Of

Strategic Services (OSS)

“Dr. New Deal” became “Dr. Win the War.”

The Roosevelt administration directed its resources toward planes, ships, guns and food

required for victory

Economic Conversion•The war lifted the U.S. out of the Great Depression and created the biggest economic boom

•Resulted from government spending & foreign orders for military supplies•War Production Board: made to “exercise the general responsibility” for the economy.

•½ of nearly everything produced was war material•GNP rose from $88.6 billion in 1939 to $198.7 billion in 5 years

•Regions were transformed, especially the West•Farm income had doubled by 1945 but many American farmers could not keep up with the

rising international demand for milk, fruits, potatoes and sugar•Livestock production went up and so did mechanized production of crops (chemical

fertilizers and pesticides)

Workers•Bracero program: Mexicans got short-term employment

•Indians were working in agriculture or industry•African Americans: worker #’s grew from 2,900,000 to 3,800,000

Women: •Labor force grew by over 50%

•Advertisers used gender stereotypes for wartime jobs with posters

•Women mined coal, repaired aircraft engines, cut and welded sheet metal & operated forklifts

and drill presses.•Increase in hourly wage for assembly line $1.15

•Strikes:The economic gains were unevenly distributed,

causing a turbulent period in American labor history.

•United Auto Workers (UAW) became one of the most powerful labor organizations in the world.

•John L. Lewis led a walkout of half a million coal miners in 1943. Roosevelt ordered the mines to be seized and the first federal antistrike bill was

passed.

THE HOMEFRONT

Family Life•A lot of marriages and divorces•Housing shortages small and

rents were high•“Share Your Home” campaign: encouraged opening homes to friends, relatives or strangers•Day care centers popped up•Juvenile delinquency rose

•Public health improved greatly

Japanese American Internment•Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066: suspended the civil rights of

Japanese Americans & authorized the exclusion of 110,000 men women and

children.•War Relocation Authority in isolated

districts of Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming and California.

•Japanese American Citizens League•Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)

African Americans and Mexicans

•Double V campaign: African Americans wanted their own

rights as citizens•Zoot suit Riots

Popular Culture•Songs featured war themes

•Music bridged growing racial divisions•Movies with combat & also anti-fascist themes.

•World of comics had wartime spirit•Fashion had civilian clothing to resemble

military attire

THE ARMED FORCES•October 16, 1940: National Registration Day

•All men between ages 21& 36 were obligated to register for the military•1/3 of the men examined were rejected

•Officers corps were highly professional, politically conservative and personally autocratic

Women•Before WWII, served as nurses and clerical workers

•The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) becomes Women’s Army Corps (WAC)

•Bills established the women’s division of the navy, Air force and Marine corps

•Women were discriminated and were closely monitored

•Also racial segregation

Segregation & New Horizons

•African Americans•Japanese Americans

•Homosexuals found more room than in civilian life

•Soldiers looked back on the war and said it was the

greatest experience they would ever know

Overseas•Americans had a mixed record

overseas•In some places they were disliked (Britain, France)

•Treated like heroes in Belgium and Southern Holland

There were approximately 120,000 Americans who became prisoners of war

THE WORLD AT WAR

The Allies remained on the defensive for the first year of the war while Hitler was holding power over the European Continent

Weapons and Tactics•WWII was a war of offensive

maneuvers with surprise attacks•Weapons: tanks and airplanes

•Artillery and explosives were also important

•Hitler used these tactics to his advantage

The Allies had advantages:•Vast natural resources

•Skilled workforce to accelerate production of weapons and ammunitions

•Antifascists all over Europe and Asia•Capacity of Soviet Union to endure immense

losses.

Battle of Stalingrad: Hitler decided to go back on its pact with the Soviet Union and invaded it in 1941. The Russian troops and freezing winter caused the German invaders

to surrender in 1943. The Red Army drove the Germans out of the Soviet Union, becoming a turning point in the war.

TURNING POINTS

El Alamein (1942): The Germans had victories in North Africa but British forces in Egypt stopped the advance. With the help of American forces coming from the west, the Allies

trapped Germany in 1943 and they surrendered.Invasion of Italy (1943): The victory in North Africa allowed British and Americans to land in

Italy in 1943. Hitler was forced to send troops to Italy, weakening his forces in Western Europe

“D- Day” (June 6,1944): Allies invaded France, landing on the beaches of Normandy. They broke through German defenses to advance toward Paris and freed France from German control. The Allies moved from France into Germany. Germany surrendered on May 8th

The War in Asia and the PacificAfter the victory in Europe, the Allies moved from the defensive in Asia to all the

Allied power being concentrated on Japan.

•A counteroffensive campaign across the Central Pacific and along the Solomon Islands-New Guinea axis steadily pushed the Japanese back

•October 1944, General MacArthur led a force to gain back the Philippines•The island of Okinawa was captured, but was the largest operation mounted by

Americans in the Pacific war. Japanese had the kamikaze tactic•By the summer of 1945, The Japanese had its navy and air force virtually

destroyed and its cities were at the mercy of American aircraft. They were also cut off from sources of supply of much-needed raw materials

THE HOLOCAUST

•Not until the last stages of the war did Americans learn about Hitler’s actions

•The U.S. government released little information on what was the Holocaust

•Roosevelt said that the liberation of the European Jews was dependent on a quick and

total Allied victory•6 Million Jews, 250,000 Gypsies and 60,000

homosexuals lost their lives.

The Yalta Conference•February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at a Soviet resort called Yalta

•The “Big Three” decided at the end of the war they would divide Germany temporarily

•There would be “spheres of influences”•The Soviet Union retained the Baltic states and part of Poland as a buffer to

protect against future German aggression•Britain would reclaim its empire in Asia

•The United States hoped to hold several Pacific islands in order to monitor any military resurgence in Japan.

•Stalin also pledged to enter the war against Japan and approved plans for a future world organization.

President Roosevelt died the next month and Harry S.

Truman became his successor.

THE ATOMIC BOMB•Potsdam Conference: July 17- August 2, 1945- Allied leaders agreed to demand

Japan’s unconditional surrender & to try Nazi leaders as war criminals.•Truman learned of an atomic bomb test in New Mexico at this conference•After warning Japan to surrender immediately or face “complete and utter

destruction”, on August 3, 1945, •August 6th, the bomber Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people died and by 1950 the death toll was 200,000 from radiation poisoning

or burns•The second bomb destroyed Nagasaki, killing about 40,000

•On August 14th, Japan surrendered.