SS8H9

The student will describe the impact of World War II on Georgia’s development economically, socially, and politically

A. Describe the impact of events leading up to American involvement in World War II, include Lend-Lease and the bombing of Pearl Harbor

B. Evaluate the importance of Bell Aircraft, military bases, the Savannah and Brunswick shipyards, Richard Russell, and Carl Vinson

C. Explain the impact of the Holocaust on Georgians

D. Discuss President Roosevelt’s ties to GA including his visits to Warm Springs and his impact on the state

Germany on the rise again

Out of the frustration of WWI defeat, Nazi party rises to power in Germany

Great Britain and other European countries hope to avoid another war with Germany

Appeasement – the policy of giving an aggressor what it wants in order to avoid conflict

In 1939 Germany invades Poland; Great Britain and France declare war on Germany

Neutral United States

United States watched as Japan, Italy, the Soviet Union, and Germany carved up the world.

Isolationism – the idea of not taking part in the affairs of other nations

However, before entering the war itself, the U.S. sold weapons to the Allied Powers

When the British ran out of cash to buy weapons, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, under which the U.S. sent war material to the Allies in exchange for leases on military bases in the Allied countries

World War II countries

Axis powers – Germany, Italy, Japan,

Allied powers – Great Britain, France,

United States, Soviet Union*

Soviet Union – at first, Germany and the

Soviet Union were conquering land; they

were considered allies, but Germany

turned on the Soviet Union

The European Theater

France surrenders – June, 1940

Leaders of the Nations

Germany – Adolf Hitler

Japan – Emperor Hirohito

Italy – Benito Mussolini

Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin

Great Britain – Winston Churchill

United States – Franklin Roosevelt

The Leaders

Japan on the rise

To protest Japanese expansion, the United

States stopped exporting airplanes,

metals, aircraft parts, and aviation fuel to

Japan

After Japan invaded French Indochina in

1941, Roosevelt seized all Japanese

property in the U.S.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,

Sunday morning, December 7, 1941.

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

This surprise attack on the U.S. becomes

known as the “day that will live in infamy”

U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet was destroyed

All eight battleships were destroyed or

severely damaged

2,000 people were killed; 1,000 were

injured

December 8, 1941, the U.S. declares war

on Japan because of Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor – U.S.S. Arizona

U.S. arms for war

After Pearl Harbor, the government

decided to build additional aircraft plants

to make the B-29 bomber

Bell Aircraft Company of Buffalo, NY built

a new plant in Marietta, GA

In 1943, the plant employed 1200 people;

by 1945, it employed 27,000 workers

The Marietta plant was the largest aircraft

assembly plant in the world

The Bell Aircraft

It closed after WWII;

had built 668 planes

Opened back up in

1950 by Lockheed

Aircraft Corporation

Still located in

Marietta

Savannah & Brunswick Shipyards

Liberty ships were built at the Savannah &

Brunswick Shipyards

Liberty ships were cargo ships named by

President Roosevelt.

First of GA’s Liberty ships was launched

in November 1942 – the U.S.S. James

Oglethorpe

88 Liberty ships were built in Savannah

99 Liberty ships were built in Brunswick

Liberty Ships

WWII Military Bases in GA

Major military bases – Fort Benning (Columbus), Camp Gordon (Augusta), Fort Stewart and Hunter Air Field (Savannah), Warner Robbins Air Field (Macon)

Fort Benning – largest infantry center in the country

Glynco Naval Air Station (Brunswick) – flew blimps along the coast in search of German subs

WWII Military Bases in GA

Prisoners of War were held at Fort

Benning, Fort Gordon, Fort Oglethorpe,

and Fort Stewart

Fort McPherson (Atlanta) – a major

induction center for newly drafted

soldiers from all over the country

Richard B. Russell, Jr.

Georgia’s youngest governor

◦ He consolidated 102 state offices into 17

agencies

◦ He created the Board of Regents of the

University System of Georgia – a combination

of the boards of trustees of state colleges and

universities into one group

◦ He ran the state like a successful business

Richard B. Russell, Jr.

Later, he served thirty-eight years as a

U.S. Senator from Georgia

Supported government program to

provide a school lunch to all children

He was a respected advisor to six U.S.

presidents; as pro tempore (head) of the

U.S. Senate, he was third in line for the

presidency

Richard B. Russell, Jr.

Carl Vinson

One of Georgia’s most influential leaders

He served twenty-five consecutive terms

in the U.S. House of Representatives

He represented Georgia’s interest in the

military through his work with the House

Naval Affairs Committee and the House

Armed Services Committee

He had a major influence in promoting a

strong national defense

Carl Vinson

In 1934, he helped authorize the

manufacture of 92 major warships

because of tensions in Europe

He expanded the naval aviation system to

include 10,000 planes, train 16,000 pilots,

and establish 20 air bases

He is referred to as the “father of the

two-ocean navy.”

Carl Vinson

Nazi Germany and the Holocaust

Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, instigated the Holocaust.

Holocaust: The name given to the systematic killing of 6 million Jews

An additional 5-6 million people, labeled as “undesireables,” were also killed

Concentration Camps – the final solution to the Jewish problem

◦ Examples: Auschwitz, Buckenwald, Dachau, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen

The Holocaust

People died from starvation, disease,

mistreatment, and medical experiments

Prisoners, including children, were killed

in gas chambers; once dead, they were

incinerated in ovens or thrown in mass

graves

The Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust

In 1986, the Georgia Commission on the

Holocaust was created “to take lesson

from the history of the Holocaust and use

them to help lead new generations of

Georgians beyond racism and bigotry.”

The Commission sponsors an art and

writing contest for Georgia middle and

high school students

Franklin D. Roosevelt & Georgia

One of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs –

the NIRA (National Industrial Recovery

Act)

It was designed to help workers by

setting minimum wages, permitting

workers to organize unions, and allowing

factories to cut back on production.

This legislation mainly affected the textile

industry

Franklin D. Roosevelt & Georgia

The NIRA was a major threat to mill

owners

The mill owners used a stretch out – a

practice that requires workers to tend

more machines

Workers had to do the same amount of

work in an 8-hour shift that they had

previously done in a 12- hour shift

Franklin D. Roosevelt & Georgia

Thus, textile workers all over the South

joined in a strike

45,000 union workers in Georgia took

part

The strike caused financial hardships for

the workers, so the union called off the

strike eventually

So how did the NIRA affect GA?

Resulted in a strike in the textile industry

Franklin D. Roosevelt & Georgia

In 1924, Roosevelt began visiting Warm

Springs as treatment for his polio

Franklin D. Roosevelt & Georgia

Because of the warm springs, he built a

small house there in 1932 – it became

known as the “Little White House”

The warm mineral waters of Warm

Springs eased his polio

Franklin D. Roosevelt & Georgia

He died on April 24, 1945 from a stroke

at his house in Warm Springs

Harry Truman became the next president

of the United States and authorized the

use of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and

Nagasaki, Japan to help end World War II.

Atomic Bomb (Atom Bomb)

Atomic Bomb (Atom Bomb)

Atomic Bomb (Atom Bomb)

Carl Vinson

Warm Springs

For t McPherson

Pearl Harbor

Bell Aircraft

Savannah

Brunswick

Richard B. Russell Jr

Holocaust

Lend lease

Boll weevil

Drought

AAA

CCC

Eugene Talmadge

Rural Electrification Authority

Great Depression

Social Security

New Deal

FDR