WORLD WAR II1939 - 1945

THE ALLIED BATTLE

ON THE HOME FRONT

THE ALLIESTHE ALLIES THE AXISTHE AXIS

GREAT BRITAIN

SOVIET UNION

GERMANY

ITALY

JAPAN

UNITED STATES

NOW THAT AMERICA IS IN IT, THE BATTLE LINES OF WORLD WAR II ARE DRAWN

THE MAIN COMBATANT

S

A TRULY GLOBAL CONFLICTA TRULY GLOBAL CONFLICT

ALONG WITH THE MAIN COMBATANTS, MANY OTHER NATIONS WERE EMBROILED IN THE WAR

THE UNITED STATES ENTERS WORLD WAR II

Before December 7, 1941, the U.S. was at peace

The U.S. was also mired in the Great Depression and split over the question of intervening in the war

After the Japanese attack on

Pearl Harbor, there was no longer any question about

intervening: America was at war

Thus, the U.S. needed to mobilize all of its human

resources and industry, and they needed to do it quickly

THE REAL BATTLE IS FAR AWAY

╬ For some Allied nations, such as Great Britain and the Soviet Union, their territories were war-torn and their populations suffered a great deal

╬ In World War II, there was no significant fighting on the American mainland

╬ Aside from the attack on Pearl Harbor (as well as Japanese and German subs coming close to the coasts), American soil was untouched by battle

STREET WARFARE IN STALINGRAD

AMERICAN CIVILIANS CONTRIBUTE IN OTHER WAYS

Fulfilling President Roosevelt’s vision for the U.S. being the “arsenal of democracy”, Americans on the home front contributed to the war effort by producing weapons and other equipment needed to fight the Axis Powers

B-25 BOMBER PLANES ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE AT THE AMERICAN

AVIATION WORKS FACTORY

THE WAR MACHINE REVS UP The War Production Board was established; its purpose was to assign priorities for the production of civilian and military goods

For example: automobiles were considered non-essential, so a suspension was ordered in the production of cars

Companies switched their products to things needed for the war

For example: auto factories switched to building tanks and a typewriter company switched to making artillery shells

ADOLF IS NOT WORRIED♦ Despite the threat posed by the United States’ industrial might, Adolf Hitler was unconcerned by America’s entry into the war

♦Hitler considered the United States a “mongrel nation”

♦ Hitler thought that Japan alone would keep the U.S. fully occupied and that Germany had nothing to worry about in Europe from the Americans

♦ Hitler’s opinion was that American industry was weak and could not produce anything beyond “refrigerators and razor blades”

THE INDUSTRIAL GIANT

AWAKENS

In reality, Hitler now had plenty to worry about

Directed by the War Production Board, American industry would produce 300,000 aircraft, 86,000 tanks, 76,000 ships, and 40 billion bullets during the war years

THE OUTLOOK OF THE WAR PRODUCTION BOARD IS SIMPLE:

MORE

PRODUCTION MEANS

MORE

DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY

THE PURPOSES OF

PROPAGANDAIn warfare, propaganda has several main purposes:

╬ Persuade one’s own people to fight

╬ Demoralize and vilify the enemy

╬ Generate support for the war

╬ Manage the information the public receives about the war

Throughout this presentation, we will examine numerous works of propaganda, which was instrumental in World War II

PRODUCTION EQUALS

VICTORY

FIGHTING THE ENEMY ON THE

BATTLEFIELD AND ON THE

HOME FRONT

These propaganda posters not only

discouraged workers from being lazy, but

fanned the flames of racial hatred of the Japanese

WOMEN GO TO WORK The American work

force was depleted by men joining the armed forces to fight

One of the keys to American wartime production was the contribution of female workers

By 1944, 18 million Americans worked in the war industries; about 6 million of them were women

WOMEN GO TO WORK

Female workers at an aircraft factory

With many men fighting the war, there were critical gaps in the workforce at home

Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller was hired to create several propaganda posters that would encourage women to work in factories

His image of a confident, tough woman in work attire was effective in enticing housewives to work on building warplanes

Later, this image became known as “Rosie the Riveter”

WOMEN CONTRIBUTE TO INDUSTRY

Along with Miller’s iconic image, this 1943 Norman Rockwell painting of “Rosie the Riveter” also came to symbolize the role that women played in World War II

“ROSIE THE RIVETER”

“ROSIE THE RIVETER” An American Icon

A real-life "Rosie" working on a bomber plane in Nashville, Tennessee in 1943

“ROSIE THE RIVETER”

WACs, WASPs, and WAVESWAC: Women’s Army Corps

WASP: Women’s Air Force Service Pilots

WAVES: Women Accepted for Voluntary Service (Navy)

About 216,000 women served in these organizations. They worked as administrators, weather forecasters, cryptographers, radio operators, parachute riggers, aerial photograph analysts, and control tower operators.

NURSES NEEDED

CIVILIANS DO THEIR PART In addition to working and

producing as much as possible in the factories, the American public was asked to help the war effort

A major contribution was through conservation of food (meats, sugar, butter, wheat, etc.) so the soldiers doing the fighting would have an ample food supply

Americans would make their own gardens at home to feed themselves (“victory gardens”); this was done to help stretch the food supplies produced by farms

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS RALLIED

CITIZENS TO HELP

♥ Over 20 million “V Gardens” produced 40% of all vegetables grown in the U.S.

♥ This was a tremendous help in feeding the American and Allied soldiers doing the fighting overseas

♥ This pamphlet, made by a Buffalo, NY grocery store, advised people on how to get the most vegetables out of their Victory Gardens

VICTORY GARDENS

Make Yours a

Victory Home!A “victory home” was a home that did all it could to support the war effort.

Give examples of how you would participate

in each of these

“Victory Home Activities”

RATIONING EFFORTS Gasoline for personal use in

cars at home was rationed Nonessential drivers were

limited to three gallons of gas per week (people with essential jobs, such as doctors, had higher limits)

People drove below the speed limit to conserve gas and tires

Carpooling was seen as a way to conserve gasoline

This propaganda poster encouraged carpooling (though it exaggerated the case)

RATION CARDS

Families were given ration books that determined how much of certain items a person could buy. Gasoline was naturally vital to run a war machine, so there were limits on use of fuel by civilians. This card shows how much

gasoline could be used by a car owner during a specific time period.

RATIONING CIVILIAN FOOD USE

Propaganda posters, such as this one, encouraged Americans to conserve as much food as possible and to have a positive outlook on the rationing system

CRIMINALS ABUSE RATION CARDS

♠ Not every American was happy with limits on food and fuel

♠ A large black market grew with stolen and counterfeited ration cards, especially with gasoline

♠ This black market led to a great deal of illegal profits for organized crime groups, such as the New York Mafia

♠ Despite this criminal element, the rationing system was still certainly effective overall in ensuring plenty of food and fuel supplies for the armed forces

America’s entry into the war sparked a flurry of America’s entry into the war sparked a flurry of salvage activities. Drives for aluminum and salvage activities. Drives for aluminum and

rubber yielded tons of mainly unusable material. rubber yielded tons of mainly unusable material. Scrap iron and steel were more useful.Scrap iron and steel were more useful.

SALVAGING SCRAP FOR THE WAR EFFORT

CONSERVING RUBBER FOR THE WAR MACHINE

BUY BONDS

Like before during the Great War, the U.S. government needed some assistance from the American public to pay for this

war. Buying bonds lent the government the money it needed to wage the war. Works of propaganda encouraged people to

buy bonds, playing on feelings of fear and patriotism.

PROPAGANDA OF FEARWorld War II saw an incredible number of propaganda pieces

Propaganda can be described as mixing facts with emotions to change people’s opinions

In warfare, a purpose of propaganda is to boost your cause while showing your enemies in a bad light

In the case of this poster, and many more, this was done be spreading fear about the enemy

What symbols are shown here that play on

people’s fear?

PROPAGANDA OF FEAR How does this

propaganda poster portray the Japanese military?

Who and what is the Japanese soldier threatening?

What do the makers of this poster want people to do? How do they encourage people to do this?

PROPAGANDA OF FEAR How does this

propaganda poster portray the Japanese military?

Who and what is the Japanese soldier threatening?

What do the makers of this poster want people to think? How do they encourage people to think this way?

PROPAGANDA OF FEAR What forms of symbolism are on display in this poster?

Why might the creator of this poster want to include children in the images?

What does the maker of this poster want people to think and do after seeing it?

“THIS IS THE

ENEMY!”This particular propaganda poster shows the Japanese soldiers as bloodthirsty rapists

“LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS!”

Some propaganda encouraged citizens to be quiet about troop movements if they had a relative in the armed forces. The fear was that spies for Germany or Japan would hear valuable information.

“CARELESS TALK”

CELEBRITIES and ATHLETES In World War II, celebrities

and athletes would find a new spotlight

Many celebrities would risk their lives and careers to fight in the war

Others would use their talents to serve in ways other than fighting

Some helped without even trying hard, like the beautiful actresses Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable, whose pictures were carried by soldiers everywhere as pleasant reminder of home

RITA HAYWORTH

ATHLETES EXCHANGE THE PLAYING FIELD FOR THE BATTLEFIELD

Several future baseball Hall of Famers put their playing careers on hold to fight in the war. They include New York Yankees greats Joe DiMaggio (left) and Yogi Berra (top right)

Heavyweight boxer Joe Louis not only put his career on hold to fight in the war, his image and words became an effective propaganda tool.

ACTORS FIGHT FOR REAL

Paul Newman (top left), Ed McMahon (bottom left), Clark Gable (middle), Kirk Douglas (right), Christopher Lee

AUDIE MURPHY

Audie Murphy was an actor who got his start because of the war. Lieutenant Murphy was America’s most decorated soldier, gaining 24 awards. He single-handedly killed 50 Nazis and for that won the Medal of Honor. After the war, he got his start in acting by playing himself in the 1955 film To Hell And Back.

HOLLYWOOD PITCHES IN

The Nazis had already shown that motion pictures could be a valuable propaganda tool (the films The Eternal Jew and Triumph of the Will). America, the birthplace of film, finally got in the act in 1942. The U.S. War Department hired top actors and directors from Hollywood to produce movies. The films’ purposes ranged from educating soldiers to rallying the nation with patriotic stories.

EVEN DISNEY

TAKES A SHOT AT HITLER

EIGHT FUTURE U.S. PRESIDENTS SERVED IN WWII

NIXON

KENNEDY

L.B. JOHNSON

FORD CARTER REAGAN BUSH SR.

DWIGHT “IKE” EISENHOWER

The Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the European theater, he would become America’s 34th President in 1953.

SEGREGATION

IN THE ARMED FORCES There is a

darker side to America’s battle on the home front: racial segregation of the American armed forces

SEGREGATION IN THE ARMED

FORCES In 1941, only 4000 Blacks were in the military (only a dozen were officers) The Black soldiers were confined to segregated units and were often not assigned to combat Instead, they served as orderlies, drivers, and construction workersEven their blood banks were kept separatedSome voices in the government urged integration, but the military objected

WHY SEGREGATION? Racism was the reason for the segregation in

the armed forces A terribly racist study by the Army War

College in 1925 found that “Blacks could never become pilots because they lacked intelligence and were too cowardly in combat.”

A Black college student sued the U.S. government for the right to train as a pilot

The government agreed and set up a pilot training center for Blacks at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

The Tuskegee Institute’s first group of students graduated in March 1942. They were known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Also called the Black Eagles, they saw their first action in 1943 in North Africa, fighting the Germans and Italians.

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

Three other all-Black squadrons were added to the original 99th Fighter Squadron to

create the 332nd Fighter Group

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

Operating mostly in Italy, the Tuskegee Airmen logged more than 15,000 missions and shot down 251 enemy planes. No bomber they escorted was ever shot down.

They even gained the respect of the racist Nazis, who referred to them as Schwartze Vogelmenschen, or the “Black Birdmen”

EXTRAORDINARY WAR RECORDS

445 Tuskegee Airmen saw combat in World War II

Among the 850 awards the Airmen earned were:

150 Distinguished Flying Crosses 8 Purple Hearts 14 Bronze Stars 744 Air Medals

THE PURPLE HEART: AWARDED FOR BEING WOUNDED IN COMBAT

NAVAJO “CODE TALKERS”

Known as Navajo “Code Talkers”, these U.S. soldiers were young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of WWII. At a time when America's best cryptographers were falling short, these Navajo were able to fashion an ingenious code, using their ancient language, that the Japanese could not break. They drew upon their proud warrior tradition, serving with distinction in every major engagement of the Pacific theater from 1942 to 1945. Their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end.

THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK’S IMPACT ON JAPANESE-AMERICANS

Anti-Japanese feelings had existed in the United States for several decades prior to the Pearl Harbor attack

Anti-Japanese sentiments turned to outright hatred and fear after the attack on December 7, 1941

At the time, more than 119,000 people of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of them American citizens, were living in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona

ANTI-JAPANESE SENTIMENTS

Wanto Grocery, owned by a Japanese-American UC Berkeley graduate. (California, December 1941)

JAPANESE-AMRICANS TRY TO DEAL WITH THE ANTI-JAPANESE SENTIMENTS

JAPANESE-AMERICAN “DISLOYALTY”

ISSEI: those born in Japan, regarded by the U.S. government as ineligible for American citizenship.

NISEI: those born to Japanese parents, but born in the United States, therefore were American citizens.

Fear of disloyalty on the part of any Issei or Nisei was common among many Americans.

33% of the population of Hawaii was comprised of those of Japanese descent, making internment a daunting task in Hawaii.

Instead, the Hawaiian islands were placed under martial law.

TYPES OF JAPANESE-AMERICANS

FEAR OF JAPANESE-AMERICAN TREACHERY

This Dr. Seuss cartoon portrays Japanese-Americans as saboteurs working for the Japanese Empire

JAPANESE INTERNMENTAfter the Pearl Harbor attack,

there was fear among Americans that Japanese-Americans might be spies or saboteurs, that they were a threat to the United States

The rationale was that it was impossible to distinguish them from loyal citizens

Roosevelt responded in 1942 by issuing an order that allowed military officials to remove anyone they wanted from what they decided were “military areas.”

EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 Roosevelt’s Executive

Order 9066, dated February 19, 1942, gave the military broad powers to ban any citizen from a fifty- to sixty-mile-wide coastal area stretching from Washington state to California and extending inland into southern Arizona. The order also authorized transporting these citizens to assembly centers hastily set up and governed by the military.

U.S. PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

ORDER 9066 IN ACTION March 24, 1942 The first Civilian

Exclusion Order made by the Army is issued for the Bainbridge Island area near Seattle, Washington.

The forty-five families there are given one week to prepare for moving.

Japanese assets were frozen after the attack on Pearl Harbor, making it difficult for many Japanese Americans to move from the West Coast.

NEWS OF THE INTERNMENT SPREADS

Because of the internment, many Japanese-Americans lost their jobs, homes, and

businesses. Many families faced financial ruin.

ALLEGIANCE WHILE FACING INTERNMENT

The Pledge of Allegiance at Rafael Weill Elementary

School a few weeks prior to evacuation.

(San Francisco, 1942)

By the end of October, 108 exclusion orders would be issued, and all Japanese Americans in Military Area No. 1 and the California portion of No. 2 would be incarcerated.

To the right is a map showing the locations of the internment camps the Japanese-Americans were sent to.

INTERNMENT CAMPS

THE INTERNEES• 62% of the people relocated were Nisei,

American-born with Japanese heritage, and Sansei, the children of the Nisei. They were American citizens.

• The rest of the internees (38%) were Issei, the Japanese-born immigrants.

• Most of the relocated people were from the West Coast, due to the location of the Pearl Harbor attack.

TRANSPORTING THE INTERNEES

Allowed to bring to the camps only what they

could carry, many internees lost property

and their lives were turned upside down.

“I remember my mother wrapping a blanket around me and my pretending to fall asleep, so she would be happy, though I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I hear there were people herded into the Hastings Park like cattle. Families were made to move in two hours. They abandoned everything, leaving pets and possessions at gunpoint." — Joy Kogawa

THE CAMPS

CONDITION OF THE CAMPS

► The 1943 War Relocation Authority reported the internees were housed in “tar paper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind.”

► The facilities met international laws, but were still cramped and poorly equipped.

► The camps were built in desolate areas with severe, harsh weather conditions.

LIFE IN THE CAMPS

“In desert camps, the evacuees met severe extremes of temperature. In winter it reached 35 degrees below zero, and summer brought temperatures as high as 115 degrees. Rattlesnakes and desert wildlife added danger to discomfort.”Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

LIFE IN THE CAMPS

"In the detention centers, families lived in substandard housing, had inadequate nutrition and health care, and had their livelihoods destroyed. Many continued to suffer psychologically long after their release." Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

EVEN IN THE FACE OF SUCH INJUSTICE, FEELINGS OF AMERICAN PATRIOTISM RAN HIGH AMONG THE JAPANESE-

AMERICAN INTERNEES. HERE IS A BOY SCOUT TROOP AT ONE OF THE CAMPS.

LIFE IN THE CAMPS

A picture of irony:

the American flag, a symbol of freedom, fluttering in the breeze over an internment camp

LIFE IN THE CAMPS

All Along The Watchtower:

Japanese-Americans were not free to come and go as they pleased. Their internment was overseen by the U.S. Army.

G.S. Hante, a barber in Kent, Washington, displays his sentiments about internment. (March 1944)

“How To Tell A Chinese From A Jap” Pages from an Army manual

JAPANESE-AMERICAN SOLDIERS

Despite the unjust mistreatment by the government, thousands of Japanese-Americans volunteered to fight for the United States in the war

At first, they were not allowed to enlist

Later, a battalion from Hawaii was allowed to fight in Europe in 1943

THE LEGENDARY 442nd

THE “PURPLE HEART” BATTALIONIn 1944, 442nd Regimental Combat

Team was formed; it was comprised entirely of Japanese-Americans

The 442nd served with distinction in Europe and their war record speaks for itself:

Over 18,000 medals for valor and nearly 10,000 Purple Hearts, earning more medals than any other outfit of its size in the American armed forces

THE MOST FAMOUS 442nd SOLDIER

DANIEL INOUYE This Japanese-American soldier,

Daniel Inouye, earned several medals for bravery in combat

Inouye lost an arm while fighting the Germans in Italy

He fought on, despite the lost arm, eventually passing out from blood loss

Inouye would go on to become a U.S. Senator in Hawaii, serving from 1962 to present day

One of his medals was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award a soldier can earn for bravery

JAPANESE-AMERICAN SOLDIERSU.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz: “I entertained some doubt as to the

loyalty of American citizens of Japanese ancestry in the event of war with Japan. From my observation during World War II, I no longer have that doubt.”

The admiral’s lack of trust in the Japanese-Americans was shared by many at the beginning of the war, but that lack of trust was eliminated by the extraordinary performance of the Nisei soldiers during the war.

FLEET ADMIRAL NIMITZ, COMMANDER OF U.S.

NAVY PACIFIC FORCES

JAPANESE-AMERICAN

DISLOYALTY?

Only TEN PEOPLE were convicted of spying for Japan during World War II…

…all of them were Caucasian.

REPARATIONS FOR INJUSTICE In 1988, Congress

implemented the Civil Liberties Act, apologizing on behalf of the nation for the "grave injustice" done to persons of Japanese ancestry. Congress declared that the internments had been "motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership" and authorized $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who had suffered injustices

during World War II. PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN SIGNS

THE BILL ON AUGUST 10, 1988

A copy of the letter sent to Japanese-Americans from President George H.W. Bush in 1990

CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE

Created by Christopher Jaskowiak

Thanks to Eric Zastrow, Rachel Mychajluk, David Muldoon, and Susan Pojer for several of the images

Thanks to the work of Dr. Mitchell Bard for some of the information