Chapter 14 America in WWII
President Roosevelt did not want to fight the war on both fronts knew we weren t prepared Had to prepare our Navy and Airforce for that That meant using industry! American workers were 2x as productive as German and 5x as Japanese workers Roosevelt programs to prepare and build up for war National Defense Advisory Committee Where gov t and business leaders worked together to mobilize the economy America s Economy John Deere Ford Kaiser Shipyards (30% of all American ships)
Automobile factories were able to mass produce what military equipment: 1. Trucks 2. Jeeps 3. Tanks
Henry Kaiser Involved in shipbuilding, believed that ships could be prefabricated and brought to the shipyard for assembly Names: The Liberty Ships - basic cargo ship used during the war Welded instead of riveted Before the war = 244 days to build a ship After Kaiser = 41 days
Government Agencies: 1. War Production Board 2. Office of War Mobilization 3. Reconstruction Finance Corporation 4. NDAC
Army June 1940 - Selective Service and Training Act A plan for the first peacetime draft in American History Got approved in September 60,000 men enlisted after Pearl Harbor Kinship - The reason you storm the beaches is not patriotism or bravery. It s that sense of not wanting to fail your buddies. G.I. - A soldier in the U.S. army; Government Issue
Segregation Army segregated No African American commanders really Some African Americans did not support the war - The Army Jim Crows us Employers and labor unions shut us out. Lynchings continue We are disenfranchised What more could Hitler do to us than that? Double V Campaign - double victory! War and at home!
Minority Representation Roosevelt ordered the military to put African americans into Combat. Tuskegee Airmen Group of African American Pilots Pivotal in winning the Battle of Anzio in Italy Colonel Davis took command (black man, highest ranking African American officer) They flew 200 missions and did not lose a single member to enemy fire 761st Tank Battalion was an all black battalion who were commended for service during Battle of the Bulge Truman fully integrated the military in 1948
Minority Representation continued... Japanese Americans were not allowed to serve in military at first However, eventually allowed to join 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team. These two units became the most decorated in the history of the United States military! Mexican Americans served on the front lines Most other minorities not allowed in combat positions Native Americans Were an exception to that policy Considered fierce warriors ⅓ of all (healthy) Native American men served during the war
Women Women were allowed to enlist for the first time! WAC - Women s Army Corp Could not do combat! Got administrative and clerical jobs so the men could fight Also 68,000 women served as nurses
Section 2
Early Battles The same day as Pearl Harbor, the Japanese also attacked our base in the Philippines 1. General Douglas MacArthur had to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula Stuck there for months desperation, eating horses, disease 2. MacArthur forced to leave by President promised to return Bataan Death March 1. The prisoners of war (all sick, starving, and tired) forced to walk 65 miles to a prison camp 2. 10,000 died
Continued... Corregidor 1. Small force of troops that held out on the island of Corregidor 2. May, 1942: The Philippines had fallen to the Japanese Doolittle Raid on Tokyo After Pearl Harbor Wanted to Attack Japan but logistically impossible Finally figured it out - Landed in China!
Battle of Midway Code breakers figured out it would be attacked by Japan Admiral Nimitz ambushed the Japanese and surprised them 38 Japanese planes were shot down After a long second wave, the Japanese had to retreat 362 Americans died 3057 Japanese died
Soviet Union Soviets were doing most of the fighting - Needed help! Asked U.S. to open another front Roosevelt decides to invade Morocco and Algeria: A. Experience for the army B. Can help the British fight Germans in Egypt Germany wanted to secure the Suez Canal. Why? A. Shorten the trip from Europe to Asia to transfer materials faster B. So that the British did not have it
Other front America helped Great Britain and Russia in Europe against Germany Attacked periphery (edges) of Germany empire The Battle of the Atlantic Germany subs kept sinking American ships (about 360 in a couple years) So many ships sunk, back home gasoline and oil were rationed Convoy system - cargo ships traveled in groups escorted by navy warships for protection Subs could not attack cargo ships without being attacked - This really helped! New technology also helped - radar, sonar and depth charges
Battle of Stalingrad Germany attacked Russia - tried to destroy oil fields and other strategic places Stalingrad - city with major railroad junction - wanted to cut off supplies to Russians When Germans attacked, Stalin said hold city at all costs Bitter cold slowed Germans down! Russians used to it! Germany eventually surrendered after reinforcements arrived to help the Russians Each side had lost about half a million soldiers, but turning point for war! Allies were now winning!
RAFT ROLE - A civilian or soldier involved in AUDIENCE - Social Studies students of one of the battles or events we discussed - Bataan Death March - Stalingrad - Submarine life - Doolittle Raid - Midway the future! FORMAT - Descriptive writing about the TOPIC - Listed under role ; WWII event that happened, your personal event experience, how you felt, etc... Must be 2-3 Paragraphs in length! That is 12-15 sentences minimum!
Section 3
Economic Prosperity Hardships - 90 hour weeks, high taxes, poor living conditions Still much higher standard of living! Life was much better and people were happier even with the difficulties Defense factories (factories making war materials) wanted to hire white men Too many white men fighting in the war Forced to higher women and minorities because they needed workers! Rosie the Riveter (character from a song by Four Vagabonds) Rosie was a girl who worked in a factory while her boyfriend served in the marines Images of women working flooded the media 2.5 million women worked in war factories
Workers Factories at first did not want to hire African Americans Roosevelt issued an executive order (the one you did the questions over) Employers cannot discriminate! Even created a Fair Employment Practices Commission (first civil rights agency since Reconstruction) Mexicans were hired by the federal government to help with the farm work in the southwest Bracero Program - 200,000 Mexicans came to the U.S. to work on farms
Movement Millions of people had to move to work in the factories Northeast and Northwest mostly Also the sunbelt! Many factories in the south from California to the deep south toward the east and people moved there to work Where to put all these workers? Housing crisis! Hotbeds - landlords would rent 8 hours in a bed so people just slept and went to work Government public housing developed - not great but somewhere to live
Racial Violence Great Migration got a resurgence --- Racism lead to violence Detroit - Sunday, June 20, 1943 Intense heat - People went to local part (about 100,000 people) Black and white teenage girls got into a fight Caused others to fight - Turned into a riot 25 African Americans and 9 whites killed - Still adamant Double V campaign Zoot Suit Riots High crime amongst young people and rising Mexican-American teens adopted the Zoot Suit look Unpatriotic! Zoot Suit vs. Victory Suit! June 1943-2500 soldiers and sailors stormed a Mexican-American neighborhood in LA and attacked teens (tore off suits, cut hair) Police did not intervene, violence continued, eventually LA banned the Zoot Suit
Victory suits - Save material! - No vests, narrow labels Zoot Suits
Daily Life Wage and price controls - Great economy! Rationing! Limiting the purchase of materials at home so that the military could have more Meat and sugar were rationed throughout, also coffee, shoes Gasoline also rationed, driving distances limited and speed limit set to 35 Book of ration coupons could be picked up once a month Blue points - processed foods, Red points - meats, fats, oils Victory Gardens Americans planted gardens to help with the war effort (backyards, school yards, city parks) 300 Billion spent on war - Raised taxes (only 45% of total though) War bonds - Donate money to war, gov will pay back later with interest Most americans supported the war!
Internment camps Forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese individuals Est. 120,000 62% were American Citizens This was ordered by Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor Conditions "tar paper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind." Sometimes 25 people lived in a space for 4 Overcrowding Unsanitary
Turn to page 501 Answer the Analyzing Visuals questions #1 and 2 (Use three adjectives to describe them in #2)
Page 505 Read the Supreme Court case and answer Q s 1, 2, and 3
Section 4
Conferences Casablanca Conference Agreed to bomb Germany Also agreed to attack Italy on the Island of Sicily Hoping to get Italy to quit the war Did bomb Germany - no effect except for oil shortage Did bomb Sicily Caused Italian Government to arrest and overthrow Mussolini They surrendered to the Allies Tehran Conference - Allies met in Iran a) After the war, Germany would be divided so it would never threaten world peace again b) Russia promised to help America fight Japan when Germany was defeated
D-Day Plan to land in and liberate France! Horrible weather conditions D-Day - June 6th, 1944 Soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy Over 100,000 troops Amphibious vehicles Many men died on both sides Ultimately was a success
Pacific Battles Island hopping The navy would go from one island to the next to get closer and closer to Japan And secondly, they would advance through New Guinea and up through the Philippines Battle of Leyte Gulf Largest naval battle ever fought First organized use of the Kamikaze by aircraft Kamikaze = suicide pilots
Section 5
The Battle of the Bulge -Before the battle Allied troops were recovering and preparing to enter Germany -The Battle: December 16, 1944 During a snowstorm (6 inches of snow) and temperatures below zero
Allies advance toward the German border Hitler's desperate last attack - surprise the Americans in the snow storm As German soldiers charged, ranks bulged out giving the name Battle of the Bulge General Patton to the rescue On Christmas Eve, Nazis forced to stop their attack Germany out of fuel and heavy losses 2 days later, Americans enter Germany America won!
Before the Attack
The German Attack
After the German Attack
The Battle Effects The 101st Airborne were surrounded Waiting for the weather to clear, U.S. General Patton attacks On January 8th, Germany retreats Germany suffered over 100,000 casualties Lost many tanks and aircraft
The War Ends in Europe By end of Battle of the Bulge, Soviets attacked German troops in Russia Push them back all the way to Poland By 1945, 35 miles from Berlin! Americans take over Germany's last line of defense Both now in Germany! German defenses crumble! Americans and Russians race for Berlin Hitler's death He was hiding in his bunker He knew the end was near Committed Suicide So did his new wife Germany surrenders under new leader V-E Day! Victory in Europe!
But WWII isn t over! It s still a battle in the Pacific against Japan!
Battle of Iwo Jima Bomber planes (traveling over 1500 miles) were low on fuel Low on fuel, Americans decided to invade Iwo Jima February 19, 1945: 60,000 Marines land on Iwo Jima Horrible environment - Rocky cliffs, ravines, caves, volcanic ash Soldiers attack Japanese bunkers any way they can Uncommon valor was a common virtue - Admiral Nimitz (medals of honor)
Firebombing and Okinawa Strategy to drop firebombs filled with napalm (jellied gasoline) Would explode and then start fires so even if the planes missed, fire would spread Controversial? Safety of civilians? Attack on Tokyo to destroy production Winds were high, sucked oxygen out of the air and fire grew, thousands were asphyxiated There were no signs Japan was going to surrender so the U.S. continued to plan for war Needed a base close for supplies and troops - Chose Okinawa Japanese held in the mountains American soldiers had to climb the rugged mountains and avoid machine gun fire
The Manhattan Project - The Atomic Bomb U.S. had been making a new weapon that might force Japan to surrender A secret American project then started to build the atomic bomb headed by Gen. Leslie R. Groves Scientists built bomb and tested it successfully in New Mexico How to use the bomb? Don t use - kills too many people! Use - Shock and surprise the emperor into surrendering Truman decided to use it as invading would cost too many American lives
Dropping the bomb Warned Japan prompt and utter destruction - They ignored Dropped the bomb Aug. 6 1945 (Hiroshima) Destroyed 63% of city Killed 120,000 immediately and thousands more later (burns and radiation) Three days later, Russia joined America in the war against Japan Same day dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki Killed 35-74,000 people Aug. 15 Japan Surrendered V-J Day - Victory over Japan!
Trials and Treaties United Nations was created to prevent another world war 39 countries met to create the UN Every member nation would have 1 vote, but the Big Five Security Council members would have the power of veto (Britain, France, China, Russia, and the U.S.) Created a charter (constitution) and Commission on Human Rights Nuremberg Trials Trials to punish the German and Japanese officers involved in war crimes 22 Leaders of the Nazi s put on trial - 3 acquitted, 7 sentenced to prison, 12 put to death Later trials sentenced 24 more lesser Nazi officers and 107 more in prison 25 Japanese leader charged with war crimes - 18 to prison, the others to death by hanging Japanese Emperor NOT indicted - U.S. feared the Japanese people would riot