THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Brief Sixth Edition Chapter 26 World War II 1939-1945

World War II 1939-1945 The Dilemmas of Neutrality Holding the Line Mobilizing for Victory The Home Front War and Peace Conclusion

Learning Objectives Why were most Americans reluctant to get involved in World War II? How did the Allies fare in 1941 and 1942? What steps did the U.S. government take to organize the economy for war? How did the war alter American society? Why did the Allies win the war?

The Dilemmas of Neutrality

The Roots of War The aftermath of World War I planted the seeds of World War II. The peace settlement created new nations in Eastern Europe that were vulnerable to attack, failed to recognize the major nation status of Italy and Japan, and convinced Germans they had been betrayed rather than defeated in World War I.

The Roots of War (cont'd) The Japanese attempt to create a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Italy s expansion into Africa, and Germany s Nazi resurgence were signs of a coming conflict. Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere - Japanese goal of an East Asian economy controlled by Japan and serving the needs of Japanese industry.

The Roots of War (cont'd) Axis Powers - The opponents of the United States and its allies in World War II. The Rome Berlin Axis was formed between Germany and Italy in 1936 and included Japan after 1940.

Adolf Hitler had a remarkable ability to stir the German people

Hitler s War in Europe Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, leading Britain and France to declare war on Germany. The Germans used blitzkrieg tactics to overrun Denmark and Norway in the north, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France to east, and south into the Balkans.

Hitler s War in Europe (cont d) Having failed to defeat Britain, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, despite having signed a non-aggression pact in 1939. Blitzkrieg - German war tactic in World War II ( lightning war ) involving the concentration of air and armored firepower to punch and exploit holes in opposing defensive lines.

Trying to Keep Out Strong American isolationist sentiment limited President Roosevelt s ability to help Britain and its allies. Nonintervention spanned the political spectrum from leftist labor unions to ultraconservative business leaders.

Edging toward Intervention In October 1939, Congress passed a measure that allowed armed sales to belligerents on a cash basis. Britain and France were the only expected customers. Anti-semitism and isolationism restricted U.S. aid to Jewish refugees.

Edging toward Intervention (cont d) In 1940, FDR established the National Defense Advisory Committee and the Council of National Defense to plan the war preparedness strategy.

Edging toward Intervention (cont d) The collapse of France scared Americans into rearming and Congress passed laws to expand the army, build planes and ships, and institute the first peacetime draft. Roosevelt was elected to a third term in 1940.

MAP 26 1 Axis Europe, 1941, on the Eve of Hitler s Invasion of the Soviet Union

The Brink of War After fierce debate, the Lend-Lease Act was passed, allowing Britain to borrow military equipment. Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly off Newfoundland to map out military strategy and post war goals. They signed the Atlantic Charter.

The Brink of War (cont d) The United States decided to build a twoocean navy antagonizing Japan. The U.S. was also restricting imports of steel, iron ore, and aluminum to Japan. After Japan invaded French Indochina, FDR froze Japanese assets in the U.S. and blocked oil exports.

The Brink of War (cont d) Lend-Lease Act - Program begun in 1941 through which the United States transferred military equipment to Britain and other World War II allies. Atlantic Charter - Statement of common principles and war aims developed by President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at a meeting in August 1941.

December 7, 1941 The Japanese attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, leading Congress to declare war.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Holding the Line

Holding the Line Prior to decisive turning points in 1942, Allied fortunes in Europe had gone from bad to worse, and Japan s conquests in Southeast Asia had not yet reached their limit.

Holding the Line (cont d) Allies - In World War I, Britain, France, Russia, and other belligerent nations fighting against the Central Powers but not including the United States, which insisted upon being merely an associated nation. In World War II, the Allies fighting the Axis Powers included the United States as well as the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, China, and other nations.

Stopping Germany In 1941, the war was being fought in six fronts: North Africa, eastern Europe, the North Atlantic, China, Southeast Asia, and the central Pacific. The allies focused on defeating Germany first.

Stopping Germany (cont'd) The Eastern Front held the key to victory over Germany. The turning point came in 1942 with the German defeat at Stalingrad. Eastern Front - The area of military operations in World War II located east of Germany in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

MAP 26 2 A Global War

The Survival of Britain The failure of the German air attacks to knock Britain out of the war led to the Battle of the Atlantic between 1939 and 1944. At sea, convoys protected British shipping from submarine attacks. German submarines dominated the Atlantic in 1942 but the balance shifted when Allied aircraft attacked with depth charges.

The Survival of Britain (cont d) British ground forces fought in North Africa, stopping the German advance at El Alamein. Battle of the Atlantic - The long struggle between German submarines and the British and U.S. navies in the North Atlantic from 1940 to 1943.

Retreat and Stabilization in the Pacific The Japanese expanded into Singapore, Burma, and the Philippines. The battle of Bataan led to the capture of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners who were treated brutally by the Japanese. At the battle of the Coral Sea and later at the Battle of Midway, the Japanese were defeated, ending Japanese expansion in the Pacific.

MAP 26 3 World War II in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to Midway

Mobilizing for Victory

Organizing the Economy Congress authorized the President to reorganize the government for war. The War Manpower Commission allocated workers among vital industries and the military. The War Production Board invested funds in new factories and managed war supply contracts.

Organizing the Economy (cont'd) Industry converted from consumer goods to defense production, applying mass production techniques to aircraft production. While most defense contracts went to established industrial states, the South and west also benefited greatly. The mobilization of industry produced astounding results that ended the depression.

MAP 26 4 States with Population Growth of 10 Percent or More, 1940 1943

FIGURE 26 1 Making War: The United States Mobilizes, 1939 1945

African Americans served in the military large numbers during World War II

Students at a Washington, DC, high school buy defense stamps in March 1942

The Enlistment of Science Scientific laboratories also contributed to the war effort, developing new drugs, blood transfusion procedures, weapons systems, radar, sonar, and other military technologies. The Manhattan Project began in1941 to build an atomic weapon before Germany did. It ushered in the age of atomic energy.

The Enlistment of Science (cont d) Manhattan Project - The effort, using the code name Manhattan Engineer District, to develop an atomic bomb under the management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.

Men and Women in the Military In 1939, the U.S. military had 334,000 soldiers, sailors and Marines. In 1945, that number had reached 8.3 million men and women in the army and army air forces and 3.4 million in the navy and Marines. 25,000 Native Americans served in the armed force, including the famous Navajo code-talkers.

Men and Women in the Military (cont'd) About one million African Americans served in the military in segregated units. They often encountered discrimination on and off the military base.

Men and Women in the Military (cont'd) Women served as nurses and as members of the WACS (Army), WAVES (Navy), SPARS (Coast Guard) and in the Marine Corps Women s reserve. The civilian auxiliary of the air force used women pilots to ferry aircraft across the nation.

African Americans served in the military large numbers during World War II

The Home Front

Families in Wartime Many men and women married as economic times improved and the war intensified romances. Married women often followed their husbands to various military bases. Latchkey children of working mothers were left to fend for themselves. Children also participated in various war drives and campaigns.

Learning about the War The federal government tried to maintain war support through drives and campaigns and managing the war news. Censorship was uneven. The Office of War Information enlisted Hollywood to produce films supporting the war.

Women in the Workforce Because of the draft, women changed the composition of the industrial workforce. American culture wrestled with how to respond to growing numbers of working women.

As millions of men entered the armed forces, millions of women went to work

The U.S. government developed the image of Rosie the Riveter to encourage women to take war production jobs

Ethnic Minorities in the War Effort Mexican Americans and Mexicans recruited under the bracero program worked on farms and railroads. Native Americans were a key labor force for military supply depots and many stayed in cities when the war ended.

Ethnic Minorities in the War Effort (cont d) African Americans also experienced economic advancement but only after a planned march on Washington forced FDR to bar racial discrimination by the federal government in war plants.

Ethnic Minorities in the War Effort (cont d) Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) - Federal agency established in 1941 to curb racial discrimination in war production jobs and government employment.

The government worked hard to encourage Hispanics to support the war effort

Clashing Cultures The migration caused by the war crossed traditional regional and racial boundaries. African American migration out of the South accelerated as migrants went to northern and western cities. Racial tensions erupted into violence in 50 cities in 1943.

Clashing Cultures (cont d) Tensions between Anglos and Mexican Americans led to the zoot suit riots in Los Angeles in 1943.

Internment of Japanese Americans In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered the removal of civilians who were threats to national security. The 112,000 Japanese in California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona were the chief targets. The Japanese were interred in isolated western locations, housed in barracks surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by military police.

Internment of Japanese Americans (cont'd) In Hawaii, less than 1 percent of the 160,000 Japanese Americans were interned. Approximately 11,000 German Americans and German nationals and fewer than 2,000 Italian Americans and Italian nationals were interned.

In 1942, the federal government removed Japanese Americans from parts of four western states and interned them in isolated camps scattered through the West.

The End of the New Deal In 1938, the New Deal had lost momentum. The war had changed the direction of the government and after 1942, conservatives controlled Congress. In 1943, FDR declared the end of the New Deal.

War and Peace

Turning the Tide in Europe The question was when a second front would be opened against Germany. In 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill demanded the unconditional surrender of Germany, Italy, and Japan. At Tehran, Stalin met with the British and American leaders who promised to invade France within six months.

Turning the Tide in Europe (cont'd) Operation TORCH signaled the U.S. entry into the European ground war. British and American troops invaded Algeria and Morocco meeting little resistance. In 1943, Allied troops invaded Sicily and then Italy. Mussolini was forced from power and peace negotiations began.

Turning the Tide in Europe (cont'd) The Soviets recaptured western Russia and the Ukraine. Victory at Kursk left Germany too weak to win the war.

MAP 26 5 World War II in Europe, 1942 1945

Operation OVERLORD On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Operation OVERLORD began as Allied forces invaded western Europe at Normandy. After fierce fighting, the Allies broke though German lines and raced across France, liberating Paris. The Germans regrouped by the border of Germany.

Operation OVERLORD (cont'd) On the eastern front, the Soviets hammered the Germans who continued to retreat. D-Day - June 6, 1944, the day of the first paratroop drops and amphibious landings on the coast of Normandy, France, in the first stage of Operation OVERLORD during World War II. Operation OVERLORD - U.S. and British invasion of France in June 1944 during World War II.

TABLE 26.1 Military and Civilian Deaths in World War II

Victory and Tragedy in Europe In late 1944, massive air strikes destroyed German war production. The Germans launched a final offensive in western Europe against U.S. forces in Belgium. The Battle of Bulge led to a German advance but ended with a German retreat. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered after Hitler committed suicide.

Victory and Tragedy in Europe (cont'd) The defeat of Germany revealed the horror of the Holocaust. Allied liberation of Nazi concentration camps showed the devastation of mass genocide that claimed up to 6 million Jews, and one million Poles, Gypsies and others. Holocaust - The systematic murder of millions of European Jews and others deemed undesirable by Nazi Germany.

U.S. troops liberated the camp in April 1945, they found more than 3,000 corpses

The Pacific War In 1943, the United States probed the enemy and built up its war capacity. The island hopping campaign began in late 1943. It involved American invasions of strategic Japanese-held islands such as Tarawa and Saipan.

The Pacific War (cont'd) The United States invaded Philippines in 1944 and at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the offensive capacity of the Japanese fleet was destroyed. Submarines and bombings of Japan also devastated the Japanese economy.

The Pacific War (cont'd) The United States invaded Philippines in 1944 and at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the offensive capacity of the Japanese fleet was destroyed. Submarines and bombings of Japan also devastated the Japanese economy.

The Pacific War (cont'd) Island hopping - In the Pacific Theater during World War II, the strategy in which U.S. forces seized selected Japanese-held islands while bypassing and isolating other islands held by Japan.

MAP 26 6 World War II in the Pacific, 1942 1945

Searching for Peace In early 1945, the Allies sensed victory. At Yalta, FDR, Churchill, Stalin met to discuss the postwar world. In Europe, the Allies had decided in 1944 to establish French, British, American, and Soviet zones of occupation in Germany and Austria.

Searching for Peace (cont'd) The Soviets agreed to join a new international organization, the United nations, whose foundations were set at a Conference in San Francisco in spring 1945. After FDR s death, the future of Germany was debated at Potsdam and Japan was given an opening for surrender.

Searching for Peace (cont'd) The atomic bomb was dropped first in Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki, leading to the Japanese surrender. Yalta Conference - Meeting of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin held in February 1945 to plan the final stages of World War II and postwar arrangements.

Searching for Peace (cont'd) Potsdam Declaration - Statement issued by the United States during a meeting of U.S. president Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin held at Potsdam, near Berlin, in July 1945 to plan the defeat of Japan and the future of Eastern Europe and Germany. In it, the United States declared its intention to democratize the Japanese political system and reintroduce Japan into the international community and gave Japan an opening for surrender.

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb

The ruins of Hiroshima in the aftermath of the atomic bomb

GIs in November 1951 watch a nuclear test from only six miles away at the Nevada Proving Ground near Las Vegas.

An inspector from the International Atomic Energy Administration

How the Allies Won The Allies won with economic capacity, technology, and military skill. The ability to outthink and outmaneuver the enemy staved off defeat in 1942 and 1943. The ability to outproduce the enemy assured victory in 1944 and 1945.

How the Allies Won (cont d) In addition, the Allies had the appeal of democracy and freedom that made the Axis nations aggressors and gained Allied support among conquered peoples.

Conclusion

Conclusion World War II changed the lives of Americans. It created and broke up families. It provided millions of women with new responsibilities and then returned them to their homes. The war ended the depression and put money in people s pockets. The war unified the nation but racial barriers remained.

Conclusion (cont'd) The United States ended the war as the world s supreme economic power. It suffered the least of all the combatant nations. The insecurities of the war years influenced the United States for decades.