america and world war ii chapter 20. mobilizing for war the american war economy american industry...
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America and World War II
Chapter 20
Mobilizing for War
• The American War EconomyAmerican industry geared up for war productionUS used cost-plus contracts – agreed to pay a
company whatever it cost to make a product plus a percentage of the costs as profit
American companies produced more goods more quickly than rest of world
Reconstruction Finance Corporation – helped companies convert to war production through loans
Mobilizing for War America began converting
to war production after France fell to the Nazis in 1940
Industry was fully mobilized after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941
Automobile factories and their assembly lines began producing trucks, tanks, planes, and other war materiel
Mobilizing for War Liberty Ships – basic
cargo ship used during the war welded from steel components
War Production Board – created to help control industrial production
Office of War Mobilization - created to help settle arguments between different agencies
Mobilizing for War
• Building an Army Selective Service and
Training Act – first peacetime draft in American history
Basic training was often rushed and men often trained without equipment
Mobilizing for War
• Segregation military units were
segregated with black units commanded by white officers
Black units tended to be used for supply and construction
Many blacks were disenfranchised (denied right to vote)
Mobilizing for War Some blacks started the
“Double V” campaign – victory in the war and victory over racism at home
Benjamin O. Davis – first black officer to be promoted to rank of Brigadier General
Mobilizing for War
When blacks did fight they often did so with distinction in units such as the 99th Pursuit Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen) and the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Mobilizing for War
• WomenWomen enlisted in the
Army and NavyWomen’s Army Auxiliary
Corps (WAAC) headed by Oveta Culp Hobby
Replaced by the Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
Early Battles
• Japanese missed American aircraft carriers in attack on Pearl Harbor
• Admiral Chester Nimitz began panning war against the Japanese navy
Early Battles
• Fall of the PhilippinesThe Philippines were
attacked by Japanese same time as Pearl Harbor
General Douglas MacArthur ordered retreat of US Army to Bataan Peninsula
US Army surrendered – Bataan Death March
Early Battles
• The Doolittle RaidBombing raid on Japan
by long-range bombersBombers took off from
aircraft carrier – landed in China
Caused Japan to change strategy and attempt assault on Midway Islands
Early Battles• Battle of the Coral Sea
US broke Japanese naval codes
Battle forced Japan to call off invasion of New Guinea
• Battle of Midway US ambushed Japanese
carriers Turning point – stopped
Japanese advance in Pacific
Early Battles
• Churchill did not believe Allies ready for invasion of Europe
• Wanted to attack periphery (edges) of Nazi empire
• Roosevelt ordered invasion of North Africa
Early Battles
• American troops suffered defeat at Battle of Kasserine Pass
• General Eisenhower appointed General Patton commander of US forces
• Patton won several victories and Allies won North Africa
Early Battles
• Battle of the AtlanticGerman submarines
attacked US ships transporting goods to Britain
US set up Convoy System – cargo ships grouped together under protection of warships
Early Battles
• Battle of StalingradGreatest advance of
German Army into Russia
Attempt to cut Russia off from oil supplies
Hitler ordered “No retreat”
Russian victory was turning point in war
Life on the Home Front
• Demand for labor caused industry to hire more women and minorities
• Millions of women were eventually hired
• Symbol was “Rosie the Riveter”
Life on the Home Front
• Industry reluctant to hire blacks
• A. Philip Randolph, head of the sleeping car union, threatened to march on Washington DC
• President Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Commission to help black employment
Life on the Home Front
• Mexicans become Farm Workers Labor shortages also in
western agricultureUS introduced Bracero
(worker) Program – brought workers into US from Mexico
Life on the Home Front
• Huge migration of Americans moving to get new jobs
• New industrial development established in the Sun Belt (California and Southern US)
Life on the Home Front
• Workers moving to factory areas often had no housing
• Many lived in tents and trailers
• Many eventually lived in pre-fabricated government housing
Life on the Home Front
• Racism and ViolenceThe Great Migration of
blacks from the South to the North continued during WWII
Competition for jobs sometimes resulted in violence
Detroit, June 1943 – riots broke out between black and whites. 25 blacks and 9 whites were killed
Life on the Home Front
• Zoot Suit RiotsMany young Mexicans
wore zoot suits Zoot suits seen as
unpatriotic – common was the victory suit
Rumors of attacks on servicemen caused thousands of military to descend on Mexican neighborhoods and attack young Mexicans
Life on the Home Front
• Japanese-American RelocationAfter Pearl Harbor, many
Americans afraid Japanese-Americans were disloyal to US
President signed order to “relocate” Japanese-Americans to internment camps
Life on the Home Front One man tried to fight his
relocation in court Korematsu v. United States –
supreme court ruled relocation was constitutional
Many Japanese-Americans fought in WWII such as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
After the war, the Japanese American Citizens League tried to help recover property lost during the relocation
Life on the Home Front
• Wage and Price Controls – to prevent inflation, President created the Office of Price Administration (OPA) to regulate wages and prices
Life on the Home Front
• RationingDemand for certain
commodities like meat and sugar created shortages
The OPA rationed goods to ensure there was enough for military use
Ration coupons controlled purchase of everything from food to gasoline
Life on the Home Front
• Victory Gardens – people planted gardens everywhere to produce food for the war effort
• Scrap Drives – groups collected raw materials such as scrap metal for the war effort
Life on the Home Front
• Paying for the WarGovernment raised
money by increasing taxes
Government issued war bonds – common people basically lending money o the government
The most common bonds sold were E Bonds
Pushing the Axis Back
• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt met at the Casablanca Conference
• They agreed to bomb Germany and attack Italy
President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Pushing the Axis Back
• Strategic Bombing – the Allies bombed German factories, oil supplies, and railroads
• Allied armies invaded Sicily and then Italy itself
• DUKW – amphibious vehicle used by the Allies
Pushing the Axis Back
• Italy surrendered in September 1943 but German troops in Italy fought on
• Americans suffered heavy losses at Monte Cassino and Anzio
• Italy was never fully conquered. German troops were still there at the end of the war
Monte Cassino
Pushing the Axis Back
• Meeting at TehranMeeting between
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin – “The Big Three”
Agreed to break up Germany after the war
Stalin promised to help beat Japan once Germany was defeated
Agreed to the creation of the UN
Pushing the Axis Back
• D-Day (aka Operation Overlord) Invasion commanded by
General Eisenhower Invasion of France – June
6th 1944 Invasion on five beaches:
two US (Utah & Omaha) led by General Omar Bradley, two British (Gold & Sword) and one Canadian (Juno)
Pushing the Axis Back
• Plan to push the Japanese back was “Island Hopping”
• Battles were hard-fought with very few Japanese soldiers surrendering
• Guadalcanal was the first island taken by the US
Pushing the Axis Back
• US forces commanded by General Douglas MacArthur retook the Philippines
• The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in history
• The Japanese used kamikaze (“Divine Wind”) attacks for the first time
The War Ends
• After D-Day, Allied forces stalled in France in Hedgerow country
• Hedgerows were dirt walls covered in shrubbery used to fence in crops and animals
The War Ends
• Battle of the Bulge In December 1944, Hitler
made a last-gasp counterattack on Allied forces
As they attacked west, they created a bulge in Allied lines
Americans held out against the Germans in the town of Bastogne
The War Ends
• The Allied crossing of the Rhine River at Remagen caused a German collapse
• The Russians, attacking from the East, captured Berlin
• May 8, 1945 was V-E Day
The War Ends
• President Roosevelt died April 1945
• Succeeded by Harry Truman
• US forces attacked Iwo Jima – to be used as air base for planes attacking Japan
The War Ends
• Bombing Japan B-29 new high-altitude
bombers General Curtis LeMay
changed strategy due to US missing targets
US used firebombs filled with napalm (jellied gasoline)
Firebombs killed more Japanese than the atomic bombs
The War Ends
• US captured island of Okinawa – one of the Pacific’s most brutal battles
• More than 12,000 US soldiers, sailors, and marines died in the battle
The War Ends
• The Manhattan ProjectAlbert Einstein wrote to
President Roosevelt about the advances the Germans had made in building an atomic bomb
FDR responded by setting up a program to build an American bomb called the Manhattan Project
The War Ends
• President Truman decided to drop the bomb after warning Japan they were facing “prompt and utter destruction”
• Aug 6 1945 – first bomb Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima
• Aug 9 1945 – second bomb Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki
• V-J Day – surrender of Japan Aug 15 1945
Little Boy - Uranium
Fat Man - Plutonium
The War Ends
• The United Nations (UN)Charter (constitution)
established April 1945Composed of
General Assembly – representatives of all member nations each having one vote
Security Council – five permanent members (US, GB, FR, USSR, CH) with veto power
The War Ends
• War CrimesThe winning nations
decided to punish German and Japanese leaders for war crimes
The International Military Tribunal was created to try these leaders
The trials in Germany were called the Nuremberg Trials