Chapter 22

Give Me Liberty!An American History

Second EditionVolume 2

Norton Media Library

byEric Foner

Fighting World War II (WWII)

A. Prewar trends in U.S. foreign policy

1. Recognition of Soviet Union

2. Good Neighbor Policy toward Latin America

a. Mixed results: repeal of Platt Amendment / dictatorships

B. Aggression and repression abroad

1. Japanese invasions of Manchuria, China (Rape of Nanking)

2. Adolf Hitler’s Germany

a. Nazism

b. Rearmament

c. Rhineland (1936) & annexation of Austria, Czechoslovakia (1938)

d. Persecution of Jews

e. Policy of appeasement toward

1) Adoption by Britain, France, United States

2) Munich conference (1938)

a) Neville Chamberlain

b) “peace in our time”

Fighting World War II (WWII)

B. Aggression and repression abroad

3. Benito Mussolini’s Italy

a. Fascism

b. Invasion of Ethiopia

4. Francisco Franco’s Spain

a. Spanish Civil War

b. Overthrow of democracy; establishment of fascist regime

c. Support from Hitler

Fighting World War II (WWII)

C. American isolationism; reluctance to confront overseas aggression

1. Sources

a. Pro-Nazi sentiment

b. Business ties to Japan, Germany

c. Memory of World War I

1) Nye Committee

d. Pacifism, especially on college campuses

e. Ethnic allegiances

2. Manifestations

a. Neutrality Acts

b. Even-handed arms embargo on Spanish belligerents

Fighting World War II (WWII)

D. Outbreak of WWII

1. Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact (1939)

2. German invasion of Poland (September 1, 1939)

a. Blitzkrieg

3. British and French declarations of war on Germany

4. German conquests across Europe, North Africa

a. Occupation of Paris (June 1940)

5. Formation of German-Italian-Japanese Axis

6. Battle of Britain

Fighting World War II (WWII)

E. America’s shifting response

1. Persisting popular ambivalence

2. Steps toward involvement

a. Arms sale to Britain: “cash and carry”

b. Military rearmament

3. Reelection of Franklin Roosevelt (FDR)

a. Unprecedented quest for third term

b. Victory over Wendell Willkie

4. Toward intervention

a. America as “arsenal of democracy”

b. Lend Lease Act (1941) & freezing of Japanese assets

c. Interventionist mobilization efforts

1) Freedom House

Fighting World War II (WWII)

F. Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941); U.S. entry into war

G. War in the Pacific

1. Early setbacks for Allies

a. Japanese conquests (Guam, Philippines)

b. Bataan “death march”

2. Turning of the tide

a. Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942),

b. Midway (June 1942)

c. Island campaigns

1) “Island hopping”

Fighting World War II (WWII) H. War in Europe

1. Allied advances

a. North Africa (Allied invasion: Nov. 1942 – May 1943)

b. The Atlantic (Spring 1943)

c. Italy (July 1943)

1) Mussolini overthrown

d. D-Day (June 6, 1944)

2. Eastern front

a. German invasion of Russia

b. Siege of Stalingrad (Aug. 1942 – Jan. 1943)

c. German surrender

d. Magnitude of bloodshed

1) 10 million German casualties in Russia

2) 20+ million Russians

3. The Holocaust

a. 6 million

Toward victory and beyond

A. Winding down of war

1. In Europe

a. Battle of the Bulge

1) Final German counteroffensive

2) 700,000 U.S. casualties

b. Allied invasion of Germany

c. Fall of Hitler; V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

2. In the Pacific: advance of U.S. forces towards Japan

B. Changing of guard in Washington

1. Replacement of Wallace by Harry S. Truman as FDR’s running mate

2. FDR reelection victory over Thomas E. Dewey

3. Death of FDR; Truman succession to presidency

Toward victory and beyond

C. The atomic bomb

1. Development

a. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity (E=mc2)

b. Manhattan Project

1) Robert Oppenheimer

c. Testing in New Mexico (July 1945)

2. Use on Hiroshima, Nagasaki (August 1945)

a. Devastating impact

1) Immediate: @70,000 at both locations

2) Long-term: @150,000+ at both locations

b. Surrender of Japan

1) V-J Day (August 14, 1945)

Toward victory and beyondC. The atomic bomb

3. Lasting controversy over use

a. Justifications

b. Criticisms

4. Context for decision to use

a. WWII practice of targeting civilian populations: firebombing

b. Dehumanization of Japanese in wartime propaganda

D. Postwar planning by Allied leaders (Britain, United States, Soviet Union)

1. Summit meetings at Tehran (‘43), Yalta (‘45), Potsdam (‘45)

a. Potsdam = Persecution of Nazi leaders

2. Emerging points of tension among Allies

a. Timing of Allied invasion of France

b. Yalta = Soviet intentions in eastern Europe: retention of Baltic states and large portion of Poland

c. Prospects for dissolution of British empire

1) India

2) Churchill’s private deals with Stalin divided portions of Europe as spheres of influence

Toward victory and beyond

E. New economic order: Bretton Woods (‘44) conference

1. Initiatives

a. Eclipse of British pound by dollar in global trade

b. Return to gold standard

c. Creation of World Bank, International Monetary Fund

2. Significance for postwar capitalist economic system

a. Trend toward removal of barriers to free trade

b. Recognition of United States as world’s financial leader

Toward victory and beyondF. The United Nations (UN)

1. Founding

a. Planning conference at Dumbarton Oaks (‘44)

1) Adoption of United Nations Charter at San Francisco

2) Endorsement of United Nations Charter by U.S. Senate

2. Structure and mission: outlawed force or threat of as means of settling international disputes

G. Death Toll

1. 50 million deaths

a. 400,000 American combat deaths

b. 20 million civilians

Home frontA. Government mobilization of economy

1. Wartime federal agencies

2. Areas of impact

a. Allocation of labor

b. Shipping, manufacturing

c. Wages, prices, rents

d. GNP

e. Employment rate

B. Business in wartime

1. New relationship with government

a. Prominence of business leaders in federal bureaucracy

b. Production incentives

1) Federal funding for large corporations

2) Low-interest loans, tax concessions

Home front

B. Business in wartime

2. Achievements of wartime manufacturing

a. Scale of production

b. Scientific advances

c. Restoration of public esteem for business

3. Geography of manufacturing boom

a. Revival of old industrial centers

b. Emergence of new industrial centers

1) West

2) South

c. Centrality of military-related production

Home front C. Organized labor in wartime

1. Government-business-labor collaboration

a. Terms and impact

1) Surge in union membership

2) Spread of union recognition

3) No-strike pledge

4) Acceptance of employer “prerogatives,” “fair profit”

b. Junior position of labor

2. Rolling back of New Deal programs

3. Rise of labor walkouts

Home front

D. The Four Freedoms

1. “Freedom” as ideological focus of wartime mobilization

2. Content and implications

a. Freedoms of speech and religion

b. Freedoms from fear and want

3. Points of controversy

a. “Freedom from want”

1) International trade barriers or standard of living

b. Office of War Information (OWI)

1) Designed to give the war an ideological meaning

2) New Deal liberalism of

3) Conservative curtailment of

c. Freedom as “free enterprise,” material consumption (the “fifth freedom)

Home front

E. Women in wartime labor force

1. Entry into traditionally “male” jobs

a. 1944: 1/3 of the civilian labor force

b. Industrial, professional, and government employment

2. “Rosie the Riveter”

3. Steps toward workplace equality, entitlements

4. Experience of wartime labor; “taste of freedom”

5. Postwar reversals: “world of tomorrow”

Visions of postwar freedom

A. Alternative outlooks

1. Conservative: Henry Luce’s American Century

a. Free enterprise, material abundance

b. Embrace role as world’s dominant power

2. New Deal liberal: Henry Wallace’s “Price of Free World Victory”

a. “Century of the common man”

b. International cooperation

c. Global New Deal

3. Shared conception of America as world model

Visions of postwar freedom

B. Liberal economic program

1. National Resources Planning Board (NRPB): blueprint for peacetime economy

a. Goals and principles

1) Economic security, full employment

2) Expanded welfare state

3) Mass consumption

4) Keynesian emphasis on government spending

b. Congress eventually eliminated funding

Visions of postwar freedom

B. Liberal economic program

2. FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights (1944)

a. Government expansion to protect employment, “fair wage,” medical care, education, etc.

b. Failure to pass in Congress

3. Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill of Rights)

a. Provisions: college education, home loans

b. Impact and significance

4. Full Employment Bill (1945)

a. The GI Bill for all Americans

b. Passage of watered-down version

Visions of postwar freedom

C. Renewal of economic conservatism: Friedrich A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom

1. Themes

a. Economic planning as threat to liberty

1) “Planning leads to dictatorship”

2) Equated fascism, socialism, and the New Deal

b. Superior effectiveness of free market

c. Critiques of absolute laissez-faire dogma, social hierarchy, authoritarianism

1) Endorsed minimum wage, maximum working hours, antitrust enforcement, and other social programs

2. Basis for modern conservatism

Race and ethnicity in wartime AmericaA. Discrediting of ethnic and racial inequality, intolerance

B. Broad assimilation of ethnic outsiders

1. Diversity of army, industrial work force

2. Shift from forced Americanization (WWI) to patriotic assimilation (WWII)

C. Promotion of pluralism, group equality

1. Government

a. FDR: pluralism = social harmony

b. OWI: brotherhood = American way of life

2. Scholars

a. Ruth Benedict’s Races and Racism: racism as a “travesty of scientific knowledge”

b. Ashley Montagu’s Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race

Race and ethnicity in wartime AmericaC. Promotion of pluralism, group equality

3. Hollywood

D. Ongoing barriers to assimilation

1. Anti-Semitism

2. Racism

E. Mexican Americans

1. Bracero program (1942-1964)

a. Purposes

b. Promise and reality

2. New employment opportunities

3. Emergence of Chicano culture

4. Intolerance and discrimination

a. Zoot Suit riots

Race and ethnicity in wartime America

F. American Indians

1. Participation in military, war industry

a. “Code-talkers”

2. Exposure to urban life

3. Marginality of reservations

G. Chinese-Americans

1. Easing of traditional stereotypes

2. Participation in military, war industry

Race and ethnicity in wartime America

H. Japanese-Americans

1. Dehumanizing portrayals

2. Internment policy

a. FDR’s Executive Order 9066

b. Expulsion to interment camps

c. Negation of civil liberties

d. Dearth of public protest

e. Supreme Court affirmation: Korematsu v. United States

Race and ethnicity in wartime America

I. African-Americans

1. On the home front

a. Accelerated migration to industrial heartland

b. Hostile reception; Detroit race riot, “hate strike”

c. Persistence of lynching

2. In the military

a. Scale of service

b. Racial practices

1) Discrimination

a. Blacks and Nazi prisoners on railroad cars

b. Limited GI Bill

Race and ethnicity in wartime America

I. African-Americans

3. Birth of civil rights movement

a. March on Washington (July 1941) initiative

1) A. Philip Randolph: equated discrimination with Hitler

2) Demands: defense employment, end of lynching, end to segregation

3) FDR’s Executive Order 8802; establishment of Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC): banned discrimination in defense jobs

b. Performance and impact of FEPC: no real enforcement powers

c. Growth of NAACP: 50,000 to 500,000

d. Congress of Racial Equality sit-ins

e. “Double-V” campaign: martial victory and end to racial inequality

Race and ethnicity in wartime America

J. Broadening opposition to racial inequality

1. Black-Jewish collaboration

2. Organized labor; CIO+ / AFL-

3. Growing dilemma for white southern moderates

4. In government

a. Federal agencies: equal pay

b. Supreme Court: Smith v. Allright

c. Armed forces: integration

5. Landmark publications

a. What the Negro Wants: suffrage, desegregation, “living wage”

b. Wendell Willkie’s One World – attack of domestic imperialism

c. Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma

1) America’s racial history

2) America must live up to its worthy Creed