World War II 1941-1945

1. That means 2 World War II1941-1945 Chapter 25

2. Why War? • Dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy seized control of their respective countries after promising to vanquish the effects of the world depression from their nations and instituted fascist policies. • German citizens were angered over the harsh reparations and limitations put on Germany under the Versailles Treaty which ended WWI. • Hitler invaded Austria, and the war-scared Britain and France appeased Hitler and agreed that he could occupy it as long as he stopped invading. This was known as the Munich Mistake. • Japanese control of Manchuria (1931) and Northern China (1937) gave control of almost the entire Pacific to the imperialistic Japanese.

3. Early US Involvement • American’s had a strong isolationist sentiment – Pres. Washington warned of Permanent Alliances. • Congress passed three Neutrality Acts (’35,’36’,’37) which allowed the president to stop sales of weapons to any warring nation, and avoid another World War I situation. which might be involved in war. • The Selective Service Act of 1940 enlisted 1.4 million men to training, for “hemispheric defense”, not European intervention. • The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 (March) ensured aid would go to the United Kingdom, such that the U.S. could "sell, exchange, lease, lend, any war materials “– temporarily keeping the U.S. out of the War.

4. Infamy A day that will live in world history • Sunday, December 7th, 1941 – Japanese fighters launched an aerial sneak attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. • After 2 waves of attack, 12 ships, 200 aircraft, and 2403 Americans were destroyed and killed. The Japanese lost 29 of 441 planes. • The principle targets of the attack, the three American aircraft carriers, were on missions elsewhere, and were saved from the attack. • The attack ignited the American want to enter WWII, and on December 8th, President Roosevelt gave his famous speech and signed a Declaration of War against Japan. • War with Germany and Italy was realized on December 11th, with Hitler calling the U.S. “Half Judaized and Half Negrified” • After Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans, were interned at remote prison camps, mainly on the west coast. • In the Supreme Court Case Korematsu v. US 1944 - it was established that it was legal for the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans to continue because it was based on the grounds of national security. (Shenck?)

5. The War Hits Home • Full Employment • Men go off to War • Rationing • Women, African American and Mexicans fill the workforce • Civil Liberties – Korematsu (like Sacco and Vanzetti) are violated • New Wartime powers

6. An OSS plot to plant these stamps in Germany to undermine German morale. War Boards • After Pearl Harbor, many special wartime agencies were established: • The Office of Price Administration checked inflation due to massive government spending. • The National War Labor Board mediated labor disputes and strikes. • The War Manpower Commission directed mobilization of civilian forces • The Office of War Information coordinated propaganda to “sell” the American people. • The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a precursor to today's NSA and CIA; it oversaw espionage and other intelligence activities. • The conservation of materials such as metal, food, and most importantly rubber, was vital to the survival of the troops on the front.

7. New Workers & Strikes • Because previously employed men were fighting overseas, other Americans had to fill their empty spots in the workforce. • Women, symbolized by “Rosie the Riveter”, grew to have over 50% to 19.5 million jobs in 1945. • Over 200,000 Mexicans entered the U.S. illegally in order to help harvest crops. • African Americans gained 900,000 jobs (to 3.8 million) by 1945. • New job titles were offered to women – mining, machinists, heavy machinery operators, electrical workers, and other jobs in which they received record wages. • There were strikes, some organized by the new United Auto Workers (UAW), while others organized massive, illegal “wildcat” strikes. In 1943 John L. Lewis led a strike of half a million coal miners. In response, Congress passed a federal antistrike bill, giving the president power to penalize strikers, even draft them!

8. Military Mobilization • October 16th, 1940 was National Registration Day, in which all men were legally obligated to register for military service. (yay…hmm…no) • Only the Marines were ready for the war. The Army\AF and Navy were unprepared to enter war. • African Americans enlisted 60% more than other Americans. Racism and segregation led to miserable existence in the beginning of the war. • Many women joined the Women’s Army Corps, the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, and were often more educated than the common GI.

9. The U.S. War Goals • Stop Totalitarian Aggression • Defeat Germany, Italy, Japan • Europe First • Win a Two Front War

10. Technology in the War • Fighters and Bombers – Air power was now a dominant force in war, and fighters and bombers were an important asset to both sides of the war. • Aircraft Carriers – Floating airports, they were able to carry planes and bombers to remote locations (a.k.a. Japanese mainland – Dewey’s raid on Tokyo). • Liberty Ships – These were ships mass produced by America in order to keep supplies running to Europe. • Submarines – German “U-Boats” and Allied submarines in the Pacific sank hundreds of thousands of tons of • Radar – The development of radar by the British gave them an advantage over the numerically superior Luftwaffe (German Air force) • Jet Engine – The first German jet fighter was developed in 1943, but Hitler felt it would be more suited as a bomber • The Manhattan Project – The Top Secret American project to develop the Atomic Bomb,

11. War in Europe • June 6th, 1944 – “Operation Overlord”, the invasion of Europe with the largest invasion force in history (175,000+ men) and 5,000 ships at Normandy, France. • The allies made a slow but unstoppable push to Paris, then to the Rhine River, and finally to Berlin, the Capital of Germany. • German superiority on both the ground and in the air had been devastated by the relentlessness of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Battle of Britain and the determination of the Russians and the cold weather in Hitler’s invasion of Russia. • In the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last attempt at stopping the Allies, a surprise attack in Belgium against the Allies, drove them back 50 miles before they recovered and counterattacked. • The Germans no longer had the ability to counterattack, and Hitler committed suicide before he could be captured.

12. Pacific Campaign • U.S. Pacific command was split between two rivals – General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz. • A system of “Island hopping” enabled the Americans to slowly creep up on the Japanese home islands • The Japanese, who were fearless fighters, fought to the death on many of the islands, including Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and in the Philippine Islands. As a result of this, extremely heavy losses were sustained as Marines invaded beaches and launched amphibious assaults, and towards the end of the war, Japanese kamikaze's slammed their planes into American ships in a last ditch effort to stop the Americans. • Japan’s navy was decimated at the Battle of Coral Sea, Battle of Leyte Gulf and at the Battle of Midway, the later which caused the destruction of three of Japan’s mighty aircraft carriers, which spelled the coming of war’s end. • There was an internal disagreement between the civil emperor (Hirohito) and the commanding military authority. The honor of the Japanese could not be ruined by surrendering, which was finally brought about by a new type of weapon…

13. War’s End • Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945, with the death of Hitler and the occupation of Berlin by Allied forces from both directions (US\UK and Russian). • In February 1945, President Roosevelt held a meeting (his last) with Winston Churchill and Stalin at Yalta, located on the Black Sea. They discussed what would happen to the German and Japanese after they had fallen to the Allies, and how their territories would be brought back to “civilized world society” • FDR died of a stroke on April 12, 1945, after winning his 4th term in office as President of the United States, (defeating Thomas E. Dewey 432 to 99). His sucessor, Harry S. Truman, lacked the political experience that FDR had. • At the Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945), held outside of Berlin, it was agreed that Japan’s unconditional surrender was to be demanded, and that Nazi war criminals were to be prosecuted (which they were at the Nuremburg Trials). • The dropping of two atomic bombs by the Americans at Nagasaki and Hiroshima instigated the Japanese to an unconditional surrender, made formal on September 2nd, 1945 (VJ day) BFFL

14. Results of World War II • The U.S. economy continued preparing for the next war • Post War Baby Boom • New Consumer Goods • United Nations • Super Power