Transcript America in World War II

America in World War II
“Never before have we had so little time in which
to do so much.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1942
By: Norma Avalos
&
Javier Perez
The Allies Trade Space for Time
Pearl Harbor (1941)
America’s desire for
vengeance against the
Pacific
Franklin D. Roosevelt
decided to:
1st destroy Japan’s allies
PLAN: gather allied forces
after defeating Hitler
Conflicts:
From isolation to war
Could they arrive fast
enough??
The Shock of War
Executive Order No.
9066:
Detention Camps, also
known as concentration
camps, set up for enemy
aliens (Japanese, German,
& Italian descendants)
• 2/3 American-born U.S.
citizens
Regret:
Finally in 1988, U.S.
Government officially
apologized & paid $20,000
to camp survivors
Building the War Machine
Great Depression ended due to
great demands for jobs &
production
Henry J. Kaiser, “Sir Launchalot”:
Shipbuilder who assembled 1 ship
p/14days
Many essential goods rationed such
as food and gasoline
Labor unions forbidden of striking
Some still did (United Mine
Workers, led by John L. Lewis)
Congress passed Smith-Connally
Anti-Strike Act in June 1943
• Federal government could seize
and take over industries that were
either on the verge of or under
strikes
Luckily only less than 1% of
working hours were accounted for
under strikes
Manpower & Womanpower
Men AND women drafted
15 million men in armed forces
as well as 216,000 women,
“women in arms;” WAACS
(Army), WAVES (Navy),
SPARS (Coast Guard)
1942 agreement w/ Mexico,
The Bracero Programthousands of Mexican
agricultural workers were to
come work in America due to
lack of personnel
Women also took over “men”
jobs but 2/3 of them became
housewives again after the war
Return of men created a baby
boom
Wartime Migrations
California’s pop grew by nearly 2
million
Hypocrisy in America??
President Roosevelt created the
Fair Employment Practices
Commission (FEPC) in attempt to
decrease racism in workplace
• Meanwhile, Blacks in the military
were still being discriminated
against just like at home
Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) founded in 1942
1944-mechanical cotton picker
invented, therefore Blacks no
longer needed
Majority decided to move North or
West, all in search of a better life
1.6 million blacks left the South
By 1970, ½ of Black race lived
outside of the South
Holding the Home Front
U.S.A.-only country to be
better off after the war than
before
Both corporate profits and
gross national product more
than doubled
America’s wartime bill came
out to be $330 billion (+ than
the costs of all previous
American wars combined)
National debt from $49
billion to $259 billion due to
expansion of income tax
War cost up to $10 b/p/hr at
one point
The Rising Sun in the Pacific
Japanese gained more land than
what they lost
Conquered:
• Guam, Wake, Hong Kong,
British Malaya, Burma, the
Dutch East Indies, the
Philippines, and even a part of
China
After conquering the
Philippines, the fighters were
obliged to make the infamous
85-mile Bataan death march
U.S. General Douglas
MacArthur escaped in time to
flee to Australia but promised to
return and free the islands from
Japan’s chokehold
Japan’s High Tide at Midway
American & Australian forces finally caught up w/ Japan in the Coral
Sea (world’s 1st naval battle in which the ships never saw their
opponent)
During Japan’s attempt to seize Midway Island, U.S. Admiral Chester
W. Nimitz stopped them and there began the 3 day battle, June 3-6
1942, which would now halt the Japanese from further expansion
“Island hopping”-Allies landed on and conquered neighboring islands
and starved them to death, therefore keeping Japan away.
American Leapfrogging Toward
Tokyo
August 1942: America won at
Guadalcanal
August 1943: gained Aleutian
Islands of Attu & Kiska by
island hopping
August 1944: gained New
Guinea
June 19, 1944: U.S. attacks
Marianas w/ advanced aircraft
(i.e. “Hellcat” fighter)
June 20, 1944: U.S. won the
Battle of the Philippine Sea
U.S. performed hourly
bombing raids over Japan
especially in Tokyo
The Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Allied Halting of Hitler
U.S. cracked “enigma” code;
made it easier to pinpoint
German U-boats
Discovery made at the end of
the war:
Hitler close to releasing a new
& improved U-boat that could
last x-amount of time
underwater & was able to
cruise at 17 knots underwater
as well
Oct. 1942:In El Alamein British
General Bernard Montgomery
defeated German leader
Marshall Edwin Rommel, also
known as the “Desert Fox”
Russia recovered 2/3 of the land
they had lost
A Second Front from North
Africa to Rome
Soviets desperate for a different
approach in regards to their large
loses (20 million Soviet forces dead
by end of WWII)
British planned to invade Italy
through North Africa in hopes of
attacking their “soft underbelly”; plot
came to be known as Operation
Torch
Not very successful, underbelly
underestimated
Led to creation of “unconditional
surrender” founded by FDR &
Churchill at Casablanca Conference
Mussolini, Italian dictator lynched w/
mistress; Italy remained a part of
Axis Powers
August 1943: Sicily surrendered;
June 4, 1944: Rome did, too; Italy
finally defeated on May 2, 1945
Operation Torch
D-Day: June 6, 1944
Tehran Conference-the 3
Allied Forces met to
discuss and created plans
for the cross-channel
invasion
General Dwight D.
Eisenhower was the
appointee
1st on the list…
The invasion of Normandy
Paris freed in August 1944
thanks to…
The “French underground”
• (The angels sent from
heaven…Halleluiah!!) JK
Leaders of Allied Forces
FDR: The Fourth-Termite of
1944
Republicans=
Thomas E. Dewey
Liberal governor
of New York
•VP: John W.
Bricker
Opponent: Democrat
Franklin D. Roosevelt
VP: Harry S.
Truman
Roosevelt Defeats Dewey
Dewey chose to take
offensive route in
campaigning
FDR preoccupied w/
WWII
Regardless, Roosevelt
surpassed Dewey by 333
votes; 432-99
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt-4 terms in
office WOW!!
Not so much since it had
previously occurred just
3yrs. ago
Roosevelt Defeats Dewey Cont.
The Last Days of Hitler
Battle of “the Bulge”-Dec. 16,
1944 in Ardennes forest; lasted
10 days
March 1945- Americans deeper
& deeper into Germany
Joined Soviet troops and
navigated toward Berlin
Concentration Camps- withheld
Jews, Dutch, Polish, disabled,
and other minorities; they were
used as laborers & experiments,
they were also tortured and
killed
Allied forces weren’t
previously aware, disgusted by
their cruelty toward Jews &
“undesirables”
The Last Days of Hitler Cont.
Farewell:
Unfortunately, FDR died
from a cerebral hemorrhage
on April 12, 1945
As a result to his failure,
Hitler committed suicide on
April 30, 1945
White Flag Finally Raised!!
May 7, 1945 official
German surrender
May 8, 1995-officially
proclaimed V-E Day
(Victory in Europe Day)
Japan Dies Hard
March 9-10, 1945- firebomb
raids on Tokyo kills +83,000ppl
Promise Kept!!
Oct. 20, 1944-General
MacArthur returns to the
Philippines
• Liberates Manila in March
1945
Japan sea-handicapped after last
great naval battle at Leyte Gulf
4,000 Americans lost during 25day captivity of Iwo Jima in
March 1945
April-June 1945, Okinawa went
down along with 50,000
Americans
Japan’s last resort was to turn to
“kamikazes,” suicide pilots
The Atomic Bombs
July 1945, Potsdam Conference- Allies
had no alternative; turned to “surrender
or be destroyed”
Many warnings were given to Japan by
the Allied Forces: If Japan didn’t
surrender, then they’d have to face
complete & utter destruction
Japan ignored all warnings & refused
to hold back
Consider yourself warned…
August 6, 1945- Americans dropped the
1st atomic bomb on Hiroshima, causing
the deaths of 180,000 people
August 9, 1945- 2nd atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki, killing 80,000
August 8, 1945-Soviets declared war
against Japan
August 10,1945-Japan agreed to
surrender as long as Hirohito remained
their emperor; Allies accepted
The Atomic Bombs Cont.
Hiroshima Bombing:
The Atomic Bombs Cont.
Nagasaki Bombing:
War Officially Over!!
September 2, 1945 was the
formal end of the long-lasting war
Hirohito surrendered to General
MacArthur aboard the U.S.S.
Missouri
The Allies Triumphant
America suffered 1 million
casualties
Few due to diseases because of
the new discovery of penicillin
We mainly owe our gratitude of
victory to U.S. generals,
admirals, & leaders, who got us
through this war without any
major set backs
Who says the good guys don’t
always win??
We are the STRONG, the
FEARLESS, the
CONQUERORS; we are
AMERICA, the land of the
FREE & the home of the
BRAVE
*Extra Info:
Nov. 4, 1948; Harry S. Truman vs. Thomas E. Dewey