Transcript THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CREATING A NATION AND A SOCIETY

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
CREATING A NATION AND A SOCIETY
NASH  JEFFREY
HOWE  FREDERICK DAVIS  WINKLER  MIRES  PESTANA
7th Edition
Chapter 25: World War II
Pearson Education, Inc, publishing as Longman © 2006
THE TWISTING ROAD TO WAR
FOREIGN POLICY IN THE
GLOBAL AGE
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In 1933 Germany defaulted on its reparations
installments and most European countries
were unable to keep up the payments on their
debts to the U.S.
FDR decided not to go along with an
international agreement on tariffs and currency
Did recognize the Soviet Union, hoping to gain
a market for surplus American grain
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USSR did agree to pay old debts and to extend
rights to American citizens living in the Soviet Union
FOREIGN POLICY IN THE GLOBAL
AGE
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US continued to support dictators, especially in Central America, because
they promised to promote stability and preserve American economic
interests
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Trade Agreement Act of 1934 gave the president power to lower tariff rates
by as much as 50 percent
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FDR did remove US troops from Haiti and Nicaragua in 1934
In a series of pan-American conferences, FDR joined in pledging that no country
in the hemisphere would interfere in the internal affairs of another
When Cuba underwent a revolution, FDR sent special envoys, not troops, and
then recognized the government under Fulgencio Batista that staged a coup,
offered a loan and agreed to abrogate the Platt Amendment in return for the
rights to Guantanamo naval base
FDR negotiated a series of agreements that improved trade
The Good Neighbor Policy was good for business but did not solve anyone’s
economic problems
In 1938 Mexico nationalized the property of a number of American oil
companies
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State Department worked out an agreement that included some compensation
for the companies
EUROPE ON THE BRINK OF WAR
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On 30 January 1933, Adolph Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and
within three months the Reichstag suspended the constitution, making
Hitler Fuehrer
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Germany prospered and recovered faster from the Depression than any
other country except Japan, partly through military spending and partly
through provision of money for public works, autobahns and the Volkswagen
In 1934, Hitler announced a program of rearming Germany in violation
of the Treaty of Versailles
In Italy, Benito Mussolini was also building a powerful military force and
threatened to invade Ethiopia in 1934
The Nye Committee hearings revealed that many American
businessmen had close relationships with the War Department and that
war production had led to huge profits
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On many college campuses, students demonstrated against war and joined
peace organizations
Many American adults also belonged to peace organizations and were
determined never again to enter a foreign war
ETHIOPIA AND SPAIN
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In May 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia and frightened the US Congress into
passing a Neutrality Act authorizing the president to prohibit all arms shipments
to nations at war and to advise U.S. citizens not to travel on belligerents’ ships
except at their own risk
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League of Nations condemned Italy as the aggressor in the war and Great Britain
moved its fleet to the Mediterranean
FDR imposed an arms embargo that had little effect on Italy but hurt Ethiopia
But neither Britain nor the U.S. wanted to stop oil shipments to Italy nor send troops
In 1936 Civil War broke out in Spain as General Francisco Franco, supported
by the Catholic church and large landowners, revolted against the republican
government
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Mussolini and Hitler had formed the Rome-Berlin axis in 1936 and both aided Franco
while the Soviets aided the Loyalists
War in Spain polarized the US and more than 3000 Americans joined the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade and went to fight in Spain
US maintained neutrality and refused arms to both sides
In 1937 Congress passed another Neutrality Act making it illegal for American
citizens to travel on belligerent ships and extending the embargo on arms, even
making non-military items only available on a cash and carry basis
WAR IN EUROPE
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Roosevelt, while not an isolationist, was determined to keep America out of the
European war
March 1938: Hitler annexed Austria
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August 1939: Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact
1 September 1939: Germany attacked Poland, marking the official beginning of
World War II
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In September, after the Munich Conference, Hitler took the Sudetenland of
Czechoslovakia and, despite promises to the contrary, overran the rest of the country
within six months
France and Britain honored their treaties and came to the aid of Poland
Roosevelt asked for a repeal of the embargo section of the Neutrality Act and of the
approval of the sale of arms on a cash-and-carry basis to France and Britain
In August 1939, Albert Einstein and other scientists warned the president that
German scientists were working on an atomic bomb so Roosevelt authorized
funds for a top-secret project to build an American bomb first
War in Poland ended quickly with Germany attacking from the west and the
Soviet Union from the east
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After Poland fell, there was a lull in the fighting (the “phony war”) though the British sent
several divisions to help the French
WAR IN EUROPE
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“Phony War” ended on April 9, 1940 when Germany attacked Norway
and Denmark.
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A few weeks later, the German Blitzkrieg swept through Belgium,
Luxembourg, and the Netherlands
A week later they invaded France, sweeping around the Maginot line
The French surrendered in June as the British army fled back across the
Channel from Dunkirk
Some Americans organized the Committee to Defend America by
Aiding the Allies while others supported a group called America First
FDR approved the shipment to Britain of 50 overage destroyers in
return for the right to establish naval and air bases on British territory
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July 1940 FDR signed a measure authorizing $4 billion to increase the
number of American naval warships
In September, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which drafted 1
million men to serve in the army for one year but only in the Western
Hemisphere
THE ELECTION OF 1940
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Roosevelt was slow to aid Great Britain both
because wanted to keep the United States out
of the war but he was also worried about the
1940 presidential campaign
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Picked liberal Henry Wallace as his running mate
Republicans nominated Wendell Wilkie who
actually supported the New Deal and aid to
Britain
Roosevelt won, 27 million to 22 million votes
LEND-LEASE
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Roosevelt constructed a plan for sending material aid to Britain
without demanding payment, the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941
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German U-Boats were sinking half a million tons of shipping
each month in the Atlantic
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The Act destroyed all pretensions of neutrality
June: FDR proclaimed a national emergency and ordered the
closing of German and Italian consulates in the United States
On June 22, Germany suddenly attacked the Soviet Union and
FDR extended lend-lease aid to the Soviets
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By the autumn of 1941, the US was virtually at war with the
Germans
On September 11, Roosevelt ordered a “shoot on sight” order for all
American ships operating in the Atlantic
On October 30, a German sub sank an American destroyer off the
coast of Newfoundland
THE PATH TO PEARL HARBOR
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Intent on becoming a world power and needing natural
resources, especially oil, Japan risked war with China, the Soviet
Union and even the U.S. to obtain them
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In July 1939, the United States began to apply economic
pressure by notifying Japan of the cancellation of the 1911
commercial treaty in six months time
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Japan tried to delay war with the U.S. as long as possible through
diplomatic means, which was fine with the US who did not want a
two front war
September 1940, administration forbade the shipment of airplane
fuel and scrap metal to Japan, adding other items to the list in the
following months until the spring of 1941, when only oil was still
being shipped
Negotiations with Japan had few results and, in fact, Japan
occupied French Indochina in 1940 and 1941
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July 1941 FDR froze all Japanese assets in the US
THE PATH TO PEARL HARBOR
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The US had broken the Japanese diplomatic code and knew that
Japan planned to attack some place but did not know where
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On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the American Pacific fleet
at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, destroying or disabling 19 ships and
150 planes and killing 2335 soldiers and sailors and 68 civilians
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In September Japan decided to strike after November if there were
no major concessions
At the same time, Japan attacked the Philippines, Guam, the
Midway Islands, Hong Kong and Malaya
On December 8, Congress declared war against Japan
The attack united the country behind the war
People searched for a scapegoat while Pearl Harbor became a
symbol of American unpreparedness
THE HOME FRONT
MOBILIZING FOR WAR
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The War Production Board (WPB) offered businesses cost-plus
contracts for retooling for the war effort
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Office of Scientific Research and Development (ORSD) was set up
to perfect new weapons and other products including the atomic
bomb, radar, high-altitude bomb sights, jet engines, pressurized
cabins for airplanes, and penicillin
FDR tried hard to gain the cooperation of businesspeople
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Often the government financed new plants and equipment
Appointed business leaders in key positions and abandoned antitrust
actions
Industrial production and new corporate profits nearly doubled during
the war
Large commercial farmers also received incentives for war
production
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Accelerated mechanization of the farm and increased the use of
fertilizer even as actual farm population declined
MOBILIZING FOR WAR
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Large commercial farmers also received incentives for war production
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Office of Price Administration (OPA) set prices and rationed products
National War Labor Board (NWLB) had the authority to set wages and
hours and to regulate working conditions
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Accelerated mechanization of the farm and increased the use of fertilizer even
as actual farm population declined
Union membership grew rapidly during the war and in return for “no strike
pledges” the NWLB allowed agreements that required workers to retain their
union membership through the life of their contract
Labor leaders complained about increased government regulation
Government tried to reduce inflation by selling war bonds and increasing
taxes
American economy rose to the occasion and produced the supplies
needed to win the war
War stimulated the growth of the federal bureaucracy and accelerated the
government’s central role in the economy
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Increased the cooperation between industry and government
PATRIOTIC FERVOR
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Office of War Information controlled the news
the public received about the war and
promoted patriotism
Government sold war bonds both to pay for
the war and to sell the war to the American
people
Those too young or too old to join the armed
forces became air raid wardens or civilian
defense or Red Cross volunteers
INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE
AMERICANS
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War promoted hatred of the enemy and soon the German people
became as vilified as the Nazi leadership though there was no antiGerman hysteria in the U.S.
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At the time of Pearl Harbor, 127,000 Japanese lived in the United
States, about 80,000 of them Nisei and Sansei who were barred from
intermarriage with other groups and excluded from many places
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However, such animosity did develop against the Japanese who were
portrayed as subhuman
While they maintained cultural and linguistic ties to Japan, they posed little
real threat
Reacting to public pressure, the president issued Executive Order 9066
authorizing the evacuation of the Japanese in January 1942
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The government built special relocation centers in remote sections of the
U.S. and evacuated about 110,000 Japanese (including 60,000 citizens of
Japanese heritage)
The more numerous Japanese in Hawaii were not relocated
Government allowed Japanese American men to volunteer for military
service in Europe and even drafted Nisei men after January 1944
Relocation Camps
ASIAN, AFRICAN, AND HISPANIC
AMERICANS AT WAR
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Pacific war made China an ally of the United States but the 1882 Exclusion Act
was not repealed until 1943 and even then allowed only 105 Chinese in a year
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Korean, Filipino, and Asian Indian populations also contributed to the war effort
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1923 Supreme Court decision denying citizenship to Asian Indians was reversed during
the war
U.S. remained a segregated society and African American profited little from the
revival of prosperity at the beginning of the war
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Chinese enthusiastically joined the war effort and even served in the military
To prevent an African American march on Washington in 1941, Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 8802 which stated that there was to be no discrimination in the
employment of workers in the defense industry or in government and Roosevelt
established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to enforce the order
Jobs in war industries helped many blacks improve their economic conditions
As blacks moved north and west for jobs, their arrival aggravated racial tensions and
sometimes resulted in riots such as the one in Detroit in 1943 that killed 25 blacks and
9 whites
Mexican Americans profited from the increased job opportunities but faced racial
prejudice
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In Los Angeles, conflict flared between Mexican American youths in zoot suits and
white servicemen in the spring of 1943
SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE WAR
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World War II altered patterns of work, leisure,
education, and family life
It caused a massive migration of people,
created jobs and changed lifestyles
WARTIME OPPORTUNITIES
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15 million Americans moved during the war, usually
from rural areas to the cities, to the west and from the
south to the north
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As they poured into the cities, they put pressure on schools,
housing and other services
Especially transformed California, leading to growth,
pressures on services and increased tensions
Many Americans had money to spend but there was
nothing to spend it on
War required major adjustments in family life as the
number of female headed households increased
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Number of marriages and births rose sharply
Divorces also rose
WOMEN WORKERS FOR VICTORY
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Thousands of women took jobs in a wide range of
areas never before open to them, especially after 1943
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At the end of the war, the labor force included 19.5 million
women though three-fourths of them had been working before
the war
New workers were often older and married
Black women often faced discrimination though a
number did move into factory jobs
Married women with young children often found it
tough to find work as there were no child care facilities
Many women workers suffered harassment and most
left their jobs at the end of the war
ENTERTAINING THE PEOPLE
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Americans listened to the radio 4.5 days during the
war
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Major networks increased their news programs from less
than 4 percent to nearly 30 percent of broadcasting time
Reporters and commentators became celebrities
Even music conveyed a war theme
For many Americans the motion picture became the
most important leisure activity with attendance
averaging 100 million a week
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Musical comedies, cowboy movies and historical romances
remained popular
Newsreels presented the theme of American victory
War themed movies also were popular
RELIGION IN THE TIME OF WAR
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FDR emphasized that the enemy opposed all religion.
In 1940 65 million Americans belonged to 250,000
churches and other religious institutions
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23 million Catholics
5 million Jews
Military personnel were given three religious choices:
Protestant, Catholic or Jew
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During WWII conscientious objector status was broadened to
include religious reasons and more than 70,000 used the
new exemption, with 25,000 being assigned to non-combat
duty
Many clergymen volunteered to serve in the war as chaplains
Reinhold Neibuhr argued for the use of force against evil
THE GI’s WAR
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GI was short for government issue and became what soldiers were
called
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Many Mexican-Americans and Native Americans served in the military
where they found less prejudice and came back with new ambitions and
a sense of self-esteem
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Navajo code talkers
Indians who returned to reservations after the war were ineligible for
veterans benefits
African Americans served in segregated units and continued to
encounter large amounts of prejudice
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Only one solder in eight who served saw combat and many saw the war as
an adventure
Fewer were sent overseas and fewer were in combat units
Many illiterate blacks learned to read and write in the service
Impact of war was greater because lasted longer than WWI
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16 million men and women served in some branch of the military service;
322,000 were killed and 800,000 wounded
WOMEN IN UNIFORM
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Women served as nurses and cooks and in other
support capacities
In April 1943 women physicians gained the right to
join the Army and Navy Medical Corps
Congress authorized full military participation for
women, except for combat and 350,000 women
joined the military service in the Women’s Army Corps
(WAC) and the women’s branch of the navy (WAVES)
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Others served in the coast guard and marines and more than
1000 trained as pilots (WASP) and ferried bombers from
factory to use
Men were informed about contraceptives but women
were not and pregnancy resulted in immediate
discharge
A WAR OF DIPLOMATS AND
GENERALS
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On December 11, 1941, Germany declared
war on the U.S.
Unclear why Hitler did so
WAR AIMS
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January 1941, FDR mentioned the four
freedoms: freedom from want, freedom from
fear, freedom of speech and expression and
freedom of worship
Henry Luce argued the U.S. had the
responsibility to spread democracy around the
world
US concentrated on Germany first while
fighting a holding action against Japan
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Allied with Great Britain and the Soviet Union
A YEAR OF DISASTER
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First half of 1942 was disastrous for the Allies
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Churchill wanted to delay a direct continental assault while Stalin,
who was facing the bulk of the Nazi army, pushed for a second front
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Japanese captured the Dutch East Indies, Burma, Wake Island and
Guam, invaded the Aleutians and captured the Philippines and 11,000
US servicemen
Germans pushed deep into Russia
In North Africa, British forces were driven almost to Cairo while in the
Atlantic German subs sank ships faster than they could be replaced
While FDR promised a second front the assault actually occurred in
North Africa in November 1942
Darlan deal reinforced Soviet distrust
US aided Franco in return for safe passage of American shipping in the
Mediterranean
Solution to problem of Jews was to win the war as quickly as
possible rather than any direct action
A STRATEGY FOR ENDING THE
WAR
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Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was in charge of the
North Africa campaign, had an ability to get people to
work together
American army moved across North Africa, linked with
British and then took Sicily and invaded Italy in 1943
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Italians overthrew Mussolini and surrendered in September
1943 but the Germans sent troops that made the campaign
long and bitter with Rome only captured in June 1944
US halted Japanese advance in the Pacific
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Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942
Battle of Midway in June 1942
Leapfrogged from island to island in 1943
Pacific war was often brutal and dehumanizing
World War II
Pacific
Theater
THE INVASION OF FRANCE
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Operation Overlord, the invasion of France, was launched on
June 6, 1944
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Invasion preceded by months of bombing though it neither
disrupted German productive capacity as much as strategists
hoped nor weakened the will of the German people while it cost
the Allies heavily in planes and personnel
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Made possible by US industrial production
2245 were killed and 1670 wounded in securing the beachhead
Bombing civilian cities introduced terror as a strategy
Army broke out of Normandy beachhead in July and had swept
across France by late 1944 while the Russians had pushed the
German Army out of much of eastern Europe
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December 1944 Battle of the Bulge
World War II:
European and North
African Theaters
THE POLITICS OF VICTORY
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British wanted to beat the Russians to Berlin but
Eisenhower moved south for a number of reasons,
meeting the Russians on 25 April 1945 at the Elbe
River
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During 1944, the US continued to tighten the noose
on Japan and had destroyed most of the Japanese
Navy by June
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Russians took Berlin on May 2 and on May 8 the European
war was over
Recaptured the Philippines in early 1945
In 1944, FDR ran for an unprecedented fourth term,
dropping Henry Wallace and adding Harry Truman as
his running mate
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Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey who lost
THE BIG THREE AT YALTA
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Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta in the Crimea in
February 1945 to settle outstanding issues
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FDR wanted Soviet help against the Japanese and in return for their
promise to enter the war within three months of Germany’s
surrender, the Soviet Union was promised the Kurile Islands, the
southern half of Sakhalin, and railroad and port facilities in North
Korea, Manchuria and Outer Mongolia
Decided to partition Germany and divide Berlin
Polish borders were moved and Stalin agreed to be more inclusive
in the new Polish government
Stalin agreed to United Nations
Bretton Woods Conference in summer 1944 established the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
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Decided to fix the rate of exchange among the world’s currencies
using the dollar rather than the pound
THE ATOMIC AGE BEGINS
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Roosevelt died April 12, 1945 of a massive stroke and
Truman became president
The atomic bomb was successfully tested in July
1945 and Truman, who never doubted its military use,
decide to drop it on Japan to prevent what was seen
as a potentially very costly invasion of the home
islands
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August 6: an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
August 8: USSR declared war on Japan
August 9: an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki
Japanese surrendered five days later
DISCOVERING U.S. HISTORY
ONLINE
World War II Timeline
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/start.html

Resource Listing for World War II
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/index.html
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World War II Museum
http://www.thedropzone.org
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Remembering Pearl Harbor
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/
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A People at War
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/a_people_at_war/a_people_at_w
ar.html
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Poster Art of World War II
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of
_persuasion_home.html
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DISCOVERING U.S. HISTORY
ONLINE
Fighters on the Farm Front
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/osu/osuhomepage.html
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Tuskegee Airmen
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/ta.htm African
Americans in World War II
http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/wwt.htm
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A. Philip Randolph
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/ta.htm

Japanese Americans
http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/harmony/
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Japanese Relocation Sites
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/anthropology74/
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Japanese American Relocation Photographs
http://digarc.usc.edu:8089/cispubsearch/searchresults.jsp

DISCOVERING U.S. HISTORY
ONLINE
Latinos and Latinas & World War II
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/
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An Oral History of Rhode Island Women During World War II
http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html

“Flygirls”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/

A-Bomb
http://www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/

Fifty Years from Trinity
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/trinity/
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The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Normandy
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/normandy/nor-pam.htm
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