Transcript Georgia during World War II

GEORGIA
DURING
WORLD WAR II
LEND-LEASE
• Pres. Roosevelt wanted to
remain neutral during the
beginning of WW II but did
consider Great Britain to be an
ally
• England could buy weapons
from the US if they paid cash
and carried them in their own
ships
• When England ran out of
money, Roosevelt began the
Lend-Lease program
LEND-LEASE
• US would lend or lease weapons
to England (and later the Soviet
Union)
• US also built air bases in
Greenland and Iceland to track
German sub activity
• [Video]
PEARL HARBOR
• To protest Japan’s invasion of surrounding countries,
the US stopped shipping supplies to them
• December 7, 1941 in the morning, Japan bombed the
only force that could stop them—the US Navy
stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• All 8 battleships in port were damaged or
destroyed—greatest destruction aboard the USS
Arizona
• Over 180 planes destroyed
• Over 2,000 people killed;
over 1,000 wounded
PEARL HARBOR
• Roosevelt called the attack, “a
day that will live in infamy”
• The next day, Congress
declared war on Japan—US
was now in World War II
• A few days later, Germany and
Italy declared war on US
• [Video]
BELL AIRCRAFT
• Contracted to build B-29 bombers (airplanes) in
Marietta, GA
• Opened in 1943
• April, 1945—employed 27,000 people and built
60-65 planes per month for US Air Force
• End of 1945—closed after building 668 planes
• 1950—plant was reopened as Lockheed Martin
MILITARY BASES
• Military bases were open that trained large numbers of US
troops
– Ft. Benning (largest infantry center)
– Camp Gordon
– Ft. Stewart
– Warner Robbins
– Ft. McPherson—induction center for newly drafted
soldiers
• Ft. Gillem—storage facility and railroad yard
• Ft. Oglethorpe—trained women troops (WAACS)
• Prisoner of war camps
Ft. Benning
Ft. Gordon
Ft. Oglethorpe
Ft. Stewart
SAVANNAH AND
BRUNSWICK SHIPYARDS
• Built 88 Liberty ships
• Liberty ships named after Patrick Henry’s
quote (“Give me liberty, or give me
death.”) by FDR
• In Savannah,built by 15,000 workers—
most were women
RICHARD RUSSELL
• 1931—became governor of Georgia
• Created the Board of Regents to oversee state
colleges and universities
• 1932—became US Senator—served 38 years
• Supported a strong national defense—served
on the Armed Services Committee
• Co-sponsored legislation to provide school
lunches to all children
CARL VINSON
• Served 25 consecutive terms (19141965) in the US House of
Representatives
• “Father of the Two Ocean Navy”
• Before Pearl Harbor, he created a law
to increase military readiness
• Passed the Vinson-Trammel Act which
authorized the building of 92 war ships
• Created a bill to increase the navy to
10,000 planes, trained 16,000 pilots,
and established 20 air bases
CARL
VINSON
• Another bill eased labor
restrictions on building ships so
that they could be produced
more quickly
• After WWII, he continued to
push for strong defenses during
the Cold War
• Nuclear carrier ship was named
after him
THE HOLOCAUST
• Systematic killing of 5-6 million Jews, Blacks,
homosexuals, gypsies, and people with disabilities
• Near the end of the war in 1945, Allied troops began to
find the concentration camps in Poland, Austria, and
Germany and liberated the survivors
• 1986—the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust was
established to take lessons from the Holocaust and use
them to lead the next generation to overcome racism
and prejudice