Transcript Technology that Changed the War - Mrs. DeVault`s Blended Learning

U.S. History
Unit 5
Essential Questions:
• Which technologies had the greatest
impact on the war? Explain the impacts
Before WWII
• In 1939 – the U.S. Army was ranked 39th
in the world
• The U.S. had a Cavalry force of 50,000
still using horses to pull artillery
• FDR was tried diligently to coax a
reluctant nation to prepare for war
What Supplies Did We Need?
• The U.S. and their
Allies needed:
• Ships
• Submarines
• Airplanes
• Ammunition
• Tanks
After Pearl Harbor
• FDR set staggering goals for the nation’s
factories
• 60,000 aircraft in 1942
• 125,000 aircraft in 1943
• 120,000 tanks by 1943
• 55,000 antiaircraft guns
Americans Need to Sacrifice
to Win the War
• FDR created the War Production Board
• To raise money, FDR:
• Asked American to ration certain commodities
• Encouraged Americans to by war bonds
• Decrease exemptions claimed on taxes
How did this Effect
U.S. Industry?
• Most industrial plants
were affected.
• They were changed
over to producing
military equipment
and supplies for war.
Tank Factory
War Production Changed
American Industry
• Companies engaged in defense work expanded
• Automobile industry was transformed completely
• 1941 – 3,000,000 cars were made in the U.S.
• 1943 -139 cars were made
• Chrysler made fuselages
• General Motors made airplane engines, guns,
trucks and tanks.
• Packard made engines for the British Air Force
…and the Ford Motor Company
Mrs. DeVault father-in-law
flew the B-24 – 29
missions hitting Hitler's
munitions factories, etc.
• Ford performed something of a miracle building
the B-24 Liberator long-range bomber
• The (average) Ford car had: 15,000 parts
• The B-24 bomber had: 1,550,000 parts
• One bomber came off the line every 63 minutes
War Production
• In 1944 alone, U.S. built more planes than the
Japanese did from 1939 to 1945
• By the end of the war ½ of all industrial
production in the world came from the U.S.
Everyone Joins In
• 16 million men and women joined the military
• At home 24 million worked at defense jobs
• Factories ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
By 1944……
• The U.S. was
producing TWICE
as much as the
Axis Powers!
WWII Required That We Become
More Technologically Advanced
Some Military Technological
Advances plus many more…
WWI
•
•
•
•
Calvary
Trenches
Propeller aircraft
WWI style battleships
WWII
• Radar
• Sonar
• Aircraft Carriers
(1920’s)
• Jet aircraft
• Ballistic missiles
• Atomic weapons
Aviation
• The range, size, and speed of
airplanes was greatly increased.
• Germany first developed jets for
military use, as well as rocketpropelled planes.
Germany’s Heinkel He 178
• U.S. and British air power were
decisive factors in the defeat of
Germany and Japan.
Mrs. DeVault’s father –
served on an aircraft
carrier in the Pacific
during WWII
Military Weapons
• Infrared technology was
developed to allow
soldiers to see in the
dark.
• Because of the
importance of air power,
large aircraft carriers were
developed.
British Special Forces
Night Vision
Technology
The Manhattan Project
• A group of Hungarian
scientists tried to warn
Washington of ongoing Nazi
atomic bomb research - they
were ignored.
• Albert Einstein, a German
Jewish refugee, informed FDR
that the Nazi scientists were
building atomic weapons.
• The Manhattan Project began
the race to produce atomic
weapons
What were some other Advances in
Technology & Science?
• Space Technology grew
• Wanted to stop the V-2 rocket used by Germany
(Long range missiles that are launched into space)
Communication and
Information Technology
• Radar was first used to help
defend against air attacks on
Great Britain.
• It was used on Oahu, and radar
did pick up the incoming
Japanese force but they thought
they were American planes – we
learned from this mistake!
• Later it was used to spot
German submarines from the air
and direct anti-aircraft guns.
New Products Developed
• Making synthetics such as nylon or plastic
for military supplies
A woman shows off a new uniform
designed to protect female factory
workers– including a special bra
made entirely from plastic.
Synthetic rubber used
to make gloves
Medicine
• Penicillin began to be widely used to treat
infections and other diseases.
• DDT was developed, which killed insects that
carried malaria and typhus.
Communication and
Information Technology
• Computer techniques were
used in breaking codes.
• Semiconductors were
developed and used in
navigation systems and
later became a key part of
computers.
An Enigma Machine - used
to encode secret German
messages
Distribution of U.S. Industry
• Before WWII, much of the
industry in the U.S. was
located in the Northwest and
Midwest.
• With the increased need for
defense industries,
manufacturing facilities were
built in the South and West.
B-24s being built during
World War II in a Fort Worth
factory
Use of Resources
• Nearly all luxury or domestic
manufacturing ceased during the
war, and industries switched to
defense manufacturing.
• Automobile plants shifted to
making military vehicles (few
new cars)
• Scarce goods such as meat,
shoes, sugar, coffee, and
gasoline were rationed.
Use of Resources
• Labor and transportation
shortages made it hard to
harvest and move fruits and
vegetables to market
• The government encouraged
people to plant “Victory
Gardens.”
• 20,000 Americans planted
gardens in backyards, empty
lots and even city rooftops.
Essential Questions:
• Which technologies had the greatest
impact on the war? Explain the impacts