Transcript Ch 20, Sec 1: Mobilizing for War and Ch 20, Sec 2

Ch 20, Sec 1: Mobilizing for War
and Ch 20, Sec 2: Early Battles
American Success
• U.S. fought on two fronts and won because of:
– 1. Patriotism
– 2. War Production of supplies/weapons
– 3. Desire to beat the Germans
U.S. Mobilizes for War
• 1940: U.S. gov’t started preparing for war
– Had 50,000 planes built per year
– Allowed businesses to make a profit by building
more goods faster (cost-plus contracts)
– Paid businesses to convert factories to make
wartime goods (200,000 companies by 1942)
Building Military Supplies
• Car Companies:
– Started building tanks (85,000) and planes
– Also made guns, ammo, helmets, etc
• Liberty Ships:
– Cargo ships for supplies
– Cheap, hard to sink, and
easy to build
– Lasted longer than normal ships
Rebuilding the Military
• Military was down sized after WWI
• Germany’s success in Europe frightened the
U.S.
• FDR ordered the army
to add 227,000 men
• Created the Selective
Service and Training Act
– (AKA the draft)
Welcome to the Army
• Soldiers were called GIs
• Not enough weapons for training/places to
sleep
• Given shots to protect the men from
European, Asian, and African diseases
• Trained for 8 weeks and then sent to war
• Not well trained but proved effective once the
fighting started
African Americans in WWII
• At the start of the war:
– Fought in segregated units
– Ran by white officers
– Were not allowed to fight
– Given construction and supply
jobs
“Double V” Campaign
• A strategy for African-Americans to get
equality in the U.S.
• Encouraged African Americans to join the war
effort to get a double Victory:
– End Hitler’s racism
– Stop racism within the U.S.
African Americans in Combat
• Middle/End of the war:
– FDR allowed segregated units to fight
– Pushed for recruiting of minorities
• Tuskegee Airmen
– All black fighter pilots in Italy
– Had the lowest loss ratio of any unit
• 614th Tank Battalion
– Fought in Europe/Battle of the Bulge
– Awarded 8 Silver Stars, 28 Bronze Starts, and 79
Purple Hearts
• Helped break the racial divide
Women in the Army
• Used in non-combat roles
• Allowed the men to leave jobs to join the
fighting
• WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps)-nonmilitary
• WAC (Women’s Army Corps)-military
• 68,000 joined as nurses
Alliances
Allies
Axis
England (Churchill)
France (de Gaulle)
U.S. (FDR)
Russia (Stalin)
Germany (Hitler)
Italy (Mussolini)
Japan (Hirohito)
Australia
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
China
Denmark
Greece
Finland
Bulgaria
Hungary
Romania
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
South Africa
Yugoslavia
Mexico
Japan takes the Philippines
• Attacked the same day as the Pearl Harbor
attack
• Gen. MacArthur retreated to the Bataan
Peninsula
• U.S. troops lasted for 3 months before
surrendering
– Gen. MacArthur was moved to Australia before his
troops surrendered
Bataan Death March
• April 9, 1942-U.S. troops surrendered the
Philippines
• 78,000 troops were marched to a Japanese
prison camp
– 1,000s died on the way
Doolittle Raid
• FDR’s plan to regain U.S. morale after losing
the Philippines
• Sent B-25 bombers to bomb Tokyo, Japan
• Revenge for Pearl Harbor
• First time U.S. bombs would attack Japan
• 71 of 80 men survived
Battle of the Coral Sea: March 1942
• Japan planned to attack New Guinea to cut
American supply lines
• U.S. Code breakers intercepted the message
• U.S. sent 2 aircraft carriers to ambush the
Japanese fleet
• U.S. won but both aircraft carriers were
destroyed/damaged
Battle of Midway: June 4, 1942
• U.S. intercepted another Japanese order to
attack the island of Midway
• Japanese fleet ambushed again
– 4 of their aircraft carriers were attacked and sunk
– Retreated
Results of the Battles of the Coral Sea and
Midway
•
•
•
•
Japanese forced to turn away
Japan lost a large portion of it’s navy
Japan could no longer be on the offensive
Turning point in the war in the Pacific
U.S. in Europe
• Russia (Stalin) begged for the U.S.
to attack Germany’s western
boundaries
• Britain (Churchill) and U.S. (FDR)
decided to attack Germany’s
edges in North Africa
U.S. in North Africa
• Invaded Morocco and Algeria Nov 8, 1942
• Reasons for Africa:
– U.S. troops will gain experience in combat
– Help British troops fighting German troops in Egypt
(British needed the Suez Canal for resupplying their
colonies)
Plan for North Africa
• Gen. Patton would attack with his tank
battalion in Morocco and Algeria
• U.S. would push the Germans east to Tunisia
• British units would push west from Libya
• Germany won at first (killed ld push 7,000
men/200 tanks)
• Allies finally defeated the Germans on May 13,
1943
Americans help fight at home
• German u-boats attacked cargo ships at sea
– Caused an oil shortage
• American cities used “black outs” to protect the
boats
– Dimmed city lights
– Drove with no head lights
• Convoy system created
to protect the boats
• Radar depth charges,
sonar used to sink u-boats
Battle of Stalingrad
• Germany attacked Stalingrad,
Russia in the spring of 1942
• Key city for industry/trade for Russia
• After 6 months, the Germans took the city but
the Russians refused to retreat
• Nov 1942-Feb 1943-Russia surrounded the
city and defeated the Germans
• Last German offensive of the war