THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CREATING A NATION AND A

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CREATING A NATION AND A SOCIETY NASH JEFFREY HOWE FREDERICK DAVIS WINKLER MIRES PESTANA 7 th Edition Chapter 25: World War II Pearson Education, Inc, publishing as Longman © 2006

THE TWISTING ROAD TO WAR

FOREIGN POLICY IN THE GLOBAL AGE l l l 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 – 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 l US continued to support dictators, especially in Central America, because they promised to promote stability and preserve American economic interests – – – l Trade Agreement Act of 1934 gave the president power to lower tariff rates by as much as 50 percent – – l 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 – State Department worked out an agreement that included some compensation for the companies

EUROPE ON THE BRINK OF WAR l On 30 January 1933, Adolph Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and within three months the Reichstag suspended the constitution, making Hitler Fuehrer – l l l 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 – – 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 l 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 – – – l 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 – – 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 nonmilitary items only available on a cash and carry basis

WAR IN EUROPE l l Roosevelt, while not an isolationist, was determined to keep America out of the European war March 1938: Hitler annexed Austria – l l 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 – – l l 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 – 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 l “Phony War” ended on April 9, 1940 when Germany attacked Norway and Denmark. – – – l l 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 – – 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 l 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 – l l 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 l Roosevelt constructed a plan for sending material aid to Britain without demanding payment, the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941 – l German U-Boats were sinking half a million tons of shipping each month in the Atlantic – l 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 – – – 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 l 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 – l 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 – l 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 – July 1941 FDR froze all Japanese assets in the US

THE PATH TO PEARL HARBOR l The US had broken the Japanese diplomatic code and knew that Japan planned to attack some place but did not know where – l 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 – – – l 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 l The War Production Board (WPB) offered businesses cost-plus contracts for retooling for the war effort – l l 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 – – l 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 – Accelerated mechanization of the farm and increased the use of fertilizer even as actual farm population declined

MOBILIZING FOR WAR l Large commercial farmers also received incentives for war production – l l 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 – – l l l 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 – Increased the cooperation between industry and government

PATRIOTIC FERVOR l l l 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 l War promoted hatred of the enemy and soon the German people became as vilified as the Nazi leadership though there was no anti. German hysteria in the U. S. – l 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 – l 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 – – – 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 l 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 – l Korean, Filipino, and Asian Indian populations also contributed to the war effort – l 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 – – – l 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 – 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 l l 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 l 15 million Americans moved during the war, usually from rural areas to the cities, to the west and from the south to the north – – l l 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 – – Number of marriages and births rose sharply Divorces also rose

WOMEN WORKERS FOR VICTORY l Thousands of women took jobs in a wide range of areas never before open to them, especially after 1943 – – l l l 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 l Americans listened to the radio 4. 5 days during the war – – l l 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 – – – Musical comedies, cowboy movies and historical romances remained popular Newsreels presented theme of American victory War themed movies also were popular

RELIGION IN THE TIME OF WAR l l FDR emphasized that the enemy opposed all religion. In 1940 65 million Americans belonged to 250, 000 churches and other religious institutions – – l 23 million Catholics 5 million Jews Military personnel were given three religious choices: Protestant, Catholic or Jew – – – 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 l GI was short for government issue and became what soldiers were called – l 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 – – l 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 – – l 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 – 16 million men and women served in some branch of the military service; 322, 000 were killed and 800, 000 wounded

WOMEN IN UNIFORM l l l 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) – l 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 l l On December 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the U. S. Unclear why Hitler did so

WAR AIMS l l l 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 – Allied with Great Britain and the Soviet Union

A YEAR OF DISASTER l First half of 1942 was disastrous for the Allies – – – l Churchill wanted to delay a direct continental assault while Stalin, who was facing the bulk of the Nazi army, pushed for a second front – – – l Japanese captured the Dutch East Indies, Burma, Wake Island 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 l l 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 – l 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 – – 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 l Operation Overlord, the invasion of France, was launched on June 6, 1944 – – l 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 – l 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 – December 1944 Battle of the Bulge

World War II: European and North African Theaters

THE POLITICS OF VICTORY l 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 – l During 1944, the US continued to tighten the noose on Japan and had destroyed most of the Japanese Navy by June – l 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 – Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey who lost

THE BIG THREE AT YALTA l Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta in the Crimea in February 1945 to settle outstanding issues – – l 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 – Decided to fix the rate of exchange among the world’s currencies using the dollar rather than the pound

THE ATOMIC AGE BEGINS l l 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 – – 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/WW 2 Timeline/start. html l Resource Listing for World War II http: //www. ibiblio. org/pha/index. html l World War II Museum http: //www. thedropzone. org l Remembering Pearl Harbor http: //plasma. nationalgeographic. com/pearlharbor/ l A People at War http: //www. archives. gov/exhibits/a_people_at_war/a_people_at_w ar. html l Poster Art of World War II http: //www. archives. gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of _persuasion_home. html l

DISCOVERING U. S. HISTORY ONLINE Fighters on the Farm Front http: //arcweb. sos. state. or. us/osuhomepage. html l 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 l A. Philip Randolph http: //www. wpafb. af. mil/museum/history/prewwii/ta. htm l Japanese Americans http: //www. lib. washington. edu/exhibits/harmony/ l Japanese Relocation Sites http: //www. cr. nps. gov/history/online_books/anthropology 74/ l Japanese American Relocation Photographs http: //digarc. usc. edu: 8089/cispubsearch/searchresults. jsp l

DISCOVERING U. S. HISTORY ONLINE Latinos and Latinas & World War II http: //utopia. utexas. edu/explore/latino/ l An Oral History of Rhode Island Women During World War II http: //www. stg. brown. edu/projects/WWII_Women/toc. CS. html l “Flygirls” http: //www. pbs. org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/ l United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http: //www. ushmm. org/ l A-Bomb http: //www. csi. ad. jp/ABOMB/ l Fifty Years from Trinity http: //seattletimes. nwsource. com/trinity/ l The U. S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Normandy http: //www. army. mil/cmh-pg/brochures/normandy/nor-pam. htm l