WWII COLD WAR KOREAN WAR American History II

WWII, COLD WAR, KOREAN WAR American History II - Unit 5 Ms. Brown

Review • Which act of German aggression led to the start of WWII? • Invasion of Poland in 1939 – France and GB declared war on Germany • What were the conditions of the nonaggression pact signed by USSR and Germany? • Countries would not attack each other and agreed to split Poland • France fell due to suffocation from the forces of which 2 countries? • Germany from the north, Italy from the south • What was the Battle of Britain? What was the end result? • Attempted German invasion of GB with several months of air attacks on GB • Royal Air Force held off German attacks until Hitler called off invasion of GB in Sept. 1940 • What was Hitler’s reasoning behind his “Final Solution? ” • The extermination of Jews and other inferior groups would preserve the Aryan master race • During the Holocaust, how many victims died? • 11 M, 6 M were Jews

5. 3 – US ENTRANCE INTO WWII

FDR’s Dilemma • After the invasion of Poland, FDR faced a dilemma: • Continue neutrality and isolationism • Stop aggressive and dangerous dictators that threaten peace “This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well… Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience… I have said not once, but many times, that I have seen war and I hate war… As long as it is my power to prevent, there will be no blackout of peace in the US. ” - FDR, radio speech, September 3, 1939

Moving Away from Neutrality • 1939 – revision to the Neutrality Acts of 1935 • “cash and carry” provision - allowed warring nations to buy US arms if they 1) paid cash, and 2) transported arms on their own ships • Designed to aid France and Britain in defeating Hitler • Isolationists strongly opposed • Summer 1940 – France had fallen, GB under siege FDR – “all aid short of war” • 500, 000 rifles, 80, 000 machine guns, leased 50 old destroyers… • “a decidedly un-neutral act” – GB Prime Minister Winston Churchill

The Axis Threat • Axis Powers – Germany, Italy, Japan • Sept. 1940 - Signed the Tripartite Pact agreement to come to the defense of each other in case of attack • Designed to prevent other countries from declaring war on any of the Axis powers war with an Axis power meant war will all 3 countries in 2 oceans, too intimidating for 1 country to handle

Building US Defenses • 1940 – Congress agreed to boost US defense spending • 1940 - Selective Training and Service Act • 1 st peacetime draft • Men aged 21 -35 (16 M) required to register • 1 M to actually serve only in the western hemisphere (Europe/Africa, not Asia) • “This is a most solemn ceremony. ” -

Election of 1940 • Democrat – FDR • Broke 2 -term tradition • Republican – Wendell Willkie • Supported FDR’s policy of aiding GB • FDR won 3 rd term due to little difference between candidates (stick with the devil you know).

The Great Arsenal of Democracy • Late 1940 - FDR (via fireside chat) told Americans it would be impossible to negotiate peace with Hitler • France had been captured, if GB fell, the Axis Powers would be unchallenged set sights on US (“living at the point of a gun”) • US had to help defeat Axis threat by becoming “the great arsenal of democracy. ” • Continued supply of arms to countries facing threats by Axis powers

The Lend-Lease Act • Late 1940 – Britain broke and cannot afford cash and carry arms • March 1941 – Lend-Lease Act • Lend or lease (rent) arms and other war supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the United States. ” • Compared the plan to lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire to prevent the fire from spreading to your own property • Isolationists bitterly opposed

The Lend-Lease Act • Lend Lease Act supported only GB at first • 1941 – Hitler invaded Soviet Union (violation of the nonaggression pact) US sent lend-lease supplies to Stalin/USSR – “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” • Some Americans opposed • FDR and Churchill agreed – “If Hitler invaded Hell…” they would be prepared to work with the devil himself.

German Wolf Packs • Hitler used U-boats to destroy hundreds of lend-lease ships wolf pack attacks • Designed to defeat the convoy system • 1) Individual u-boats scan for supply ships • 2) once ship is found, u-boat calls for more boats to gather (wolf pack) • 3) once all ships are gathered (usually at night), each u-boat commander was allowed to attack the ship using whatever tactics they pleased – could last up to several days

• 1941 – FDR granted US ships permission to fire on u-boats for self-defense purposes only

FDR Plans for War • 1941 – Congress extended the draft (by 1 vote in the Ho. R) • FDR’s domestic policy was relatively popular, but foreign policy was controversial • Atlantic Charter - 1940, US-Britain declaration of joint war aims • FDR confided to Churchill that he wouldn’t ask Congress to declare war on Germany, but he would “wage war” and do “everything to force an incident” • The Atlantic Charter became the basis of the “Declaration of the United Nations” document • Term United Nations suggested to express the common purpose of the Allies – nations against the Axis powers (signed by 26 nations)

Undeclared Naval War with Hitler • September 1941 – German u-boats fired on US destroyer Greer FDR ordered navy to “shoot on the sight” of a u-boat • Self-defense due to provocation no longer a requirement to shoot • Several other US destroyers sunk over next months Senate repealed a ban on arming merchant ships

Japan’s Ambitions in the Pacific • 1937 – Hideki Tojo (head of Japanese army) launched a full-scale invasion of China • By 1941, Tojo and Japanese army had seized all of French, Dutch, and British colonies in Asia • US cut off trade with Japan no oil • Japan set sights on oil fields in the Dutch East Indies inevitable war

Japan’s Aggression • November 5, 1941 – Tojo ordered the Japanese army to prepare for an attack on the US • US broke Japanese secret codes to discover the planned attack but did not know when or where it would occur FDR sent military warnings to bases in Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines • FDR believed if war was inevitable, then Japan would commit the first act • Peace talks went on until December 6, 1941 when the US decoded a Japanese message instructing the Japanese diplomats to reject all US peace proposals “This means war. ” - FDR

Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor • December 7, 1941 – Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor (Oahu Island of Hawaii) • 1. 5 hour attack • Over 180 aircrafts launched from 6 aircraft carriers • US could not effectively mount a counterattack – 2, 403 Americans killed, 1, 178 wounded, 21 ships sunk (8 battleships), over 300 aircraft destroyed or damaged BUT 3 aircraft carriers were out at sea and were spared.

“It was a mess. I was working on the USS Shaw. It was on a floating dry dock. It was in flames. I started to go down into the pipe fitter’s ship to get my toolbox when anther wave of Japanese came in. I got under a set of concrete steps at the dry dock where the battleship Pennsylvania was. An officer came by and asked me to go into the Pennsylvania and try to get the fires out. A bomb had penetrated the marine deck, and… three decks below. Under that was the magazines: ammunition, powder, shells. I said, “There ain’t no way I’m gonna go down there. ” It could blow up any minute. I was young and 16. Not stupid. ” – John Garcia, Pearl Harbor witness

US Response to Pearl Harbor • “I never wanted to have to fight this war on two fronts. We haven’t the Navy to fight in both the Atlantic and the Pacific… so we will have to build up the Navy and the Air Force and that will mean that we will have to take a good many defeats before we can have a victory. ” – FDR during attacks • “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, [the Japanese launched] an unprovoked and dastardly attack. ” – FDR, address to Congress Dec. 8, 1941 • Dec. 8, 1941 - Congress approved declaration of war against Japan 3 days later, Germany and Italy declared war on US

“Remember Pearl Harbor!” • 2 front war (Europe and Pacific) US needed a bigger military • Young Americans packed recruiting offices • Congress expanded the draft – 15 M soldiers • 8 weeks basic training “The civilian went before the Army doctors, took off his clothes, feeling silly; jigged, stooped, squatted, wet into a bottle; became a soldier. He learned how to sleep in the mud, tie a knot, kill a man. He learned the ache of loneliness, the ache of exhaustion, the kinship of misery. He learned that men make the same queasy noises in the morning, feel the same longings at night; that every man is alike and that each man is different. ” – Sergeant Debs Myers

Expanding the Military • George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff General pushed for the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), established 1942 • women volunteers could serve in noncombat positions with official military status and pay but few benefits • Nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots – nearly every duty not involving direct combat • July 1943, dropped the “auxiliary status” and granted WACs full US Army benefits

Recruiting and Discrimination • “Why die for democracy in some foreign country when we don’t even have it here? ” – African American newspaper • “Just carve on my tombstone, ‘Here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of white man. ’” – African American upon receiving draft notice

Recruiting and Discrimination • Despite discrimination in the military, service found… • Over 300, 000 Mexican • • Americans 1 M African Americans– segregated units, saw combat after 1943 13, 000 Chinese Americans (1/5 adult males) 33, 000 Japanese Americans (some volunteered to be spies and interpreters) 25, 000 Native Americans Dorie Miller

WWII Production • 1942 – end of automobile production for private use many factories produced war time materials • plants retooled to manufacture tanks, planes, boats, and command cars • Shipyard production skyrocketed using premade parts that could quickly be assembled by swift, efficient workers • By 1944 – despite the draft, nearly 18 M workers in war industry (3 x in 1941)

WWII Production • 6 M female workers and 2 M minority workers • Cheap, effective labor • paid less than white men for the same job

Fighting Domestic Discrimination • NAACP and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) continued to fight for African Americans • CORE would protest against segregation using nonviolent protests • 1941 - A. Philip Randolph organized a march on DC, but called it off when FDR publically supported antidiscrimination measures in the workforce

The Government and the Economy • As war production increased, consumer products decreased rising prices for consumers • 1941 executive order - Office of Price Administration (OPA) • fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods • raised income tax rates (to reduce demand for consumer goods) • Encouraged extra money be spent on war bonds • Effective - inflation remained below 30% in WWII

The Government and the Economy • 1942, executive order - War Productions Board (WPB) • Ensured constant production of resources for armed forces • Set which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production • Allocated raw materials • Organized nationwide drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fat made into war goods

The Government and the Economy • Rationing – establishing fixed allotments of goods deemed essential for the military • ration books with coupons to be used for buying scare goods like meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, and gasoline • Carpools established, increased bicycles • Hoarding scare goods or buying on the “black market”

Hollywood Helps Mobilization • War-oriented propaganda films • Glorified new ally USSR – Why We Fight Series • Stigmatized Nazis – Hitler, Beast of Berlin (“hiss and boo” films) • Further into the war, movies returned to romance and comedy oriented themes as people need an escape from war

Mobilization of Scientists • 1941 – Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) • Improvements in radar and sonar • Encouraged pesticides (body lice) • Pushed for “miracle drugs, ” ex: penicillin • ATOMIC BOMB – Manhattan Project – secret code name for the project to build an American nuclear bomb