Chapter 20

The World War II Era and the Seeds of a Revolution

I. On the Eve of War, 1936-1941

Aggression and expansion

– Germany

– Italy

– Japan

American isolationists and neutrality

Overwhelming problems led some to turn to a new form of government called totalitarianism

• Attempted to turn the Soviet Union into an industrial power

• Forced people to work in factories and on state-run farms

• Purges, killed or imprisoned suspected traitors during the Great Terror

• Ruled through fear and massive propaganda

• Killed 8-12 million

Joseph Stalin took control of the Soviet Union

In Germany, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, was appointed chancellor.

Hitler seized power and created a totalitarian state.

Hitler rebuilt the nation’s army. His economic policies put people back to work. Many cheered his success.

Yet Hitler ruled with unlimited power.

• Controlled the press and education system

• Used propaganda to boost his popularity

• Used the secret police to silence opposition

In his book, Mein Kampf, Hitler preached violent anti-Semitism, Hitler openly attacked Jews, blaming them for all of the country’s problems.

German Aggression, 1936-1941 Many feared that Hitler was unstoppable.

Europe was again at war. In time, major powers around the world joined in alliances.

Axis Powers

• Germany

• Italy

• Japan

Allies

• Britain

• France

• Soviet Union

• United States

• China

Not everyone agreed with FDR’s pro-Allies position. A loud debate soon raged between isolationists and interventionists.

African Americans and the Emerging World Crisis Growing black activism Ethiopia, 1935 Spanish Civil War, 1936 Abraham Lincoln Battalion Black volunteers Communist vision of internationalism

Philip Randolph and the March on Washington Movement

“Double V” Campaign Victory over fascism overseas and racism at home Rampant discrimination against black workers Military, factories, shipyards, unions NAACP and others organize protest rallies FDR refused to meet with leaders Randolph and MOWM Government contract recipients end discrimination End race-based exclusion from defense training courses Require USES to supply workers on a nonracial basis Abolish segregation in the military Prohibited white participation in protest movement

Executive Order #8802 Presidential order End discrimination in the defense industry Nothing about segregation in the military Nothing about unions Acknowledgement of some responsibility

to protect black and minority rights in employment

Many industries (South) evade the intent

On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter pilots attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The United States suffered terrible losses.

Damage at Pearl Harbor

After the attack, the United States declared war on Japan.

Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, then declared war on the United States.

II. Race and the U.S. Armed Forces Segregated service battalions Non-combat positions Kept out of more prestigious branches Obstacles to appointment as officers

Institutional Racism in the American Military

American War College study, 1925 African Americans: Physically unqualified for combat duty Naturally subservient and mentally inferior No self-control in the face of danger Less initiative and resourcefulness than white people

War Department policies, 1941 Segregate black soldiers Serve in non-combat units Ignored African Americans’ experience in previous wars

Dorie MillerOn board the USS Arizona during attack

Assigned to mess duty, never trained to fire a weapon

When captain was seriously wounded, moved to a secure location

Took charge of a machine gun shooting down at least 2, possibly up to 6 enemy aircrafts

Awarded Navy Cross for “distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety

Miller sent back to mess duty without a promotion

•The secret operation was code-named Operation Overlord.

In 1943, Allied leaders agreed to open a second front in the war in Europe.

American and British troops would cross the English Channel and invade France.

Operation Overlord was a massive operation.

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies landed at Normandy.

It required careful planning and involved an elaborate hoax to fool the enemy about where troops would land.

Within a month, more than one million troops landed in France.

Amid intense fighting, the Allies captured the beaches.

Enemy with no surrender

The Manhattan Project In August 1939, Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein, a

brilliant Jewish physicist who had fled from Europe. In his letter, Einstein suggested that an incredibly powerful new type of bomb could be built by the Germans.

Roosevelt organized the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb before the Germans.

On July 16, 1945, Manhattan Project scientists field-tested the world’s first atomic bomb in the desert of New Mexico. With a blinding flash of light, the explosion blew a huge crater in the earth and shattered windows some 125 miles away.

The bomb was delivered on a top secret mission by the USS Indianapolis to an American plane, the Enola Gay

After delivering the bomb the Indianapolis was sunk by Japanese torpedo's

300 died in the attack, 1,100 went into the shark infested water Due to the top secret nature of the mission, they were stranded for 5

days.

Truman’s chief priority was to save American lives.

An invasion of Japan could cost up to 1,000,000 American lives.

The Japanese refused to surrender.

On August 6, 1945, U.S. pilots dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Three days later, they dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki.

On August 15, Emperor Hirohito surrendered.

Atomic Blast in Japan

The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, roughly half on the days of the bombings.

Amongst these, 15 to 20% died from injuries or illness attributed to radiation poisoning.

Since then, more have died from leukemia (231 observed) and solid cancers (334 observed) attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4uHVFMcpXA

Atomic Explosion

The damage is caused by several things: A wave of intense heat from the explosion Pressure from the shock wave created by the blast Radiation Radioactive fallout (clouds of fine radioactive particles of dust and bomb debris that

fall back to the ground) At the hypocenter, everything is immediately vaporized by the high temperature

(up to 500 million degrees Fahrenheit. Outward from the hypocenter, most casualties are caused by burns from the heat,

injuries from the flying debris of buildings collapsed by the shock wave and acute exposure to the high radiation.

Beyond the immediate blast area, casualties are caused from the heat, radiation, and fires spawned from the heat wave.

In the long-term, radioactive fallout occurs over a wider area because of prevailing winds. The radioactive fallout particles enter the water supply and are inhaled and ingested by people at a distance from the blast.

The Beginning of Military Desegregation Breaking the hold of segregation Persistent protest Military labor demands Navy The Marine Corps Army and Navy Nurse Corps, 1945

The Costs of Military Discrimination

Nothing equal Inferior resources Denied in officers clubs, base stores German prisoners of war received better

treatment One million black soldiers Transportation and engineering

The Tuskegee Airmen Pursuit Squadron All-black men Distinguished service record Some had black officers 99th squadron flew in combat in North Africa 1943, later in Sicily,

France, Germany Completed 1,578 missions Over 200 missions escorting heavy bombers deep into Germany Not one of the “heavies” lost Destroyed 409 enemy aircrafts Awarded over 1000 medals

The Transformation of Black Soldiers Exposed to a world outside the South Raised questions about racial system Some brought “radical” ideas Soldiers a sense of themselves Self-worth and dignity Douglas Conner - “Not going back to

business as usual”

Cool Down US invasion of Japan would've cost many

lives. Best estimates are 1.6 million American casualties. Japan was drafting an additional 28 million people.

What decision do you support, Atomic bomb drop to end war and save lives or invasion?

Do you think the US was justified in dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

III. Black People on the Home Front A dual war: Axis and discrimination War created new conflicts Black workers

– Accelerated migration of African Americans

• Rural areas to the cities• Black women found industrial jobs

– Union membership became more open• Sixfold increase during war years

– Growth did not end racism

The FEPC during the War

Executive Order #9346– FDR replaced the old and weak Committee– Increased budget

• Malcolm Ross appointed as head of Committee– Held nationwide hearings

» Companies embarrassed » Brought some compliance

• Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company– White workers riot and rampage– FEPC acquiesced to traditional Jim Crow

arrangements

Anatomy of a Race Riot: Detroit, 1943

Tensions– Competition for jobs and housing-smoldering relations– Belle Isle beaches, June 20th

• Squabble among bathers• White mob attacked black men and women• Rumor that a black woman had killed a white child• White men roamed downtown Detroit in search of more victims• 6,000 federal troops sent to restore order• 34 deaths (Detroit police responsible for 17) and 700 injured

– Mayor’s Interracial Committee• White citizens and reports blamed black leaders, Communist

party

Old and New Protest Groups on the Home Front NAACP

– Membership increases ninefold

Southern Regional Council, 1944– Interracial coalition

Congress of Racial Equality, 1942– Interracial group of Christian pacifists

• Bayard Rustin– See PROFILE

Women’s political councils Black college students

IV. The Transition to Peace The end of WWII

– Many of the gains made by black men and women were wiped away

– Armed forces demobilized– Factories returned to discriminatory hiring

African-American community– Ready, willing, and able to demand

fairness

V. The Cold War and International Politics Communist containment

– NATO– Increase in military and federal government– Foreign aid– Diplomacy and propaganda– Cold War external pressures

• Reinforced efforts to change American racial policy

W. E. B. Du Bois and Ralph Bunche

A new importance to African Americans– W. E. B. Du Bois

• Critical of American policy• Considered the father of pan-Africanism

– Linked the fate of African Americans with Africans

– Ralph Bunche• Scholar• Expert on Africa• Advisor to delegation that drafted UN Charter• Nobel Peace Price

– First African-American recipient

Anticommunism at Home

Cold War tensions– Attacks on all who wanted change

• Communist, union members, liberals, civil rights leaders

• HUAC• Joseph McCarthy

– Red-baiting hysteria

• W. E. B. Du Bois indicted, 1951– Federal judge dismissed all charges

» Few African-American leaders defend

Paul Robeson

Attacked racial discrimination– Segregation– White supremacy

Defender of Soviet communism– Never a party member

World Congress, 1949– “Unthinkable” that blacks would fight for

U.S.

Henry Wallace and the 1948 Presidential Election Harry S. Truman

– Moderate on civil rights– Henry Wallace

• Liberals, leftists, and civil rights advocates– Fear of losing black voters

• Truman endorsed civil rights legislation– Strom Thurmond bolts party to run as a

“Dixiecrat”– Truman wins without hard-line racists

• Turning point in American politics

Desegregating the Armed Forces

Executive Order #9981, July 26th, 1948

Contributing factors– Czechoslovakia– Rising fears of war with Soviet Union– Threat of black men and women refusing

to serve– Blockade on West Berlin, June 24th, 1948– Last all-black units disbanded, 1954