Americans and the World in Crisis1933-1945

Chapter 25

Foreign Policy 1933-1939• Latin America– Good Neighbor Policy

• Pan American Conference 1933– Formal convention signed– Withdrew American troops– Renounced Platt Amendment– Economic interference instead of

military• Tested

– Cuba» Economic crisis 1933» No direct intervention

– Mexico» Reform government in power

1936» Seized US and British oil

companies» Compensation agreements

reached

Rise of Aggressive states in Europe and Asia

• Soviet Union– Formally recognized in 1933 by US– Joseph Stalin leader– Communist

• Japan– Hideki Tojo– Wanted natural resources– Invasion of China 1931– Rape of Nanking 1937

• Italy– Benito Mussolini– Fascist leader– Wanted new Roman Empire– Starts with Ethiopia

• Germany– Totalitarian government– Adolf Hitler– Starts rearmament of Germany– Munich Conference 1938

America stays NEUTRAL• Keeping with the Trend

– Isolationist since 1920s• America First Committee

– Charles Lindbergh, Coughlin– Gerald Nye

• WWI investigations• “merchants of death”

• Gathering Storm– Neutrality Acts 1935-1937– FDR’s “quarantine aggressors”– Axis Actions

• Japan violates naval treaties 1936• Germany violates Munich Pact

– FDR’s response• Actions “short of war”• $300 million war appropriations• 1.3 billion defense budget

War in Europe• Germany invades Poland

9/1/1939– Breaks Treaty of Versailles

• Britain and France declare war

• German invades Baltic spring 1940

• US response– Stay neutral but amend acts– “cash and carry” policy– US economy benefitted

• France surrenders 6/22/1940• Hitler turns to Britain

– Air raids and u-boats

• Reelection– FDR limited in order for

reelection– Unprecedented 3rd term– Defeats (R) Wendell Willkie

• Action– Selective Service Act 1940– “Lend-lease” program– Cash provision scrapped– Atlantic Charter 1941

Pearl Harbor 12/07/1941• Lead up

– US threat to Japan’s global policy– 1940 US ended treaty with Japan

• Japan signs Tripartite Act with Germany and Italy 1940

– Invades French Indochina• FDR freezes Japanese assets in US• Imposes oil embargo

• Coming War– Japan increasingly threatening to US– Codes broken, attack imminent

• Attack– Pearl Harbor attack technically victory for Japan– 350 aircraft destroyed, 2,400 killed, 1,200

wounded– Japan continues attack on Philippines, Malaya,

and Hong Kong• Response

– US Declaration of War 12/08/1941

Mobilizing for War• Selective Service Act 1940– Four Freedoms Speech

• 1941– 1.6 million in Armed Forces– 15% industrial output

• War Powers Act– Unprecedented presidential

authority– Joint Chiefs of Staff

• Army, Navy, and Air Force

– Office of Strategic Services• Forerunner to CIA• Combated espionage

Wartime Industry• War Production Board (WPB)

– Allocated materials– Directed conversion of peacetime

industries to war industries– $100 million in contracts in 1st ½

of 1942• War Manpower Commission

(WMC)– Supervised mobilization

• National War Labor Board (NWLB)– Mediated disputes between labor

and management– Unions asked not to strike

• Office of Price Administration (OPA)– Rationed scare products– Imposed price controls

• 1942 Justice James Brynes– “Assistant President”– In charge of Domestic war effort

• Assembly Line– 1942 ½ economy geared for war– Equaled Germany, Italy, and

Japan’s output combined– Created synthetic rubber

• Greatest Weapons manufacturer– Henry Ford– Henry Kaiser “liberty ships”

• 1944 Economic Bill of Rights– Not enacted by Congress

• Consequences– Powers of government swelled– Defense spending increased– Federal budget soared– Fed. Civilian employees increased

War Economy• $320 billion cost

– Ended depression– Unemployment vanished– Stimulated industrial booms– Doubled output and GNP– Real wages increased

• Investment in America– West

• $40 billion investment• LA 2nd largest manufacturing center

– South• Textile, oil, natural gas• Shipyards, aircraft plants

• A New America– Per capita income tripled– Only shift EVER towards greater

equality– Middle class created– Large scale farmers profited

• Higher prices• Increased productivity• Farm consolidation

– 1st income tax– Labor Unions

• From 9 to 14.8 million• “maintenance of membership”• Limited wildcat strikes• Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes

1943– Limited union power

– Inflation• Congress gave FDR control• Combated with rationing• Raised taxes

Propaganda• Office of Censorship

– Suppression of information– Banned photos of American

dead until 1943• Office of War Information

– Employed 4,000 artists, writers, advertisers• Norman Rockwell

– Countered enemy propaganda– Moral struggle between good

and evil– Hollywood helped

• Reinforced through movies, on radio

• News programs• Cartoons, Superheroes

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Avenge_december_7.jpg

The Battlefront 1942-1944• Europe

– Operation Torch Nov. 1942• North Africa• Led by Gen. Eisenhower• Surrender of Rommel

– Battle of Stalingrad• Huge Russian victory

– Italy 1943• Allied invasion• Spread to Peninsula• Difficult campaign

– D-Day June 4, 1944• Allied invasion of France• Largest sea-land operation• Operation Overlord• Led by Eisenhower

– Battle of the Bulge Dec. 1944• Month-long battle• Decisive Allied victory

• Asia– Philippines 1942

• MacArthur leaves troops• Hides in Australia• 78,000 surrender• Bataan Death March

– Battle at Coral Sea May 1942• 1st all-plane battle

– Midway 1942• Crucial US outpost• Broke Jap signal• Destroyed large portion of

Japanese army– Guadalcanal Aug.1942

• Had to deal with Malaria• 6 bitter months of battle• Two-pronged advanced

– Island-Hopping• new strategy

Politics Abroad And At Home• Casablanca 1943

– 1st conference of “big three”– Meet to define goals

• Teheran– 2nd meeting

• Goals:– FDR

• Total defeat of Axis powers• Establishment of world order

strong enough to preserve peace and open-trade

– Churchill• Balance of power in Europe• Retain imperial possessions

– Soviet Union• Permanently weakened Germany• Sphere of influence in Eastern

Europe

• 1944 Election– Wallace dropped as VP

• Truman more conservative– Republican challenger Thomas

Dewey– Smallest margin of victory for FDR

American Society• Home Front– Mass internal migration– New job opportunities– Urbanization

• Housing shortages– Prosperity after depression– Conservation

• Victory garden• Consumer goods shortage

– Psychological effects• High divorce rates• Family violence• Juvenile delinquency

– Traditional conventions strengthened

Women on the Home Front• More opportunities– Thousands of jobs opened– Not just “white collar”– More married women hired

• “Rosie the Riveter”– “making history while

working for victory”• Education– Teachers, students leave

schools– Colleges forced to admit

more women

African American Life• Status

– 9/10 lived below poverty line– Earned only 39% of white income– Unemployment will drop 80% during

WWII• “Double- V” campaign 1942

– Victory over Axis powers AND discrimination

– NAACP membership at 500,000• CORE 1942

– Congress of Racial Equality– Non-violent methods– Against Jim Crow laws in north

• Philip Randolph– Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters– “thundering march” 1941– End discrimination in Armed Services– FDR compromised– Beginning of Civil Rights movement

• Executive Order 8802– 1st presidential directive on race– Prohibited discriminatory

employment practices by federal agencies

• 1 million served in Armed Forces– Restricted jobs– Few units– 7,000 officers– 761st tank battalion– Segregated units

• Home Front Violence– Race Riots

• Harlem 1943 (Mobile, Beaumont)• Detroit

– 32 hours– 34 dead, 700 injured– $2 million in damage

Other Ethnicities• American- Indians

– 25,000 served in Armed Forces– Navajo “code-talkers”

• Iwo Jima– Worked in defense industries

on west coast– Incomes tripled– Discrimination

• National Congress of American Indians 1944

• Mexicans– Braceros, temporary workers– Hostility against “zoot suits”– 350,000 served

• Not segregated• Very decorated

• Gays/Lesbians– New opportunities– Freedom– Veteran’s Benevolent

Association 1945• Japanese

– Suffered most– Over 100,000 interned or

placed in relocation camps– Reflected 40 years of anti-

Japanese sentiment– Supreme Court upheld with

Korematsu case 1944– $2 billion in property loss

• Later compensated

The Holocaust

• When did America know?– Leaked early 1942• No photographs• Not believed

– Nov. 1942 State Department admits knowledge

• How much could have been done?

Finishing the War• Europe

– March 1945• Crossed into heartland

– V-E Day• Berlin surrounded• Hitler's suicide• Surrender May 8th, 1945

– FDR dies April 12, 1945• Yalta Conference

– End of War in sight– US

• Wants to pressure GB about India• Wants free elections in Eastern

Europe• Dollar replaces pound

– Soviet Union• Has advantage• Wants Manchuria• Wants Eastern Europe

• Japan/ Asia– 1945 Iwo Jima

• “meat grinder”– June 1945 Okinawa

• Brutal war, mass casualties– Japan holds to “bitter end”

• How many Americans would die?– Potsdam Conference

• Truman announces Atomic Bomb• Japan warned

– Enola Gay 8/6/1945• Destroys Hiroshima• Nagasaki 8/8/1945• 90,000 + dead• 130,000+ injured

– Japan’s surrender• Unconditional August 14, 1945• Officially September 2, 1945

Was it Justified?

Costs of the A-Bomb

Conclusion• Deadliest war in history• 20 million dead, 25 million civilians– 7.5 million Russians– 3.5 million Germans– 1.2 million Japanese– 2.2 million Chinese– 6 million Jews

• Asia/Europe in rubble• United Nations created• America– Middle class created– “can-do” attitude– World superpower