Chapter 17

The United States in

World War II

Section One

The Home Front

Rosie the Riveter

American’s Join the War Effort 5 million volunteered for military

service

10 million drafted Women's Auxiliary Army Corps

(WAAC) formed – Director: Oveta Culp Hobbie

Minority Groups Opinion of War

African American newspaper editorial: “Why die for democracy for some foreign country when we don’t even have it here?”

Most felt that there was a greater threat from fascism

Minorities in Armed Services

500,000 Mexican American joined the armed services & were placed in segregated units, most of them combat units

1 million African-Americans joined the military services & were placed in segregated units that performed mainly non-combat roles

Minorities in Armed Services 33,000 Japanese Americans joined:

442nd Regimental Combat Team is the most decorated unit in U.S. military history

13,000 Chinese Americans joined, 20% of adult males

25,000 Native Americans join: U.S. Marine Corp Navajo code talkers

Life in the Home Front February 1942: Last car for civilian

market produced Factories converted to war

production ( massive quantities produced)

18 million workers (3 x 1941) 6 million women workers 2 million minority workers

“We Loyal Colored Americans Demand the Right to Work and

Fight for Our Country” A. Phillip Randolph: African-American

labor leader calls for July 1, 1941 march on Washington D.C.

In exchange for no march, FDR gives executive order calling for employers & unions not to discriminate

The Role of Science Office of Scientific Research &

Development (OSRD) is created Radar & Sonar improved DDT (insecticide) kills body lice Penicillin is developed Albert Einstein writes FDR to inform him of

the potential of A-Bomb Manhattan Project is begun in 1942

Japanese Americans Internment

Japanese Americans Internment After Pearl Harbor many Americans

questioned loyalty of Japanese Americans

War Dept. wants all Japanese Americans removed from Hawaii, but military governor of Hawaii resists because they are too important to economy & war effort (only a few are relocated)

Japanese Americans Internment

February 19, 1942: FDR orders removal of Japanese Americans from California & parts of WA., OR, & AZ.

2/3 were Nisei (born in U.S.) 110,000 sent to ten internment

camps

Camp At Topaz, Utah

Family being sent to Owens Valley

Economic Controls Office of Price Administration (OPA)

froze prices on most goods Income Tax increased & the number

of people paying increased greatly People had few consumer goods to

buy so they saved their money thru War Bonds

Economic Controls OPA established rationing system for

essential goods (gasoline, meat, sugar, coffee, & shoes) Each household received ration book

War Production Board (WPB) -headed by Bernard Baruch - determined what companies would convert to war production

Section Two

The War for Europe and North Africa

Germany First FDR & Churchill meet at White

House for three weeks beginning on Dec. 22,1941

Two important decisions were made

1.The defeat of Germany was the top priority of the Allies.

Germany First Reasons why Germany needed to be

defeated before Japan.A. FDR considered Hitler the number one

enemy of the U.S.B. The Soviet Union was in desperate need

of help & the Soviet Union was the only nation with the potential of defeating Germany (large population with direct land access to Germany)

C. Only after Germany was defeated could the U.S. expect help from Britain & the Soviet Union with Japan

Germany First2. Allies would accept only the

unconditional surrender of Axis powers

“complete victory …(was) essential to defend life, liberty, and religious freedom, and to preserve human rights and justice in their own lands as well as others”

The Battle of the Atlantic U-boats sink 87 U.S. ships off the

Atlantic shoreline in first four months of war

681 allied ships sunk in first seven months of 1942

Allies are losing ships faster than they can be replaced

The Battle of the Atlantic Allies use convoy system Destroyers use sonar to hunt U-boats Ships & airplanes use radar to hunt U-

boats Allies greatly increase merchant ship

production 1943: Germany begins losing U-boats

faster than they can be replaced

Stalingrad August 1942 to February 2, 1943 Germans attack city with 333,000

men of the Sixth Army November of 1942 Russians launch

counter attack & surround Sixth Army in Stalingrad

February 2, 1943 91,000 survivors of the Sixth Army surrender to Russians

Stalingrad

Stalingrad

Stalingrad 1,250,000 Russian soldiers &

civilians die in battle

Turning point of the War

Gen. Erwin RommelCommander of German Afrika Corp

The Desert Fox

North Africa Operation Torch: Nov., 1942

Americans land west of Germans in French North Africa (Casablanca, Oran, & Algiers)

German Field Marshal Rommel (Desert Fox) defeated at the battle of El Alamein & is forced to retreat to Tunisia

May 1943: Afrika Corp surrenders

The Italian Campaign Casablanca Conference: FDR wants

to invade northern France from England as soon as possible

Churchill wants to attack Italy “the soft underbelly of the Axis”

They compromise, the British & Americans attack Italy immediately & prepare for cross English channel invasion

The Italian Campaign Sicily falls in the summer of 1943 Mussolini is deposed on July, 23 1943

& was arrested (later freed by German commando raid)

Germans troops occupy Italy Germans fight successful delaying

actions that frustrates Allied attempts to force them out

Italian Campaign Jan. 22,1944: Americans use

amphibious landing at Anzio in attempt to bypass German resistance (25,000 Allied dead after 4 months of fighting)

Rome Falls on June 4, 1944 German Field Marshall Kesselring

surrenders May 6, 1945

Italian Proverb“Those who are always right,

always in up in Loreto Square.”

Benito Mussolini in Piazzale Loreto, Milan on April 28, 1945

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

D-DayWestern allies had been preparing for two years to open a “second front” in northern France to draw German troops away from Russian front

D-Day Buildup in England: 3,000,000 men in 52 divisions 80,000 trucks; 10,000 tanks 60,000,000 C and K rations 5200 bombers, 5500 fighters 2400 transport planes from 163 airfields 1200 naval ships: 2 battleships, 23

cruisers, 105 destroyers 2500 landing craft

D-Day June 6, 1944 the Allies launch an amphibious landing on five beaches on the French coast of Normandy

D-Day

D-Day

D-Day 6:30 a.m. - landings began along 100

miles at 5 beaches Utah - 23,250 land - 200 killed Omaha - Big Red One & 34,250 land -

1000 killed Gold - British 50th & 25,000 land Juno - Canadian 3rd & 21,400 land Sword - British 3rd & 28,850 land 82nd & 101st Airborne land 16,000 on

west flank and British 6th Airborne land 8,000 on east flank

D-Day The landing was successful & within

one month 1 million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies & 170,000 vehicles are landed

July 25, 1944: Allies break out of Normandy into the heart of France

General George Patton leads 3rd Army across France to the German border

Paris is liberated on Aug. 25,1944

Liberation By September 1944 France, Belgium,

Luxemburg, & most of the Netherlands were liberated from German control

November 1944: FDR is reelected for fourth term

Harry S. Truman new Vice President

Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge December 16, 1944: Germans

launch massive surprise offensive thru Ardennes region of Belgium & Luxemburg

Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge BATTLE FACTS · The coldest, snowiest weather “in

memory” in the Ardennes Forest on the German/Belgium border.

· Over a million men, 500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans and 55,000 British.

· 3 German armies, 10 corps, the equivalent of 29 divisions.

· 3 American armies, 6 corps, the equivalent of 31 divisions.

Battle of the Bulge Battle Facts The equivalent of 3 British divisions as

well as contingents of Belgian, Canadian and French troops.

100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured.

 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed.

1,400 British casualties  200 killed.  800 tanks lost on each side, 1,000

German aircraft.

Battle of the Bulge The German objective was to take

the Belgian port of Antwerp & split the western Allies armies in two

The offensive was slowed when the 101st Airborne Division held the crossroads town of Bastogne

The offensive was defeated when Patton’s Third Army counterattacked from the south & relieved Bastogne

Battle of the Bulge The Malmedy Massacre 86 American soldiers murdered worst atrocity committed

against American troops during the course of the war in Europe.

The War Ends in Europe April 12, 1945: FDR dies April 25, 1945: Russian enter Berlin April 30, 1945: Soviets reach center

of Berlin & Adolf Hitler & Eva Braun commit suicide

Soviets suffer 81,000 dead in Battle of Berlin (20,000 to 25,000 dead in city)

V-E DayMay 8, 1945

Section Three

The War in the Pacific

Japanese Advances After Pearl Harbor Japan took

Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Thailand, Burma, Formosa (Taiwan), Guam, Wake Island, Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) & most of the Solomon Islands

Japanese Conquests

Doolittle Raid April 18, 1942: 16 B-25 bombers take

off from the aircraft carrier Hornet & bomb Tokyo & four other cities

Philippines 80,000 American & Filipino troops for

5 months General Douglas MacArthur

commands Allied forces in the Philippines, but is ordered to leave by FDR

American & Filipino forces surrender and are forced to march to their prison camps

Bataan Death March

Japanese Victory? Japanese won at great victory at

Pearl Harbor Japanese fail to destroy American

aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor because they are at sea

Japanese do not hit submarine base at Pearl Harbor

These failures will result is disaster for the Japanese

Battle of Coral Sea May 1942: U.S. & Australian navy

war ships intercept Japanese strike force on their way to take Port Morsby in New Guinea

May 3-8, 1942: Battle is fought using only carrier based planes. Opposing ships never saw each other

Japanese win tactical victory, but the invasion attempt is stopped

Battle of Midway Admiral Chester Nimitz is the

commander of American naval forces in Pacific

American code breakers intercept & decode Japanese messages that a large invasion fleet was headed for Midway Island

Battle of Midway

Japanese Carrier Hiryu

USS Enterprise

Battle of Midway June 4-6, 1942: The opposing fleets

fight what would become the decisive of the Pacific Theater

Japanese lose four aircraft carriers & their most experienced pilots

Japanese never recover from the defeat

Island Hopping The American strategy used in the

Pacific campaign was to bypass or leapfrog Japanese strongholds. The Americans seized less-well-fortified islands & built airfields on them. They then used the airpower to cut supply lines to the other Japanese held islands.

Island Hopping Guadalcanal: Aug 7, 1942 thru Feb 9 1943 Tarawa: Nov. 22, 1943 Saipan: June 15 thru July 9, 1944 Tinian: July 24, 1944 Guam: Aug. 11, 1944 Peleliu: Sept. 15, 1944 Philippines: Oct. 20, 1944 thru July 1945 Iwo Jima: Feb. 19, thru March 17,1945 Okinawa: April 1, thru June 21, 1945

General Douglas MacArthur

Admiral Chester Nimitz

Pacific Theater

Marines at Tarawa

Kamikaze Kamikaze means “divine wind” &

refers to typhoon that destroyed a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281

Planes & ships who's crews crashed into Allied ships in a last desperate effort to save Japan

Kamikazes first used during the Philippians campaign

Kamikaze

Manhattan Project Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer leads

group of multinational scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico in effort to build Atomic Bomb

First A-bomb is detonated on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico desert

Decision to use A-bomb

Petition from 70 scientists argued that bomb should not be dropped on Japan without prior warning

Decision to use A-bomb Interim Committee led by

Henry Stimson, Sec. of War, concludes that bomb should be dropped on military targets in Japan without warning

Decision to use A-bombReasons given by committee to use

a-bomb:1. Nothing less than dropping a bomb

on a city would convince the Japanese to surrender

2. The test might be a dud3. The Japanese might shoot down the

delivery plane or move American POWs to test area

Decision to use A-bomb American casualties were becoming very

high as they came closer to Japan Japan seemed to be willing to sacrifice

anything rather than surrender The Soviet Union was beginning to be

viewed as a potential threat & the use of the bomb would hopefully discourage hostile actions by the Soviet Union

Decision to use A-bomb July 25, 1945: Truman orders military

to make final plans for dropping the bomb on Japan

July 26, 1945: Japan is warned that they “prompt and utter destruction” if they do not surrender at once

Japan refuses to surrender

President Harry Truman

“The final decision of where and when to use the atomic bomb was up to me. Let there be no mistake about it. I regard the bomb as a

military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used.”

President Truman

On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb, code named Little Boy, over the city of Hiroshima. Over 75,000 people were killed.

On August 9, 1945 a second bomb code named Fat Man was dropped

on the city of Nagasaki. Over 35,000 people are killed.

Hiroshima

Rebuilding Begins Yalta Conference Feb 1945 FDR, Churchill & Stalin

meet & agree to create United Nations based on the Atlantic Charter

Stalin agrees to enter war against Japan

Rebuilding Begins Potsdam Conference July 1945: Truman, Churchill & Stalin

meet in Potsdam, Germany Agree on how to disarm & de-Nazify

Germany Established sectors of occupation for

Germany

Nuremburg Trials International tribunal representing 23

nations 200 Nazis leaders tried for war

crimes 22 top Nazi leaders tried in first in

first trials 12 of the first 22 executed

Herman Goering Cheats Executioner

Occupation of Japan Japan was placed under the

command General MacArthur Introduces free-market practices that

lead to remarkable economic recovery

Introduces new constitution that guarantees women suffrage & basic rights that is still in force today

Section Four

The Impact of the War

Economic Gains Unemployment fell to 1.2% in 1944 Wages rose 70% Farmers crop production increase by

50% & income tripled Work opportunities increased for

women

Population Shifts States with defense industries had a

significant increase in population

Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Florida, & the Pacific Coast states had largest gains

South lost population

Social Adjustments Working mothers needed child care,

which became more acceptable Marriages increased, followed by

increase in divorce rate GI Bill of Rights (GI Bill) paid for

education & training for returning soldiers

Discrimination & Reaction African-American soldiers placed in

segregated units African American leaders force

government to allow African-American units to serve in combat units

92nd Infantry Division (Buffaloes) 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee

Airmen)

Discrimination & Reaction 330,000 African-Americans leave

South (most for the West Coast) Many found good jobs James Farmer starts interracial

organization called Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

June of 1943 race riot in Detroit, FDR sends in Federal troops to restore order

Discrimination & Reaction Most Mexican-Americans served in

segregated units

Summer of 1943 “zoot-suit” riots in Los Angeles

Zoot-Suit