Chapter 28

War and Peace

Road to Pearl Harbor

• Japan’s attack on China caused US alarm as to trade status – Open Door Policy

• Japan declared policy obsolete• US retaliated by loaning money to China

and asking US munitions makers not to sell to Japan

• Sep 1940 – US stopped sale of scrap iron to Japan – Japan retaliated by signing alliance with Germany and Italy

Road to Pearl Harbor

• FDR extended embargo to machine tools

• Neither Japan nor US wanted war – US made demands Japan refused to meet concerning expansion in Asia

• Japanese code broken – US knew attack imminent

Pearl Harbor

• Surprise attack knocked US Pacific fleet out of action

• 2,300 killed 1,100 wounded

• Admiral Kimmel and General Short blamed

• Defeat due to confusion and poor communication at all levels

Mobilizing the Home Front

• Though Democrats retained majorities in both houses, conservatives kept lid on many of FDR’s initiatives

• Roosevelt good war leader but poor administrator – inspired the nation towards war effort but administration mired in confusion, inefficiency, bickering

Mobilizing the Home Front

• War caused huge increase in production effectively ending the Depression

• The South saw a revival with more manufacturing also establishment of many military camps

• By December 1941, Depression-era administrations squabbling with industry over resources, etc. FDR refused to get involved

The War Economy

• By 1943 economy was being managed by Office of War Mobilization under former Supreme Court Justice Byrnes

• Rents, wages, food prices were strictly regulated

• Important food and other items were rationed

The War Economy

• Labor shortages caused by draft and increased manufacturing gave unions more power

• FDR created National War Labor Board to arbitrate disputes between labor and management

• Coal strike caused Congress to give president power to take over any war plant threatened by a strike

The War Economy

• Despite war, average citizen saw no drop in standard of living

• Production of cars ceased and gas severely rationed but all other civilian activities went on

• Meat, sugar, shoes rationed but average needs met

• Skirts shortened, cuffs disappeared, as did vests to conserve cloth

The War Economy

• Federal government spent more $ between 1941-1945 than in its entire previous history

• National debt rose from <$49 billion to >$260 billion

• More than 40% of expenditures met through taxation – high taxes on high incomes

• Annual incomes limited to $25,000

The War Economy

• Taxes paid even by the poorest segments of society

• First time taxes withheld by employers

• Tax policies resulted in smaller wealth gap

War and Social Change

• Migrations to new industrial areas

• Population of California rose >50 %

• Marriage rate rose as did birth rate

• Population increased 3 million during 1930’s – in next five years it rose 6.5 million

Minorities in War

• Blacks treated better in military than in WWI

• Segregation still maintained in all services

• Segregation led to several small riots and mutinies

• US Navy continued to keep blacks in demeaning non-combat tasks

• Doris “Dorie” Miller

Minorities in War

• Black economic situation improvedMore employedMigration to Northern citiesAcquired more advanced skills Concentration in ghettos increased political clout

• NAACP adopted a more militant stance• Whites reacted to black advancements with

strikes – riots erupted killing blacks and whites

Minorities in War

• Thousands of Mexicans came north to take jobs – most jobs menial

• Work plentiful and standards of living rose

• Many Mexican-Americans served in military

• Zoot Suit Riots• Indian assimilation was

encouraged - >24,000 served in the war while others moved to cities and worked in factories

Who's that whisperin' in the trees?It's two sailors and they're on leavePipes and chains and swingin' handsWho's your daddy, yes I amFat cat came to play now he can't run fast enoughYou had best stay away when the pushers come to shoveZoot suit riot, (Riot) Throw back a bottle of beerZoot suit riot (Riot) Pull a comb through your coal black hairZoot suit riot, (Riot) Throw back a bottle of beerZoot suit riot (Riot) Pull a comb through your coal black hairBlow DaddyA whipped up jitterbuggin' brown eyed manA stray cat frontin' up an eight-piece bandCut me Sammy and you'll understandIn my veins hot music ranYou got me in a sway, and I want to swing you doneNow you sailors know, where your women come for love

Zoot suit riot, (Riot) Throw back a bottle of beerZoot suit riot (Riot) Pull a comb through your coal black hairZoot suit riot, (Riot) Throw back a bottle of beerZoot suit riot (Riot) Pull a comb through your coal black hairYou're in a Zoot Suit riotZoot zy-ow - Zoot za zoo zay Hey al-oo-ay-en - zay zay zayZoot zy-ay-ay ow - Zoot za zoo zay Ze-zoo-ze-zehoo - day de dayYou got me in a sway, and I want to swing you doneNow you sailors know, where your women come for loveZoot suit riot, (Riot) Throw back a bottle of beerZoot suit riot (Riot) Pull a comb through your coal black hairZoot suit riot, (Riot) Throw back a bottle of beerZoot suit riot (Riot) Pull a comb through your coal black hairYou're in a zoot suit riot

The Japanese Internment

• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor made many fear Japanese sabotage – all Japanese potential enemies

• FDR allowed Japanese to be rounded up and interned in camps throughout the West

• Japanese hurt and angry – some fought in courts but lost

• 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Women at War

• Women worked in almost all fields including high-paying industrial jobs

• Others enlisted in women military auxiliaries

• Men initially resistant – “women not capable”

• Demand for labor broke all barriers

• Loneliness brought on infidelity and divorce rates skyrocketed

Allied Strategy - Europe

• Allies decided to tackle Europe first

• USSR and Britain had backs to wall

• Allied planes began bombing German cities from 1942 on

• First American assault on North AfricaChurchill’s motivesVichy French – Admiral DarlanKasserine Pass

Allied Strategy - Europe

• Attack on Sicily

• Attack on Italy – surrender of ItalyMonte CassinoAnzio

• D-Day

• Patton’s drive east

• Operation Market-Garden

• Battle of the Bulge

Allied Strategy - Europe

• Remagen

• Race to Berlin

• Concentration camps

• May – VE Day

• Deaths of Roosevelt & Hitler

War in the Pacific

• Battle of the Coral Sea – carrier battle – peak of Japanese expansion

• Midway – Japan goes on defense

• Douglas MacArthur

• Island HoppingGuadalcanalTarawa, Saipan, GuamPhilippines

War in the Pacific

• Kamikazes

• Battle of Leyte Gulf

• Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Invasion of the Japanese home islands?

The Atomic Bomb

• The Manhattan Project

• Uranium and plutonium

• J. Robert Oppenheimer

• Hiroshima – 6 August • Nagasaki – 9 August• VJ-Day – 15 August

Wartime Diplomacy

• US pushed image of Russia (USSR) as a friend during war

• Russia appeared to back US plans for post-WWII world including UN

• Russia: seeking domination or security?

Yalta and Potsdam

• YaltaUS agreed to Russian annexation of Poland in return

for free electionsDiscussed partition of GermanyAgreed to establishment of UN

• PotsdamAllies agreed on war crimes trialsConfirmed division of Germany into occupied zonesCalled on surrender of Japan