World War II

World War II

After Pearl Harbor, American military leaders focused on halting the Japanese advance and mobilizing the whole nation for war.

America’s Early BattlesAmerican Forces halted the Japanese

advances in two decisive naval battles.i Coral Sea (May 1942)

i Midway (June 1942)

Importance of Midway

The Japanese defeat at Midway was the turning point in the Pacific.

Mobilization at HomeThe war effort required all of

America’s huge productive capacity and full employment of the workforce.i Government expenditures soared.

U.S. budget increasesi 1940 $9 millioni 1944 $100 millioni Expenditures in WWII greater than all

previous government budgets combined (150 years)

i GNP 1939 91 billion 1945 166 million

Restoration of Prosperity

World War II ended the Great Depression. Factories run at full capacity

i Ford Motor Company – one bomber plane per hour People save money (rationing) Army bases in South provide economic

boom (most bases in South b/c of climate) The national debt grew to $260 billion (6

times its size on Dec. 7, 1941)

Mobilization at Home

Government involvement in the economyi War Production Board (WPB) (1942)

0Directed the conversion of private industries to war production.

i Growth of centralized big businessi Income tax (1942) for all not just rich (5%)

Government begins withholding from paychecks

i War bonds

Mobilization at Home

Conservation of resourcesi Prices frozeni Rationing – gasoline,

etc.i The public collected

scrap metal, etc.i Grew their own food

in “victory gardens”

Social Effectsof the War

Expanded participation of blacksi About 1 million blacks enter the armed forces

but still serve in segregated units. i Kept in service positions – cooks, janitors, etc. i Pilots (Tuskegee airmen in Alabama) and

combat soldiers were exception rather than norm.

i Discrimination in defense work forbidden but hard to enforce.

Social Effects of the War

Hispanics in Labor Force i The bracero program brought some

200,000 Mexican farm workers into the western United States

American Indiansi Were integrated within regular unitsi “Code Talkers” used to “encode” and

decipher messages in Indian languages so as to prevent enemy discovery.

Internment of Japanese Americans

A Grand Alliance

The Big Threei Great Britain (Winston

Churchill)i The U.S. (FDR)i The Soviet Union

(Joseph Stalin) Strategies for War

i Defeat Germany first

Invasion of the Soviet Union

Hitler’s pivotal mistake.On June 22, 1941, Operation

Barbarossai 4 million soldiers along 2,000 mile fronti German army quickly advanced, but at a

terrifying cost.i For the next three years, 90 percent of

German deaths occurred on the eastern front.

Turning Points of the War:Eastern Front

Stalingrad i From August 1942 until February 1943

German and Soviet armies fought one of the bloodiest engagements in history.

i Each side suffered more casualties than the Americans did during the entire war.

i The Soviets defeated the German army at Stalingrad and then again at the battle of Kursk.

The Germans began a long retreat to Berlin.

Turning Points of the War: Western Front

Operation Torch (1943)i Allied victory in North Africa and invasion of Italy.

D-Day: Operation Overlordi The Allied needed to establish a second front. i General Dwight Eisenhower launched an

invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. i An invasion fleet of some 4,000 ships and 150,000

men (57,000 U.S.)0 Invasion successful. 05,000 killed and wounded Allied troops.

i It allowed them to gain a foothold on the continent from which they could push Germany back.

Victory in Europe

April, i Mussolini is captured

and killedi Hitler commits suicide

Berlin falls to Soviets on May

Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7 (V-E Day)

A Grinding War against Japan

In 1945, the U.S. began targeting people in order to coerce Japan to surrenderi 66 major Japanese cities bombedi 500,000 civilians killed

Iwo Jima (February, 1945)

Okinawa (April, 1945)

Turning Points of the War: The PacificAugust 6, 1945 – Enola Gay

drops bomb on Hiroshimai 140,000 dead; tens of thousands

injured; radiation sickness; 80% of buildings destroyed

August 9, 1945 – Nagasakii 70,000 dead; 60,000 injured

Emperor Hirohito surrenders on Aug. 14, 1945. (V-J Day)

Formal surrender signed on September 2 onboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay

1931 Japan invades Manchuria

Significant Events 1935 First Neutrality Act 1939 World War II begins in Europe 1940 Roosevelt wins third term 1941 Congress adopts Lend-Lease Act

Roosevelt & Churchill sign Atlantic CharterPearl harbor attacked

1942 WPB and WLB createdBattles of Guadalcanal and Midway foughtAmerican and British troops invade North Africa

1944 D-Day invasion of FranceIsland hopping campaign reaches Guam

1945 Atom bombs dropped on Japan