WAR AND PEACE

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WAR AND PEACE

• CHAPTER 27 (718-743)

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THE ROAD TO PEARL HARBOR

• Secretary of State Hull attempted to get Japan to
  completely withdraw in East Asia something that
  they refused to do
• When Germany invaded Russia, Japan invaded French
  Indo-China and the US responded by embargoing oil
  in an attempt to stop the Japanese war machine
  so the Japanese decided to attempt to cripple the
  US Pacific fleet by attacking Pearl Harbor
• The Japanese wiped out 150 planes, several
  battleships, a host of smaller vessels, over
  2,400 military personnel and left over 1,000
  wounded all in about two hours War was
  declared on Dec 8 Germany and Italy declared
  war on Dec 11

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MOBILIZING THE HOMEFRONT

• About 15 million men and women entered the armed
  forces plus all the allied troops
• Congress granted Roosevelt broad powers but he
  was watched closely
• However, his basic strategies were good
• To pay for the war by taxes rather than loans
• To base taxes on the ability to pay
• To ration scarce raw materials and goods
• To regulate prices and wages
• He was also able to inspire almost all Americans
  with a sense of purpose as when he fought the
  depression
• In 1939 the GNP was 91 million, after 1945, 166
  million
• Manufacturing output doubled, agriculture up 22
• From 237,000 tons of shipping to over 10 million
• 6,000 airplanes to 96,000

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THE WAR ECONOMY

• By 1943, the economy was functioning effectively
• Labor shortages allowed workers more leverage
• The National War Labor Board was formed to
  stabilize wage rates
• Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act allowed
  the president to take over any plant threatened
  by strike and outlawed striking at a seized plant
• Wages and prices were balanced, overtime was
  abundant, Americans had both guns and butter
• Income taxes reached farther down the worker
  chain, but the poor got richer
• The wealthiest 1 owned 13.4 of the national
  income in 1935 by 1941 it was 11.5, by 1944 in
  was only 6.7

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WAR AND SOCIAL CHANGE

• Millions of people put on the uniform and were
  sent all over the world
• Factories were located in smaller towns, drawing
  thousands of workers to out of the way areas
• Californias population increased by 50, most
  other western states were similar
• Marriage rates rose the population increased by
  only 3 million in the depression decade, it
  increased by 6.5 million from 1941-1945

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MINORITIES IN TIME OF WARBLACKS, HISPANICS, AND
INDIANS

• Hitlers treatment of Jews caused many Americans
  to reexamine their own feelings
• If they would serve and risk their lives, how
  could they continued to be treated as
  second-class citizens?
• Blacks were treated better than they had been in
  WWI many were commissioned and given
  responsibility (the first black general was
  commissioned) and they served in the army, navy,
  marine corps and army air corps about 1 million
  altogether
• However, segregation was still practiced in the
  armed forces

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MINORITIES IN TIME OF WARBLACKS, HISPANICS, AND
INDIANS

• Labor shortages caused black civilians to reap
  many benefits better jobs, higher pay, more
  value assigned to them
• The NAACP took a more militant approach that it
  had during WWI
• Hispanics too were able to get better jobs and
  more Mexican American men served in the armed
  forces than the national average still there
  was much discrimination and numerous riots
  occurred throughout the nation
• Many American Indians served with distinction as
  well the Navajo code talkers are a famous
  example 24,000 Indians served in the war,
  coming out of the reservations and contacting
  other Americans, many also left the reservations
  to work

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THE TREATMENT OF GERMAN AND ITALIAN AMERICANS

• Far less intolerance than had happened in WWI
• Most German and Italian Americans were very
  opposed to Hitler and Mussolini
• However, some 14,000 Germans and Italians were
  arrested as security risks
• There was much less idealism about changing the
  world this time around, Americans tended to be
  realistic and determined far less concerned
  about dissenters at home

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INTERNMENT OF THE JAPANESE

• The toleration of Germans and Italians did not
  transfer to the Japanese especially on the West
  coast
• Stimson suggested setting up internment camps in
  the interior states to prevent sabotage and
  possible insurrections Roosevelt told them to
  Be as responsible as you can.
• Japanese-Americans were transported to these
  facilities against their will and arrested if
  they refused

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WOMENS CONTRIBUTION TO THE WAR EFFORT

• The same trends we saw during WWI happened during
  WW2 but on a larger scale
• More married women entered the workforce
• Thousands served in the military
• More women were doing mens work
• More minority women were finding work
• Of course, more women had to move, take care of
  families without their husbands present, and deal
  with shortages and rationing

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ALLIED STRATEGY EUROPE FIRST

• When America entered the war it looked bad
• The Japanese were expanding in Asia
• Germany had control of most of Europe and was
  preparing a strong offensive at Stalingrad
• Germany was also moving toward the Suez Canal
• The Allies decided upon a Europe first policy
  Germany was more important than Japan Allied
  planes began bombing German cities to knock out
  production

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ALLIED STRATEGY EUROPE FIRST

• Nov. 1942 Eisenhower attacked French North
  Africa and French Admiral Jean Darlan switched
  sides and joined the Allies
• Spring 1943 Rommel is defeated in Africa
• July 1943 Allies invade Sicily from Africa,
  Mussolini is already gone, and by June 1944,
  Italy is captured

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GERMANY OVERWHELMED

• D-Day June 6, 1944 Allies forces stormed
  Normandy, supported by hundreds of ships,
  thousands of planes and paratroopers
• German resistance was poorly coordinated partly
  due to misinformation placed by the Allies and
  partly due to Hitlers constant meddling in
  military affairs
• Within a few weeks there were 1 million allied
  soldiers in France French soldiers liberated
  Paris on August 25

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GERMANY OVERWHELMED

• The Allies had total control of the skies and 20
  times more tanks than Germany the Russians were
  pushing hard in the East
• The Battle of the Bulge Hitler attempted to
  split the Allied lines by breaking out at Antwerp
  they failed and exhausted their last reserves -
  In April 1945, American and Soviet forces made
  contact a few days later, Hitler committed
  suicide
• As Allied forces overran Germany, they began
  seeing the concentration camps where millions had
  been murdered, mostly Jews

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THE NAVAL WAR IN THE PACIFIC

• While preparing to invade Europe, America had to
  hold off Japan in Asia and the Pacific
• Its aircraft carriers had escaped Pearl Harbor
  lucky because the airplane became the most
  important naval fighting machine
• As the Japanese began to overextend themselves,
  the US took advantage
• Coral Sea Japan was invading New Guinea but the
  Americans forced them to turn back
• Midway The Japanese attempted to invade but US
  planes smashed their fleet, sinking 4 large
  carriers

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ISLAND HOPPING

• Working to retake the Philippines, American
  forces had to eject the Japanese from several
  other islands airpower played a central role
• August 1942 Guadalcanal
• Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Saipan, Guam,
  Leyte Gulf (Oct 1944), Iwo Jima (March 1945)
• The Japanese began using kamikaze pilots and the
  US was in position to begin bombing Japan with
  high explosives and firebombs

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BUILDING THE ATOMIC BOMB

• In 1944 Roosevelt was elected for a 4th term but
  died in April 1945 Harry S Truman became
  president and inherited the atomic bomb
• The US had been working on an atomic weapon since
  1939 it was finally ready in July 1945 under
  the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer
• One bomb, one plane, one crew now had the
  destructive power of over 1500 conventional
  bombers

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BUILDING THE ATOMIC BOMB

• Truman decided to use the bomb against Japan to
  end the war as quickly as possible before too
  many more American lives were lost and before
  Russia could enter the picture in Asia
• Enola Gay dropped the first one on Hiroshima on
  August 6, killing 78,000 people and injuring
  100,000 more a second bomb was dropped on
  Nagasaki 3 days later Japan surrendered on
  August 15

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WARTIME DIPLOMACY

• 1945 a new United Nations charter was created
  it was hoped that international cooperation would
  help the poor and war victims and bring the whole
  world into prosperity
• Unfortunately, the conflict that developed
  between The Soviet Union and the other Allies
  derailed that hope
• During the war, however, efforts were made to get
  along, may of Stalins worst features were
  overlooked, yet Russia was involved
  constructively in many post-war decisions they
  signed the United Nations charter, helped to
  divide Germany into occupation zones, and Stalin
  offered numerous helpful suggestions
• The new United Nations was similar to Wilsons
  League of Nations but with Lodges reservations
  included

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ALLIED SUSPICION OF STALIN

• The Allies did clash over important matters long
  before the war ended
• Were the Soviets bent on world domination or
  simply on protecting themselves?
• The Soviets did resent the delay in the Allies
  opening of a second front in France
• Russia would not allow unfriendly governments to
  reside on its western border Roosevelt and
  Stalin knew this privately
• Russia was heavily involved in the Poland issue,
  having vested interest there and having been part
  of the original attack

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YALTA AND POTSDAM

• Yalta Conference Roosevelt and Churchill agreed
  to Soviet annexation of Poland provided they
  allowed free elections the elections were never
  held Stalin saw no difference there or in
  American control of Latin America
• Potsdam Conference Truman, Churchill and Stalin
  met outside Berlin after the war they agreed to
  try Nazi leaders as war criminals, made plans for
  German reparations, and divided the country into
  4 zones
• Yet suspicions were mounting, positions
  hardening, and the US-Soviet rise to power shaped
  the world for the next several decades