World War IIpart 3

War in the Pacific

Early on, it was difficult for Allies in the Pacific.

The Japanese were better equipped and fighting closer to home.

The Japanese forced the U.S. out of the Philippines.

The Japanese take over of the Philippines resulted in the death of 600 Americans on the Bataan Death March.

War in the Pacific

The Japanese and the American forces met in several key naval attacks.

In the Battle of the Coral Sea both Japan and the U.S. lost aircraft carriers.

The battle marked the first meeting between the Japanese and U.S. navies.

War in the Pacific

The next major battle came only a month later at the Battle of Midway.

Midway island was a U.S. stronghold in the middle of the Pacific.

Under Admiral Chester Nimitz the allies sank four Japanese carriers and the severely weakened the Japanese navy.

War in the Pacific

Although the allies had achieved victory in Europe there was still fighting in the Pacific.

America had began to run regular bombing missions over Japan, but needed bases closer to Japan.

In 1945 Americans landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. (750 miles from Tokyo)

Iwo Jima

Fighting on Iwo Jima was fierce and over 7,000 Americans and 20,000 Japanese died.

Espionage reveals German plans

Early in 1939, the world's scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom.

Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction.

Albert Einstein

Einstein, who had fled Germany, sent a letter to President F D Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic research program later that year.

Roosevelt saw neither the necessity nor the utility for such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly.

In late 1941, the American effort to design and build an ATOMIC BOMB received its code name — the MANHATTAN PROJECT.

Why Manhattan

Manhattan was central, because it had everything: lots of military units, piers for the import of precious ores, top physicists who had fled Europe and ranks of workers eager to aid the war effort. It even had spies who managed to steal some of the project’s top secrets.

Top Secret Everything about

the project had to be kept secret.

Work proceeds

Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington.

The main assembly plant was built at LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO. 

ROBERT OPPENHEIMER was put in charge of putting the pieces together at Los Alamos.

First bomb tested

By the summer of 1945, Oppenheimer was ready to test the first bomb.

On July 16, 1945, at TRINITY SITE near ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied themselves to watch the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. 

Secret Medical Testing

While testing out and trying to harness the power of the atomic bomb, U.S. scientists also secretly tested the bomb’s effects on humans.

During the Manhattan Project, U.S. scientists resorted to secret human testing via plutonium injection on 18 unsuspecting, non-consenting patients.

This included injecting soldiers with micrograms of plutonium for Project Oak Ridge along with later injecting three patients at a Chicago hospital.

Out of the 18 patients, who were known only by their code-names and numbers at the time, only 5 lived longer than 20 years after injection.

Victory in Japan

After pressure from the U.S., the Japanese refused to a surrender.

American bombers dropped an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima.

Three days later a second bomb was dropped over the city of Nagasaki.

Finally realizing defeat, Japan’s emperor surrendered.

Japan’s official surrender in August 15, 1945 is known as V-J Day. (victory in Japan)

The Home front – economy improves

One result of the war was a change in the American home front.

The need for war goods lead to increased industrial production.

Soon the American economy began to climb out of the Great Depression.

Home Front - Minorities

For many members of the nation's African-American population, the very location of their homes changed during the war years, as over half a million blacks migrated from the South to northern and western cities in search of war work.

Upon arrival in cities such as Detroit, Michigan, and Richmond, California, they frequently found that the vast majority of defense jobs were reserved for white workers.

In fact, at the beginning of the war, seventy-five percent of war industries would not hire African-Americans, and another fifteen percent would only hire them for menial jobs.

The Home front - Women

President Roosevelt established several government agencies to meet war production needs.

The need for workers caused the depression era unemployment to drop.

The make up of the workforce also changed with mothers, sisters, and girlfriends working in the factories and making weapons.

Rosie the Riveter

While the image of the woman worker was important during the war, the prewar image of women as wives and mothers by no means disappeared.

Mainstream society accepted temporary changes brought about by a war, but considered them undesirable on a permanent basis.

The public reminded women that their greatest asset was their ability to take care of their homes and that career women would not find a husband.

Propaganda

An emotional appeal!!

The Home Front - minorities

As the war progressed, severe labor shortages, rather than government action, ultimately brought African-Americans into war industries.

African-American migrants faced hostility not only from employers but also from the white citizens of northern and western cities.

Even so, the movement to urban centers continued.

Japanese Americans

On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.

Under the terms of the Order, some 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps.

The US justified their action by claiming that there was a danger of those of Japanese descent spying for the Japanese.

However more than two thirds of those interned were American citizens and half of them were children.

None had ever shown disloyalty to the nation. In some cases family members were separated and put in

different camps. During the entire war only ten people were convicted of

spying for Japan and these were all Caucasian.

The Home Front - children

The war contributed to an upsurge in divorce, resulting in severe problems among the young.

There were five million "war widows" trying to care for their children alone.

Women employed outside the home left tens of thousands of "latchkey" children who were unsupervised much of the day.

The rates of juvenile delinquency, disease and truancy rose dramatically.

With many women working outside the home, childcare became a significant issue. As a result, day care centers emerged to care for working mothers’ children. Day care enabled American mothers to work in factories during the War.

The Home front - rationing

The government also encouraged many Americans to ration certain goods.

Gasoline, rubber, metal, sugar, butter and meat were rationed by Americans throughout all of America.

Rationing allowed the soldiers to have the necessary supplies needed in war.