World War II

-Key Concepts-

I. The Pacific Theater

• The surrender of the Philippine Islands

• Japanese “ran wild” for six months

• Dolittle Raid (April, 1942)• Battle of Coral Sea (May,

1942)• Battle of Midway Island

(June, 1942)• Battle of Guadalcanal

(Fall, 1942)

I. The Pacific Theater (cont.)

• Reasons for delay in defeating the Japanese

--Kamikaze

• Efforts to recapture the Philippines

--Battle of Leyte Gulf (October, 1944)

• “Island hopping”

--Battle of the Philippine Sea (June, 1944)

I. Pacific Theater (cont.)

• Iwo Jima and Okinawa (1945)

• Conflict between MacArthur and Nimitz

• American bombing strategy

-- “fire storm” technique

I. Pacific Theater (cont.)

• Reasons for decision to use the atomic bomb

• Development and production of the A-bomb

• “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” (August 6 & 9, 1945)

• Soviet declaration of war against the Japanese

• Japanese surrender

II. The War in Europe

A. Background

• European war was the focus of American attention• Distribution of German firepower• Effectiveness of German submarines off the east

coast in 1942• 26 belligerents sign a declaration of United

nations (January 1, 1942)• No US action in this theater until November of

1942

B. Differing Strategies for Fighting the Germans

• British Strategy

-- “peripheral campaign”

• US Strategy

--Second front in France as soon as possible

• Soviet Strategy

--Second front in France as soon as possible

C. Land Operations: November, 1942-June, 1944

• Landing in North Africa— “Operation Torch”--British General Bernard Montgomery--German General Irwin Rommel

• The Battle of the Atlantic

C. Land Operations: November, 1942-June, 1944 (cont.)

• Casablanca Conference (January, 1943)

• Campaign against Germans in Sicily and then Italy

• No end to the war without unconditional surrender of all enemies

• The Italian campaign (September, 1943-May, 1945)

D. “D-Day”: Allied Landing in Northern France (June, 1944)

• American Bombing strategy against Germany

• “Operation Overlord”

• George Patton used as a decoy

• The “Breakout” at St. Lo (late July)

• Assassination plot against Hitler by German High Officer Command

E. From D-Day to the German Surrender

• Eisenhower’s decision-making in the fall of 1944

• Battle of the Bulge (December, 1944)

• Hitler’s suicide (April 30, 1945)

• Capture of Berlin and German surrender (May 8, 1945)

• News of the Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials

III. Mobilization at Home

A. Economic Conversion

• Mobilization was further along at the time of Pearl Harbor than it had been when war was declared during World War I

• Economy partially mobilized as well by lend-lease and defense efforts

• Creation of War Production Board (WPB) in January of 1942

• Use of rationing to conserve war resources• “Big Inch” pipeline laid from Texas to New York• Office of Scientific Research and Development• Government spending increased dramatically

B. Financing the War

• 45% of World War II paid for with taxes• Institution of the automatic payroll deduction• $150 billion worth of bonds sold• Tremendous increase in the national debt—six

times the size of the debt at the time of Pearl Harbor

• Finding workers is now the problem, not finding jobs for unemployed people

C. Economic Controls

• Specter of inflation haunted the US economy• The Office of Price Administration (OPA) created

by Congress in January of 1942• Wages and farm prices were not controlled• Farm prices rose 150% over 1914 levels• Conflict between management and workers grew

during the War• FDR’s “Hold the Line” Order (April, 1943)

D. Social Effects: Women

• Women in the armed forces

• 6 million women entered the work force

• Large numbers even in heavy industry

• Larger proportion of older, married women working

• Still, some vocal opponents to the trend

E. Social Effects: Blacks

• The inflammable issue of Black participation in the defense effort

• Segregated units• Tuskegee Airmen• Threat of the march on

Washington (February, 1941)

E. Social Effects: Blacks

• The “Double V” campaign (1942)

• Membership in the NAACP grows

• Smith v. Allwright (1944)

• Violence on Belle Isle, near Detroit (June 20-21, 1943)

F. Social Effects: Japanese-Americans

• Better record overall regarding American civil liberties than during WWI

• Japanese “War Relocation Camps”

• Racial prejudice stirred up by Pearl Harbor

• Contributions to the war effort by Japanese-Americans

G. Domestic Politics

• Growing political conservatism marked the wartime period

• Congress dismantles many of the remaining “New Deal” programs

• Congress generally cooperated with the Administration’s war efforts--Senate War Investigating Committee led by Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman

• Roosevelt’s Election to a Fourth Term

IV. The Yalta Conference(February, 1945)

A. Background

• The relationship between FDR, Churchill and Stalin

• Reasons for tension between the US and the USSR

• United in the goal of defeating the Germans, but different war aims beyond that

B. War Aims

• Russian War Aims

--Heavy Reparations and sympathetic governments in Eastern Europe

• British War Aims

--Balance of Power in Europe

• American War Aims

--Free trade, Free elections and Free governments

C. Resolution of the Issues

• Germany divided into “temporary” zones of occupation

• Joint occupation of Berlin• Reparation payments• The status of Eastern European countries

--Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania• The boundaries and the government of Poland

--Lublin government = pro-Soviet

C. Resolution of the Issues (cont.)

• The “Yalta Formula”

• Soviets demanded “friendly” governments in Eastern Europe

• FDR needs Soviet assistance with the Japanese

• The creation of the United Nations with guarantees of American membership

D. Historical Controversy Surrounding Yalta

• Was FDR healthy and in his right mind? Did he give away too much?

• Soviet pledge to make war on Japan in exchange for certain concessions

• Reasons for FDR’s bargain with Stalin to gain Soviet assistance against Japan

• A defense of the Yalta decisions

V. War-Time Changes for American Society and Politics

• Casualties and cost of WWII

• Improvement in Medical Technology

• Creation of a military bureaucracy

--National Security Act (July, 1947)

--Defense Department, Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA

V. War-Time Changes (cont.)

• Creation of the Atomic Energy Commission (August, 1946)

• Creation of a “military-industrial” complex

• Power of the American presidency continues to grow

• Presidential Succession Act (1947) and the 22nd Amendment (1951)

VI. Demobilization

• Not too bad after WWII• Rapid demobilization and

the problems it creates• The G.I. Bill (1944)

-- “52/20 Club”--low interest home loans--stipend plus tuition to return to or go to college

• Impact of the G.I. Bill on American society and college campuses

VII. Inflation

• Inflation was not too big of a problem during WWII

• Truman’s unpopular attempt to keep the controls on

• Inflation increased dramatically between 1945-1948

• Truman criticized for these woes

• Return of inflation later

VIII. The Changing Economic Role of the National Government• The “New Deal” and World War II brought

greater federal intervention in the national economy than ever before

• The Full Employment Act of 1946--Created an Office of Economic Advisors

• Truman’s problems with conservatives in Congress

• Federal government would stay committed to national economic health

IX. American Farming During and After the War

• Farmers did well during WWII

• Number of farms and farmers steadily decreased

• Burst in mechanized, large-scale farming and agribusiness

• Centralization of farming was the clear post-war trend in agriculture

X. The Labor Movement During the War and After

• During WWII, the American labor movement was strong and getting stronger

• Why did union strength begin to fall off after WWII?--traditional union members were already organized--unionization did not do well in the post-war south--post-war prosperity hurt the strength of unions--Taft-Hartley Act (1947)