World War IIDr. John Holmes

History 121, U.S After 1877

Diablo Valley College San Ramon,

Summer 2013

“The Good War”� WWII the key event of US history

between Civil War and now� “The Greatest Generation.” � Oral history — Studs Terkel’s The

Good War. � Letters from soldiers, docs. 25-2, 4� Contrast of Vietnam, the “Bad War”

� Americans seen as liberators� Contrast with Nazis and Japanese� The Holocaust, doc. 25-3

� Theme of discussion questions: Was it truly a “Good War”?

Fascism� WebCT document on Communism

and Russian Revolution� Worldwide backlash to

Communism in 1920s� Movement founded by Benito

Mussolini in Italy� Nazism in Germany afterwards� Spanish Civil War: dress rehearsal

for WWII in Europe� German and Italian aid to Franco,

Russian aid to Republican side.� Axis vs. Allies in WWII

From isolation to involvement� Depression breaks down U.S.

economic isolation� WWII rise of US world power� Isolationism of 1930s

� Nye Committee and Neutrality Acts� US neutrality in Spanish Civil War� “Lusitania clause” and FDR

� US becomes “arsenal of democracy”� Latin American “Good Neighbor

Policy”� support to dictators as model for

future. Somoza, “our bastard”

US entry into WWII� Roosevelt wants US entry� Most Americans want to stay out

� Opposition from Right, not Left� Charles Lindbergh’s “America First

Committee.”� Hitler-Stalin Pact discredits

communism among intellectuals� Pearl Harbor, doc. 25-1

� Oil, Vietnam and WWII� Germany declares war on US as

part of deal with Japan

The War Abroad� The GI perspective. Docs. 25-4

and 25-2. The view “from below.” � The Holocaust, doc. 25-3.

� View from above: two different wars

� War vs. Japan at least as important as war in Europe.� Until January 1945, more US

troops in Asia than Europe

The War in Europe� European War essentially between

Germany and Soviet Union� 90% of Germany army vs. USSR� Everything else, including D-Day, a

sideshow� Blitzkrieg halted at Moscow, before

Pearl Harbor� Moscow and Stalingrad the

decisive battles of the war� Foner overlooks siege of Moscow

� The soldiers’ viewpoint: letter p. 202

� Main US impact in Europe: the air war

The Air War and Catch-22� Highest circulation WWII novel

� Joseph Heller himself a bomber pilot

� Similarities to account from pilot on p. 200

� Accurate if exaggerated description of air war in Europe� Great destruction of human life

� Dresden and Hamburg� Was it effective militarily? German

civilian backlash, as with 9/11?

� Gabriel Kolko, Politics of War: Dresden to impress the Russians?

Race War in the Pacific� John Dower, War Without Mercy� Letter from Allen Spach, p. 200:

� “crush Japan and the swines that are their sons, fighting to rule the white race.”

� Racial atrocities on both sides� “Take no prisoners”� Ears, skulls, gold teeth as souvenirs� Japanese: Bataan death march (Foner

804, letter p. 197))� Gallup poll 1944: kill all Japanese?

� Precedent for Korea and Vietnam?

Economics of the Home Front� War ends Great Depression� Ultra-Keynesian war policy

� Government spends more money than in all previous US history!

� Huge increase in debt and taxes� End of liberal New Deal programs� 75% of all capital investment by

government� Transformation to military economy

� Rationing and pent-up consumer demand

WWII: the happy war?� Extreme suffering abroad� In US, WWII breaks psychological

depression� Increase in US (and German)

standard of living� Increase in birthrate

� Poor farmers become rich� Government-labor collaboration

� No strike pledge� Coal strike: John L. Lewis jailed

� No unemployment, higher wages� Communist Party respectable then

Women and WWII� Great increase in working women� In unions: 4X. In Detroit: 5X! (note

womens’ role in Flint movie clip)� “Rosie the Riveter”

� Only 1 in 4 in military production� Those who were, mostly unionized� Equal pay for equal work?

� Most white-collar� Increase mainly among wives� Black women particularly benefit� The Backlash: document 23-5� Basis for women’s movement later

WWII and Black People� Segregated in army, but allowed to

work in war industry� Result of March on Washington

Movement� Model for Civil Rights Movement� A. Philip Randolph

� Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters� Oakland and the Dellums family

� Entry, but not equality. CIO fights for equality.

� The “Great Migration”� Similar developments for Chicanos

Racial Liberalism� White racism legitimate until WWII� War needs lead to shift in ideology

� Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma

� Nazis give racism a bad name� and even more so anti-Semiitsm

� Race war in Pacific contradicts anti-fascism in Europe� Chinese good, Japanese bad?� Reversal after WWII� Hypocrisy discredits anti-Asian

racism

Rest of the Week� Tuesday: Hiroshima Debate

� Discussion exercise and materials posted

� Wednesday: Review for Midterm next Monday, and� Harry Truman, the Cold War, the

Korean War and McCarthyism� Readings: Foner Chapter 23,

Reader Chapter 26� Thursday: Fourth of July, no

class.