WWII Notes
Atlantic Charter-1941, FDR and Churchill (Britain’s Prime Minister) met and outlined the right of all nations to self-determination, understanding that neither the US nor Britain would seek territory from the war, disarmament (removal of weapons) of aggressor nations, “permanent system of general security” in the future. This signaled the deepening alliance between the US and Britain
Germany attacks Soviet Union-June 1941, Hitler broke nonaggression pact with a massive assault on Stalin and the USSR. US provided military aid to Soviet through Lend-Lease of US military equipment
Pearl Harbor-Japan afraid that US entry into war might block their planned invasion of Indonesia, so they launched a surprise attack on December 7, 1941, against the US Pacific fleet in Hawaii, FDR called invasion “a day that will live in infamy”, Germany and Italy then declared war on the US
Mobilization-building up for war in the US
Rosie the Riveter-women during WWII stepped out of their roles as homemakers and worked in factory jobs that fighting men left behind (famous poster)
War bonds-US government sold to finance war, popular entertainers promoted the sale of these
Rationing-as industry shifted from consumer to wartime production, many goods like clothing, sugar, meat, rubber, and gasoline became scarce. Americans received coupon books that limited their purchases of these scarce goods
Office of Price Administration-made sure that retail prices of scarce products did not exceed allowable limits and cause inflation
Germany/Europe First-despite attack on Pearl Harbor, Allies strategy was to defeat Nazi Germany first
Stalingrad-Germans suffered crushing defeat between August, 1942-January, 1943. The enormous loss of life convinced Hitler that Germany could not continue its eastern offensive. Soviets began their counterattack
General Erwin Rommel-aka the Desert Fox, he led German forces in North Africa. He was defeated in Egypt by the British. In May 1943, British and Americans forced the surrender of Germany ending the threat from the Axis powers in the region. From this North African base, the Allies invaded Sicily and began a campaign to liberate Italy
D-Day-on June 6, 1944, the Allies began the liberation of France. The largest amphibious (sea-to-land) force in history crossed the English Channel to secure beach lands on the coast of Normandy (northern France).
General Dwight D Eisenhower-the Supreme Allied Commander in Western Europe who led the fight to control Normandy and then all of France. Paris was liberated in August, 1944, and the push to Germany began
V-E Day-On May 7, 1945, the official end to the war in Europe. Soviet troops moved to Berlin, Germany from the east as US troops moved from the West. In April 1945, US and Soviet troops met on German soil. Hitler committed suicide and Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7, 1945
Holocaust-Jews from all over Europe were sent to concentration camps as a part of Hitler’s Final Solution and genocide. About 6 million Jews were killed.
Island hopping-By 1942, Japan occupied much of Asia and the islands of the South Pacific. US leaders developed this strategy in the Pacific in which they would focus on winning back the islands that put them within striking distance of Japan
Battle of Corral Sea-May 1942, the Japanese navy suffered its first setback
Midway-June 1942, US victory which decisively halted Japan’s eastward advance and allowed the US to regain control of the central Pacific (turning point)
Guadalcanal-August 1942-February 1943 was one of the first significant US offensives in the Pacific War. Japan was building an airfield on Guadalcanal, and the US realized it would need to attack it before it was completed. US was successful, and this was a key step in the island-hopping strategy
Yalta Conference- meeting between FDR, Churchill, and Stalin in Feb. 1945; agreed that U.S., G.B., S.U., and France would occupy Germ. after the war, agreed to a meeting in April in San Fran. to create a world peace organization, and that the S.U. would help the U.S. against Japan
Iwo Jima-Early in 1945, as Americans moved towards Japan, Japanese resistance stiffened. Looking for an island closer to the Japanese mainland where Americans could refuel or land while conducting raids, military planners chose Iwo Jima, about 75 miles from Tokyo. This battle was a costly victory for the Allies
Okinawa-June-July 1945, this battle was one of the biggest and deadliest battles of the Pacific war. Eventually this battle involved over half a million US troops. Only 370 miles south of Japan, US military leaders planned to make it a base for the invasion of the Japanese mainland. The Allies lost 50,000 troops, and over 100,000 Japanese died
Potsdam Conference- meeting between Truman, Atlee, and Stalin in July 1945; calls for the unconditional surrender of Japan and confirms that the S.U. would help the U.S. Truman gets word that the Atomic bomb has been successfully tested and he can now take care of Japan without Soviet help
Manhattan Project-When Hitler initiated a program to exterminate Jews, German scientist Albert Einstein fled to the US and advised FDR to develop an atomic bomb before Germany could. FDR committed funds to the Manhattan Project (code name for the project to develop an atomic bomb) in Los Alamos, New Mexico
Hiroshima and Nagasaki-FDR died in 1945, and Harry Truman became president. Persuaded that an invasion of Japan would be too costly (hundreds of thousands of American deaths possibly), Truman decided to use atomic weapons.
Japanese Internment-1942, FDR signed Executive Order 9066 which mandated the forced removal of 110,000 Japanese Americans from their homes in California and other Western states to relocation centers
Korematsu v US (1944)-Court ruled that the forced removal was justified by military necessity.
“Double V” Campaign-“victory at home and victory abroad”, African Americans had the goal of greater civil rights and an end to segregation at home and victory over the enemy overseas
Executive Order 8802- FDR issues this to end discrimination in war time industries, it prevented a planned march on Washington by AAs
Tuskegee Airmen-WWII was the first war in which African Americans fought in combat units in the Marines and Air Corps. The airmen were an all-black fighting unit formed in response to pressure from the NAACP. They were incredibly successful, and one of the most decorated units in WWII
· Mobilization: Dec. 1941 1.6 million in armed forces and war production = 15% of industrial output; 1945 15 mill+ in armed forces and defense spending = 46% of GNP
· Federal Gov’t seized unprecedented control over all aspects of industrial production and the economy (War Production Board, Office of Price Administration…)
· U.S. military industrial output would end up exceeding that of Germany, Italy, and Japan combined
· $320 billion to fund the war, led to the creation of 17 million new jobs and real wages of industrial workers rose by 50%
· The West (Cali in particular) and the South (Sunbelt) boomed during wartime as Federal funds for war production led to new and expanded job opportunities
· Poor southern farmers and tenant farmers left the land for industrial jobs
· The elderly, minorities, and women saw increased economic opportunities and for the only time in the 1900s the lower and middle classes saw greater economic increases than the upper class
· Labor union membership increased during the war (NWLB), and most workers did not strike (John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers were the most notable exception)
· Sale of war bonds and increased taxes were used to finance the war
· Office of War Information provided propaganda to encourage support of the war effort (often focused on negative images of the enemy especially the Japanese)
· Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was a new civil-rights organization that stressed nonviolent direct action, it will play a central role in the civil rights movement
· African American union membership increased as well as the number of AAs who served in the military (though most still served in segregated units)
· Native Americans were also impacted by the war through military service and movement off of reservations for wartime jobs
· To address agricultural labor shortages the U.S. implemented the bracero program, allowing temporary workers from Mexico to enter the U.S. (c. 200,000), but they often faced discrimination exploitation
· Zoot suit riots occurred in Los Angeles in June 1943 as U.S. soldiers awaiting deployment attacked Mexican-Americans wearing zoot suits (they were seen as draft dodgers and the soldiers were actually commended for their actions)
· Mexican-Americans served in integrated combat units during WWII