America In World War II

 

I.                    The Allies Trade Space For Time

a.       Advantages and Disadvantages

                                                               i.      Advantages –

1.      Had limitless money and supplies

2.      Had more people

                                                             ii.      Disadvantages –

1.      Didn’t have time to waste because the Germans were winning

2.      Weren’t prepared for war

3.      Had to feed, clothe, arm, and transport troops to faraway places (the allies had done some of that during WWI – they couldn’t in this war)

II.                 The Shock of War

a.       National Unity

                                                               i.      Was no problem due to Pearl Harbor

                                                             ii.      Millions of Italian Americans and German Americans supported the war (this contrasted with WWI, when the patriotism of many immigrants was questioned)

                                                            iii.      It speeded the assimilation process for many ethnic groups

b.      Japanese Americans

                                                               i.      The government feared that the 127,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast would sabotage the war effort

                                                             ii.      After Pearl Harbor, rumors of spies and sabotage spread fear and prejudice.  The press increased people’s fears with headlines such as “Jap Boat Flashes Message Ashore.”  The Japanese were depicted as subhuman or pestilence (insects)

                                                            iii.      In February 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.  It authorized the removal of 110,000 people who would be relocated to internment camps

                                                           iv.      Families would be abruptly taken from their home without any warning or time to take any valuables with them.  What was left behind was often stolen.  In addition, they were taken from their jobs

                                                             v.      These camps were located in remote areas and had wooden barracks covered with tar paper.  Inside the barracks, families had a room equipped with only cots, blankets, and a light bulb.  People had to share toilet, bathing, and dining facilities

                                                           vi.      In the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. U.S., the Court upheld the right of the government to remove individuals during an emergency or time of war.  The dissenting judges said it amounted to the legalization of racism

                                                          vii.      In 1945, Japanese Americans were allowed to leave the camps.  In 1988, Congress granted each internee $20,000 and an apology

c.       End of the New Deal

                                                               i.      Most programs were wiped out by the more conservative Congress elected in 1942

                                                             ii.      Roosevelt himself admitted that the New Deal was over and that efforts on the war replaced it

d.      Citizen Awareness

                                                               i.      Government did make some effort to publicize the Atlantic Charter, but by 1942, only 1/10 could site something specific from it

                                                             ii.      In 1943, a near-majority didn’t have a clear idea what the war was about

III.               Building the War Machine

a.       American Economy

                                                               i.      Was boosted by:

1.      Billions of dollars in military orders ($100 billion in 1942 alone).  National debt went from 1941 - $49 billion; 1945 - $259 billion (war cost at one time was $10 million an hour).  Most paid through:

a.       Higher taxes paid for 41% of the war

b.      War bonds – government savings bonds that financed the war.  Brought in about $156 billion.  Propaganda posters pushed the bond drive

2.      40 billion bullets

3.      300,000 aircraft

4.      76,000 ships

5.      86,000 tanks

6.      2.6 million machine guns

b.      Henry J. Kaiser

                                                               i.      Introduced mass production techniques to speed shipbuilding

                                                             ii.      He was famous for building Liberty ships, large sturdy merchant ships that usually carried supplies or troops, but could be converted to other uses.  This technique allowed ships to be built in an average of 46 days

                                                            iii.      By the end of the war, the U.S. had produced 5,600 merchant ships

c.       War Production Board

                                                               i.      Set up in January 1942 to direct the conversion of peacetime industries to those that made war goods.  Typewriter plants were converted to machine guns, car factories were converted to bombers

                                                             ii.      It assigned priorities for transportation and access to raw materials

1.      Gasoline was rationed

2.      Rubber was rationed (national speed limit)

d.      Farmers

                                                               i.      Although the soldiers drained food from farms, heavy new investment in agricultural machinery and improved fertilizes made up the difference

                                                             ii.      In 1944 and 1945, farmers brought in a record billion bushels of wheat

e.       Office of Price Administration (OPA)

                                                               i.      Purpose was to prevent shortages from sending up prices, which would cause inflation.  Could also distribute rationed items

                                                             ii.      On February 1, 1942, all car factories were shut down.  The OPA’s job was to ration and distribute the 500,000 cars in stock

f.        Labor

                                                               i.      War Labor Board – Imposed ceilings on wage increases

                                                             ii.      Workers resented the dictator-like wage ceilings

                                                            iii.      Despite no-strike pledges of most of the major unions, a rash of labor walkouts plagued the war effort

1.      United Mine Works struck many times

                                                           iv.      Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act of 1943

1.      Authorized the government to seize and operate any industry that was tied up in strikes

2.      It also made strikes against any government-operated industry a criminal offense

                                                             v.      Under the act, the government took over coal mines and railroads

                                                           vi.      Work stoppages accounted for less than 1% of the total working hours of the U.S.’ wartime labor force (they were very committed to the war effort)

IV.              Manpower and Womanpower

a.       Armed Services

                                                               i.      Enlisted 15 million men and 216,000 women (for noncombat duties)

                                                             ii.      WAACs (army), WAVES (navy), and SPARS (Coast Guard)

                                                            iii.      Millions of men were drafted; exempted were key industrial and agricultural workers in order to keep those industries running smoothly

b.      Mexicans In Factories

                                                               i.      1942 – an agreement was made with Mexico to bring thousands of Mexican agricultural workers, called braceros, across the border to harvest the fruit and grain crops of the West

                                                             ii.      The program continued for 20 years

c.       Women In Factories

                                                               i.      Posters and advertisements told women it was their patriotic duty to work for their country.  One of the most famous posters was:

1.      Rosie the Riveter – Symbolized women who went to work during the war.  She was a fictional woman who worked in a defense plant while her boyfriend served in the marines.

                                                             ii.      More than 6 million took jobs outside the home

                                                            iii.      Many married women would work; would outnumber single women for the first time in the workforce

                                                           iv.      3,000 daycare centers were set up

                                                             v.      Many worried about joining the workforce because:

1.      Women worried about leaving their children at home

2.      Women earned less than men

3.      Managers were uneasy about mixing the sexes, so they set up strict rules

                                                           vi.      African American women still faced gender prejudice and racial discrimination, although more were able to get into the work force

                                                          vii.      At the war’s end, 2/3 of women war workers left the labor force because:

1.      Some were forced out of their jobs by employers and unions eager to return employ returning servicemen

2.      They wanted to return to traditional family roles

d.      Results of Women In the Factories

                                                               i.      When they returned home, a baby boom resulted

                                                             ii.      It also led to greater opportunities for women

V.                 Wartime Migrations

a.       Population Migration To Cities

                                                               i.      15 million men and women stayed in other countries

                                                             ii.      Towns with many war industries boomed, like Los Angeles, Detroit, Seattle, and Baton Rouge

b.      South Develops Industrially

                                                               i.      The South grew industrially; $6 billion of federal money went to industrial facilities in the South

                                                             ii.      They also received a disproportionate share of defense contracts

c.       African Americans

                                                               i.      Employment and Migration

1.      African American unemployment was high at the beginning of WWII.  New Deal agencies honored employers’ requests for “whites only”

2.      Since there were fewer laws forcing segregation in the North, 1.6 million African Americans migrated from the South to the North and West

3.      However, segregation in the North severely limited the houses and apartments where blacks were welcome.  As a result, many ended up living in urban ghettos

4.      The mechanical cotton picker, invented in 1944, did the work of 50 people at 1/8 cost.  5 million black tenant farmers and sharecroppers headed north.  By 1970, ½ of all blacks lived outside the South, and urban had become almost a synonym for black

                                                             ii.      Race Relations and Civil Rights Movement

1.      White workers and homeowners resented the move northward, and riots developed

2.      During WWII, The Pittsburgh Courier, an African American newspaper, launched a “Double V” campaign.  The first “V” was for victory against the axis; the second “V” was for winning equality at home

3.      Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was created in 1942.  They believed in using non-violent techniques to end racism, such as sit-ins

4.      The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) went up to 500,000 people

5.      A. Philip Randolph

a.       Became one of the leaders of the civil rights movement during WWII.  He planned a massive march on Washington until President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802

                                                                                                                                       i.      The order opened jobs and job training programs in defense plants to all Americans without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin

                                                                                                                                     ii.      The order also created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to hear complaints about job discrimination in defense industries and government.  However, the order was weakly enforced

b.      In August 1963, Randolph organized and led a march on Washington with more than 200,000 African Americans

                                                            iii.      African American Soldiers

1.      White and black troops were strictly segregated.  Blacks weren’t allowed to fight very much in the war.  Most loaded guns, got supplies, and provided other services for white troops

2.      Even after returning home from the war, black veterans still faced racism

d.      Native Americans

                                                               i.      Migration

1.      Thousands found war work in the major cities

2.      1940 – 90% of Native Americans lived on reservations

3.      2000 – ½ lived in cities

                                                             ii.      Native American Soldiers

1.      Many fought in the war

2.      Comanches – “code talkers” in Europe

3.      Navajos – “code talkers” in the Pacific

4.      They transmitted radio messages in their native languages, which were incomprehensible to the Germans and the Japanese

e.       Mexicans

                                                               i.      The intermixing in cities led to violence

                                                             ii.      1943 – “zoot-suit” Mexicans and Mexican Americans in LA were attacked by white sailors who cruised the streets in taxicabs looking for victims.  The Mexican ambassador lessened the violence by telling the public that it helped Nazi propaganda

                                                            iii.      1943 – A race riot in Detroit killed 25 blacks and 9 whites

VI.              Holding the Home Front

a.       Results of the War In America

                                                               i.      Didn’t destroy America’s land, buildings, and displace people, unlike Europe

                                                             ii.      It reinvigorated the economy

1.      GNP – 1940 - $100 billion; 1945 - $200 billion

2.      Corporate profits – 1940 - $6 billion; 1945 - $12 billion

3.      Overtime pay boosted wages

4.      More money for leisure activities or consumer goods

5.      Prices went up 33% after price controls were lifted in 1946

b.      How Did the War Affect Everyone?

                                                               i.      Everyone rationed

                                                             ii.      Millions of men and women were in the armed forces

                                                            iii.      Millions worked in defense industries

                                                           iv.      Unions and employers were monitored by the FEPC and WLB

                                                             v.      Victory gardens – people planted their own gardens so that more food growing on real farms could be given to the troops

                                                           vi.      Children collected cans and other recyclable materials

c.       Cost of the War

                                                               i.      All the spending cured the depression

                                                             ii.      Cost $330 billion – 10 times the cost of WWI and 2x all previous federal spending since 1776

                                                            iii.      Roosevelt preferred “pay-as-you-go”, but the costs of war were too high

VII.            Japan In the Pacific

a.       Japanese After Pearl Harbor

                                                               i.      Realized they had to win quickly, or lose slowly

                                                             ii.      Attacked and captured:

1.      Guam

2.      Wake

3.      Philippines

4.      Hong Kong

5.      British Malaya (rubber and tin)

6.      Burma (captured a route that the U.S. was using to give supplies to the Chinese, who were resisting the Japanese)

7.      Dutch East Indies (oil)

b.      Philippines

                                                               i.      The U.S. had gotten the Philippines after the Spanish-American War in 1898.  After Pearl Harbor, Douglas MacArthur, the commanding general of the Philippines, got word of the attack.  However, he believed that Japan wouldn’t attack them until months later.  But, the Japanese did attack the Philippines and destroyed half of MacArthur’s air force, which was sitting on the ground

                                                             ii.      MacArthur withdrew most of his troops to the Bataan Peninsula on Manila Bay.  By March, MacArthur retreated with some of his troops to Australia.  Said “I will return”

                                                            iii.      The remainder of the troops in the Bataan Peninsula were held under seige and eventually captured, becoming prisoners of war.  They were forced to march 60 miles to a railroad, which became known as the Bataan Death March.  10,000 prisoners died on this march from lack of food or medicine.  If you couldn’t keep up, you were shot.  Once they got to the railroad, the prisoners were shipped to prison camps, were 40% of the people captured died

                                                           iv.      The Americans and Filipinos slowed down the Japanese for 5 months

VIII.         Battle of Midway

a.       More Japanese Invasions

                                                               i.      Took New Guinea and Solomon Islands

                                                             ii.      Both are close to Australia

b.      Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942)

                                                               i.      This was the first naval combat carried out entirely by aircraft.  Enemy ships never attacked each other

                                                             ii.      The battle ended in a draw; it was the first draw/lose of the onrushing Japanese

                                                            iii.      It prevented the Japanese from establishing the bases they needed to bomb Australia, thus blocking a possible invasion of that nation

c.       Battle of Midway (June 1942)

                                                               i.      The Japanese believed that the key to victory in the Pacific and Asia was to destroy the American naval power.  They hoped to:

1.      Destroy the remainder of the Pacific fleet by luring it into a battle at Midway Island

2.      Launch devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor from Midway

                                                             ii.      The Japanese correctly believed that the American Admiral of the Pacific Fleet, Chester Nimitz, would use all his resources to protect Midway, which was key to the defense of Hawaii

                                                            iii.      After the first wave of attacks, part of the American air force became lost.  They happened to stumble upon 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, which were refueling and loading planes with bombs.  The U.S. air force attacked these carriers and destroyed all four, along with the 250 planes which were on board

                                                           iv.      This was the turning point in the Pacific:

1.      Gave the U.S. air superiority

2.      The Japanese could no longer go on the offensive because the aircraft carriers were destroyed

3.      U.S. morale booster

4.      Japanese lost many naval pilots on the aircraft carriers

d.      Aleutian Islands

                                                               i.      Obtained some islands off of Alaska’s coast

                                                             ii.      This worried people on the west coast and northwest of an invasion

                                                            iii.      However, Japan was spreading themselves too thin

IX.              America Leapfrogging Toward Tokyo

a.       Island Hopping

                                                               i.      Strategy in which the Navy would:

1.      Selectively attack the Japanese, skipping some of the most heavily fortified islands

2.      Capture nearby islands

3.      Set up naval bases and air fields as they go along

4.      Neutralize enemy bases through heavy bombing

                                                             ii.      This strategy was favored by General Douglas MacArthur

b.      Battle of Guadalcanal Island

                                                               i.      It took many months of jungle warfare before the Japanese evacuated the island

                                                             ii.      It ended in February 1943

                                                            iii.      Casualties were 20,000 for the Japanese and 1,700 for Americans

c.       Aleutian Islands

                                                               i.      Attu and Kiska were retaken by August 1943

d.      Gilbert Islands

                                                               i.      Retaken in November 1943 after suicidal resistance

e.       Marshall Islands

                                                               i.      Retaken in February 1944 after more suicidal resistance

f.        Mariana Islands

                                                               i.      Key island group because the U.S. could carry out round-trip bombing raids on Japan’s home islands with their new B-29 bombers (also had Guam and Saipan in the island grouping)

                                                             ii.      “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” – June 1944 – American air superiority with the new “Hellcat” fighter plane and the new technology of the antiaircraft proximity fuse (missile exploding near enemy aircraft) destroyed nearly 250 Japanese planes compared to only 29 American planes

                                                            iii.      The Japanese never recovered from these losses

                                                           iv.      Surviving Japanese soldiers and civilians leapt to their death on the island when it fell in August 1944

                                                             v.      Around the clock bombing of Japan started in November 1944

g.       New Guinea

                                                               i.      American and Australian forces under MacArthur inflicted serious damage on Japanese supply ships and troop carriers

                                                             ii.      This was the last stepping stone for a Japanese invasion of Australia

                                                            iii.      It ended in August 1944

X.                 The Allied Halting of Hitler

a.       Wolf Packs

                                                               i.      Squadrons of about 30 German submarines who coordinated attacks to sink allied merchant ships

                                                             ii.      In 1942, 500 merchant ships were sunk (111 in June alone); ship destruction outran construction

b.      Turning the Tide of Subsea Battle

                                                               i.      Convoys of merchant vessels

                                                             ii.      Dropping depth bombs from destroyers

                                                            iii.      Air patrol

                                                           iv.      Sonar

                                                             v.      Bombing of submarine bases

                                                           vi.      British codebreakers who cracked Germans’ “Enigma” codes and could pinpoint the locations of the U-boats in the Atlantic

c.       Importance of Winning the Battle of the Atlantic

                                                               i.      Britain could’ve been captured

                                                             ii.      Attacks on the U.S. from Britain could’ve been launched by Germany

                                                            iii.      Was a narrow victory

d.      Fronts

                                                               i.      Land-Air War

1.      By late 1942, the British and Americans were launching raids against German cities

                                                             ii.      War in Africa

1.      German General Rommel had driven the allies into Egypt, close to the Suez Canal; loss of the canal would’ve proven to be disastrous

2.      General Montgomery delivered an attack at El Alamein, west of Cairo; he drove the Germans to Tunisia, more than 1,000 miles away

                                                            iii.      War on the Eastern Front

1.      By September 1942, the Russians stalled the Germans at Stalingrad

2.      By November 1942, the Russians launched a counteroffensive that was never reversed

3.      A year later, Stalin recovered much of the Russian land the Germans had taken

XI.              A Second Front From North Africa To Rome

a.       Want a Second Front

                                                               i.      Germans had taken an area the size of Chicago to the Atlantic coast

                                                             ii.      All of the area had been destroyed – land and homes

                                                            iii.      20 million Soviets died by the end of the war

                                                           iv.      Didn’t think Soviets would hold out forever

                                                             v.      Didn’t want the Soviets to make a separate peace (like in WWI)

b.      Problems With Creating A Second Front

                                                               i.      FDR promised to create one by the end of 1943

                                                             ii.      British military planners were not enthusiastic about creating a second front because of the disastrous frontal assault on German held France in WWI

                                                            iii.      The British were lacking in resources and needed more time to plan a mass invasion of Europe

c.       Soft Underbelly of Europe

                                                               i.      Winston Churchill came up with the idea to attack the “soft underbelly of Europe,” which was Africa and Italy

                                                             ii.      In November 1942, a secret attack was launched at the weakest spot of German strength, in North Africa

                                                            iii.      It was headed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who coordinated the Allied assault with 400,000 British, Canadian, French, and American troops

                                                           iv.      These troops pushed the German troops to Tunisia, where they became trapped.  240,000 German and Italian troops surrendered in May 1943

d.      Casablanca Conference

                                                               i.      In January 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill met to plan strategy for the rest of the war

                                                             ii.      They decided that the allies would concentrate their resources on Europe before they turned to the Pacific

                                                            iii.      They also agreed on the unconditional surrender of Germany, Italy, and Japan

e.       Pros and Cons of Unconditional Surrender

                                                               i.      Pros –

1.      There would be no separate peace

2.      No broken armistice terms

                                                             ii.      Cons –

1.      Just words; British and Americans couldn’t launch a large-scale invasion of Europe yet

2.      It discouraged antiwar groups in Germany from revolting because they couldn’t have a separate peace or armistice

3.      The harsh policy helped to destroy the German government completely, complicating postwar reconstruction

f.        Sicily and Italy

                                                               i.      Attack on Sicily began in July 1943; fell in August 1943 (fell in 38 days)

                                                             ii.      American troops were led by George S. Patton

                                                            iii.      Shortly afterwards, Mussolini was deposed.  He would eventually be assassinated and his body was hung in a square where it was spat upon and abused

                                                           iv.      The new government in Italy surrendered immediately in September 1943

                                                             v.      Italy declared war on Germany in October 1943

g.       Germans In Italy

                                                               i.      German troops in Italy continued to fight in Italy until April 1945 (5 days before Germany’s surrender)

                                                             ii.      One of the German strongholds was a monastery called Monte Cassino

                                                            iii.      Rome was taken on June 4, 1944

                                                           iv.      After D-Day, Italy became a side-show; the Allies were limited by troops

                                                             v.      Although this attack opened a second front and diverted German troops, it also may have delayed the main Allied invasion of Europe by months – allowing more time for the Soviet army to advance into Eastern Europe

                                                           vi.      The Americans had 190,000 casualties, while Germany had 500,000 casualties

XII.            D-Day: June 6, 1944

a.       Meeting of the Big Three

                                                               i.      Meeting began in November 1943

                                                             ii.      Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met in Tehran, the capital of Iran to talk about the serious attempt at a second front

                                                            iii.      It went smoothly; they coordinated attack plans from both fronts

b.      D-Day

                                                               i.      Since 1943, the American and British air forces had been bombing Germany to soften them up for an attack.  In southern England, a massive build up of 3 million troops and supplies had begun

                                                             ii.      Germany began to prepare for an invasion by building up troops in northern France and digging mines and setting up barbwire.  Rommel was now in charge of the German troops in France

                                                            iii.      On June 6, 1944, the largest landing by sea in history began as 4,600 ships and landingcraft headed towards Normandy, France

                                                           iv.      23,000 American and British paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines, confusing the Germans

                                                             v.      Hitler believed that this was a diversionary attack, so he sent no additional forces to Normandy.  He thought they would attack at Pas-de-Calais, the shortest point from France to England

                                                           vi.      The Germans were also hampered by Allied air superiority, which destroyed supply lines so that no reinforcements could be sent; they also bombed German gasoline-producing plants

                                                          vii.      150,000 troops landed at Normandy on June 6th.  They were led by General George S. Patton.  Within a week, ½ billion troops had landed.  The following month, there were 2 million troops in France

                                                        viii.      By August 1944, Paris had been liberated; in October, the first important German city (Aachen) fell to the Americans

XIII.         FDR and His Fourth Term

a.       Republican Nomination

                                                               i.      Nominated Thomas E. Dewey, the governor of New York

                                                             ii.      He had made a reputation as a prosecutor of grafters and racketeers in New York City

                                                            iii.      He was a mild isolationist; to balance the ticket, they nominated isolationist senator John W. Bricker of Ohio as the vice-president

                                                           iv.      Their platform called for the continuation of the war and a new international organization to maintain peace

b.      Democratic Nomination

                                                               i.      Roosevelt was nominated on the first ballot

                                                             ii.      Because of his age and failing health, an undue amount of view would be placed on the choice for vice-president:

1.      Henry A. Wallace –

a.       Had been the Secretary of Agriculture

b.      Had been vice-president for 4 years

c.       Conservative democrats distrusted him enough as an unpredictable liberal that there was a widespread campaign to get a new vice-president

2.      Harry S. Truman –

a.       Roosevelt wanted Truman as his vice-president

b.      Was a Senator from Missouri

c.       Attained national visibility as the efficient chairman of a Senate committee conducting an investigation of wasteful war expenditures

d.      Nobody had much against him or on him

XIV.         Roosevelt Defeats Dewey

a.       Dewey’s Campaign

                                                               i.      Roosevelt didn’t have much time to campaign

                                                             ii.      Dewey called for:

1.      A change in the national government

2.      Better war plans

                                                            iii.      The fourth-term issue didn’t figure too much since Roosevelt had broken the ice with three terms

                                                           iv.      Republicans charged him with sending a Navy destroyer to retrieve his pet Scottie dog, Fala

b.      Election of 1944

                                                               i.      Roosevelt won:

1.      432-99

2.      25.6 million-22 million

                                                             ii.      The political action committee of the CIO helped Roosevelt’s campaign by going door-to-door and asking people what they were doing in 1932 – pointing to the fact that things have vastly improved since FDR has been in office

c.       Why Did Roosevelt Win?

                                                               i.      The war was going well

                                                             ii.      People believed that Roosevelt’s foreign policy experience was needed at the time and would be key in shaping a future organization for world peace

                                                            iii.      Dewey’s running mate, Bricker, had serious doubts about an international organization and still held onto the old idea of isolationism

XV.           The Last Days of Hitler

a.       Battle of the Bulge –

                                                               i.      As the Americans began to cross Germany’s border in December 1944, Hitler decided to launch a counterattack.  He added additional forces to the Western front, with some soldiers as young as 15

                                                             ii.      His goal was the Belgian port of Antwerp, key to the Allied supply operation

                                                            iii.      Although Germany initially was winning the battle, creating a bulge in the Allied line, there were too many allied forces.  This was the largest battle ever fought by American troops, with 600,000 GI’s

                                                           iv.      GI refers to the “government issue” stamp that was on all the shoes, clothing, weapons, etc. that were issued to the military

                                                             v.      The loses were 80,000 American casualties to 100,000 German casualties.  After this battle, most Nazi leaders recognized that the war was lost

b.      Victory In Europe

                                                               i.      March 1945 – Allied bombers continued to destroy German cities around the clock.  American troops began advancing from the west as Soviet troops began advancing from the east

                                                             ii.      April 1945 – the Soviets entered Berlin, where they found 80% of the city to be destroyed

                                                            iii.      April 12, 1945 – FDR died from a massive cerebral hemorrhage

                                                           iv.      April 25, 1945 – American and Soviet troops met at the Elbe River

                                                             v.      May 1, 1945 – Hitler commits suicide

                                                           vi.      May 8, 1945 – Germany surrendered unconditionally.  This became known as V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day)

XVI.         The End of Japan

a.       American Subs

                                                               i.      Sunk 1,042 ships, or 50% of the Japanese merchant fleet; the Japanese needed the fleet to maintain their military

                                                             ii.      Bomber attacks from the Mariana Islands were reducing Japanese cities; a fire-bomb raid in May 1945 destroyed over 250,000 buildings in Tokyo and killed 83,000 people

b.      Battle of Leyte Gulf

                                                               i.      Japanese naval offensive that occurred in October 1944 that was a last ditch effort to destroy MacArthur by wiping out his transports and supply ships

                                                             ii.      280 warships were engaged during the sea battle

                                                            iii.      This is when the Japanese first began to use kamikazes (divine wind), in which naval pilots, their planes loaded with bombs, would commit suicide by deliberately flying into a U.S. ship.  The people of Japan were religiously fanatic toward their emperor.  They felt they were supposed to die before the emperor would be defeated

                                                           iv.      Japan lost 60 ships; America now had over 4,000 ships in the Pacific

c.       Philippines

                                                               i.      October 1944 – 160,000 American troops invaded the Philippines

                                                             ii.      January 1945 – American troops reached the main island of Luzon

                                                            iii.      March 1945 – Manila, the capital, fell

                                                           iv.      80,000 Japanese were killed, while only 1,000 surrendered.  100,000 Filipino (Philippines) civilians died.  60,000 American casualties

d.      Battle of Iwo Jima

                                                               i.      Battle that occurred from November 1944 – March 1945

                                                             ii.      This island was needed for damaged American bombers who were making runs to the main island of Japan

                                                            iii.      For several weeks, American bombers pounded the 14 square mile island with a total of 7,000 tons worth of bombs.  However, the Japanese hid in the caves and tunnels in the steep rocky slopes of the island

                                                           iv.      By February, American troops landed on the island and met staunch resistance.  Eventually 110,000 American troops would fight at Iwo Jima.  The Japanese fought nearly until the last defender.  Of the 25,000 Japanese on the island, only 216 surrendered.  The U.S. had 25,000 casualties

                                                             v.      A record 27 Medals of Honor, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a military officer, were awarded.  Famous picture of 5 men raising flag was from here

e.       Battle of Okinawa

                                                               i.      Battle that occurred from April 1945 – June 1945

                                                             ii.      Since the island was only 350 miles from Japan, they knew that if the U.S. took the island, it could set up a possible land invasion of Japan

                                                            iii.      100,000 Japanese defended the island.  They were met with 180,000 American and British troops, the second largest number to the Normandy invasion in Europe.  1,300 warships were present as well.  Japanese pilots flew many kamikaze missions

                                                           iv.      On the ground, Japanese troops did banzai attacks, in which they would run up to the enemy and kill as many as possible before they died

                                                             v.      By June, only 7,200 Japanese troops were left to surrender.  The U.S. had 50,000 casualties, the most in the war in the Pacific

f.        Potsdam Conference

                                                               i.      Meeting from July-August 1945

                                                             ii.      Attended by Truman, Stalin, Churchill, and Churchill’s replacement, Clement Atlee

                                                            iii.      Agreed upon:

1.      A policy for the occupation of both Germany and Japan

2.      German reparations

3.      Unconditional surrender for Japan or be destroyed

XVII.      The Atomic Bombs

a.       New Inventions In WWII

                                                               i.      There were many inventions made by the U.S. during the Pacific war campaign:

1.      Jeep

2.      Bazooka – anti-tank gun

3.      Pontoon bridges – to cross swamps or bodies of water

4.      DDT – kills insects/malaria

5.      Penicillin

                                                             ii.      Atomic Bomb was also created:

1.      Albert Einstein, while living in Germany, suggested that an incredibly powerful new type of bomb could be built.  He also hinted that Germany had begun to create one already

b.      Manhattan Project

                                                               i.      FDR, who was concerned that Germany would be the first to develop this weapon, organized the top secret Manhattan Project to develop such a bomb.  He gave nearly $2 billion for the project’s development

                                                             ii.      Two scientists were primarily responsible for the development of the atomic bomb.  They were Enrico Fermi and J. Robert Oppenheimer

                                                            iii.      After creating 3 atomic bombs in a laboratory under Chicago Stadium, they decided to test one of the bombs.  At Los Alamos, in New Mexico, they detonated the world’s first atomic bomb.  It shattered windows 125 miles away

                                                           iv.      After FDR suddenly died, Vice President Harry S. Truman took over and knew nothing of the Manhattan project.  Right away, Truman considered the bomb to be a military weapon and had no doubt that it should be used

                                                             v.      The original plan was to use the bomb against Germany.  However, they surrendered before that could be done

                                                           vi.      Truman knew that a land invasion of Japan was already being planned and that the first Japanese invasion would cost an estimated 268,000 American lives.  It was also estimated that during the invasion of Japan, 8-10 million civilians would die

c.       Questions Truman Had To Consider

                                                               i.      Could a naval blockade eventually defeat Japan?

                                                             ii.      Could conventional bombing which had been going on since March, eventually cause Japan to surrender?  This type of bombing had already left 260,000 civilians dead and 9-13 million homeless

                                                            iii.      Should the U.S. have continued to demand that Japan surrender unconditionally (on the terms of the United States)?  Japan had fought to nearly the last man at the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa

                                                           iv.      Were the Japanese ready to surrender had the U.S. given them a little more time?

                                                             v.      Could the death estimates of a land invasion of Japan been too high?

                                                           vi.      Should the second bomb have been dropped or would Japan have surrendered after the first if we had given them more time?

                                                          vii.      Should we have just shown a demonstration of what the bomb could do to the Japanese?

d.      Hiroshima and Nagasaki

                                                               i.      August 6, 1945 – the Enola Gay, a B-52 bomber, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  The bomb was called Little Boy.  It killed:

1.      70,000 people in the explosion

2.      60,000 from burns or radiation poisoning a few months later

3.      110,000 were wounded or missing

                                                             ii.      August 8, 1945 – the Soviets entered the war against Japan on the last day of the deadline date agreed upon with Stalin’s allies

                                                            iii.      August 9, 1945 – a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.  It was called Fat Man.  It killed:

1.      25,000 people in the explosion

2.      55,000 were wounded or missing

                                                           iv.      August 14, 1945 – the Soviets overran Manchuria and Korea; Stalin wanted to have some of Japan’s holdings in the final peace agreement

e.       End of the War With Japan

                                                               i.      August 14, 1945 – Japanese and American officials began negotiations to end the war.  The Japanese would surrender with one condition, that their emperor, Hirohito, be allowed to retain his throne.  The Allies agreed

                                                             ii.      September 2, 1945 – The formal surrender agreement, ending the war in the Pacific, was signed; V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day)

XVIII.    The Allies Triumph

a.       Deaths

                                                               i.      U.S. – 400,000 military

                                                             ii.      Japan – 1.2 million military; 300,000 civilians

                                                            iii.      USSR – 7 million military; 12 million civilians

                                                           iv.      British – 300,000 military; 60,000 civilians

                                                             v.      Germany – 3.5 million military; 1-2 million civilians

                                                           vi.      France – 200,000 military; 350,000 civilians

b.      Land

                                                               i.      Mainland was untouched (two Japanese subs had harmlessly attacked the CA and OR coast; a few incendiary balloons had drifted across the Pacific as well)

                                                             ii.      Much of the rest of the world was utterly destroyed; many millions were left homeless (30-40 million); agriculture and transportation was destroyed

c.       War Preparations

                                                               i.      America had been making war preparations for a year and a half before Pearl Harbor

                                                             ii.      They also were having unofficial war with Germany in the seas months before

                                                            iii.      America was more prepared for the war than the other allies

d.      Leadership

                                                               i.      Military leadership proved to be high:

1.      Eisenhower

2.      MacArthur

3.      Marshall

4.      Nimitz – commander of the Pacific fleet

5.      Spaatz – commanded all air forces in Europe; advocated daylight bombing

                                                             ii.      FDR and Churchill collaborated closely

e.       Industry

                                                               i.      Marvels of production were performed daily

                                                             ii.      Assembly lines were nearly as important as battle lines

                                                            iii.      America could far outproduce anyone in the world

XIX.         The Holocaust

a.       Beginning of Genocide (The systematic eliminating of a race or ethnic group)

                                                               i.      Mein Kampf - book written by Hitler that:

1.      Advocated the removal of non-Aryans, particularly the Jews

2.      Blamed Jews for the German lose in WWI

3.      Blamed Jews for the poor conditions that Germany was in afterwards

4.      Blamed Jews were also blamed for the death of Jesus Christ

                                                             ii.      1935 – the Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws, stripping Jews of their citizenship and forbidding marriage between Jews and non-Jews.  They also had to wear the yellow star of David

                                                            iii.      1933 to 1937 – 130,000 Jews left Germany, but most stayed in Europe.  Many countries didn’t want them because they too had anti-Semitic beliefs and thought they would take away needed jobs during the depression

                                                           iv.      July 1938 – at the Evian Conference, President Roosevelt and 29 other nations met to discuss allowing more Jews to enter their countries.  However, only the Dominican Republic eased their immigration laws

                                                             v.      Berlin Olympics – Germany hid the signs that were against the Jews to disguise that everything was alright

                                                           vi.      November 9, 1938 – the Nazis destroyed many of the Jewish shops, synagogues, and homes in Germany and Austria.  This became known as Kristallnacht or Night of the Broken Glass.  This occurred because a Jewish person murdered a German diplomat to France

b.      Genocide Begins

                                                               i.      September 1, 1939 – when Poland was invaded, 350,000 Jews were confined to a ghetto in Warsaw.  The Warsaw ghetto was sealed off by a wall topped by barb wire and was guarded by German troops.  Hunger, overcrowding, and lack of sanitation brought disease and death

                                                             ii.      Late 1939 – Special forces called the Einsatzgruppen were sent to Poland in 1939.  Their goal was to kill all of the following who were living in Poland and the Soviet Union:

1.      Gypsies

2.      Priests

3.      Jews

4.      “Undesirables” - Homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political prisoners, homeless, and physically handicapped

                                                            iii.      January 1942 – German government officials met at the Wannsee Conference to discuss a plan for the “final solution to the Jewish question.”  Originally, they were killed by a firing squad.  However, this wasn’t doing the “job” fast enough.  They came up with the idea of setting up extermination or Death Camps.  Six were set up in Poland

                                                           iv.      Concentration Camps had already been set up in Germany in the late 1930s.  They were places where the imprisoned would perform hard labor under poor conditions

c.       “Process” of Extermination

                                                               i.      Jews would be rounded up and crammed into trains going to Death Camps.  They had no idea where they were going and could bring nothing with them.  They were told they were being temporarily relocated

                                                             ii.      Once they got to the Death Camp, to ease any fears, a German orchestra was playing once they entered

                                                            iii.      When they got inside the Death Camp, they were forced to stand in a line.  The people who didn’t look like they were strong enough to work, mainly the elderly, women, and children, had their bodies shaved and were herded into gas chambers where they were killed.  They were told they were going to be taking a shower

                                                           iv.      Once they were killed, their bodies were inspected for valuables.  Sometimes parts of their bodies were used for something.  For example, hair – mattress, body – soap, skin – lampshade.  Afterwards, their bodies were either lumped into a mass grave or burned in crematories

                                                             v.      The others were forced to do hard labor under poor conditions:

1.      One set of clothing

2.      No bathrooms

3.      No heat in barracks

4.      Little food

d.      Auschwitz

                                                               i.      The most notorious Death Camp was Auschwitz, where 1.5 million people were killed

                                                             ii.      Medical experimentation would go on at this, and other death camps.  Tests included or involved high-altitude, hypothermia, sea water testing, infections, muscle removal and reattachment, poison, twins, turning eye color to blue, and diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever, and many others

e.       American Help

                                                               i.      Although America took in the most Jews in the 1930s, America showed little interest in helping them.  However, we weren’t aware of the genocide that was taking place

                                                             ii.      Eleanor Roosevelt set up the International Rescue Committee in 1933, which brought thousands to the U.S. and President Roosevelt sped up the visa application process for thousands of Jewish immigrants

                                                            iii.      The U.S. was very anti-Jewish at the time.  Military officials rejected request in 1944 to bomb the rail lines leading to Auschwitz or the death camp itself.  They said that the diversion of airpower to such a mission might jeopardize the offensive launched at Normandy and prolong the war

                                                           iv.      Very little was done to help Jews until January 1944, when Roosevelt created the War Refugee Board (WRB).  Although it was created near the end of the war, its programs helped save some 200,000 lives.  With WRB funding, Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, saved thousands of Jews by issuing special Swedish passports

f.        Aftermath of the Holocaust

                                                               i.      At the end of WWII, the Nazis tried to cover up and destroy what they had done to hide it from the allies.  However, allied troops were moving too quickly and were shocked when they discovered the camps

                                                             ii.      In total 8 million Jews, gypsies, Priests, and “undesirables” were killed in the holocaust.

                                                            iii.      Nuremberg Trials - In November 1945, the allies placed 24 leading Nazis on trial for crimes against humanity.  One of their main defenses was they were following orders.  12 received death or life sentences

                                                           iv.      Most people could not fathom that such a travesty was going on in Europe