EXAM 3 - 8A - The World War II era and Georgia

War bonds

Government-issued loans purchased by civilians to help finance World War II; Georgians contributed by buying these bonds to support the war effort.

Scrap drives

Civilian campaigns to collect metal, rubber, and other materials for military production during World War II.

St. Simons Island submarine attack (1942)

German U-boats attacked two oil tankers off the coast of Georgia; Brunswick and Glynn County residents helped rescue survivors.

Georgia military service in WWII

Around 320,000 Georgians—both Black and white, men and women—served in the armed forces, roughly one in ten state residents.

Fort Benning

Major Georgia military base and one of the largest infantry training centers in the United States during World War II.

Fort Gordon

Georgia military base used extensively for wartime training.

Camp Stewart

Georgia training site (now Fort Stewart) that prepared soldiers for combat during World War II.

Robins Air Service Command

Air base in Georgia responsible for aircraft maintenance and logistics during the war.

Glynco Naval Air Station

Coastal Georgia base used for naval air training during World War II.

Liberty ships

Cargo ships built in Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia, that carried soldiers and supplies overseas during World War II.

Bell Aircraft Plant (Marietta)

Defense factory employing about 28,000 Georgians to build B-29 Superfortress bombers.

Ordnance factories (Macon and Milledgeville)

Georgia plants that produced ammunition and weapons, employing thousands during the war.

Urbanization during WWII

Movement of rural Georgians to cities for better-paying defense industry jobs, contributing to a labor shortage in agriculture.

Women in the workforce (WWII)

Many Georgia women entered industrial jobs for the first time, gaining unionized employment and higher wages in war production industries.

Black women workers (WWII)

Faced racial discrimination and segregation, often assigned the hardest jobs and dismissed first when layoffs occurred.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

National labor federation that organized industrial workers; some Black Georgians joined CIO unions like the Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America to gain skilled positions.

AFL (American Federation of Labor)

Older labor organization that often excluded Black workers, opposing integrated unions in wartime Georgia.

Ellis Arnall

Georgia governor (1943–47) known for liberal reforms: reaccrediting state colleges, reforming prisons, repealing the poll tax, lowering the voting age to 18, and paying off state debt.

Poll tax repeal

Arnall eliminated this voter suppression tool, broadening access to voting in Georgia.

Lowering the voting age to 18

Reform enacted under Ellis Arnall, making Georgia the first state to reduce its voting age.

Eugene Talmadge (1946 election)

Segregationist politician who won reelection as governor in 1946 but died before taking office, sparking a succession crisis.

Melvin E. Thompson

Lieutenant governor who claimed the governorship after Talmadge’s death, leading to the “Three Governors Controversy.”

Herman Talmadge

Son of Eugene Talmadge; also claimed the governorship after his father’s death, supported by Talmadge’s followers.

Three Governors Controversy (1946–47)

Political crisis in Georgia when three men—Ellis Arnall, Melvin Thompson, and Herman Talmadge—all claimed to be governor after Eugene Talmadge’s death.

Georgia Supreme Court ruling (1947)

Court decided that Melvin Thompson should serve as governor until a special election could be held in 1948.

1948 special election

Election in which Herman Talmadge won and officially became Georgia’s governor, ending the controversy.