WWII

totalitarianism

political system in which the gov holds absolute control and power over all aspects of society (public and private)

• suppression of the opposition

• control of information and culture

• unlimited power (often through single dictator)

• may employ propaganda and terror to dehumanize opponents

• loss of individual right

• ex: Nazi Germany, Soviet empire

non-interventionist positions (isolationism)

• ppl did not want to get involved in the war after WWI

• 1929: Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawing war

• 1935: Neutrality Act of 1935 —> prohibited Arms sales to belligerents (nations at war)

• 1936: Neutrality Act of 1936 —> prohibits loans to belligerents

• 1937: Neutrality Act of 1937 —> allowed trade of non military goods to belligerents on a cash and carry basis

• US did not intervene in Spanish Civil War or Japanese Invasion of China

• Intervention: Roosevlet did not want to be neutral

  • worried abt totalitarian leaders

  • needed support from Congress who wanted to remain neutral

  • spoke out against neutrality with quarantine speech

Japanese- American timeline leading to 1941

AMERICA:

• 1939: Congress repeals neutrality acts

  • FDR declares US an “arsenal for democracy”

• 1940: destroyers for bases deal

• 1941:

  • Jan —> Lend-Lease Act

  • Dec 7, 1941 —> Congress Declares War after Pearl Harbor

JAPAN:

• Sep 1931: Japan Invades Manchuria

  • wanted to gain resources (coal and iron)

  • strategic location

  • Kwangtung army blew up railway and blamed it on Chinese bandits

  • claiming to uphold law, Japan invaded Manchuria

• Dec 1934: Japan renounces the naval war treaty

  • the treaties limited construction of battle ships, cruisers, submarines, aircraft carriers

  • Japan wanted to expand its naval power

  • US increased distrust

• Nov 1936: Japan signs anti-comintern pact

  • pledges mutual cooperation against international communism

  • thought an alliance with axis powers would be useful if there was war with the soviets

  • US supported China, stopped importing Japanese assets

• July 1937: Second Sino Japense war

  • Rep of China vs. Japan

  • Pacific Theater WWII

  • Japan wanted to expand into China

  • Marco Polo Bridge incident —> war escalation

  • ended with allied surrender in 1945

  • America imposed non-military aid to China

• Dec 1937: Panay incident

  • japans aircraft sunk group of US vessels

  • USS Panay sank, 2 killed, 30 wounded

• July 1940: Japan closes the Burma road

  • one of China’s vital supply routes

  • US froze japans assets

• Sept 1940: Japan invades Indochina

  • strategic location (oil, rubber, rice)

  • Us halted Japan negations and oil supply

  • France had surrendered by now

• Nov 1941: Modus Vivendi

  • agreement allowing conflicting parties to coexist peacefully until final settlement is reached

  • Japan was struggling without oil, proposed to the US to gain oil

  • US rejected

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

• surprise Japanese Ariel attack on Pearl Harbor

• wanted to damage US fleet and expand pacific influence

  • scare US away from war

• 8 battleships damaged, 4 sunk

• 200 aircrafts destroyed

• 2,400 americans were dead

• only handful of Japan subs lost, fewer than 30 planes

• american anger and fear

• feared there would be japans invasion on the mainland

• US declared war on Japan

  • Germany and Italy declares war on US

war in the pacific (island hopping)

• island hopping: American forces over island to island to capture naval/air bases, overtaking happens forces —> no war on homefront

• April 18, 1942: Doolittle’s Raid

  • bombing mission targeting Tokyo + other cities

  • Japanese vulnerability and US morale rose

• May 4-8, 1942: battle of coral sea

  • naval engagement in pacific theater

  • first carrier-carrier battle

• June 4-7, 1942: battle of midway

  • Japan sough tot series midway island and destroy US pacific fleet

  • America found out, prepared, and claimed victory

• August 7, 1942: guadalcanall

  • first allied offensive against Japan

  • Japense airfield in guadalcanal threaten Australian supply lines

  • Japan evacuated

• July 21, 1944: battle of Guam

  • Us recaptures Guam (air bases, strategic bombing campaigns)

• 23-26 October: battle of Leyte gulf

  • largest naval battle in history

  • US took Philippines back form Japan

• Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

kamikaze pilots

japans suicide bombers that would dive into US naval ships

internment (camps)

• japans americans were forced to answer questions abt their loyalty

• moved them inland to camps in US

• was argued to be a product to war hysteria and a violation of basic civil right

• many joined armed forces to prove loyalty

• some mounted legal challenged (Korematsu v US)

  • fred korematsu refused executive order

  • Supreme Court ruled against

• germans and Italians also faced restrictions

executive order (9066)

• signed by FDR authorizing the military to designate “military areas” and exclude any or all persons from them

• using this order, military could evacuate and intern approx 120,000 japans Americans/us citizens to camps during WWII

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

• the US invasion of france

• allies planned operation overlord: a late invasion of mainland France

• marked the beginning of the end of the war

• massive scale, heavy casualties

• Paris liberated August 25, 1944

quarantine speech

• speech by FDR

• “war is a contagion that needs to be quarantined”

• “an epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading”

• minimize risk of involvement, but we can’t be completely isolated

• we need to take a more active stance against the axis powers

four freedoms

1. freedom of speech

2. freedom of worship

3. freedom from want

4. freedom from fear

Speech given by FDR —> the world needs us

America first committee

isolationist groups formed in 1940 to oppose US entry into WWII

• 800,000 members

• Charles Lindberg was a memeber

cash and carry

country can purchase gods from US (even military supplied) if they pay with cash upfront and transport using their own ships

lend lease

act of Congress in which the US supplied Britain, Soviet, and other allied nations with food, oil, and material between 1941 and 1945

• Basis: it was essential for the defense of the US

• warships, warplanes, other weaponry

• $50.1 billion supplies sent (17% of total war expenditures)

total war concept

a type of warfare where a nation mobilizes its entire population and resources (including civilians) to achieve complete victory over an enemy

Japan/tokyo bombing

• US airfare destroyed 15.8 square miles of city

• tremendous firestorms bombing the area

• launched during closing campaigns of pacific theater before Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• codenamed operation meeting house: single most destructive aerial bombing raid in human history

• more than 100,000 Japense killed

support in the home front

• creating engines for tanks (that were once for cars)

• blood donations

• war bonds

• rationing food

• manufacturing/ the workforce

• government issues price ceilings and wage controls

• buy only what you need

• paying taxes willingly

• paying off debts, staring savings acts

WPB

• “the war production board”

• directed conversion from peacetime work to wartime needs

• allocated scarce materials

• establishes priorities in distributing materials/service

• prohibited non-essential production

• rationed commodities (oil, metal, rubber, paper, plastic)

• 183 billions worth of supplies (40% of world output of munitions)

rationing

critical resources were rationed in households: sugar, tires, gas, meat, coffee, butter, canned goods, shoes.

• kept inflation down, preserved necessary goods for war effort, fairly distributed items in short supply

liberty bonds

• over half population bought billions worth of bonds

• bonds allowed repayment with interest

  • citizens earned monetary later on

• helped soldiers and allied countries benefit in active war while brining back the money to citizens for their deeds

• citizens guaranteed postwar prosperity

women and the war

• 19 million women join the workforce

• 6 million factory jobs

• expected to volunteer and manufacture with patriotism

propaganda

• used to unite the US homefront

• projected the japans as aliens

  • projected their people are unsettling

• put fear into americans minds —> we cannot be taken over

• projected the nazis as monsters

• used to promote war bonds

• promoted women in the workfoce

• promoted rationing

• used in movie theaters (looney tunes, Disney)

• used celebrities to motivate patriotism

• used women, men, and children to show everyone doing their part

• shown in schools

• automotive/mateiral restriction

impact of American industry on war effort

• free-market optimized allied battle front

• allowed nation to out produce its enemies

• manufacturing companies were able to create a surplus of civilian jobs, more manufacturing

• without private industry, mass production wouldnt get off the ground

• essential to building an arsenal of democracy

• women in workforce increased production

expansion of government power in wartime

• expansion in the executive branch —> executive order 9066

• war powers act 1941 —> expanded presidential authority, created new federal agencies and programs

• increased government spending and tax

• implementations without extensive congressional oversight as it was a time of war

Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• feb 1945: America wanted to capture Iwo Jima

• April 1945: America wanted to capture Okinawa

• islands would be a good base to launch raids against major Japanese cities

• japans refused to surrender

• first time Japan fought on Japanese land for Japan

• allies won

• costs of capture were very high

• new bombing tactic used, one designed to produce tremendous firestorms on japans cities

Manhattan project

top secret WWII government program that developed and deployed the first atomic weapons

bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Hiroshima: August 6. 1945

  • “little boy”

  • instant death of 90,000 to 160,000 people

  • destroying japans morale and strength

• Nagasaki: August 9, 1945

  • instant death of 150,000 to 246,000 people

  • “fat man”

  • plutonium bomb

  • secured American victory