Chapter 35 - America in World War II
The Allies Trade Space for Time
- The U.S. went from being isolationist to being an avenger due to the attack on Pearl Harbor with it resisting pressures
- The U.S. sent just enough troops to Japan to keep it in check
- U.S. faced hardship mobilizing for war with it having to clothe, feed, and transport its forces worldwide
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The Shock of War
- ==National unity== ==was strengthened after the attack on Pearl Harbor==
- 110,000 Japanese-Americans on the Pacific Coast were put into internment camps which took away property and freedom * Japanese Internment Camps were constitutionalized by 1944 in the case of Korematsu v. United States and it took more than 40 years before the U.S. admitted to fault and made $20,000 reparation payments to survivors
- Many of the New Deal programs were wiped out
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Building the War Machine
- Large military orders ended the depression by creating a demand for jobs and production
- ==War Production Board== ==stopped the manufacture of nonessential items==
- ==Farmers== ==produced more food, making prices soar with this being regulated by the Office of Price Administration==
- Labor Unions promised not to strike during war but some still did, nonetheless
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Manpower and Womanpower
- Armed forces had approximately 15 million men and 216,000 women
- Mexican workers were brought to the United States as resident workers due to the draft
- Women took up jobs in the workspace and ⅔ of women returned home after the war
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Wartime Migrations
- FDR used war as an excuse to pump money into the South, in order to revitalize it
- Randolph threatened “Negro March to Washington” in 1941 to get better rights and treatment
- ==Fair Employment Practices Commission== ==was meant to discourage racism and oppression in the workplace==
- Native Americans left their reservations during the war and found work in cities or joined the army \n
Holding the Home Front
- ==America== ==was the only country to emerge from World War II unscathed with it better off than before going to war==
- The abundance of spending during WWII lifted the United States from the Great Depression * The national debt rose, with most costs being borrowed
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The Rising Sun in the Pacific
- The Japanese conquered Guam, Wake, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Burma, etc.
- After fighters in the Philippines surrendered, they had to make the infamous 85-mile Bataan death march
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Japan’s High Tide at Midway
- Japanese onrush was checked in Coral Sea by American and Australian forces in the world’s first naval battle with this being fought with aircrafts via carriers * Japan had taken over the Aleutian Islands in Alaska
- ==Midway== ==was a turning point in the Pacific War with U.S. success in Midway helping in halting the Japanese==
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American Leapfrogging towards Tokyo
- Americans won at Guadalcanal in August of 1942 and got New Guinea by 1944
- American sailors shelled beachheads with artillery
- The ==Marshall Islands== ==fell to the United States in January and February of 1944==
- The assault on Marinas began on June 19, 1944 with superior planes
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The Allied Halting of Hitler
- United States, at first, had trouble against Germany as German U-boats were very effective
- The British launched a large raid on Cologne, France and were joined by U.S. air corps in August of 1942
- Russians launched a counteroffensive and regained ⅔ of the land they’d lost
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A Second Front from North Africa to Rome
- ==Soviets== ==begged the Allies to open the second front against Hitler with Americans being eager to comply and British being reluctant==
- FDR and Winston Churchill met and agreed on terms of “unconditional surrender” at the Casablanca Conference
- Sicily fell in August of 1943 and Mussolini was deposed a new government was set up
- Allies took Rome on June 4, 1944 and the Axis troops in Italy, surrendered on May 2, 1945
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D-Day: June 6, 1944
- FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met at Tehran Conference and agreed that Soviets and Allies would launch simultaneous attacks with the plan for cross-channel invasions being entrusted to General Eisenhower * The point of attack for the cross-channel invasions was French Normandy with D-Day beginning on June 6, 1944
- ==Paris== ==was freed in August of 1944==
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FDR: The Fourth-Termite of 1944
- Republicans nominated Dewey, a liberal governor of New York
- FDR was the democratic presidential nominee and the vice president nominee was Harry S. Truman, with him being chosen due to FDR’s age and him winning over Henry A. Wallace
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Roosevelt Defeats Dewey
- Dewey went on offensive campaign while FDR stuck to addressing WWII problems
- Roosevelt won 433 to 99 electoral votes
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The Last Days of Hitler
- Hitler, losing and retreating, started the Battle of “the Bulge”
- Americans reached Rhine River of Germany in March of 1945 and joined Soviet troops and marched towards Berlin * Allies found concentration camps upon entering Germany, where millions of Jews and “undesirables” had been slaughtered in attempted genocide
- Hitler, knowing he’d lost, committed suicide in his bunker on April 30, 1945
- FDR died on April 12, 1945 and Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945
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Japan Dies Hard
- American submarines and fire-bomb raids on Tokyo were wearing Japan out
- General MacArthur returned to the Philippines on October 20, 1944
- Okinawa was won and was captured at the cost of 50,000 American lives
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The Atomic Bombs
- ==Allies== ==issued ultimatum at Potsdam Conference: surrender or be destroyed==
- The ==first atomic bomb== ==was tested on July 16, 1945== * Americans dropped A-bombs on to Hiroshima and Nagaski when Japan refused to surrender which killed 180,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 people in Nagasaki * The war formally ended with the surrender of Hirohito on September 2, 1945
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The Allies Triumphant
- America suffered 1 million casualties and the number of people killed by disease and infections were low due to penicillin * Success in the war was partly thanks to the United States’ generals, admirals, and leaders
- The industry rose significantly with the U.S. being better prepared for war compared to others as it had a year and half to prepare
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