WWII Outline
Many socioeconomic trends in the latter half of the 20th century originated as a result of WWII
During WWII, wartime mobilization expanded the size and reach of the government and stimulated the economy
unemployment disappeared as production led to creation of jobs
demand for labor drew millions of women into the workforce
numerous migrants from rural America moved to industrial cities in response to increased demand → altering socio-economic structure
WWII strengthened the idea that American security was global in scope and that American values must be upheld worldwide to protect peace.
Military spending by the government sparked economic development of South and West
created a link btwn big business and a militarized federal government
WWII redefined what it meant to be American
In contrast to WWI, “new immigrants” of the early 20th century and their children were Americans
Blacks, despite being recognized as second-class citizens returned to the forefront of political discussion
Japanese Americans were ripped from their homes and put into internment camps due to being suspected as traitors
Struggles btwn national unity vs ethnic divisions
government intervention in economy vs “free market”
emerging Civil Rights movement vs commitment of racist whites to preserve racial order
women moving into the labor force challenged traditional family roles but many Americans wanted to return to the status quo
Fighting WWII
Good Neighbors
America was occupied w the Great Depression in the 1930s, meaning it played a minor role within international affairs.
However, FDR still made changes in American foreign policy
FDR exchanged ambassadors w the USSR to stimulate American trade which his predecessors refused to recognize
FDR formalized a Hoover policy in which America refused the right to intervene militarily in Latin American countries (Good Neighbor Policy)
FDR accepted Cuba’s withdrawal of the Platt Amendment (authorized American military intervention on the island)
these measures recognized the sovereignty of America’s neighbors
FDR was slightly hypocritical on his attack on wealthy businessmen
at home he criticized them, except abroad he was willing to work with undemocratic governments to prioritize American business interests
FDR wanted to counter German influence in Latin America by expanding hemispheric trade and promoting respect for American culture
American media gets sent on Latin American tours over military interventions
The Road to War
Japan began invading China in the 1930s, starting with Manchuria
They committed numerous war crimes especially in Nanjing, massacring numerous POWs and civilians alike.
Hitler was gaining power in Germany and he ignored the Treaty of Versailles and aggressively pursued rearmament (rebuilding military)
Hitler sent troops to occupy the Rhineland (demilitarized zone btwn France and Germany established after WWI as a buffer)
GB, France, and the US didn’t oppose his acquisition, which convinced Hitler that the democratic nations would not be able to stop his aggressive plans
Hitler would eventually annex Austria, the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia in order to unite ethnic Germans
Benito Mussolini (Italian fascist similar to Hitler) invaded and conquered Ethiopia
Franco leads an uprising against democratic government in Spain and Hitler uses it as a testing ground for new weaponry
Franco eventually wins the civil war and establishes another fascist government
FDR eventually became increasingly worried about Hitler’s aggression and actions against Jews (sending them to concentration camps and stripping them of citizenship + property)
Quarantine Speech (calls for international action to halt aggression) → no significant followup
FDR was forced to adopt the GB + French strategy of appeasement (agree w Hitler → prevent war)
Neville Chamberlain awards Hitler the Sudetenland (“peace in our time”)
Isolationism
Japanese and German aggression were non-threatening in the eyes of Americans
Hitler had many sympathizers in the U.S. (countering Soviet/Communist expansion)
Businessmen refused to give up business opportunities
i.e. Henry Ford did business w/ Nazi Germany and America shipped aircraft, trucks and oil to Japan
Many Americans believed that their involvement in WWI was a mistake
it was revealed that international bankers + arms dealers pressured Wilson into entering the war resulting in huge profits for themselves
Pacifist movements begin striking for peace (colleges)
Americans of German and Italian descent celebrated expansion of their home countries’ national power
Neutrality Acts → avoid conflicts over freedom of the seas that had led to American involvement in WWI
banned travel on belligerents’ ships and sale of arms to countries at war
Despite having the opportunity to uphold democracy during the Spanish Civil War, the US imposed an arms embargo b/c they were afraid of sparking conflict w Germany who supplied the fascist side
War in Europe
By 1938, Britain and France had caved to Hitler’s aggression
USSR proposed an agreement to oppose further German demands for territory
However, GB and France refused as they didn’t trust Stalin and saw Hitler as a buffer against further communist influence.
Stalin would end up signing a non-aggression pact w/ the Germans
Germany invades Poland and triggers Britain and France to declare war as they swore to protect Poland.
GB and France were not match for the German blitzkrieg as they stormed Poland, much of Scandinavia, Belgium, and the Netherlands
Hitler would soon occupy Paris, nearly all of Europe and North Africa.
Germany, Italy, Japan create Axis military alliance in Sept 1940
Britain is virtually alone in fighting Germany for a whole year
Battle of Britain
German planes launch attacks on London and other cities. the RAF eventually turned back the air assault
Churchill calls upon the “new world” to rescue Europe
Toward Intervention
FDR viewed Hitler’s triumphs as a direct threat to America but Americans were desperate to remain out of the conflict.
After much debate, Congress approved the sale of arms to Britain on “cash and carry” basis (paid in cash and transported on British ships)
Congress also approved plans for rearmament
Roosevelt was hesitant to push for more actions as there was an upcoming election
Opposition to joining the war organized the America First Committee
leaders included Ford, Father Coughlin, and Lindbergh
FDR announces he’s running for a third term as international situation and domestic climate was too dangerous and fragile for a switch in power
Republicans choose Wendell Willkie as their man in 1940
Both candidates were extremely similar (both supported peacetime draft law and New Deal policies)
FDR still won
FDR wanted America to be “the great arsenal of democracy”, providing GB and China w military supplies in their fight against Germany and Japan
In 1941, the US became increasingly allied w nations fighting against the Axis
Britain was virtually bankrupt and couldn’t pay for supplies → Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act (authorized military aid so long as countries promised to return it after the war)
The Lend-Lease Act allowed the US to funnel arms to GB, China, and the USSR (Hitler renounced his non-aggression pact and attacked them)
FDR also froze Japanese assets in the US, halting trade and starving Japan of oil
Interventionists tried to spark motivation to prepare for war
popularized slogans
Free World Association was formed by refugees from Germany and other occupied countries and Americans to bring the US into war against Hitler
Freedom House, intellectuals w prestigious credentials described the war in Europe as ideological one in which America had to immediately declare war to protect the “free world”
Pearl Harbor
Intercepted Japanese messages showed that a Pacific attack was imminent
Pearl Harbor was the Japanese attempt to cripple American naval power in the Pacific
Without American intervention, Japan would gain access to resources no longer obtainable from the US, cementing itself as a dominant power in the reigion
Pearl Harbor was a complete surprise and many servicemen, aircraft and naval vessels were destroyed
thankfully no aircraft carriers were docked @ Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack
Conspiracy theories exist about FDR having knowledge of the attack but doing nothing to spark US entry into war.
FDR urged Congress for a declaration of war against Japan (388-1) and America was officially involved in WWII after Germany declared war against it a day later
The War in the Pacific
America suffered numerous military disasters in the beginning of its involvement in WWII
Japan had occupied French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), Myanmar, Thailand, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
included oil fields that could replace American supply to Japan
Japan also occupied the Philippines, Guam and other Pacific Islands
Bataan Death March: largest surrender in American military history and POWs were forced to endure horrible conditions in their journey to prisoner camp (disease and starvation)
German subs sank hundreds of allied merchant and naval vessels during the Battle of the Atlantic
The tide began to turn w the Battle of the Coral Sea
American navy deflected a Japanese fleet meant to Attack Australia
Battle of Midway (THE TURNING POINT)
America inflicts devastating losses on the Japanese navy (4 aircraft carriers and other vessels)
American codebreakers had managed to decipher the Japanese communications code leading them to predict the time of the assault.
The Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway allowed American forces to launch island hopping campaigns to remove the Japanese off the islands and brought American troops closer to Japanese mainland
The War in Europe
The Grand Alliance united America, GB, and the USSR to defeat Nazi Germany
Each leader had major differences in their societies and long-term goals
Stalin wanted to establish sufficient control over eastern Europe so that his country would never be invaded again
Churchill wanted the British to emerge intact from the war
FDR much like Wilson wanted to establish a new international order to prevent future conflict breakouts
Western Front
The leaders also had significant differences in their ideas of military strategy
Stalin wanted an early attack across the English Channel to relieve Soviet Forces and confront German forces in France
Churchill wanted to attack the “soft underbelly” of Axis Power through the Mediterranean beginning in North Africa
Churchill’s approach prevailed
British and American forces invaded North Africa and forced the surrender of German army under Rommel. (1942)
British and American forces then gained the upper hand in the Atlantic as Allied destroyers + planes ravaged German submarine fleet. (1943)
Despite FDR’s commitment to liberate Europe from the Nazis, American troops did not immediately arrive in Europe.
GB and American forces invade Sicily beginning liberation of Italy (1943)
Mussolini’s government was overthrown leading to German occupation and fighting throughout 1944
American troops in Europe didn’t begin until D-Day
200k Allied troops under Eisenhower landed in Normandy (NW France), pushing the Germans eastward leading to the liberation of Paris
Eastern Front
After breaking the non-aggression pact, German forces swept through western Russia and they launched a siege of Stalingrad in 1942
this was a catastrophic mistake for the Germans
The Russians (bolstered by American military supplies) surrounded the German troops and forced them to surrender
2 million casualties
German surrender @ Stalingrad marked a turning point in the European front.
Coupled w Russian victory at Battle of Kursk (largest tank battle in history), German forces were devastated and retreated back towards Germany
A large majority of German casualties during WWII occurred on the Russian front (10 million out of 13.6 million)
Numerous Poles and Russians perished (not just soldiers) but also civilians victims of starvation, disease, and German massacres
Hitler’s final solution was to exterminate “undesirables” (Slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, and Jews)
the Holocaust occurred due to Hitler’s vision that Germans were a master race destined to rule the world
The Home Front
Mobilizing for War
huge size of army + draft recruits exemplified how the war united American society in new ways
Army threw together people from every region and walk of life, almost every racial and ethnic background
government ends voluntary enlistment in 1942 → ensured wartime sacrifice was distributed throughout American society.
WWII transforms the role of the national government
FDR created fed agencies such as War Production Board, War Manpower Board, etc. → regulate allocation of labor, control shipping industry, establish manufacturing quotas, fix wages/prices/rents
EXPANSION OF FED GOV POWER
explosion of number of federal workers → unemployment falls
Government built housing for war workers + forced civilian industries to focus on wartime production
factories would make vehicles, weapons and tools
GDP explodes and so does government expenditure
Government sold billions of dollars worth of bonds, increased taxes, and witheld income tax directly from weekly paychecks
only richest Americans pay income tax → masses pay
Business and the War
relationship btwn fed gov and big business changed dramatically since ND
FDR offered incentives to spur output: low-interest loans, tax concessions, contracts w/ guaranteed profits
federal spending went mostly to lage corporations → furthered long term trend of economic concentration
wartime manufacturing produced extreme quantities of wartime equipment
gov sponsored scientific research perfected scientific inventions like radar, jet engines, and early computers → win the war and huge impact on post war life
helped to restore reputation of business/businessmen which had plummeted during GD
wartime production stimulated emergence of production centers (West Coast)
In the South, rural out-migration + government investment in military-related factories + shipyards exacerbated shfit from agriculture to industry
Southern income rose significantly during the war but they remained poor when the war ended
lived in rural conditions (wooden shacks + no plumbing)
Southern economy still relied on agriculture, lumber, mining, oil, cotton textiles
Labor in Wartime
Organized labor saw WWII as a crusade for freedom that would expand economic and political democracy
arranged agreement w gov and business that allowed union membership to soar and to be recognized by employers to secure industrial peace + stabilize war production
Despite work in the 1930s from labor, most industries didn’t get established unions until WWII
Congress was dominated by Republicans + Southern Democrats who began tearing down the New Deal
left core ND programs such as SS intact but elimianted organization they thought were “controlled by leftists”
CCC, NYA, WPA
rejected FDR’s call for a cap on personal incomes and set corporate taxes far lower than FDR’s request
Despite “no-strike” pledge, numerous brief walkouts happened where workers protested against increasing speed of assembly line production and wage inequality (frozen by gov order + expanding corporate profits)
Fighting for the 4 Freedoms
Unlike previous wars, WWII came to be remembered as the “Good War”
time of national unity in pursuit of noble goals
war effort still had to appeal to public opinion for patriotism → sell the idea of fighting for freedom
FDR’s 4 Freedoms:
freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear
freedom from fear also advocated for a broader sense of security globally
one notable example of the widespread application of these freedoms was the overturning of a SC ruling so now Jehovah’s Witnesses were allowed to refuse to salute to the American flag in public schools
sharply contrasted the forced patriotism saw in WWI (propaganda + federal agencies that spied on the people_
FDR used these principles to contrast the tyranny of the Nazis
Freedom from Want
FDR initially meant it to refer to the elimination of barriers to international trade
chnaged to protect the future “standard of living of the American worker and farmer”
guaranteed that Depression wouldn’t continue post-war
Norman Rockwell’s paintings of the 4 Freedoms in the Saturday Evening Post were accompanied by essays that depicted that these freedoms were one with the American perspective and in contrast w the Nazis
Carlos Bulosan, Filipino poet’s essay depicted the 4 Freedom’s potential to inspire hopes for a better future (sharing the fruits of American life for minorities)
The Office of War Information
OWI was created in 42’ to mobilize public opinion
illustrates how the political divisions generated by ND affected efforts to promote the 4 Freedoms
Liberal Dems who dominated the OWI’s writing staff sought to make the conflict “people’s war” for freedom
OWI feared that Americans didn’t have a clear understanding of the war’s purpose and that they were only concerned with exacting revenge on JPN for Pearl Harbor
OWI utilized radio, film, press and other media to give conflict an ideological meaning, but seeked to avoid the nationalist hysteria in WWI
Wartime mobilization drew on deep-seated American traditions to promote their vision of the war
Critics charged that the OWI semeed most interested in promoting FDR’s 1930 definition of freedom (right to a job at fairy pay and adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care)
Congress was concerned the OWI was devoting too much time to promoting ND → eliminated its funding
The Fifth Freedom
War Advertising Council regulated private companies who promoted wartime patriotism while positioning their brands for the post-war era
These companies made ads to urge Americans to purchase war bonds, keep military secrets, and grow “victory gardens” to send food to the army
These companies also marketed their own definition of freedom
FDR neglected a 5th freedom (free enterprise, attributed the amazing feats of wartime production to these idea)
Americans on the home front were prosperous despite the rationing of consumer items like coffee, meat, and gasoline b/c more goods were available in 1944 than in the beginning of the war.
Businessmen predicted postwar world filled w/ consumer goods, “freedom of choice” if only private enterprise were freed from government regulation
The War didn’t imply any alternation in American institutions
Women at Work
unprecedented mobilization of women to fill in for industrial jobs vacated by men
OWI publications encouraged women to go to work
Hollywood films glorified independent woman
private advertising used symbols such as Rosie the Riveter to celebrate women’s achievements.
Most women workers still labored in clerical and service jobs but new opportunities were opening in industrial, professional, and government positions previous restricted to men.
For the first time, married women in their 30s outnumbered hyoung and single among female workers.
Women gained a “taste of freedom” → hoped to remain in labor force once peace returned
Women forced unions like UAW to confront issues like equal pay for equal work, maternity leave, and childcare facilities for working mothers.
Defense companies sponsored swing bands and dances to boost worker morale and arranged dates btwn male and female workers.
engaged in sexual activity while unmarried
The Pull of Tradition
Government, employers, and unions depicted work as a temporary necessity, NOT as an expansion of women’s freedom
common belief was AGAINST women working
Ads assured women laboring in factories that they were “fighting for freedom”; however, their language depicted it as a sacrifice for military victory, not for their rights, independence, or self-determination
When the war ended, most female workers (esp. those in better paying industrial employment lost their jobs)
Despite the increase in working women, advertisers “world of tomorrow” rested on a vision of family-centered prosperity
women were supposed to stay at home and greet their husbands returning from work everyday (a home filled with consumer appliances to help women do household chores)
Men in the army also assumed that they would return home and women would also resume traditional family life after the war
Visions of Postwar Freedom
Toward an American Century
idea of affluent future united New Dealers and conservatives, business and labor
Henry Luce’s The American Century was an effort to mobilize Americans both the coming war + era of postwar world leadership
Americans most embrace the role history had given them as the “dominant” power of the world → spread their ideals of freedom worldwide
Luce: American mission of spreading democracy worldwide goes all the way back to the Revolution; however, unlike previously WWII aimed to be an active agent imposing American ideals rather than an example
This vision faced criticism from the left as it seemed to call for American imperialism → response collected in “The Price of Free World Victory” (Henry Wallace)
Wallace envisioned that the war would result in “century of the common man”
international cooperation over singular power’s rule
governments would act to redistribute economic resources to eliminate hunger, illiteracy, and poverty
Luce: free enterprise vs Wallace: Global ND
While these two visions were wildly different they did have one thing in common: America’s role tied to continued international involvement, promised economic abundance, and that America should serve as an example
neither took into account countries’ own plans to proceed postwar
“The Way of Life of Free Men”
Despite Congress dismantling parts of the ND, left-wingers unveiled plans for a post war econ policy that would allow all Americans to enjoy freedom from want.
NRPB creates plan for postwar econ based on full employment, expanded welfare state
expanded SS, guaranteed education, health care, adequate housing (think socialism)
Liberals want to transform the capitalist system into a socialist one
rely on the government to secure full employment, social welfare and mass consumption
HOWEVER, they would leave operation of the economy itself to private hands
reflected the views of Keynes (gov spending is best way to promote econ growth)
The massive military spending as a part of the war had created jobs and public works → NRPB proposes to continue these Keynesian principles in peacetime
this went so far beyond Congress’ willing scope that they eliminated the NRPB’s funding
An Economic Bill of Rights
FDR knew that most Americans were in favor of guaranteeing employment for those who couldn’t find work
called for the “Economic Bill of Rights”, FDR proposed to expand the power of the fed gov in order to secure full employment, adequate income, medical care, education and a decent home for all Americans
FDR was occupied with the war and didn’t speak about this plan much
GI Bill of Rights
extended an array of benefits to returning veterans: unemployment pay, scholarships for further education, low-cost mortgage loans, pensions, job training
one of the most far reaching pieces of social legislation ever.
was aimed to reward veterans for their service and to prevent widespread unemployment and economic disruption that had arisen after WWI
hugely influenced postwar society (sent many veterans to college and spurred the postwar housing boom)
Unions, civil rights organizations, and religious groups urged Congress to enact the Full Employment Bill (GI Bill but for the entire economy)
Bill passed after being limited (governmental job creation eliminated)
As the war was ending, most Americans embraced the idea that the gov needed to play a major role in maintaining employment and high standard of living
The Road to Serfdom
Failure of the Full Employment Bill symbolized the political stalemate ever since 1938
also renewed fears that economic planning represented a threat to liberty
The Road to Serfdom - Frederick Hayek
claimed that even the best intentioned government efforts to direct the economy posed a threat to individual liberty
“planning leads to dictatorship”
The power of war production had reinvigorated belief in capitalist virtues and the Nazi regime being a demonstration of the dangers of merging economic and political power, Hayek’s book was a keystone of opponents of a more active economy
in a complex economy, no one person has sufficient information to direct economic moves well
Hayek was not an advocate of laissez-faire
his book endorsed measures that conservatives would denounce as socialism
minimum wage, max hours laws, antitrust enforcement, guaranteeing all citizens food, shelter, and clothing
didn’t identify himself as a conservative
He equated, fascism, socialism, and the New Deal as leading to a loss of freedom → rise of modern conservatism + revival of laissez-faire economics
The government’s proper role in society and the economy, and the social conditions of American freedom was an emerging question as the war ended
The American Dilemma
WWII reshaped America’s identity as a people
the struggle against Nazi tyranny and theory of a master race discredited ethnic and racial inequality → pluralism became part of the official American belief
Government insisted that they were dedicated to upholding the 4 Freedoms and that these applied to everyone
Racism was the philosophy of the enemy → America had to have a philosophy of tolerance and equality for all
immigrants had become to be accepted as ethnic American rather than as inferior
contradiction btwn equal freedom + treatment of blacks became a national issue
Patriotic Assimilation
WWII created a melting pot of American culture
millions of Americans moved out of urban ethnic neighborhoods and isolated rural enclaves into the army + industrial plants (led to ethnic mixing)
patriotic assimilation vs Americanization
Unlike WWI, FDR promoted pluralism as the source of harmony rather than forcing Anglo-Saxon culture upon the immigrants
Government and private agencies eagerly promoted equality as the definition of Americanism and the antithesis to Nazism.
Officials would rewrite history to depict racial/ethnic tolerance as the American ideal
OWI highlighted nearly every group’s contributions to American life and celebrated the strength of a population united in respect for diversity
learning from the intolerance spawned from WWI
Biological/social scientists abandoned their belief in a link btwn race, culture and intelligence, an idea once central to their beliefs after being horrified by the Nazis usage of such ideas
racism and nativism had been stripped of their prominence and outside of the South they were viewed as psychological disorders
Hollywood also enforced the vision of a postwar society that celebrated ethnic diversity through its movies
Intolerance still existed however
many business and government circles still excluded Jews
Anti-Semitism caused over 20k Jews to be denid asylum in the US
Roosevelt learned about the severity of the Holocaust but refused to authorize airstrikes that might have destroyed German death camps
Ethnic Americans, especially children of new immigrants felt fully American for the first time
The Harlem Race Riot of 1943 suggested that this inclusivity stopped at the color line
The Bracero Program
Non-whites made significantly less progress during the war
Racial barriers remained deeply entrenched in American life when America entered the war
Southern blacks were still trapped in rigid segregation
Asians could not immigrate to the US or become naturalized citizens
400,000 Mexicans had been forced back across the border by Southwestern authorities during the Depression
Natives still lived on reservations in poverty
Bracero program
agreed to by the MX and American governments in 1942
tens of thousands of contract laborers crossed into the US to take jobs as domestic and agricultural workers
initially designed as a temporary response to wartime labor shortage, it lasted long past the war’s end.
Braceros were supposed to receive decent housing and wages
but since they could not become citizens and could be deported at any time, it was impossible for them to form unions or secure better working conditions
reinforced the status of immigrants from Mexico as unskilled laborers
opened opportunities for 2nd gen MX-Americans
left their ethnic neighborhoods to work in defense industries or serve in the army (unlike blacks they fought alongside whites)
The war allowed for MX-American women to publicly participate and earn higher wages
Birth of “Chicano” culture, fusion of MX heritage and American experience was emerging
many Mexicans began to learn English and intermarry to due contact with other ethnic groups
Mexican-American Rights
Zoot Suit Riots
club-wielding sailors and policemen attacked MX-American youth wearing flamboyant clothing in LA → illustrate limits of wartime tolerance
The hypocrisy btwn the war’s goal for freedom and pluralism and the reality of continued discrimination inspired a civil right smovement.
MX-Americans complained about discrimination to the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)
wanted to fight for equal wages to whites doing the same job
Half a million MX-American men and women served in the armed forces
discrimination against Mexicans became a growing embarassment for FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy
Good Neighbor policy emphasized cooperation and trade over military intervention (recognized sovereignty of Latin America and pulled out of their governments
tried to promote respect for American culture through fostering goodwill and economic engagement
Mexicans were defined as white in Texas legally but they were still discriminated against → no braceros for them
Indians during the War
25k natives served in the army
included the famous Navajo “code-talkers” (transmitted their messages in complex native language, undecipherable by Japanese)
Iroquois issued their own declaration of war against the Axis powers b/c they said the US lacked the authority to draft Indian men into the army
tens of thousands of Indians left reservations for jobs in war industries
after being exposed to urban life many chose not to return to the reservations after the war ended
Many Indians used the GI Bill to attend college which was a rare opportunity for natives previously
Asian-Americans in Wartime
Numerous children/grandchildren of asian immigrants fought in the army (mostly in all-Asian units)
Congress finally ended complete Asian exclusion by setting a quota after China became an ally in the Pacific war
no desire for large scale influx of Asians
Chinese valiantly fighting to defend their country against the Japanese questioned long-standing racial stereotypes
Similar to the Mexicans, many Chinese-Americans moved out of ethnic ghettos to work alongside whites in homefront jobs.
Japanese-Americans had a war worse experience
Both Japan and America saw the war in the Pacific as a race war
Japanese propaganda depicted Americans as selfish and contaminated by ethnic and racial diversity vs the “racially pure” Japanese
Long-standing prejudice and Pearl Harbor produced an unprecedented hatred for Japan in the US
rather than blaming a leader for aggression, they blamed it on the Japanese culture as a whole
Most Japanese Americans lived in California as vegetable farming
issei: first generation immigrants
nisei: American-born, citizens of America
most Japanese-Americans were nisei and they only spoke English, trying to assimilate despite prejudice
Unlike their treatment of German and Italian Americans, the US viewed every person of Japanese ethnicity as a potential spy
Japanese American-Interment
Military persuaded FDR to issue Executive Order 9066
ordered the relocation of all persons of Japanese descent from the West Coast from their homes to camps far away
didn’t apply to Hawaii due to its economic reliance on Japanese-American labor
Japanese-American interment provided backing for the claim that Japan’s aggression in Asia was to protect the rights of non-white people against the imperialist/racist United States
Internees lived in an environment resembling military discipline
lived in horse stables, makeshift shacks or barracks behind barbed-wire fences
rigid schedule, constant security, nonexistent privacy
the internees tried to create a sense of home environment using decorations, sports and art
Interment revealed how easily war can undermine basic freedoms
no court hearings, no due process, suspended habeas corpus → HUGE VIOLATION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES
The policy was supported almost unanimously as groups that were publicly committed to fighting discrimination either defended it or stayed silent
Korematsu v Untied States
Japanese-American citizen was arrested for refusing to present himself for interment
Hugo Black usually an avid defender of civil liberties upheld the legality of interment as an order applied only to Japanese Americans wasn’t racial
Government marketed war bonds to the internees
established a loyalty oath program expecting JPN-Americans to swear allegiance to the nation that had imprisoned them + enlist in their army.
Despite resistance, numerous Japanese Americans served in the armed forces
The injustice of interment was eventually acknowledged after a long campaign → measly reparations
Blacks and the War
Wartime message of freedom led to a huge transformation in black status
Despite FDR preaching racial equality, Nazi Germany cited American practices as valid reasons for their racial policies
D.C. remained a deeply segregated city and their refusal to mix black and white blood supported Nazi race theories
Second Great Migration
blacks moved from rural South to cities of the North and West on “liberty trains” to find jobs in the industrial heartland
much lager than First Great Migration
they sometimes encountered violent hostility
1943 Detroit Race Riot
“hate strike” protested the upgrading of black employees in a aircraft engine manufacturing plant
War failed to end lynching
Blacks and Military Service
During the onset of the war, black participation in armed forces was very limited and were confined to noncombat roles such as waiters, cooks, construction, and transport
Many Northern Black draftees who were sent to the South for training faced discrimination from public facilities and at the military bases themselves
went so far as Black Soldiers had to give up their seats for Nazi POWs
Southern black veterans returned home and wanted benefits through the GI Bill
local authorities only allowed southern black veterans to use the education benefits at segregated colleges, limited job training to unskilled work and low-wage service jobs, and prohibited them from getting loans to purchase farms
Birth of the Civil Rights Movement
Public-opinion survey conducted by the army’s Bureau of Intelligence found that most white Americans were oblivious to the “Negro Problem” and believed that blacks were satisfied with their socioeconomic conditions
They would soon be proven wrong
The war years witnessed the emergence of the modern civil rights movement
Outraged by the near complete exclusion of blacks from jobs in war industries, A. Philip Randolph (black labor leader) called for a March on Washington
advocated for access to defense employment, ending segregation, and a national antilynching law
emphasized that his values were in line with the war’s rhetoric to show America’s hypocrisy
The government was scared by the threat posed by Randolph’s March and FDR passed Executive Order 8802 that banned discrimination in defense jobs and established a Fair Employment Practices Commission to protect it.
blacks viewed this as the second coming of the Emancipation Proclamation
FEPC lacked enforcement powers but its existence marked a significant shift in public policy
exposed patterns of racial exclusion and discrimination against blacks for certain jobs
FEPC played an important role in obtaining jobs for black workers in industrial plants and shipyards
The war created the climate that made this civil progress possible for blacks
hypocrisy of the war rhetoric coerced minority groups to retaliate and fight for their freedoms
The Double-V
NAACP membership exploded by 10x during the war
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded by interracial group of pacifists in 1942 and held sit-ins in northern cities to ingrate restaurants and theaters
The Pittsburgh Courier (newspaper) coined the phase double-V to symbolize black attitudes during the war
victory over the Axis must be accompanied by victory over segregation at home.
FDR and white press saw the war as an expression of American ideals
Black press pointed out the gaps between their ideals and reality
a segregated army “cannot fight for a free world”
Whites saw freedom as a possession to be defended, blacks saw it as a goal to be achieved
What the Negro Wants
During the war, a broad political coalition centered on the left called for an end to racial equality in America
NAACP and American Jewish Congress cooperated closely in advocating laws to ban discrimination in employment and housing
Despite resistance from many white workers, CIO unions, especially those with strong left influence organized black workers and fought for them to gain access to skilled positions (unseen racial diversity since the Knights of Labor)
AFL unions remained segregated
Against black cries for an end to segregation, southern politicians vehemently protected white supremacy
defenders of the racial status quo said that freedom meant the right to shape their region’s institutions without outside interference
the war sowed the seeds for the civil rights movement but also planted the seeds for the South’s massive resistance to desegregation in the 1950s
More than in the 1930s, federal officials spoke publicly about the need for significant change in race relations
progress came slowly
National War Labor Board banned racial wage differences
Smith v Allwright
SC outlawed all-white primaries (increasing black political representation)
soldiers be allowed to vote without paying a poll tax, enabling thousands of black men to vote for the first time
slow integration of blacks into white units
Wendell Willkie, FDR’s opponent in 1940 went on a world tour to rally support for the Allies and published One World
the great surprise was that his book attacked the imperialist attitude of Americans and their hypocritical racism would lead to their leadersihp lacking moral authority
An American Dilemma
An American Dilemma highlighted the new concern with the status of blacks in America
it was an account of the country’s racial, past, present, and future written by Swedish social scientist Gunnar Myrdal.
depicted how deeply racism was integrated in law, politics, economics, and social behavior in the US
the war made America aware of the gap btwn their ideals and their treatment of blacks → Myrdal believed the war would spark change in the blacks’ status
Many black activists such as WEB DuBois and Douglass had preached similar ideas, but the worldwide struggle against Nazism and the rising black demands for domestic equality led it to resonate
identified the problem and offered an easy solution: government taking the lead in outlawing discrimination → foundation for liberal stance on racial relations for years
By 1945, racial relations had taken its place on the forefront of the liberal-left agenda along with full employment, civil liberties, and expansion of the ND welfare state
FDR rarely spoke out about racial issues but many liberals believed that discrimination had to be confronted with direct legislation
antilynching, equal opportunity for work, end to segregated housing and schools, expansion of Social Security to cover agricultural and domestic workers
Black Internationalism
Beginning in the 19th century, black radicals sought to link the fate of African-Americans with that of people of African descent worldwide, especially in the Caribbean and Africa
20th century revival
Garveyism
5 Pan-African Congresses
featured black intellectuals from the US, Caribbean, Europe, and Africa
denounced the colonial rule of Africa and sought to establish a sense of unity among all people of African origin
provided an opportunity for Africa-American intellectuals to meet with future leaders who would end up leading independence movements for African nations
shaped the belief that freeing Africa from colonialism would lead to better domestic treatment
The End of the War
In the early months of 1945, Allied victory was assured.
Late Dec 1944, Hitler launched a surprise counterattack in France that pushed Allied forces back 50 miles (Battle of the Bulge)
numerous American casualties, but by 1945, the assault had failed
As American troops crossed the Rhine and entered the industrial heartland of Germany, Hitler committed suicide and Soviet forces soon occupied Berlin
V-E Day was the formal end in the war against Germany
In the Pacific, American forces moved closer to Japan, reconquering Guam in August of 1944 and landing in the Philippines in Oct
Battle of Leyte Gulf - destroyed most of the remaining Japanese fleet
“The Most Terrible Weapon”
Election of 1944: FDR defeats Dewey but dies before the Allied victory due to a stroke
Truman succeeds him and faces a momentous decision: whether to use the atomic bomb against Japan
Truman only learned about the bomb after becoming president when Secretary of War Stimson informed him of the creation of this destructive weapon
Einstein fled from Germany to the US in 1939 and warned FDR that Nazi scientists were trying to develop an atomic weapon and advised that the president to the same.
FDR would authorize the Manhattan Project in the following year
The Dawn of the Atomic Age
America drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (chosen b/c it had not been damaged unlike other major Japanese cities)
huge death toll
After the second bomb in Nagasaki, and the Soviet union declaring war on Japan and invading Manchuria, Japan surrendered within a week
Use of the bomb remains controversial because of the astronomical civilian death toll
Truman had to weigh his options such as an American invasion (no such invasion was ever planned)
Truman didn’t hesitate to use the bomb, as a weapon it was created to be used
Japan was willing to end the war of their emperor could remain on his throne
The Nature of the War
The atomic bomb was the culmination in WWII being an instance of unprecedented civilian targeting
Unlike prior wars, Germany had killed millions of members of “inferior races” and repeatedly bombed London and other civilian hotspots
The Allies carried even more deadly air assaults on civilian populations
firebombing of Dresden killed 100k people, mostly women, children and elderly men
firebombing of Tokyo caused similar damage
War propaganda had dehumanized the Japanese in the eyes of Americans and few criticized Truman’s decision in 1945
However, doubts began to surface after graphic accounts of the horrors suffered by the victims of the atom bomb surfaced
Eisenhower expressed his ideas that the bomb was unnecessary and regretted the precedent America was setting
Planning the Post War World
Even as the war raged on, meetings between Allied leaders crafted a vision for a postwar world
Churchill, FDR, and Stalin met in Tehran in 1943 and Yalta in 1945
Potsdam in July 1945 was the final “Big Three Conference” and the Allied leaders established a military administration for Germany and agreed to place top Nazi leaders on trial for war crimes
Relations between the three Allies were often uneasy as they each wanted to maximize their own postwar power.
Neither GB nor the US trusted Stalin
The delay in the Allied invasion of France left the Soviets to do most of the fighting against Germany, angering the Russians
but since Stalin had won the eastern front, he got his wish to secure eastern Europe as a sphere of influence
Yalta and Bretton Woods
At the Yalta conference, FDR and Churchill mildly protested against Soviet plans to retain control of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and eastern Poland (pre WWI Russia’s western borders)
Stalin was hellbent on establishing communism in eastern Europe
Yalta planted seeds of conflict between the US and USSR due to disagreements on the fate of Eastern Europe
Tension btwn GB and the US existed due to British refusal to place India and other British colonies on the road to independence (courtesy of America)
Churchill conducted private deals w Stalin to divide southern and eastern Europe into British and Soviet spheres of influence
Bretton Woods Conference
Britain resisted the change of the international currency from the pound to the dollar (resisting American influence)
reestablished the link btwn the dolla rand gold
created the 2 American-dominated institutions
World Bank would provide money to developing nations and to rebuild Europe
The IMF would prevent governments from devaluing their currencies to gain advantages in international trade which is what they did during the GD
created the framework for the postwar capitalist economic system based on free international trade and the recognition of the US as the world’s financial leader
wanted to prevent another Great Depression → stimulate economic activity by removing barriers to free trade
The United Nations
Early in the War the Allies agreed to establish the United Nations (successor to the League)
1944 Conference @ Dumbarton Oaks established its structure
General Assembly - forum discussion where each nation had equal voice
Security Council - responsible for maintaining world peace
UN Charter outlawed force/threat of force as a means of settling international disputes
Passed with ease in the U.S. → highlighting attitude shift from isolationism post WWI in American hesitation to join the LoN
Peace, but not Harmony
WWII led to a huge redistribution of world power:
Germany and Japan were utterly defeated
GB and France had lost substantial power
only the USSR and the US were able to project their influence internationally
US was still the dominant power
Soviet occupation of eastern Europe created divisions that led to the Cold War
The dropping of the atom bombs spread worldwide fear
Newfoundland Conference + Atlantic Charter (1941)
after defeating Nazi Germany they promised to grant open access to markets, the right of “all peoples to choose their form of government, and a global extension of the ND so that everyone would enjoy “improved labor standards, econ advancement and SS”
WWII’s rhetoric helped to lay the foundation for postwar ideals of human rights worldwide
During WII, Gandhi wrote to FDR that despite the war’s noble intentions, it would remain hollow so long as India and Africa were exploited by GB and so long as America had its “Negro Problem”
While Allied victory prevented an apocalyptic nightmare under dictatorship and slave labor of “inferior races”, the disputes over the freedom of colonial peoples and non-whites in the US would lead to great social upheaval in years to come.