World War II 1941-1945

1. World War II 1941-1945

2. December 7, 1941: “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy!” 11/27/41With tensions rising between the Japanese and American government, the War Department issued warnings to U.S. bases in Hawaii to be on guard, but said to not expect a attack because the Japanese did not have the resources to launch such a long-range attack. President Roosevelt addressed Congress the next day and Congress gave their approval to go to war with Japan and any nation that supported Japan! At 7:49 AM…12/7/41…183 Japanese planes, including 40 torpedo bombers and 49 high altitude bombers hit Pearl Harbor. They attacked battleship row and the air fields.

3. President Roosevelt addressed Congress the next day and Congress gave their approval to go to war with Japan and any nation that supported Japan!

4. Getting Ready For War Pearl Harbor shocked the nation but the nation was actually ready for war…..HOW? -For months Roosevelt had been setting aside money to loan to companies to cover the cost of converting to war production. -Automobile factories produced trucks, jeeps, tanks, rifles, mines, helmets, pontoon bridges, cooking pots, etc. Even Henry Ford created an assembly line to build B-24 bombers! -After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor almost all major American industries and 200,000 companies had converted to war production.

5. Building the United States Army -As in WWI, the Selective Service draft was used to recruit an overwhelming number of of G.I.s. The majority were young recruits who had little training -At the Beginning of the war the army was completely segregated, but that would quickly change Roosevelt won his last election with support of the Black vote….so he launched the: “Double V Campaign”-campaign that encouraged African Americans to joint the military because a victory would be a victory over racism at home and overseas. It would hopefully be a step in gaining minorities respect throughout the U.S. The Problem???? African Americans were still greatly Disfranchised….meaning they were denied the right to vote.

6. The Impact of the War at HomeU.S. Society 1942-43 BELIEVE IT!!THE WAR HAD A POSITIVE EFFECT ON AMERICAN SOCIETY!!!!!!! The government created a female character to use in its war propaganda to convince married women to work in the factories while their husbands were off fighting the war in Europe and Asia…that characters name??? **ROSIE THE RIVETER 2.5 million women entered into the manufacturing workforce -The war led to 19 million new jobs and double the income of American families -Labor shortages caused by the war forced factories to hire women in positions traditionally held by men

7. The Impact of the War at HomeU.S. Society 1942-43 America was also on the move! -Almost 15 million Americans moved from the MidWest (Rust Belt) West and South during the war to be closer to where new jobs were available. *The growth and expansion of cities in the Deep South created a new Industrial Region called the…SUN BELT -African Americans continued the Great Migration they started in the 1920s…moving to the North to take factory jobs vacated by men who were fighting in the war.

8. The Impact of the War at HomeU.S. Society 1942-43 There was a very ugly reality at home! -The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor scared many Americans living on the West Coast. Due to migration throughout the late 1800s, California, Washington, and Oregon had a large population of Japanese-American citizens whose ancestors had come the the country during the Great Western Expansion. Many Americans feared that these citizens would be loyal to their ancestry and help aide the Japanese Army in launching an invasion on the American Pacific Coast.

9. The Japanese Internment Camps Roosevelt’s Response to the West Coast Hysteria -Roosevelt declared the entire Western portion of the United States a “War Zone”. The U.S. army was given police jurisdiction over the West Coast. -Roosevelt then signed EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066this gave the U.S. army permission to remove anyone from any region declared a military or war zone. -Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, then ordered any person of “Japanese Ancestry” to be evacuated from the region and detained in one of 10 internment camps being constructed throughout the Midwestern region of the country. People were taken from their homes, separated from their families, they property and possessions sold, and they were held in camps behind barbed wire for the duration of the war. The kicker is that most of the detainees were American citizens…born in the good old U.S.A.!

10. The Legal Fallout of the Japanese Internment Camps One of these Japanese-American detainees argued that his rights had been violated and took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 1944. *Korematsu v. the United States (1944) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the relocation WAS CONSTITUTIONAL because it was not based on race, but on “military urgency”. -No Japanese-American citizen was ever tried for espionage or sabotage. Many Japanese-Americans served the U.S. during the war, especially as code-breakers and translators. In 1988 the U.S government accepted fault for this act, apologizing to the families that were detained and awarding $20,000 to each surviving Japanese American that had been interned during the war!

12. V-E Day….VICTORY IN EUROPE!!!! -American Forces continued to push German forces back across the German border. As Allied forces began to enter into Germany unopposed Hitler realized it was just a matter of time before the Americans were knocking on the door of Berlin! -On April 30, 1945 Hitler buried himself in a bunker with his mistress and closest advisors and committed suicide. His successor began to arrange the surrender of the German army as the Allies began heavily bombing Berlin. On May 7, 1945 Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Army. The next day was proclaimed “V-E Day” for “Victory in Europe!

13. Ending the War in Japan Japan refused to surrender unconditionally because they wanted their emperor to remain in power. -For 10 Years the U.S. had been working on…… **THE PROJECT TO BUILD A ATOMIC BOMB WAS CODE NAMED THE “MANHATTAN PROJECT”. **The world’s most famous scientist, Albert Einstein was the first to come up with the idea and suggest it to President Roosevelt. -The first atomic bomb was detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. When Truman learned of the successful test he realized the war would soon be over!

14. August 6, 1945the first Atomic Bomb in history was used on another country. **The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Over 10,000 people died instantly….vaporized! Thousands died later from burns and radiation sickness. -That same day a second Atomic Bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing between 35,000 and 75,000 people. ON AUGUST 15, 1945 THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT SURRENDERED IN FEAR OF THE UNITED STATES UNLEASHING ANYMORE HORRIFIC DAMAGE ON THE NATION’S PEOPLE!

15. Building a New World Taking a page out of the book of Machiavelli, President Harry Truman was determined to make sure the U.S. played an active role in rebuilding Europe after this war! -*United Nationsorganization created after WWII that consisted of 39 countries that would work together to maintain world peace -The UN created International Military Tribunals to punish Japanese and German leaders with a various number of WAR CRIMES…including GENOCIDEmass extermination of citizens based on their race, creed, color, or religious affiliation. **During the “Nuremberg Trials” many leaders of the Nazi party were convicted of crimes against humanity and hung! **Nobody in the U.S. government or military was tried for the mass killing of Japanese or German citizens! -The UN has a General Assembly (like our Congress) with each member nation getting one vote. HOWEVER, the U.S., USSR, France, China, Great Britain have veto power