World War II

Mobilizing for Defense

Selective Service System

Required men to registerfor military service. Will raisean additional 10 million menduring World War II.

War Production Board

The WPB decided which companieswould convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries

Office of Price Administration

Fought inflation by freezingwages, prices, and rents.

RationingThe OPA rationed foods suchas meat, butter, cheese, sugar,vegetables, and coffee.

Victory Gardens

War Bonds

The Department of Treasury issued war bonds to raise money for the wareffort and to fight inflation. YouTube - Bugs Bunny War Bond Drive WW2 Cartoon

Office of Scientific Research and Development

The OSRD spurred improvements in radar and sonar, pesticides likeDDT, miracle drugs such as penicillin and the atomic bomb.

Women

“Rosie the Riveter”

During WWII, women were activelyrecruited into what had been non-traditional work for women, includingsuch jobs as welding, machinist,construction, and bus and truckdriving. The image of “Rosie the Riveter” was used to encourage women to join the workforce.Rosie-Video

African-Americans in WW 2• There were 698,911 African-Americans in

the Army at the end of June (1944) and 361,456 of them were serving overseas. A breakdown of the total Negro strength of the Army were as follows:

• Infantry - 44,869 Coast and Field Artillery - 38,517 Cavalry - 1,473 Engineers - 128,789 Air Corps - 79,027 And all other branches - 406,236.

• There are 5,957 officers, including 102 dental officers, 213 nurses, 508 Medical Corps officers and 239 chaplains

• YouTube - African Americans in World War II

Entertainment Industry

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard

In addition to promoting war bonds,Hollywood churned out war-oriented propaganda films likeHitler, Beast of Berlin.