AMERICA AND WORLD WAR II (1941 – 1945)

Chapter 22

Good Neighbor Policy US continued to dominate Latin America

politically and economically Beginning to rely less on direct military

intervention FDR differs from his predecessors by

substituting cooperation for coercion “US would be a good neighbor to Latin

America”However, domination of this area would remain

unchallengedThe Monroe Doctrine still lived on in many ways

U.S. Isolationism

Business-minded people in America did not want to give up profitable overseas markets like Germany and Japan just because Europe was hacked off

US refuses to recognize the Soviet Union and quarrels with England and France over repayment of loans they had received in World War I

U.S. Isolationism

US was too afraid to get involved in another “meaningless war” after World War I

Neutrality Acts typified the 1930s as the US was gripped with depression and scared to commit to its allies in Europe

War in Europe Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 For nearly two years, Britain stood virtually

alone in fighting Germany Battle of Britain

First major campaign in World War IIFought entirely by air forcesBritain prevailed against almost overwhelming oddsGermany’s loss was the significant and was one of

the first turning points in the war FDR wanted to help Britain, but public support

limited him

The Road to Intervention

FDR runs for an unprecedented third term as he pushes the country to “keep someone with experience” in office if the US gets brought into the war (1940)

Lend Lease Act (1941)US begins shipments of war material to

Great BritainAlso freezes Japanese assets

The Road to Intervention

Atlantic CharterFDR signs on with his good friend, British

Prime Minister Winston ChurchillThe blueprint for the world after WWII;

sets the foundation for international treaties and organizations that would bring the world back to its feet economically

War Breaks Out in Europe Germany invades Poland on 1 September

1939German Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) appeared

unstoppableIt was definitely getting Britain’s attention

For almost two years, Britain is alone in the fight against German aggression

FDR wants to help Britain, but public opinion in the US greatly limited him during this time period

U.S. Relations with Japan

Japan had long been interested in an Asian empire and occupied Korea and key parts of Manchuria before 1920

When Japan sought to gain supremacy in China, the US protested with the “Open Door Policy”

U.S. Relations with Japan

Open Door PolicyBasically stated that the US and all European

nations could trade with China, free to use their treaty ports

Within the spheres of influence in ChinaChina’s power as a nation is declining during

this periodThe theory had been that trade was a basic

right of all nations, even though sovereign countries could counter with isolationist attitudes

U.S. Relations with Japan

Open Door PolicyIsolationism would essentially be

unnatural for trade and communication; based in the arguments of John Locke

Ironic as the US had no problem promoting isolationism during the Great Depression

U.S. Relations with Japan

Japan’s utter disregard of the Open Door policyLeads to the Washington Conference in

1922The conference again declares the

independence of China via the Open Door Policy; helped through the “Nine Power Treaty”○ Yet the treaty lacked any enforcement

regulations

U.S. Relations with Japan

Japan’s utter disregard of the Open Door policyJapan violated these agreements by

seizing Manchuria, but the US did not respond

After war breaks out in Europe, the US begins to realize where Japan stands…taking sides with the fascists

US responds by limiting exports to Japan○ Strategic materials such as oil

U.S. Relations with Japan

Japan’s utter disregard of the Open Door policyThis did not restrain Japan, but make the

country angry○ So, they side with Germany and Italy○ Push further into Indochina

U.S. Relations with Japan

The US response – end all trade with JapanSounds a lot like how we got into the War

of 1812Japan tries to negotiate with the US

○ Plan B was to attack if their demands were not granted

U.S. Relations with Japan

The US response – end all trade with JapanJapan wanted a large stake in China for

restoration of normal trade patternsThe US demanded that Japan withdraw

its troopsNegotiation fails and Japan attacks

Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941 “FDR’s Date that Will Live in Infamy” This attack in the Pacific greatly

changes Americans’ minds about neutrality

everyone’s angry and ready to go to war

Pearl Harbor

FDR finally asks for a declaration of war

The US suffered significant early defeats after entering the war because the country was unprepared for a naval and air war halfway across the world

The War in the Pacific

The first few months of American involvement witnessed an unbroken string of military disasters

The tide turned with the battles at Coral Sea and MidwayMay and June 1942

D-Day

6 June 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, France

(Operation Neptune) 2 phases of Allied attack

Air assault by the Americans, British, and French shortly after midnight

Amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armored divisions on the coast of Normandy, France at 0630

D-Day

SignificanceThe absolute largest amphibious

invasion of all time (175,000 troops)195,700 Naval personnel involved overallEstablished the much needed second

front in Western Europe○ A majority of the fighting was fought initially in

North Africa and Italy

The Home Front

Mobilizing the WarWorld War II transformed the role of the

national governmentThe government built housing for war

workers and forced civilian industries to retool for war production

The Home Front

Business and WarFDR offered incentives to business to spur

production○ Low interest loans○ Tax concessions○ Contracts with guaranteed profits

Americans produced an astonishing amount of wartime goods and utilized science and technology

The Home Front

Business and WarThe West Coast emerged as a focus of

military-industrial production○ Nearly 2 million Americans moved to

California for jobs in defense-related industries

The South remained very poor despite the influx of manufacturing

The Home Front

Labor in WartimeOrganized labor entered a three-sided

arrangement with government and business that allowed union membership to soar to unprecedented levels

Unions became firmly established in many sectors of the economy during World War II

The Four Freedoms To FDR, the Four

Freedoms expressed deeply held American values worthy of being spread worldwide

The Four Freedoms

Freedom of SpeechGold standard for the Constitution

(democracy) Freedom of Religion

Gold standard for the critique of the Holocaust

Even though most Americans and politicians at the time considered it a farce and could not believe humans would treat each other so poorly

Freedom of Speech

The Four Freedoms Freedom from Want

The gold standard for economic policies for the rest of the 20th century

Elimination of barriers to international trade○ Protecting the standard of living from falling after the war

Freedom from FearThe gradual disarmament of the entire worldHelp prevent tyranny (Italy, Germany) from happening

again “human security” paradigm the gradual shift from the collective to the individual,

Rockwell’s painting shows this very well

Freedom from Want

Freedom from Fear

The Fifth Freedom

The war witnessed a burst of messages marketing advertisers’ definition of freedomThe emergence of free enterprise

Taxes v. Bonds

Investments in Bonds

Audience Slogans Ideas Energy & Capital

The War Effort and Propaganda

Propaganda

Changes in Wartime Production

Rubber

Gas Rationing

Scrap Metal

Scrap Metal

Sugar

More Sugar Concerns

Christmas 1942

Gum Lingerie Grease Juke Boxes Toasters Blenders Cars Toothpaste

Shoes Coffee Kettles Nylon hose Erasers Glass jars Tin cans Tea

Examples of other random items

A few pessimistic views

Right to work. Right to fair pay. Right to adequate food. Right to security. Right to live in a society of free enterprise. Right to come and go. Right to speak or be silent. Right to equality before the law. Right to rest. Right to an education.

A New Bill of Rights?

Right to work, if you are white. Right to fair pay, if you are male. Right to adequate food, if you register for and comply with food

rationing programs. Right to security, if you were not drafted. Right to live in a society of free enterprise, if one excludes the

government’s price and wage ceilings and orders that halted production on all the common items one needs to live.

Right to come and go, if the person does not need new shoes, more gasoline, decent tires, a new car, or a new bicycle.

Right to speak or be silent, as long as one speaks positively about the war, and is silent about the legitimacy of rationing claims.

Right to equality before the law, if it is “Separate but Equal” before the law.

Right to rest, but only on Christmas Day. And a right to an education, if the cotton is not in bloom and ready

to be picked by child laborers.

Realities

Women at War

Women in 1944 made up over 1/3 of the civilian labor force

New opportunities opened up for married women and mothers

Women’s work during the war was viewed by men and the government as temporary

The advertisers’ “world of tomorrow” rested on a vision of family-centered prosperity

The American Dilemma

Patriotic AssimilationWorld War II created a vast melting pot,

especially for European immigrants and their children○ Roosevelt promoted pluralism as the only

source of harmony in a diverse societyGovernment and private agencies eagerly

promoted group equality as the definition of Americanism and a counterpoint to Nazism

The American Dilemma

Patriotic AssimilationBy the war’s end, racism and nativism had

been stripped of its intellectual respectability○ However, intolerance hardly disappeared from

American life

The American Dilemma

Asian-Americans in WartimeAsian-Americans’ war experience was filled

with paradoxChinese exclusion was abolishedJapanese were viewed by American as a

detested foeThe American government viewed every

person of Japanese ethnicity as a potential spy

The American Dilemma

Japanese-American InternmentThe military persuaded FDR to issue

Executive Order 9066Internment revealed how easily war can

undermine basic freedoms○ Hardly anyone spoke out against internment○ The courts refused to intervene

The government marketed war bonds to the internees and drafted them into the army

Blacks and the War The wartime message of freedom ushered a

major transformation in the status of blacks The war spurred a movement of black

population from the rural South to the cities of the North and WestDetroit race riot

During the war, over 1 million blacks served in the armed forces

Black soldiers sometimes had to give up their seats on railroad cars to accommodate Nazi prisoners of war

Birth of the Civil Rights Movement The war years witnessed the birth of the

modern civil rights movement March on Washington

Black labor leader A. Philip Randolph called for the march in July 1941

Executive Order 8802Prohibited government contractors from

engaging in employment discrimination based on race, color, or national origin

Birth of the Civil Rights Movement The Double V

The double-V meant that victory over Germany and Japan must be accompanied by victory over segregation at home

What the Negro WantsDuring the war, a broad political coalition on the left

called for an end to racial inequality in America○ The status of blacks becomes an issue at the forefront of

enlightened liberalismCIO unions made significant efforts to organize black

workers and win access to skilled positions The South reacts by attempting to preserve white

supremacy

The End of the War

The Atomic BombOne of the most momentous decisions ever

confronted by an American president fell to Harry Truman

The bomb was a practical realization of the theory of relativity

The Manhattan Project developed an atomic bomb

The End of the War The Dawn of the Atomic Age

On 6 August 1945, an American bomber dropped an atomic bomb that detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

Because of the enormous cost in civilian lives, the use of the bomb remains controversial○ Allied military forces reasoned the use of the bomb

saved roughly half a million Allied soldiers’ livesThe dropping of the atomic bombs was the logical

culmination of the war World War II had been fought○ A total threat requires a total response