Mobilizing for War

 The US was unwilling and unprepared for war.  The people quickly banded together  America would become the most productive and efficient war-making machine in the world  The US played a crucial role in defeating Germany, Italy, and Japan. Introduction

 Victory depended on US industrial power.  Cost-Plus system ◦ Under the cost-plus system, the more a company produced and the faster it did the work, the more money it would make.  Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) ◦ Government agency set up during the Depression now permitted to make loans to companies to help cover the cost of converting to war production. Converting the Economy

 The WPB was set up to prioritize the production of war materials being produced and control the distribution of raw materials and supplies. ◦ The WPB often clashed with military leaders who wanted the priorities set differently ◦ The Office of War Mobilization (OWM)  Set up to settle arguments between the different agencies The War Production Board

 Selective Service and Training Act ◦ A plan for the first peace time draft in American History Creating and Building an Army

 The Army did not know what to do with the new recruits ◦ Troops used sticks to represent guns ◦ Trucks drove around with big signs that read “TANK” ◦ “Basic Training” did not train the new soldiers effectively Creating and Building an Army

 A Segregated Army ◦ African American soldiers were trained and units were formed separately from white trainees and units

 “Double V” ◦ A victory over Hitler’s racism abroad and a victory over racism at home ◦ Roosevelt ordered the Army Air Force, Navy, and Marines to begin recruiting African Americans  African Americans were also to be put into combat  Benjamin O. Davis is appointed to brigadier general, the highest ranking African American officer in the U.S. Army Creating and Building an Army

 African Americans in Combat ◦ US Army Air Force creates the 99 th Pursuit Squadron  These pilots became known as the Tuskegee Airmen

 Women Join the Armed Forces ◦ Women were encouraged to “release a man for combat”  Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) ◦ Oveta Culp Hobby: the WAAC’s first director ◦ Later changed to Women’s Army Corps (the women did not like the “auxiliary” part of the name)

 Americans Go to War ◦ The first troops were not well trained ◦ No previous military experience ◦ Performed well in battle ◦ The US suffered the fewest casualties of all the other countries.