WWII in Review

Women During WWII In the military WAVES (Navy) WAC (Army) WASP (Air Force) Nurses On the home front Rosie the Riveter: symbol to encourage women to work in factories Women entered work force in large numbers & to jobs previously denied to them https://www.youtube.co m/watch?v=AE2z_N1fM5 E

Minorities During WWII African Americans Tuskegee Airmen A. Philip Randolph led march against discrimination in gov’t jobs > showed direct action for racial equality Like women, got jobs previously denied to them Navajo (Native Americans) Code talkers used in Pacific to send coded messages Successful because their code was never broken by the Japanese Latinos Bracero Program: offered Mexicans temporary access to the US to work in agriculture Zoot Suit Riots: Despite rationing, Zoot Suits were popular among Latinos Some sailors got into a fight with Latinos over Zoot Suits Japanese Americans Despite internment, many Japanese Americans joined the military to prove their loyalty The 442nd Regiment (made up of Japanese Americans) became the most decorated group of WWII

Navajo Code Dictionary

Bracero Program

Zoot Suit Riots

Japanese Internment Executive Order 9066 FDR’s order justifying internment of people associated with countries at war (primarily Japanese Americans) due to security concerns of spying and sabotage Internment Camps were located on the West Coast in isolated areas Caused economic hardships Overall difficult conditions Korematsu v. US Fred Korematsu sued the US for his freedom after he violated the curfew but he was denied because during war, some rights can be restricted What other examples can you think of when the government limited a right?

Civilian Contributions Civilians contributed on the home front by: Rationing What types of products were rationed? Why? Some products were limited due to disruption in international shipping lanes Planting victory gardens Buying War Bonds Factories converted production to military goods

Battles in the Pacific Doolittle Raid Pearl Harbor Japan attacked the US because we cut off their oil supply The Japanese desires to build an empire conflicted with our Open Door Policy in Asia Bataan Death March US & Filipinos led by Gen. MacArthur Retreated to Bataan Peninsula where many died from starvation, beatings, etc. Doolittle Raid Despite doing “little damage” to the Japanese, this raid increased morale because we hit the heart of Japan Coral Sea This was the first time the US stopped the Japanese advance

Battles in the Pacific continued Midway With advanced knowledge of the attack, the US won this battle. It became a turning point battle where the US began to win more battles Guadalcanal Miserable conditions led to a fight on land, sea & in the air After this battle, the Japanese were on the run Strategy of island hoping was used here Island Hoping Strategy used in the Pacific to prevent troops from getting bogged down in one place & to get closer to the Japanese mainland Leyte Gulf Gen. MacArthur’s return to the Philippines in this largest naval battle This was the first time the Japanese used the kamikaze attack

Island-hopping

Battles in the Pacific continued Iwo Jima The Japanese refused to surrender here resulting in heavy casualties The iconic picture of marines raising the flag was taken here Okinawa This was the bloodiest battle in the Pacific

Manhattan Project Manhattan Project This was the secret code name given to the project devoted to building an atomic bomb Scientist Robert Oppenheimer led the project in Los Alamos, New Mexico The atomic bomb used energy released by splitting an atom

End of the War Yalta Conference The Big 3 – Stalin, FDR & Churchill met at Yalta to discuss what to do with Germany It was agreed Germany & its capital (Berlin) would be divided into 4 sections/zones FDR was criticized for allowing Stalin to stay in Poland & Eastern European countries where he said he would hold free elections (which he never did) FDR Dies FDR’s death was traumatic for the American people. He was elected to 4 terms but died in office, leading us during the Depression & WWII His Vice President, Harry Truman took over

Decision to Use the Bomb President Truman had to decide if the bomb would be used, & if so, where He decided to drop the bomb: Without warning On a city that hadn’t seen much bombing/damage On a city that had some factories/war production sites The first bomb was dropped at Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945 The next bomb was dropped at Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945

Hiroshima bombing Nagasaki bombing

Post War Developments United Nations June 1945, members from 50 countries including the US & Soviet Union met to establish the United Nations How was this similar & different from the League of Nations? Potsdam Conference Truman, Stalin & Churchill met at Potsdam to discuss the issues from the Yalta Conference but it was unsuccessful