Chapter 25 America & World War II Section 1 Mobilizing for War

Converting the Economy The U.S. industrial output was twice that as Germany and 5x that of Japan. Best way to mobilize the economy was to give industry an incentive to move quickly. Gov’t signed cost-plus contracts agreeing to pay a company whatever the manufacturing cost, plus a guaranteed % of the costs as profit.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation Set up during the Depression. Made loans to companies to help them with the cost of converting to war production.

American Industry After Pearl Harbor, almost all major American industries and 200,000 companies converted to war production.

Tanks Replace Cars *Don’t Write* The automobile factories turned to the production of trucks, jeeps, and tanks. The also built artillery, rifles, mines, helmets, pontoon bridges, cooking pots, and other supplies, producing nearly 1/3 of the military equipment that was manufactured during the war.

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2300 AberdeenProvingGroundss

French GPF Self Propelled 155mm Artillery

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2084 AberdeenProvingGroundss

XB-70 prototype (never used) later helped develop the M1

German Rail Gun

B-24 Bombers Henry Ford created an assembly line for B-24 bombers.

B-24

Liberty Ships Henry Kaiser built the Liberty Ship, a basic cargo ship used during the war. They were welded instead of riveted, making them cheaper and easier to build and difficult to fall apart and sink.

War Production Board Set priorities and production goals to control the distribution of raw materials and supplies.

Office of War Mobilization Settled different arguments between different agencies.

Selective Service & Training Act 1st peacetime draft in American history. Numbers were overwhelming at first. Named GIs, after their uniforms meaning “Government Issue,” went through basic training for 8 weeks.

A Segregated Army At the beginning of the war the military was completely segregated. A.A. were organized into their own military units with white officers.

Double “V” A.A. were disfranchised, meaning they were often denied the right to vote. The Pittsburgh Courier, launched the Double “V” campaign stating A.A. should join the army to win a double victory abroad and at home.

Tuskegee Airmen The army air force created the 99th Pursuit Squadron, an A.A. unit. They played a most important role in Italy.

Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp 1st time women were allowed in the military. By 1943 they became part of regular war operations. Replaced by the Women’s Army Corp.

Americans Go To War 1941 the American troops were untrained and had little experience. They did, however, suffer the fewest casualties in combat of all the major powers.

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