Utah In the Modern Age

World War II – Rise of Dictators Adolf Hitler was elected into the German government and made himself supreme leader Josef Stalin became General Secretary of the Communist Party in Russia after the death of Lenin

World War II in Europe

Pearl Harbor While the Axis were taking over Europe, the Japanese were on a conquest of their own in Asia Japan invaded Manchuria, China The US objected to Japan’s actions and started to cut off trade with Japan On December 7, 1941, Japan retaliated by attacking the Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii The very next day Congress declared war on Japan Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the US

Utah Gets Involved 71,000 men from Utah served in the armed forces Utah was also used as a training ground for pilots Most of Utah’s resources went to help the war effort

Navajo Code Talkers Many Navajo volunteered to serve and many joined the Marine Corps Their Navajo language was perfect for secret code Many of the radio messages were intercepted by the enemy, but they didn’t recognize Navajo as a real language http://www.lapahie.com/Navajo_Code_Talker_Original_Code.cfm

Life in Topaz Page 256

End of the War President Roosevelt died in April 1945 The new President, Truman, was informed of the Manhattan Project Truman had to make the decision as to whether drop the atomic bomb on Japan or not He did Did he make the right decision? Two bombs were dropped The first was on Hiroshima. The second on Nagasaki “If only I had known, I would have become a watch-maker” – Albert Einstein

The Cold War After WWII, the US tried to stop the spread of communism all around the world The capital of Germany, Berlin, was divided into two parts: the democratic side and the communist side The allies made many attempts to bring supplies to the communist side in the Berlin Airlift One man, Gail S. Halvorson from Tremonton, was known as the Berlin Candy Bomber People all around the country were afraid of communism and nuclear war The federal government started to pump a lot of money into defense bases, like Hill Air Force Base, to keep the country safe

The Television Revolution TVs were first introduced in the 1920s but did not become widely available until after the war Families would gather around watching shows like the Lone Ranger and The Ed Sullivan Show Philo Farnsworth was born in Beaver, UT He came up with the idea of electric transmission of pictures when he was 15 By the age of 21 he began building the first all-electric television image A statue of Farnsworth stand at the US Capital building representing Utah

War in Korea The first conflict in Americas campaign against communism was in Korea Utah’s defense industry worked to help build missiles that were used during the war 7500 Utah men served in the war in Korea Uranium was found around Moab which caused the city to grow very rapidly This uranium was used to make atomic energy

Urban and Suburban Growth After WWII Utah, along with most of the country, started to grow its urban and suburban areas

Vietnam War Another attempt by America to stop the spread of communism was in Vietnam 28,000 Utahns served in Vietnam This became the first televised war People all over the country, mostly college students, protested against the war After the war, many refugees from southeast Asia came to Utah

Civil Rights Movement Utah, along with most of the country in the 1960s, began to repeal restrictions on minorities in many aspects of life Native Americans were given the right to vote Blacks were allowed to stay at hotels and eat at restaurants Lagoon was one of the first integrated amusement parks

Utah Puts a Man on the Moon During the Cold War, the soviets were the first country to launch a satellite, Sputnik, into orbit This event launched the “space race” President Kennedy declared that the US will put a man on the moon by the end on the 1960s Rockets that helped launch rockets into space and allowed the shuttles to land safely back on Earth were built in Utah The first US government leader in space was a senator from Utah People watch Americans walk on the moon form Philo Farnsworth’s invention of the television Senator Jake Garn

Age of Computers Much of the earliest software for computers was developed at U of U and BYU This includes WordPerfect The PC revolution created smaller computers that people could fit in their homes Page 269