The Internment of Japanese-Americans Were they loyal? Sabotage? Did their spies cause Pearl Harbor? “Enemy Aliens” (Germans, Italians, Japanese) had to register with the government and carry identification The Japanese-Americans did not have political power and were potentially more easily recognized Executive Order 9066 (February 1942) goes into effect and even native born Japanese-Americans are sent to internment camps inland 1

Korematsu v. US – Fred Korematsu as a native born citizen who disobeyed the law and appealed it all the way to the Supreme Court – The Court upheld the decision on the grounds that a group’s civil rights can be set aside in time of war 100,000 were forced to relocate into guarded “barracks” 442 nd Regimental Combat team was an all-Japanese unit 2

African-Americans and WWII The Double V Campaign: Victory for democracy at home and abroad Black G.I.’s were segregated and were not permitted in combat (at first) Tuskegee Airmen there were many people who thought that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism. Bomber escorts and direct combat The only fighter group to never lose a bomber to enemy planes 3

African-Americans and WWII At the same time Executive Order 9066 inters Japanese-Americans, Executive Order 8802 outlaws discrimination against African-Americans in the defense industry A.Philip Randolph had threatened a march on Washington if black civil rights were not protected The Great Migration continued to northern industrial cities – Blacks may have escaped the South but not racism – The National Urban League fought for equal opportunities in housing and employment – The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) confronted discrimination with nonviolent resistance 4

Jewish Americans and WWII Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany began in 1933 as soon as Hitler rose to power – Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass”) occurred in 1938 when mobs burned Jewish synagogues and businesses 90 Jews were killed and 30,000 were sent to concentration camps The 1924 National Origins Act restricted immigration (remember the nativism and lack of tolerance during the 1920’s?) Anti-Semitism led to a lack of support for European Jews The War Refugee Board was created in 1944 to finally help Jewish refugees 5

Mexican Americans and WWII Discrimination had barred many Mexicans from better jobs in the United States During the war, laborers were needed – The bracero program allowed short term work contracts to be filled by Mexicans in the farms and on the railroads June 1943: Zoot suit riots – Zoot suits were associated with Mexican teenagers (pachucos) and gangs who roamed barrios (neighborhoods) in Los Angeles – Mobs of sailors and marines sought out Mexicans and others wearing a zoot suit and beat them – Another example of racial prejudice and intolerance 6

The Situation in Europe in December 1941 The Nazis break the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact with Operation Barbarossa in June, 1941 (too late?) – Germany had attacked the USSR and was pushing toward Moscow and the oil-rich Caucacus Region Hitler needed oil and needed to keep from the Allies – Irwin Rommel (“The Desert Fox” of the Afrika Korps) would help him control N. Africa Europe or the Pacific, first? (“Europe First”) Military rule by the Nazis was harsh in Europe 7

The Situation in Europe in December 1941 The “final solution” to the “Jewish question” was underway – Jews were crowded into ghettos (small sections of cities) that could be guarded Starvation and disease killed thousands – Others were sent to concentration camps and executed with poison gas 8

The War in Europe Where to attack first? – In North Africa and move into Italy? – In France and stage forces in Great Britain? – In the USSR and help our new ally, the Soviets? November 1942 the US invades northern Africa – Led by Generals Bradley and Patton, Axis resistance collapses by May 1943 Italy surrenders in September but Germans there fight fiercely to keep the US out The USSR fights alone and turns the tide at Stalingrad – 200,000 Germans and 1 million Soviets die – Geography, climate and population doom the Nazis 9

The War in Europe Meanwhile the American pilots rely on precision bombing of Axis targets while the British pilots rely on saturation bombing The decision was made NOT to bomb Auschwitz (the largest concentration camp) or others – They were afraid of killing Jews being held June 6, 1944: D-Day – The Allies invade Normandy, France and begin the push east into Germany Meanwhile the Soviets push west and liberate the camps where the true horrors of the holocaust are discovered. – Genocide = the systematic killing of a racial, political or cultural group 10

The War in Europe Comes to an End The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944) – Hitler makes one last counteroffensive in Belgium where the line bends but does not break April, 1945 – With the Soviets near Berlin, Hitler commits suicide – FDR dies and Harry Truman becomes president May 8, 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe) Click for review Click for review 11

The War in the Pacific Pearl Harbor destroyed the Pacific fleet and that allowed Japan to further consolidate power in the Pacific In March 1942, MacArthur and Filipino fighters left the Philippines after defeat by the Japanese (“I shall return!”) – 7000 American prisoners die on the 63 mile “Bataan Death March” at the hands of the Japanese Japan controlled all of the Chinese coast but in the Battle of the Coral Sea the American navy led by Admiral Chester Nimitz defeated the Japanese navy (May 1942) and the Japanese did not expand into Australia Meanwhile, James Doolittle and the American Air Force were bombing Tokyo 12

The War in the Pacific The “Europe First” strategy hurt American commanders in the Pacific The policy of island-hopping (leapfrogging) is adopted – One by one, the American navy and marines would liberate Japanese-held islands moving us closer to mainland Japan – Sometimes an island could be skipped, isolating it from others leading to eventual surrender when supplies ran out At the Battle of Midway (June 1942) the Japanese went on the offensive to eliminate the American navy and failed – The Japanese never fully recovered and moved to a defensive stand for the rest of the war 13

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The War in the Pacific MacArthur does return to the Philippines in October 1944 Iwo Jima and Okinawa would bring the U.S. even closer to Japan for invasion – Nearly all of Japan’s 22,000 soldiers die defending Iwo Jima and 6800 Americans die in taking the island – At Okinawa, bloody combat claimed the lives of 12,000 Americans and 100,000 Japanese Kamikaze pilots become a new concern 15

The Manhattan Project German American scientist Albert Einstein made FDR aware of the destructive power of nuclear bombs Summer 1945: the top secret Manhattan Project produced an atomic weapon Does the U.S. use it or not? – Perhaps 500,000 Americans die if Japan is invaded – Many Japanese civilians would die in the aftermath – Is this more about the Soviets than the Japanese, anyway? A quick end keeps the Soviets out of Asia (…and it is a show of strength and technological might) The Japanese would not accept unconditional surrender and they showed their determination to fight at Iwo Jima, Okinawa and with kamikaze pilots 16

August 6, 1945 – The Enola Gay drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima – 80,000 people die August 9, 1945 – A second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki – 40,000 people die It is estimated a total of 250,000 died as a result of the blast or by burns, radiation poisoning or cancer August 14, 1945: V-J Day 17

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