Section #1: Mobilization on the Home Front Objective: Discuss how Americans prepared for World War II

Preparations for War

Selective Service Draft Conversion of industries from peace time to war time, WPA; Impact on economy? Employment of Women in war time industry Creation of OSRD to push development of new technologies to be used on and off the battlefield Establishment of OPA established price freezes throughout industry Rationing; Fixed allotments of goods for home use and military use

NAZI 1932 CAMPAIGN POSTER

25.2: The War for Europe and North Africa OBJECTIVE: Understand how the Allies defeated Italy and Germany

America at War: FDR’s STRATEGY: 1. Attack Germany first: save USSR and UK 2. Attack Japan second: give ground in Pacific PROBLEM: Will America arm itself (and its Allies) in time? CONCERN: Were totalitarian warriors better than citizen-soldiers?

rldwars/wwtwo/

ENIGMA ENCODING MACHINE During World War II, the Germans used the Enigma, an electromechanical cipher machine, to develop nearly unbreakable codes for sending messages. The Enigma's settings offered 150,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible solutions, yet the Allies were eventually able to crack its code.

Liberty Ships US was able to produce 140 of these ships A MONTH!!! By the end of the war, a ship was able to be built in 5 days PROBLEM: initially 30% of the early liberty ships “fractured” at sea

Allied convoy, WWII, location unknown

WWII: European Theatre ACT I 1942 & 1943: War in the Atlantic Allied Convoys v. “Wolf pack” of German U- Boats 1942: Allies turn the tide Halt Germans at El Alemein and Stalingrad 11/1942-5/1943: North Africa Campaign Kasserine Pass, Rommel & Patton, Big Red 1 6/1943: Invasion of Italy Surrender of Italy, Mussolini exec., Anzio, Monte Cassino & Gothic Line

Map: The Allies on the Offensive in Europe, The Allies on the Offensive in Europe, The United States pursued a "Europe first" policy: first defeat Germany, then focus on Japan. American military efforts began in North Africa in late 1942 and ended in Germany in 1945 on May 8 (V-E Day). Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Battle of Stalingrad Operation Barbarossa: 330,000 Germans invade, only 91,000 survive/POWs Soviets suffer 1,250,000 military and civilian casualties. SIGNIFICANCE: Turning point of war on Eastern Front

WWII: European Theatre ACT II 6/6/1944: D-Day – Normandy Allies, Patton, Liberation of Paris, Soviet Advance 12/16/1944: Battle of the Bulge German Counter-Offensive, Siege of Bastogne 4/1945: The Bitter End Soviet and American forces meet at Elbe Berlin Falls, Hitler commits suicide FDR dies, Patton now President 5/8/1945: V-E Day FDR dies, Truman now President

Operation Overlord: D-Day June 6, million allied soldiers, 4,600 vessels Beachheads: UTAH, OMAHA / GOLD, JUNO, SWORD

Eisenhower at D-Day Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force General Dwight D. ("Ike") Eisenhower gives the order of the day to U.S. paratroopers in England on the eve of D-day. (National Archives) Eisenhower at D-Day Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Gen. George S. Patton

Battle of the Bulge

Yalta, February, 1945 The three Allied leaders--Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin--met at Yalta in February of Having been president for twelve years, Roosevelt showed signs of age and fatigue. Two months later, he died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library) Yalta, February, 1945 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Liberation of the Death Camps

V-E Day Victory in England Day May 8, 1945 V-E Day Victory in Europe Day May 8, 1945