Mobilizing for WWII Mr. Chojnacki US History II

Start of War After Pearl Harbor and Germany declaring war, the U.S. had to fight war on TWO fronts FDR knew we were unprepared to do so –Expected many loses while we built up a sufficient military

Converting the Economy U.S. output was twice as high as Germany and 5x higher than Japan –U.S. had started mobilizing in 1938 FDR created “Cost-Plus” system to get companies to move quickly –Paid companies whatever production costs were plus a percentage of profits

Reconstruction Finance Corporation Set up during Depression as part of the New Deal Made loans to companies so they could convert to war production

Why was the United States able to expand its war production so quickly after the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Getting the Job Done After Pearl Harbor, every major industry and 200,000 companies converted to war production –Jeeps, Tanks, Planes, Bullets, Bombs, Supplies for Troops, Food –Car Manufactures were the most helpful –Henry Ford created assembly line to build B-17 Bombers

Liberty Ships Ship manufacture Henry Kaiser cranked out thousands of these basic cargo ships –Welded instead of riveted making them cheaper to build and tougher to sink

Why was the production of trucks, jeeps, and tanks so critical to the war?

Building an Army Selective Service Training Act was created before the war (first peacetime draft) New GI’s (short for government issue) received 8 weeks of training –Really wasn’t enough time to properly learn, but did build camaraderie

African American’s at War Military was segregated, blacks had their own units with white officers FDR order the recruitment of more African American’s Many fought well and received awards –Segregation of military ended in 1948

Women at War Women allowed in the military for the first time in 1943 –Army, Coast Guard, Navy, and Marines all set up jobs for women

Make-up of the Military American troops untrained and inexperienced at the beginning of the war Still got the job done –Had fewest casualties in combat of all the major powers in the war