American Participation in World War II

 The United States declared war on Japan.  Since Japan was a member of the Axis Powers, Germany and Italy both declared war on the United States. The US responded in kind, declaring war on all of the Axis Powers.  Because it was the strongest of the three nations militarily, the US agreed that defeating Germany in the European theatre of war would be priority number one.

Fighting World War II at Home American involvement in World War II brought an end to the Great Depression. Factories and workers were needed to produce goods to win the war. Many factories had to be converted for wartime production, but one thing was for certain – on December 7, 1941, everyone had a job in the United States of America: to defeat the Japanese and the Axis powers who had invaded our nation. All we needed were the supplies. Look at the Dr. Seuss political cartoon about wartime productivity! What was he encouraging Americans to do?

Working Women in World War II Thousands of American women took jobs in defense plants during the World War II. Rosie “the Riveter” was the symbol of the American working woman during World War II. Both women and African-Americans who were hired to work in the factories helped to provide both munitions and supplies for the soldiers and sailors abroad.

“Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or, do without!” Americans were all asked to make small sacrifices for the good of the soldiers during World War II. Rationed goods included meat, coffee, sugar, tires, shoes, and gasoline, among other things.

Overcoming Racial Differences to Work for Victory in WW II The need for workers temporarily broke down some racial barriers when it came to hiring practices during World War II in the defense industry. As you can see from the last names gathered around the tank in this picture, everyone was welcome to help along the war effort. The cartoon below shows the need to employ African-American workers, too.

The Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientist who led the Manhattan Project. The goal of the project was to create an atomic bomb, which would be used to help win World War II. In the summer of 1945, they successfully tested the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, NM. “I Am Become Death The Destroyer Of Worlds.”

HIROSHIMA (AUGUST 6, 1945) AND NAGASAKI (AUGUST 9, 1945) The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan August of 1945, forcing Japan to surrender and ending World War II. Almost 250,000 Japanese civilians died when the weapons were used. Harry S Truman felt justified in using the weapons, though, because an invasion of Japan would have killed millions.

 Anti-Semitism was at the heart of Nazism.  Jewish people experience segregation and were forbidden from holding certain jobs.  Threats and violent pogroms were used to intimidate Jewish people; Kristallnacht was the worst of these in November of  Aryan supremacy was the belief that Germans were the master race, and all other races must be subjugated to them.  Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” was a systematic attempt to murder the entire Jewish population of Europe.

Jewish people – and others, including Gypsies, political prisoners, priests, and homosexuals – were imprisoned, worked to exhausted, starved to death, and ultimately murdered by the Nazis during World War II. Most of the men in the picture here – from a concentration camp in Austria – survived.

Although the death camps of Europe were liberated in the spring of 1945, over 13 Million people had been murdered by the Nazis. Of those, 6 Million were murdered simply because they were Jewish. Anti- Semitism in Germany had taken a murderous toll.