1. SSUSH19 Examine the origins, major developments, and the domestic impact of World War II, including the growth of the federal government.

2. The Scene:
World War II was the culminating event in the United States’ path to becoming a world superpower.
The United States was reluctant to become involved in the European war when the fighting began. However, America responded with full commitment to the Allied cause after Hawaii was attacked.
The military contributions and wartime production of the United States led to an Allied victory.
Responding to the country’s need to fight in the war led to growth of the federal government.

3. U.S. Reluctance
Many Americans were reluctant to get involved in this European conflict after the events of World War I.
Part of the public reluctance to get involved in the war resulted from a mid-1930s Congressional investigation, which help push the U.S. to enter World War I for their own financial gain.
This evidence led Congress to pass a series of neutrality laws that made it illegal to sell arms or make loans to nations at war.
The increasing threat Nazi power posed to Western European democracies. The 1939 Neutrality Act permitted the sale of any materials, including arms, to nations at war on a “cash and carry” basis.

4. Great Britain had declared war against Germany in 1939.
c. Explain major events; include the lend-lease program, the Battle of Midway, D-Day, and the fall of Berlin.
Lend-Lease Program:
Great Britain had declared war against Germany in 1939.
Though many favored helping the British, the U.S. remained neutral under the Neutrality Act.
By 1940 France had been overrun by the German army and Britain had run out of money to fight the war.
Fearing that if the British lost, the U.S. would be the next target of the Axis Powers, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act.

5. The cash and carry provision meant that buyers would have to pay cash and send their own ships to American ports to pick up the supplies they were purchasing from the United States.
The lend-lease program allowed the U.S. to send weapons to Britain if Britain promised to pay rent or return them after the war.

6. The British and the French were the only countries financially in a position to meet the criteria of the cash and carry Policy.
This arrangement kept American ships from being sunk by the German submarines patrolling the Atlantic Ocean.
Even though the United States was declaring neutrality in World War II, the nation was still supporting the Allied Powers through the transfer of goods.
The cash and carry provision lasted until early 1941.

7. Motivation
Nine months before Pearl Harbor, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, which created a pathway for American goods to still support the British war effort.
Roosevelt approved $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to Great Britain in October When the United States entered World War II, $50 billion worth of equipment and supplies had already been sent to Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China.
These nations became allies of the United States after the attack at Pearl Harbor led to the American declaration of war.

8. b. Why the Japanese had pressure
Japan, an island country was dependent on the U.S. for many natural resources: oil, steel, and iron. Japan was, and still is, a resource-poor nation.
to feed its people, the Japanese government began a policy of expansion in the 1890s.
Japan's military targeted the weaker nations of China and Korea and captured territory from both nations. The United States was angered by Japan's aggression in China.
In 1940 the U.S. placed an embargo on Japan, refusing to sell the Japanese airplane fuel and other goods which could be used for war against the British who had colonies in the Pacific.
Upset with the embargo, Japan became allies with Germany and Italy.
After Japan invaded China, the U.S. reduced the amount of oil being shipped to Japan.

10. Pearl Harbor
In an attempt to cripple the U.S. Navy’s pacific fleet, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, sinking or damaging 21 ships and killing over 2,400 Americans.
The U.S. declared war on Japan the following day.

11. The United States entered World War II after the attack at Pearl Harbor.
There were two theaters of war; Pacific and
Europe.
Fighting in the Pacific Theater presented some extra strategic difficulties and ultimately led to the use of atomic weapons to end the war.
Pacific Theater

12. Difficulties in the Pacific
Distance: The distance across the Pacific was three times the distance from New York to Great Britain. It could take up to five months for supplies to get from California to Australia.
The best went to Europe.: The decision to prioritize the war in Europe sent the best and greatest amount of equipment to Europe.
Pacific faced outdated equipment and shortages until the United States' industrial capacity could catch up with demand.
Poor infrastructure
Climate: caused food supplies to spoil
The Pacific Theater presented unique challenges for the United States in delivering food, weapons, and medical supplies to troops in the region during World War II.
Difficulties in the Pacific

13. Battle of Midway

14. Battle of Midway (June 1942)
The Japanese planned on invading Midway Island in order to lure U.S. aircraft carriers into a trap, and destroy the remaining U.S. Pacific fleet.
Unknown to the Japanese, the U.S. had broken their secret code, and knew of the impending attack.
The U.S. Navy sank four Japanese carriers, and shot down 320 planes badly crippling the Japanese navy.
This battle is consider the turning point in the war against Japan-after Midway, the U.S. goes on the offensive against Japan.
The success was also a huge morale boost for the U.S.

15. The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a code name for a secret research and development program whose goal was to build an atomic weapon during World War II.
European scientists who fled Germany in the early 1930s, including Albert Einstein, feared that German physicists were developing an atomic weapon for Hitler.

16. Atomic Bombs & Results
The scientists urged Roosevelt and Churchill to create a similar program.
The Los Alamos facility was the location of the first atomic weapon test
They created two atomic bombs that were used against the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a successful bid to convince the Japanese to surrender.
The military’s use of these atomic bombs led to two important developments.
First, the surrender of the Japanese government was secured, which ended World War II. Second, the development of the atomic bomb spurred a new, more dangerous arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States.

17. The European Theater
In addition to fighting in the Pacific Theater, the United States was also engaged in the European Theater of World War II.
The United States was the prime supplier of war material to the Allies.

18. D-Day (June 6, 1944)

19. D-Day
One of the most significant events in the European Theater of World War II was the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, which is often referred to as D-Day.
The Allies chose to attack the Germans in France on the coast of Normandy.
100,000 soldiers and 23,000 paratroopers participated in the attack.
The invasion of France
caught the Germans by
surprise. Looking at the
map, where do you think
the Germans thought the
invasion would land? Why?

20. D-Day
Though the D-Day invasion caught the Germans by surprise, heavy American casualties occurred at Omaha Beach.
The invasion was the turning point of the war in Europe: within two months the Allies had over a million troops in France.
This victory began the Allied advance to reclaim Europe. D-Day was the code name for the first day of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

22. Fall of Berlin The fall of Berlin ended the war on May 8, 1945.
The Battle of Berlin was one of the final battles of the European Theater during World War II.
Two Soviet army groups attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third attacked German forces north of Berlin.
The Soviets lost 81,116 men taking the city, while the Germans lost 458,080 trying to defend it. The battle was one of the bloodiest in history. The leader of Germany, committed suicide
Within a week the German army surrendered, ending the war in Europe (known as V-E Day)
The fall of Berlin ended the war on May 8, 1945.

23. d. Investigate the domestic impact of the war including war mobilization, as indicated by rationing, wartime conversion, and the role of women and African Americans or Blacks.

24. War Mobilization
To prepare the country for war Roosevelt created the War Production Board to help regulate the switch to war time production.
The board stopped the production of non-essential goods, such as automobiles, and imposed a rationing system for gasoline and rubber.
The automobile industry switched to almost exclusively making tanks, jeeps, trucks, and airplanes.

25. War Mobilization
Plants that produced silk ribbons instead produced parachutes, typewriter plants produced machine guns.
Ship yards switched to producing “Liberty” Ships which were war time cargo vessels.
remarkable feat because they These ships were created in an assembly line fashion such that eventually a single cargo ship could be produced in just 42 days.

26. Rationing
Food rationing began in Items such as sugar, meat, butter, canned vegetables and fruits all required coupons (also known as rationing stamps).
Americans were asked to ration and reduce the amount of goods they were using so that materials and food could be used for the war effort.
Allotments were based on family size. Families that were able, planted Victory Gardens to supplement their diets.

27. Role of women in war industries
At the outbreak of the war, women who already had jobs found that the choices of occupation and the rate of pay suddenly changed for the better.
With many men fighting overseas, women took over factory jobs to help the war effort.
Women served in many different capacities during the course of World War II. Some women served in the military. There were 216,000 women who volunteered for service in the various branches of the Armed Services
The most famous propaganda tool used
to draw women into the workforce was
“Rosie the Riveter”.
By the war's end, 18 million women had
entered the work force.

28. African Americans and WWII.
Black workers, despite receiving training in government approved programs, were denied access to defense jobs.
Many employers refused to hire Black workers. They believed that Blacks could not be trained for complex mechanics jobs or for aircraft construction.
A. Philip Randolph, a Black labor organizer, had created the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to fight discrimination in 1925.
Randolph and other Black leaders met with President Roosevelt in September 1940.
They presented the President with a memorandum urging his administration to take action to desegregate the armed forces and to end discriminatory hiring practices in industries with government contracts. The administration declined the request.

29. Roosevelts Wartime Powers
President Roosevelt used Executive Orders during World War II to quickly implement measures that might have stalled in the legislature.
Two such areas where he mandated policy outside of the typical legislative process was in integrating the defense industry and the internment of Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

30. Randolph vs Roosevelt
In 1941, A Philip Randolph, an African American Union leader began organizing a large protest march on Washington D.C. over discriminatory hiring practices in national defense jobs.
Roosevelt feared a race riot might occur in segregated Washington D.C. if the march took place. Roosevelt also worried any violence would give a potential propaganda victory to Adolf Hitler
In response to the threatened march, Roosevelt issued an executive order declaring that the defense industry would not discriminate based on race, creed, color, or national origin

31. Internment
In December 1941, Roosevelt issued an executive order requiring enemy aliens (Germans, Italians, and Japanese) to register with the police.
Shortly afterward the president lifted the order for Germans and Italians, but not for Japanese.
The attack on Pearl Harbor made many Americans feel that the Japanese, including Japanese Americans were a threat.
In response to this fear, Roosevelt issued another executive order creating the War Relocation Authority.

32. Internment
Under the order, 90% of the Japanese Americans living in California were forced to sell all their possessions and relocate to camps in several western states.
The internments were challenged in 1944 under Korematsu v. U.S. but was upheld by the Supreme Court.