US involvement in WWII
Chronology:
1930’s: Stated policy of US government is Neutrality (what does this remind you of?)
Hawley-Smoot Tariff: isolated US from rest of world; probably prolonged Great Depression
1935 and 1937: Neutrality Acts passed: No military aid to countries in conflict. No loans to countries in conflict
1939: Poland (start of war); Britain and France declare war on Germany
1940: Denmark, Norway, Battle of Britain
1941: U.S. ABANDONS ISOLATIONISM/NEUTRALITY;
Lend-Lease Act (1941): America as the “arsenal of democracy”:
· U.S. will lend (lease) military supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union
· amounts to 50 billion dollars
1941:
· June: Hitler invades Soviet Union (breaking nonaggression pact); U.S. provides aid
· December 7: Pearl Harbor sneak attack by the Japanese
· Japanese: angry over embargo, freezing of assets; want to destroy U.S. fleet in Pacific
· US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on U.S.
· US fought a naval war against Japan from 1942 to 1945: “island hopping war”
(map of Pacific war)
Sides in the war:
US Allies: Britain, France, Soviet Union, China
Germany, Japan, Italy: Axis Powers
Mobilizing for war
· Draft (9/40): all men between 21 and 35 had to register
· Financing the war: War Bonds
· Retooling industries: factories had to retool to produce military materiel
· Rationing of meat, sugar, clothing, rubber, gas
Women in the war effort
· “Rosie the Riveter” took the place of men drafted into service
· Enlisted in all three branches: Army, Navy, Marines
· Women played support role in conflict as drivers, radio operators, nurses, and office staff
African-Americans
· Served with honor in segregated units until after WWII
· Many relocated north – continued Great Migration from the South
· Worked in higher-paying factory jobs
1942-1943: German invasion of Soviet Union fails; German army retreats
1943: Allied armies win tank battles in North Africa; take Sicily and later Italy
1944: June 6, 1944 D-Day, Allied invasion of Normandy
1945: German army in retreat on both fronts; surrender in May, 1945
1944-45: US wins naval war against Japan in the Pacific; US poised to invade Japanese home islands.
August 1945: Truman decides to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that force Japan to surrender.
Post-war situation
· World economy is devastated – except for US which has emerged as by far the largest economy
· Germany is occupied by American, French, British, and Soviet troops;
· Germany is divided into zones of occupation – West Germany forms out of British, French, American zones; East Germany out of Soviet zone (see map)
· Japan is occupied by US troops
· Japan and Germany form pro-US governments, write new constitutions