AP US History - Chapter 35 Outline

Intro:

America joins the war after the Pearl Harbor. "Get Japan first" was the cry that
rose from millions of infuriated Americans, especially on the pacific coast

The Allies Trade Space for Time

- The problem that confronted America was how to retool itself for all-out war
production.

- WWII was far more complex than WWI for the U.S.

- It had to feed clothe, and transport its forces all over the world.

The Shock of War

- There was more national unity in WWII

- Unlike in WWI, there was no government or organizations hunting

minority groups in WWII.

- Only exception was the Japanese-Americans forced into internment

camps, which was authorized by the Executive Order No. 9066.

- Supreme Court deemed the concentration camps constitutional in the

case Korematsu v. US.

- New Deal programs were cancelled by the conservative Congress. FDR declared
that the New Deal reform era was over in 1943

Building the War Machine

- The Great Depression ended with the start of military production under the
War Production Board.

- The War Production Board stopped the manufacture of items not needed for
the war such as passenger cars.

- After America's supply of natural rubber was broken, the government imposed
a national speed limit and gasoline rationing.

Manpower and Womanpower

 - The draft left many farms and factories with no one to attend to.

- In 1942, braceros, or the Mexican agricultural workers, were brought to

America to work on the farms.

- Nearly 216,000 women were enlisted in the military in WWII.

- Examples were the WAACs(Army), WAVES(Navy), and SPARs(Coast

Guard).

- Many women took over jobs in the factories as a substitute to men, but most
women still continued their traditional household roles.

Wartime Migrations

- The war caused people to move.

- Many Blacks moved to North to work which led to racial tensions.

- Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Commission which forbade

discrimination in defense industries.

- FDR gave the South a share of defense contracts to help it become more
economically developed.

- The invention of the mechanical cotton picker made the need for cheap labor
disappear, so blacks started moving North.

- Comanches in Europe and the Navajos in the Pacific, the "code talkers," were
valuable in the war because their native language was incomprehensible to the axis
powers, which they used to transmit radio messages.

Holding the Home Front

- The war helped the American economy.

- By the end of the war, the nation's GNP and the citizen's disposable incomes had
significantly risen.

- The Federal government became more involved in people's lives during WWII.

- The national debt rose because most of the war costs were borrowed.

The Rising Sun in the Pacific

- The Japanese launched attacks on American outposts of Guam, Wake, and the
Philippines.

- General Douglas MacArthur fought the Japanese force for 5 months in the Philippines.

- The American troops eventually surrendered on April 9, 1942.

- They were treated harshly in the 80-mile Bataan Death March.

- The island fortress of Corregidor held out until May 6, 1942 when they
surrendered, which gave the Japanese complete control of the Philippines.

Japan's High Tide at Midway

- Japan tried to ambush Midway in the hopes that it will end American power in the
Pacific.

- They were intercepted by Americans.

- Under the force of Admiral Nimitz, US fought against the Japanese fleet.

- The Japanese retreated after losing 4 carriers.

- It was a turning point because Japanese expansion ended after this battle.

American Leapfrogging Toward Tokyo

- The Americans fought for control of the Guadalcanal Island to protect the shipping
lanes from America to Australia.

- The U.S. leapfrogged several Japanese-controlled islands in the Pacific.

- Rather than taking every island, they would just take control of the important
islands and lay siege on other islands, because Japanese were known for fighting till the
end and do not surrender.

The Allied Halting of Hitler

- The Battle of the Atlantic was fought between the German's modern fleet of submarine
U-Boats and Allied shipping, which was protected by Allied navies.

- The Soviets repelled Hitler's attack on Stalingrad, capturing thousands of German

soldiers in Spentember 1942.

-This was the turning point in the war in the Soviet Union.
A Second Front From North Africa to Rome

- Many Americans, including FDR, were eager to begin a diversionary invasion of France.

- British military planners, remembering their losses in 1914-1918, were not enthusiastic
about a frontal assault on German-held France.

- "Unconditional surrender" proved to be one of the most controversial moves of the

war because it steeled the enemy to fight to a last bunker resistance, while discouraging
antiwar groups in Germany from revolting.

D-Day: June 6, 1944

- Preparations for the cross-channel invasion of France were gigantic

- The overall command was entrusted to an American, General Eisenhower.

- French Normandy, less heavily defended than other parts of the European coast
was targeted for the invasion.

- The first important German city Aachen fell to the Americans in October 1944.

FDR: The Fourth-Termite of 1944

- In the election of 1944, the Republicans chose Thomas E. Dewey for presidency, and
the isolationist Senator John W. Bricker for vice president.

- The Democrats chose Roosevelt for presidency and Senator Harry S. Truman for vice
president.

Roosevelt Defeats Dewey

- Roosevelt won the majority of votes in the Electoral College and was reelected

- He won because the war was going well. People thought Roosevelt's experience
was needed.

The Last Days of Hitler

- Hitler threw all of his forces against the thinly held American lines in the
Ardennes Forest.

- His objective was take the Belgian port of Antwerp, which was key to the
Allied supply operation.
 - In the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies were driven back, creating a deep "bulge" in
the Allied front.

- The 10-day German push was stopped by the 101st Airborne Division

- The Soviets captured Berlin in April 1945.

- then Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.

Japan Dies Hard

- Allied firebombings of Tokyo killed over 83,000 people, comparable to number

of people killed by each atomic bomb.

- General MacArthur returned to the Philippines with 600 ships and 250,000
troops.

- In Leyte Gulf, Japan lost a series of 3 battles took place from October 23-
26, 1944; this marked the end of Japan's sea power.

- The American navy sustained heavy losses from the "kamikaze" (suicide)
Japanese pilots.

The Atomic Bombs

- At the Potsdam conference in July 1945, President Truman met with Stalin and
the British leader.

- They issued an ultimatum to Japan: surrender or be destroyed.

- America's Manhattan Project developed the atomic bomb.

- With the Japanese still refusing to surrender, an atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing 180,000 people.

- After the Japanese still refused to surrender, a second atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, killing 80,000 people.

- On August 10, 1945, Tokyo surrendered under the condition that emperor
Hirohito be allowed to keep his title as emperor.

- The Allied accepted this.

The Allies Triumphant

 - American forces suffered 1 million casualties in WWII, while the Soviet Union
suffered nearly 25 million.

- After the war, much of the world was destroyed while America was left virtually
untouched.

- The nation was better prepared for the war than any other nation because it
had begun to prepare about a year and a half before the war officially began for
America.