America at War

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Sunday Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacked the airfield and naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Surprise attack 180 American warplanes destroyed (120 crippled), 18 naval vessels

were sunk or heavily damaged.

More than 70 civilians and 2,403 servicemen were killed.
1,177 crewmen of the USS Arizona died in the attack.
Next day FDR Japans Day of Infamy plunged the US into war.

War on the Home Front

Selective Service

Draft was started in 1940.

By Pearl Harbor 1.6 million in army.
Millions more volunteered as a result of the attack.

Internment of Japanese Americans

March 1942 Close to 120,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and confined to

camps.
Were placed in camps because of the threat of possible acts of espionage and sabotage.

Wartime Agencies

1940 Industry: Just emerging from depression.

1942 American production: Equal to Germany, Italy, and Japan combined.
1944 Production was double of Germany, Italy, and Japan combined.
During WWII, the government regulated industry and controlled the economy to achieve

maximum production and efficiency.

Full employment Inflation occurred.

Role of Women and Minorities

Women

1945 258,000 women were serving in the armed forces.

18 Million were part of the American workforce.
 Women were needed as workers.
Took a wide variety of jobs in industry.
Examples: Shipyards, Airplane Factories, Ammunition Factories, Rail Yards,

Truck Drivers, etc.

Minorities

About 1 million African-Americans served in WWII.

African Americans served in segregated units in the early stages of WWII.
Many African Americans migrated to industrial areas (cities) for jobs.
Over 500,000 Latino-American served and were not segregated.

Conservation and Rationing

Rationing was used to assure availability of scarce items to all citizens.

Individuals received coupons for share of the rationed items.
The US and allies needed everything the US could produce.

American Strategy

Get Hitler First

If Germany won in Europe, US would face aggressor nations alone.
Second Front
Russians wanted a second front in Europe.
Wanted allies to invade lands held by Axis powers.
Instead, July 1942, Allies decided to invade North Africa.

Invasion of North Africa

Germany Led by Desert Fox General Erwin Rommel.

British Led by General Bernard Montgomery.
Montgomerys army broke through Rommels Africa Korps: November 4th 1942.
US and British Force struck from west and north November 8th 1942.

Invasion of Italy

July 10, 1943 250,000 US and British troops land on Sicilian coastlines.
Germans Escaped to the Italian mainland.
Italians Sick of war; Mussolini Forced to resign (Eventually shot and killed)
Allied Troops Tied up thousands of German troops; weakened them elsewhere.

Battle of the Atlantic

 German submarine wolf packs sunk tons of allied supplies.
Main years: 1942-1943
Subs had to be beaten, and soon.
Radar and sonar were invented; both could destroy subs.

Control of the air

British & US forces heavily bombed Germany, but used different strategies.
British Saturation Bombing Bombed whole areas.
US Pinpoint bombing Attacked in daylight; could focus bombs on crucial factories.

Attack on the European Continent (D-Day)

US & Great Britains invasion of France.

Objective: 2nd Front in Europe
Used boats especially designed for WWII Commonly referred to as Higgins Boat
Directed by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied

Forces in Western Europe.

June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion began.
Conditions needed: low tide, half moon, good weather, morning invasion.
Atlantic Wall
D-Day Code Name: Operation Overlord
Allies Achieved a tactical surprise; landings were a success
Secured beachhead One of the greatest Allied achievements of the war.
Generals Montgomery (Britain) & Eisenhower lead Allied forces through Europe towards

Germany.

Re-conquest of France

By the end of July 1944, the Allies controlled 1500 square miles of France.
Paris Liberated on August 25, 1944.
By mid-September all of France had been cleared of Germans.
Destruction in Caen, France July 1944
Hedgerows made The Breakout difficult; this was unexpected.
FDR Elected to a fourth term.
WWII Taking its toll on FDRs health.

Battle of Germany

December 16, 1944 Battle of the Bulge Germany final bid to break the allies.
 Germans penetrated 60 miles creating a bulge in the allied lines.
Foul weather aided the Germans.
American planes grounded, brutally cold temperatures.
Patton and Montgomery stopped the advancing Germans.
By the end of January, the Bulge was pinched off.
German losses 120,000 of their best remaining men.
It was also the single most costly American battle of the war.

Yalta Conference

President Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta to discuss the Nazi surrender.
Stalin Tough and clever bargainer.
Most of Stalins promises were lies.
Western democracies Needed Stalins armies.

Death of FDR

Worn down by wartime burdens, health continued to decline.

Died April 12, 1945 while resting in Warm Springs, Georgia.
The nation grieved.

Collapse of Germany

March 1945 Allies were closing in US & GB from west, Russia from east.
Churchill Shake hands with the Russians as far east as possible.
Concerned with Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.
Russia and US troops met at the Elbe River April 25, 1945.
Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.
May 8, 1945 Germans surrendered; Celebrated as V-E Day.

The War in the Pacific

Extent of Japanese Conquests:

Controlled a 4,500-mile area of the Pacific.
Allied policy in Pacific after Pearl Harbor: Active Defense.

Island Hopping

General MacArthur & Admiral Nimitz Commanders of Allied forces in the Pacific.
The Allies invaded strategic islands, and bypassed others.
May 3-8, 1942- Battle of the Coral Sea- Result: Draw.

First Naval battle where the opposing ships never saw one another.
June 4, 1942 Battle of Midway US Victory.
Japans first great naval defeat; a big turning point.

Aug. 7, 1942 Battle for Guadalcanal US Victory.

Our troops first exposure to land battle with the Japanese.

The fighting was fierce and brutal the Japanese would not surrender.

October 20, 1944 Re-conquest of the Philippines begins.

Led by MacArthur, the US crashes the Japanese and knocks their navy out of the war.

Feb. Mar. 1945 Iwo Jima (650 miles from Tokyo) US Victory Operation Detachment

Goal Secure Airfield

Heavy losses: 6821 US deaths
Flag raised: Mt. Suribachi

March 9-10 Tokyo Firebombing Operation Meetinghouse

Targeted industrial sites, but was a very populated area.

Utilized 334 B-29 Super fortress airplanes.
100,000 died in the attack, 1 million homeless.
April-June, 1945 Okinawa US Victory
Brutal fighting Japan considered it a home island.
12,513 Americans died.
Within striking distance of Japan: Victory is in sight!

The Atomic Bomb

Developed after Germans and Italians surrendered; Manhattan Project.

Potsdam Declaration (Ultimatum)-Allies warned the Japanese: the alternative to

surrender is prompt and utter destruction.

August 6, 1945 A-Bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.
August 9, 1945 A-Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.