AMERICA IN WWII

Ch 20

I. The Arsenal of DemocracyA. U.S. Industrial Output

1. Twice that of Germany2. Five times that of Japan

3. Govt. Began mobilizing economy before entering the war. B. Cost-Plus ContractsC. Reconstruction Finance Corporation

-Made loans to companiesII. American Industry Gets the Job Done

A. After Pearl Harbor, 200,000 companies converted to war production

B. U. S. Auto Industry1. Built trucks, jeeps, tanks, artillery,

rifles, mines, helmets, pontoon bridges, cooking pots

2. 1/3 of all war production3. Henry Ford set up an assembly

line for B-24 BombersC. Henry Kaiser’s shipyards built Liberty

ShipsD. War Production Board and Office of

War Mobilization

III. Building an ArmyA. Selective Service and Training Act

1. First peacetime draft in American History

B. Uniforms labeled “Government Issue”1. GI’s

C. Military was completely segregatedD. African Americans were

disenfranchised in America1. “Double V” campaign

E. 99th Pursuit Squadron-Tuskegee Airmen

F. Women’s Army Auxiliary CorpsG. American troops suffered least

casualties of any major power in the war.

Section 2

I. Holding the Line Against JapanA. After Pearl Harbor-Admiral Chester

Nimitz could do little to stop Japanese offensive.

B. Japan attacked the Philippines1. U.S. leader there Gen. Douglas MacArthur2. Retreated to the Bataan Peninsula3. American forces surrendered4. Thousands died on the Bataan Death March

C. The Doolittle Raid1. Lieutenant Colonel James

Doolittle2. B-25 Bombers placed on Carriers3. Bombed Japan

D. Japan planned an attack on Midway Island

1. To lure the American fleet into battle

2. Would cut American supply lines to Australia

3. Americans broke the Japanese code

E. Turning Point of the war in the Pacific1. Battle of Midway2. Americans sank 4 Japanese

aircraft carriers.

U.S.S. Yorktown

Japanese Carrier Hiryo

II. Turning Back the German ArmyA. First U.S. action

1. Stalin wanted U.S. to open a second front in Europe.

2. Churchill wanted an attack on the periphery or edges of the

Germans3. Roosevelt ordered the invasion of

Morocco and Algeria in N. Africa

B. N. Africa invasion under the command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

1. Gen. George Patton led U.S. forces in Morocco

2. U.S. was beaten in Battle of Kasserine Pass

Eisenhower and Patton

3. Patton put in charge 4. German Afrika Korps led by Field

Marshall Erwin Rommel

5. May 13, 1943 Germans surrender in N.Africa

C. Battle of the Atlantic1. German subs began sinking

American ships2. Navy set up “convoy system”3. By July 1942 American shipyards

were building more ships than the Germans could sink.

D. Battle of Stalingrad1. Hitler wanted to destroy the

Soviet economy2. Tried to capture Stalingrad3. Soviets won4. Turning point of war in the in the

East

Section 4

I. Striking Back at the Third ReichA. The Casablanca Conference

1. Roosevelt and Churchill decided to increase the bombing of Germany

2. To destroy military, industrial, and economic systems + hurt German morale

3. Would attack Axis powers at SicilyB. Results of bombing campaign

1. Oil shortage2. Destroyed railroads and aircraft3. Air Superiority

C. Victory in Italy1. Germany evacuated Sicily2. Mussolini was arrested by King3. Italian government surrendered4. Hitler sent troops to Germany5. Reinstated Mussolini6. Mussolini was captured 7. May 1944, Germany retreated

II. Landing in FranceA. Operation Overlord led by Gen.

EisenhowerB. Advantage of surprise

1. Bluff at Pas-de-Caalais2. Invasion would come at

Normandy

C. D-Day – June 6, 19441. 7000 ships2. 23,000 paratroopers

D. Beaches had Code Names1. Utah Beach-not much trouble2. Omaha Beach-met intense fire

a. Gen. Bradley thought of retreating

b. Eventually broke through3. Over 58,000 allied men ashore

D-Day

III. Driving the Japanese BackA. Island Hopping Campaign

1. Nimitz-Hop from island to island 2. MacArthur-Lead ground troops

a. Solomon Islandsb. New Guineac. Retake the Philippines

B. Amphtrac-Used to cross reef

C. Philippines1. Leyte Gulf-Largest naval battle in

historya. Kamikaze Pilotsb. Japanese commander

ordered a retreat.c. MacArthur retakes the

Philippines

Section 5

I. The Third Reich CollapsesA. Allies broke through German Lines

1. Paris was liberated August 25, 1944B. Battle of the Bulge

1. Hitler attempted 1 last offensive2. Caught the Americans off guard3. U.S. won the battle4. Germans could not mount another

offensiveC. Hitler committed suicideD. Nazis surrendered May 7E. May 8, 1945 – V-E Day – Victory in Europe

II. Japan is DefeatedA. Iwo Jima

1. American bombers could reach Japan more easily

2. Battle of Iwo Jima-6,800 Casualties B. Tokyo Fire bombings

1. Gen. Curtis LeMaya. Began dropping napalm on

Tokyo b. Killed over 80,000 people c. Destroyed more than 250,000 buildings

C. April 1945, President Roosevelt Died1. Replaced by Harry S. Truman

Iwo Jima Memorial

D. Okinawa1. 350 miles from Japan2. Could build up force for invasion3. 12,000 Casualties

E. The Manhattan Project1. General Leslie R. Groves2. Dr. Robert Oppenheimer3. First atomic bomb detonated

a. July 16, 1945b. Alamogordo, N.M.

Gen. Groves

Oppenheimer

F. U.S. threatened “Prompt and Utter Destruction”

1. August 6, 1945-Dropped A-Bomb on Hiroshima

a. The Enola Gayb. Little Boyc. Leveled 63% of the cityd. Between 80,000 and 120,000

died instantly2. August 9-Dropped 2nd A-Bomb on

Nagasakia. Between 35,000 + 74,000

killedG. August 15- V-J Day

Little Boy

Hiroshima Explosion

Before

After

III. Building a New WorldA. United Nations

1. Charter2. General Assembly

a. Each country has one vote3. Security Council

a. Britain, France, China, U.S.A., Soviet Union permanent members

B. International Military Tribunal1. Punish German and Japanese

leaders for war crimes.2. Germans-Nuremburg Tribunal3. Japanese tried in Tokyo