I. Converting the Economy

A. The United States Economic output during WWII helped turn the tide in the war.

1. US was twice as productive as Germany and five times as that of Japan.

2. Success was due to mobilizing the economy before the US entered the war

B. Roosevelt’s Cost-Plus contracts

1. Under a Cost-Plus contract, the government agreed to pay a company whatever the manufacturing cost was, plus a guaranteed percentage of the costs as profit.

2. It provided incentive to move quickly

C. The (RFC, a depression agency) - Reconstruction Finance Corporation

1. Made loans to companies to help them with the cost of converting to war production

B. The Automobile Factories 1. Turned to the production

of trucks, jeeps and tanks. 2. They also built artillery,

rifles, mines, helmets, pontoon bridges, cooking pots, and other military supplies

3. Producing nearly one-third of the military equipment that was manufactured during the war.

4. Henry Ford created and assembly line for B-24 bombers.

C. The shipyards of Henry Kaiser built many ships during the war but best known for the Liberty Ship 1. Basic cargo ship used during the war.

2. They were welded instead of riveted

3. Making them cheaper and easier to build and difficult to sink.

III. Building and Army A. In order to win the war, it was vital that the United States

build up its armed forces.

B. The SSTA - Selective Service and Training Act 1. After the Germans defeat of France, congress was no longer opposed

to the idea of a peacetime draft.

2. SSTA was the first peacetime draft in American history

African Americans in WW II 1. At the beginning of the war, the United States

military was completely segregated.

4. The Pittsburg Courier, an African American newspaper, launched the “Double V” campaign

a. Stating that African Americans should join the war because it a win would be a double victory over racism

African Americans (Cont.)

5. The Tuskegee Airmen a. Congress created the 99th pursuit squadron (Red

Tails)

b. This was an African American unit that played an important role in the battle of Anzio in Italy

D. African Americans (Cont.) 6. In the Army –

a. African Americans performed well receiving many distinguished service medals

b. Thanks in large part to their heroics, President Truman ordered the desegregation of the military in 1948.

Staff Sgt. Edward A. Carter Jr.

1st Lt. Vernon J.

Baker

E. Women in the Service

1. May 1942 - Congress created the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)

2. By 1943 became an active part of war operations. Except for combat.

3. The Army, Coast Guard, Navy and the Marines all set up their own women’s organizations.

Holding the Line Against Japan Early in 1942 the US could do little to stop advancing

Japanese into Southeast Asia

Commander of the United States Navy was Admiral Chester Nimitz

Japan attacked American airfields in the Philippines and landed their troops in the islands

US retreats from the Philippines Commander of the Americans and

Filipinos defending the Philippines was General Douglas MacArthur

He decided to take his badly outnumbered troops and retreat to the Bataan Peninsula.

Roosevelt ordered the general to evacuate to Australia.

The Allied defenders of Bataan were forced to surrender

Thousands of prisoners died on the 60 mile long Bataan Death March to a Japanese prison camp.

► Lt. Col. James Doolittle was put in command of a mission to bomb Tokyo.

► Sixteen B-25 bombers left the USS Hornet and dropped bombs on mainland Japan.

Japanese leaders were shocked that Americans were able to attack the capitol.

The Doolittle Raid April 18th, 1942

►The Japanese planned an attack on Midway Island which was the last American base in the North Pacific west of Hawaii

►The plan was to lure the American fleet into battle to be destroyed by the Japanese.

►This would cut American supply lines to Australia.

►The plan failed because the United States had a team of code breakers that cracked the Japanese Navy’s secret code for conducting operations.

A change in Japanese Strategy

The Battle of Midway ►The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war

with Japan.

► Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers including 292 aircraft.

►The US lost 1 carrier (USS Yorktown) and 145 aircraft.

After Germany declared War on the United States, German submarines began sinking American cargo ships along the American East Coast.

Convoy System improved situation- cargo ships traveled in groups, escorted by navy warships.

The German submarine campaign continued into the spring of 1942.

From July on, American shipyards produced more ships than German submarines could sink.

The Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point for the war in Europe

Hitler wanted to defeat the Soviets by destroying their economy.

Stalingrad was a strategic city with railway and river transportation.

The Germans tried to capture Stalingrad, but the Soviets held their ground.

The Germans were surrounded and forced to surrender.

The Germans suffered 850,000 killed, missing, wounded ►Of the 91,00 0 taken prisoner, only 6,000 ever returned home.

The defeat put the Germans on the defensive.

Stalingrad Memorial

► The Soviet Army suffered 478,741 personnel killed or missing and 650,878 wounded

► More than 30,000 civilians died in the battle.