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The United States in World War II
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture and
should be reviewed.
The United States was plunged into a war by the worst military
disaster in its history--the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii on
December 7, 1941(click on the date to view a video
clip from the History Channel) --in less than two hours, 2,400
Americans were killed, 20 warships were sunk or damaged and 150
airplanes were lost. One day later, after listening to
FDR's Day of Infamy Speech (scroll to the bottom
of the page and click on audio), the Congress of the United States
declared war on Japan and the alliance process created a war
involving nearly sixty countries. America was wounded but roused to
national unity by Pearl Harbor and quickly prepared for a war
effort. The media began to promote a
United We
Stand Campaign to promote the war effort (view the
Macromedia flash media presentation-you will need free Shockwave
download).
The United States and its Allies were forced to fight the Axis
Powers on two fronts. Roosevelt settled on a fundamental strategy of
dealing with Hitler first, while doing just enough in the Pacific to
block the Japanese advance. In Europe, Germany's advance was halted
at the English Channel, while the Soviet Union faced the onslaught
of the Nazi attack in eastern Europe, The Allied Strategy, although
opposed by Stalin, was to attack the Axis Powers through North
Africa, while the United States poured troops and war material into
Great Britain in preparation of a major strike against the Germans
entrenched at Normandy. Clayton Walters, a twenty-two year old
United States Air Force mechanic, arrived in London in 1943. For the
rest of the war, he would be assigned throughout Europe repairing
"shot up" bombers and serving as a guard for Nazi prisoners of war.
In the Pacific, the strategy was called "island hopping", taking
back one island at a time, until the Allied forces were in a
position to directly attack Japan. My uncle, George Strunck, was
captured by the Japanese during island hopping battles and
mercilessly tortured. He returned home a broken man and later
committed suicide. The textbook provides a comprehensive overview of
the war in Europe and in the Pacific Therefore, I will simply
highlight some of the key issues in the following paragraphs.
Although the strategies cited above proved
successful, it took nearly four years for victory to be achieved ( links
to posters, propaganda, cartoons, radio broadcasts, etc.).
In the European Theater, the North African campaign led to the
invasion of Italy. On June 6, 1944, (D-Day
-did you see Saving Private Ryan?--also visit this
video clip from the History Channel
D-Day
) , the largest land and
sea force in the history of the world, crossed the English Channel
and successfully landed at Normandy. From these beaches, gained
through great bravery and great loss of life, the Allies forced
Germany to surrender one year later (actual broadcast of the event).
Victory was tempered by the gruesome evidence of the Holocaust and
disturbing reports of Russian troops installing Communist leadership
in the countries they were "liberating". In the Pacific Theater,
American forces were victorious in their efforts to secure islands
within striking distance of mainland Japan--view this video clip
from the History Channel
Iwo Jima
. In early 1945, Vice President
Harry Truman became the President after the death of
Franklin Roosevelt. Secretary of State Stimson advised him of the
success of the top secret
Manhattan
Project--an Atomic Bomb see a History Channel video
of the first successful test of the
Atomic Bomb. Military advisors claimed that an invasion
of Japan could result in one million American casualties and even
more Japanese deaths. President Truman was faced with a
controversial decision (even today)--should the Atomic Bomb be used
and if so, how/where. What was the final factor that swayed Truman's
decision? Do you agree? The final solution became apparent on August
6, 1945, when one bomb was dropped on the industrial city of
Hiroshima.
(scroll down) You may listen to the
pilot's
eyewitness description*.
Please view this video clip
from the History Channel
Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Although the city
was obliterated from the face of the Earth and over 100,000
casualties were reported, the Japanese continued to reject
"unconditional surrender". Two days later, a second bomb was dropped
on Nagasaki, resulting in similar destruction and Japanese
surrender. View this video clip of the
Surrender of Japan.
After the war was over, the
War
Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg (also
a related site regarding moral issues)
would begin trials to determine if certain Nazi followers were
guilty of "crimes against humanity". These trials established new
rules regarding actions in war, morality and the issue of "just
following orders". Chautauqua County native and graduate of
Jamestown High School, Supreme Court Justice
Robert H. Jackson (view his opening statement) --view
this History Channel Video of
Nuremberg--would
play a crucial role in establishing the new rules of international
justice. The significance of his efforts can be witnessed today as
various Balkan leaders are under indictment for their "crimes
against humanity". The newly created
Robert H. Jackson Center,
in Jamestown, New York will preserve and continue this legacy.
On the home front, the federal government
organized a full scale industrial war effort, while military forces
were organized. A number of government agencies were established to
coordinate our society
( even
a little propaganda)
and economy: The War Production
Board, Office of Price Administration, War Labor Board and Office of
War Information. Once production reached a wartime level, however,
American industrial capacity, coupled with that of the other allies,
simply overwhelmed the Axis powers. the United States emerged from
the war as the most powerful nation in the world, economically and
militarily. The Fair Employment Practices Committee was given the
task of insuring morale and maximum use of the labor force by
preventing employer discrimination against workers because of race
or religion. This would become one of the building blocks of the
Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's. However, in the armed forces,
African-Americans continued to serve in segregated units. Native
Americans were fully integrated into the services and
Navajo Code
Talkers played a critical role in the Pacific theater (here
is a History Channel video clip
Code Talkers). The economy was effectively mobilized,
using new sources of labor including women and Mexican braceros.
African-Americans and Native Americans also left their
traditional rural homelands and migrated to war industry jobs in the
cities of the North and West. The war encouraged changes in accepted
gender roles. As the military drained the supply of male workers,
women were hired as welders, shipbuilders, lumberjacks, riveters
(meet
Rosie), miners and even played in their own baseball
league. (Great movie--A League of Their Own). In the 1960's, the
feminist movement would build upon these early opportunities. The
war brought full employment and prosperity, as well as enduring
social changes, as millions of Americans were thrown together in the
military and in new communities across the country. An ugly
exception, related to discrimination, was
FDR's Executive Order 9066
which enabled the military to move people (citizens or
immigrants) of Japanese ancestry from areas deemed critical to
national defense and potentially vulnerable to espionage. This
action forced over 100,000 Japanese-Americans to give up their
homes, jobs, businesses and remove their children from schools and
be relocated to
Internment Centers.
In the case
Korematsu v. U.S.
-- (also an
excellent overview of the relocation centers & citizenship issues)
the Supreme Court sided with the federal government and held the
need to protect against espionage outweighed a citizen's
Constitutional rights during circumstances of "emergency and peril".
Finally, in 1988, Congress formally apologized for this injustice
and offered the surviving internees $20,000 each as compensation.
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography of
America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html# ,
an exceptional
video instructional series for high school and college students
produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the Library of Congress
and the National Archives and Records Administration. These thirty
minute lectures incorporate first person narratives, photographs,
film footage and documents related to various historical time
periods. Combined with my introductory comments, the required
textbooks and our discussions, I believe you will acquire a more
in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history. Please note the
requirements and possible download limitations—which is why this is
not a requirement. Please follow the directions below and give it a
try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs of your
choice online with a broadband connection whenever you see this
icon.  There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program and go
to the individual program description listing and click on the icon.
Free sign up required for first-time users. To hear the sound
and view video, you should have Windows Media Player, DSL, a
cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have
Javascript enabled. For more information, please visit our
broadband FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and access the
presentation: World War II.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview,
numerous Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents
and my favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites
Related to the Specific Topics--CHOOSE A CHAPTER
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
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