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Chapter 12
America in WWII
Allies vs Axis
Great Britain
France
US
USSR
The Big Four:
+ many others
Germany
Italy
Japan
I. Mobilizing for War
US = Arsenal of Democracy
A. Converting the Economy
1. Industrial power: US = 2X production of
Germany/5X of Japan
2. US fought & won a 2-front war against 2
powerful military empires - forcing each to
surrender unconditionally
a. US expanded war production May/June
1940 - Fall of France
b. Although still neutral, Americans willing to
build up defenses Arsenal of Democracy
3. Govt incentives for quick production
a. cost-plus contracts: fast production =
higher profits
b. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
(RFC): funneled $ to key industries
- to cover cost of converting to war
production
c. by summer 1942- all major industries
& 200,000 + companies converted to
war production
4. GNP rose dramatically
- 1939 = $88.6 B; 1944 = $198.7B
5. Depression over! 17m jobs added!
- even underemployment!
Depression Over!
B. American Industry Gets the Job Done
1. Role of Auto Industry
a. auto industry best for mass production
& produced about 1/3 of all military
equipment manufactured during the war
b. US mobility outclassed the enemy - auto
industry produced jeeps +2 ½ ton truck -
moved troops & supplies quickly.
(Germans relied on animal transport)
us
Them
c. Willow Run - Ford Motor Co.
Instead of mass producing cars,
produced B-24 (Heavy Bomber)
- new airplane every 63 minutes
Willow Run was the embodiment
of American ingenuity,
perseverance and productivity.
Here are some of the statistics:
· 488,193 parts
· 30,000 components
· 24 Major subassemblies
· Peak production = 25 units/day
· 25,000 initial engineering
drawings
· Ten model changes in six years
· Thousands of running changes
· 34,533 employees at peak
· 100% Productivity
provement
2. Liberty Ships
a. basic cargo ship of WWII
b. welded instead of riveted - hard to sink
- could get back to port for repairs &
back to service
Photograph of a
Liberty ship in the
water immediately
after launching from
the J.A. Jones
Construction
Company shipyard,
Brunswick, Georgia,
1943-1945?]
3. War Production Board (WPB): organized
the shift of the economy to wartime
production
- ex. factories that made nylon hose,
now made nylon parachutes
a. set priorities & production goals
b. allocated natural resources
C. Building an Army
1. Selective Service & Training Act 1940
a. 1st peacetime draft in US history
b. many volunteered, but 9.9m drafted
2. You’re in the Army Now
a. "GI" govt issue - became nickname for
any US Soldier “GI Joe”
b. basic training provided sense of unity,
"sense of kinship“ – this proved
invaluable during combat
One of Time Magazine’s most
important people of the century: The American GI
3. Segregation in the Military
a. black Americans faced many forms of
discrimination – opportunities grow
throughout the war though. At first:
1) whites did not train w/ blacks
2) blacks used separate facilities
3) blacks in same unit under white officers
4) blacks often out of combat, into
construction & supply unitsKeesler Field's first class of Negro airplane mechanics graduated August 1944. Physical fitness and markmanship were stressed at the Basic Training Center during the last six months of 1944. Class 68 of Section U established a physical fitness record during the late summer of 1944 when it attained an average physical fitness score of 71.5%. All the members of this pre-aviation cadet class qualified with the carbine and the average score of the class in
pistol marksmanship was 67.
4. Pushing for Double V
a. despite racism in US, probably worse
under Hitler so blacks support war effort
b. National Urban League Goals
1. push for black participation in all aspects
of war effort
2. plan for post-war US with more
freedom/equality for blacks
c. Double V campaign - victory over
Hitler abroad/ victory over racism in US
d. FDR orders military to recruit blacks &
to allow blacks in combat
d. Tuskegee Airmen – combat fighter
pilots in Army Air Corps - fought in Italy
e.1943 - military bases integrated (military
not completely integrated until 1948)
Tuskegee Airmen Black and white soldiers at a US base
in Italy during World War II.
6. Women join the Armed Forces
a. Army enlists women - not for combat,
but to free up men for combat!
b. 200,000 in military
c. WAC - Women's Army Corps
d. 68,000+ nurses in Army & Navy
7. Americans Go to War
a. not well trained at 1st, most had no prior
military svc
b. Sloppy image - yet performed well in
battle - fewest combat casualties among
the Allies
II. Life on the Homefront
A. Women & Minorities Gain Ground
1. Women in Defense Plants
a. wartime labor shortage - married
women recruited for industrial jobs
b. Rosie the Riveter - posters used to
recruit women - for the war effort
c. 2.5 m women in war production
industriesRosie the Riveter
2. African Americans Demand War Work
a. A. Philip Randolph- Civil Rights Activist
– March on Washington Movement)
threats lead to FDR's
Executive Order 8802 June 1941
- no discrimination for defense
industry jobs from race, creed,
color or nat'l origin
b.Fair Employment Practices Committee
established
- investigate unfair hiring practices (1st
civil rights agency created since
Reconstruction)
3. The Bracero Program
a. launched due to a farm labor shortage
in SW
b. gov’t contract labor program that brought in
migrant farm workers from Mexico
B. Migration during WWII
1. Many Americans move from the industrial
northeast to the southwest.
a. New industrial region emerges:
The Sunbelt
b. Overtime, former industrial
northeast becomes a Rustbelt
2. The 2nd Great Migration
a. The Great Migration that began in WWI
resumes
b. many black Americans move from the rural
South to cities in search of higher-paying
wartime industrial jobs
C. Racial Issues during WWII
1. 2nd Great Migration: led to rising racial
tensions in industrial cities
a. race riots breakout
b. worst riots occur in Detroit, June 1943
2. Zoot Suit Riots
a. In Southern California, there were racial
tensions + rising juvenile delinquency in the
Mexican-American community
b. Tensions erupted into riots when Zoot Suits became popular with Mexican youth
1) The problem with Zoot Suits? Took lots of fabric.
2) while others were wearing “victory suits”
(suits tailored using less fabric), those who
wore Zoot Suits were seen as unpatriotic
and unsupportive of the war effort
c. tensions eased after Los Angeles bans the
Zoot Suit
Zoot Suit vs Victory Suit
3. The “Enemy Aliens”
a. b/c of fear that immigrants (not yet US
citizens) of German, Italian, and Japanese
descent would help the enemy, they were
required to register with gov’t and submit to
fingerprinting
b. some German and Italian “enemy aliens” were
held in camps, others faced curfews or travel
restrictions
4. Executive Order 9066
a. applied to people of Japanese ancestry living
in West Coast states
b. arguing that relocation was necessary for nat’l
security, 100,000 + moved to internment
camps where most stayed for the duration of
the war
c. families forced to sell their homes, businesses,
and their belongings below market value
d. Constitutional Issues regarding Executive
Order 9066
1) Korematsu v. US (1944): Supreme court
ruled that Executive Order 9066 did not
violate people’s rights b/c the restrictions
were based on “military necessity” and not
on race
2) Hirabayashi v. US (1943): Supreme Court
upheld the conviction of a Jap.-Am for
breaking curfew – said curfew was within
congressional and presidential authority
3) 1988: Congress passed a law, paying
$20,000 in reparations to living relocation
camp internees
D. New Gov’t Agencies in WWII
1. Office of Price Administration - set
ceilings on rent, prices, wages &
operated a rationing program (lots of
black market activity though) - to control
inflation
1) rationing - limited availability of
products to make sure enough for
military use (meat, sugar, gas,
rubber etc)
Rationing
2. War Labor Board - tried to keep workers
happy - seized uncooperative
companies, promoted better wages,
conditions, (avg weekly wage = $43.39!)
3. Office of War Information- – responsible for
spreading propaganda to gain support for the
war effort
a. Largely done through poster campaigns
b. Encouraged men to join military/women
to work in war industry; warned citizens
about improper actions during wartime
E. Patriotism leads to volunteerism
1. victory gardens
2. scrap drives - collected spare rubber,
tin, aluminum
3. oil drives - collected bacon grease,
meat drippings in exchange for extra
ration coupons - oils used in explosives
Victory Gardens
Scrap Drives
4. Paying for the War
a. WWII cost ~ $250 m /day
b. Spent $321B - 2X what we had spent in
first 150 yrs as a nation
c. 41% from taxes
d. 59% from borrowing - E bonds
Bond Drives
Disney propaganda
5. The Flying Tigers (active before US entry into WWII)
a. Officially, the 1st American Volunteer
Group of the Chinese Air Force
b. Began training in Burma before US
entry into the war to defend China
against Japanese aggression
6. The Civilian Air Patrol (CAP)
a. conducted anti-submarine patrols and
warfare, border patrols, and courier services
b. During WWII, flew 24 m miles, found 173
enemy U-boats, attacked 57, hit 10 and sunk
two
c. By the end of the war, 64 CAP members had
lost their lives in the line of duty
III. The Early Battles (1942)
A. Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO)
1. Taking on the Japanese Navy
a. Admiral Chester Nimitz – commander of
US Navy in Pacific ( From Fredericksburg, TX!!)
b. What the Japanese missed at Pearl
Harbor ? The aircraft carriers!!!
c. But difficult to stop Jap. advance in SE
Asia
2. Dec. 1941 – few hrs after Pearl Harbor,
Japan attacks US airfields in Philippines –
invades 2 days later
a. US & Filipino troops led by Douglas
MacArthur retreat to Bataan peninsula
- FDR orders MacArthur to evacuate –
his promise to Filipino people?
I Shall Return!!
- April 1942: 78,000
American and
Filipinos surrender to
become POWs
of Japan
b. Bataan Death March
- 65 mi march to Jap. POW camp
- sick, tired, starving – thousands die
c. Corregidor – fell to Japan May 1942
Bataan Death March
This picture, captured from the Japanese, shows American prisoners using
improvised litters to carry those of their comrades who, from the lack of food or
water on the march from Bataan, fell along the road.� Philippines, May 1942
3. The Doolittle Raids – April 1942
a. US wanted to bomb Japan, but carriers
couldn’t get close enough to launch
short-range bomber planes
b. Solution? Use medium range B-25s
c. These could take off from carrier, but
couldn’t land – plan to land in China
d. Led by Lt. James Doolittle, 16 B-25s
took off from USS Hornet – bombed
Japan!
e. Results?
- little damage to Japan
- morale in US improved!
- Japan changes strategy – prepares
for assault on Midway
Raids in Cartoons
4. The Battle of Coral Sea - May 1942
a. Jap. plan to cut off US supply line to Australia by capturing s. coast of New Guinea
b. US had broken Jap. Navy code
c. Sent USS Yorktown & Lexington to defend New Guinea
d. all out airstrikes against e/o from carriers
e. Lexington sunk, Yorktown damaged
f. But Jap. called off invasion of N.Guinea
g. US supply lines stayed open!
Battle of Coral Sea
USS Lexington explodes on May 8,
1942, several hours after being
damaged by a Japanese carrier air
attack.
5. Battle of Midway – June 1942
a. US code-breakers learned of Jap. plan to
attack Midway
b. Nimitz orders ambush of Jap. fleet
c. US outnumbered ~ 4 – 1, but sunk 4 Jap.
carriers, shot down 38 planes
d. Jap. forced to retreat
e. Turning point: stopped the Jap. Advance
in the Pacific!!
Battle of Midway June 1942
Battle of Midway
SBD "Dauntless" dive bombers
from USS Hornet (CV-8)
approaching the burning Japanese
heavy cruiser Mikuma to make the
third set of attacks on her, during
the early afternoon of 6 June 1942.
Battle of Midway
Midway is an atoll, a ring of
coral island. Total land area = 3
sq. miles
Turning point in the Pacific
– Japanese offensive
stopped!
B. The European Theater of Operations
(ETO)- Early 1942: US strategy was to take a
defensive stance in the Pacific
- Agreed with European Allies to adopt a
“Europe First” policy
a. USSR (Stalin) urged US to open 2nd
western front in Europe
- to take pressure off USSR
(doing most of fighting!)
b. Brits (Churchill): US & Brits not
ready for lrg invasion of Europe
- focus attack on periphery
c. FDR orders invasion of N. Africa
1. The North African Campaign 11/42-5/43
a. Operation Torch – US/Brit operation
b. Germans & Italians held much of North
Africa (NA). Vichy French (German-
friendly French) held Morocco, Algeria
Threatened Brit controlled
Egypt & Suez Canal (Egypt
needs Suez Canal - water link
btwn Brits Asian colonies &
Med. Sea – a big shortcut!)
Operation Torch
c. German forces led by Erwin Rommel
(the Desert Fox)
d. Brits halt Germans push east at Battle
of El- Alamein (Egypt)
e. Allies capture French North Africa. All
French North African territories (except
Tunisia) then aligned themselves to the
Allied side
f. US forces under Patton push east and
trap Germans btwn US and Brit forces
g. German forces in North Africa surrender
h. ~ 350k German & Italians killed or
captured
i. paved the way for future Allied invasion
of Sicily and mainland Italy (Europe’s
soft underbelly)
2. Battle of the Atlantic
a. Allied convoys vs. German U-Boats and other warships
b. Dates: 1939-1945
c. Military Branch: Navy + Air Corp + Civilians
d. Germany’s plan
1) aim to prevent food & war material from reaching Brits and USSR
2) patrol US coastal waters in U Boats“wolfpacks” – sunk 1.2 tons of shipping, 360 ships including oil tankers
e. US response?
1) cities dim lights, blackout curtains,
drive w/o lights
2) built 1st long pipeline from TX – PA
3) convoys !
- cargo ships travel in grps
escorted by destroyers
4) New technology: radar, sonar, depth
charges
5) by spring 1943, Allies in control of
Atlantic
Battle of the Atlantic
Problem?
Solution!
Convoy vs U-Boat
3. Battle of Stalingrad 1942
a. German Plan?
- to destroy USSR economy
- key to capture oilfields, farms, and
industry
- by capturing Stalingrad, Germs thought
USSR would be cut off from resources
needed to stay in war
b. The battle
- constant bombing & artillery fire
- sniper activity
c. Result?
- Nov. 1942: USSR surrounds Germans –
9000 surrender
d. Significance?
- turning point! Stopped German offensive
on their eastern front
Battle of Stalingrad
German vs.
Soviet Forces
IV. Later Battles (1943-45)
A. ETO: Going after the Italians and Nazis
1. The Plans: as decided in Jan 1943 at
the Casablanca Conference. FDR and
Churchill agree to…
a. escalate bombing of Germany
b. demand unconditional surrender
c. Attack Sicily – the soft underbelly
of Europe
Europe’s Soft Underbelly
2. Strategic Bombing Campaign: The
Air War
a. goal? To bomb select military
targets to disrupt German war
production capability
b. Brits bomb by night, US bombs
by day
Bombs Away!
Strategic Bombing Campaign
B-24s from
the 450th
Bomb group
based in
Italy on a
bomb run
Bomb Damage: Berlin
Bombing the Ploesti
Oil Refinery
Romania Aug 1943
Effects of
Allied Air
Bombing
3. Striking at Italy: the Soft Underbelly
a. July 1943: Invasion of Sicily
b. DUKW – new amphibious truck –
brought supplies and artillery to
soldiers on the beach
c. Invasion successful – Germans
evacuate w/in 8 days of invasion
DUKW bringing
in supplies to
Seventh Infantry
troops in Sicily
Europe’s Soft Underbelly
d. Sept 1943: After Sicily lost -
Mussolini out!
- king arrests Mussolini and new Italian
gov’t begins to negotiate with Allies for
surrender (9/8/43)
e. US invades in south at Salerno
Invasion of Italy
f. Germany, fearing loss of Italy, seizes
Northern Italy and Rome – attacks US
forces at Salerno – rescues Mussolini
from prison and puts him back in
power
g. May 1944: after 5 mos. of fighting,
Allies break through German lines at
Anzio and Cassini in northern Italy
h. June 4, 1944: Allies capture Rome
- but Germans still held strong in
the north of Italy
Allied Liberation of Rome
June 4, 1944
4. Tehran Conference
a. Nov/Dec 1943: Tehran, Iran
b. FDR (US), Stalin (USSR), Churchill (Gr. Brit)
c. Leaders agreed to…
1) Stalin agreed to an offensiveagainst Germany when Allies invade France
2) FDR & Stalin agreed to break up Germany to eliminate future threats
3) Stalin pledged to help US defeat Japan after defeat of Germany
4) Accepted idea of int’l peace org after war
Tehran Conference
Left to right: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston
Churchill on the verandah of the Soviet Embassy in Tehran during
the Tehran Conference.
B. Opening a 2nd front in Europe
1. Operation Overlord
a. codename for invasion (liberation) of France
b. US Gen Eisenhower put in command
2. Planning Operation Overlord
a. Hitler expected Allied invasion & had fortified the coast of France
b. Allies biggest advantage? Surprise – Germans didn’t know when or where the Allies would land
US Gen.
Dwight D.
Eisenhower =
Supreme
Commander
Allied Forces
WWII France
c. “Operation Fortitude”– Mission?
To deceive Germany – convince
them that the invasion would take
place at Pas-de-Calais (actual
target = Normandy)
Intended Invasion
Point
Deceptive
Invasion Point
1) used captured German spies to relay phony invasion plans
to Germans
2) broadcast misleading radio reports
3) created a “dummy” invasion force, the 1st US Army Group
(FUSAG),near Dover, England
- made sense as it was narrowest pt of English Channel
- to make it even more believable, Gen Patton put in command of FUSAG
Gen. George Patton
Although the use of fraud is detestable, yet in
the combat of war it is praiseworthy and
glorious. And a man who uses fraud to
overcome his enemy is praised, just as much
as he who overcomes his enemy by force
Machiavelli 1531
An inflatable dummy tank, modeled after the Sherman Tank
Dummy RAF Bomber
3. The intricacies of Operation Overlord
a. invasion had to begin at night to hide ships crossing English Channel
b. low tide had to be at dawn so gunners bombarding coast could see their targets
c. paratroopers had to be dropped behind enemy lines by night – but needed moonlight so they could see where to land
d. Most important? Needed good weather! (storms would ground planes, high waves
would flood landing craft)
4. Invasion Day = D-Day June 6, 1944
a. ~ 7000 ships + 100,000 soldiers + 23,000 paratroopers + fighter planes etc. = largest invasion force in history!
b. Code names for landing beaches in Normandy: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword and Juno - US forces on Omaha
Beach faced greatest losses (2500 KIA/WIA)
c.end of the day June 6, 1944: invasion successful! US, British, and Canadian troops had secured a foothold on the beaches of France! (Germans thought this was a diversion –thought “real” invasion was yet to come at Calais)
d. Military significance? Opens a western front in Europe – Germans nowbeing squeezed by the Allies from the east, west, and south (Italy)
See opening scene
of “Saving Private
Ryan” for realistic
portrayal of the
fight for Omaha
Beach
Read: “ A Day
for Heroes” in
textbook pg
638-9)
Great Reagan speech about D-Day:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganddayaddress.html
C. Driving the Japanese Back
1. Strategy? Island Hopping Campaign
led by Adm. Chester Nimitz
a. advance through Pacific by hopping from one island to another – getting closer and closer to Japan and using each captured island as a base for capturing the next – the rest, cut off from resupply, would no longer pose a threat
b. needed to be close enough to use our heavy bomber airplanes against Japan prior to a full-scale invasion
Island Hopping Campaign
2. Taking back the Pacific – Island by
Island
a. Nov 1943: 1st hop? Tarawa
1) geographic problem: atoll
- water not deep enough
over coral reef to allow
landing craft to come
ashore – troops had to
wade ashoreTarawa is an atoll, a flat-topped submarine mountain capped by coral. Most atolls,
have a wide, shallow lagoon ringed by low coral islands. The only island of
consequence at Tarawa was one with an airfield. The plan was for Allied ships to
stand offshore in deep water and send landing craft into the lagoon. The landing craft
would go as far in as possible and discharge troops.
2) Soldiers wading ashore were raked by Japanese gunfire – only 1 in 3 made it ashore
3) Casualties would have been lower w/ greater use of LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked) or Amphtrac (amphibious tractor) – only 1 ashore at Tarawa
- boat with tank tracks
- could cross reef & bring troops onto beaches
amphtrac
Tarawa
• Japanese losses: only 1 Japanese officer, 16 enlisted men, and 129 Korean laborers survived out of the original force of 4,690
• American losses: 978 killed and 2,188 wounded
• Americans outraged at the carnage
• Efforts made to improve communications systems, pre-invasion bombardments, and coordination with air support
• Led to widespread use of amphtracs
b. Feb 1944: Marshall Islands
1) all troops ashore on
amphtracs
2) marines capture Kwajalein &
Eniwetok atolls
3) far less US casualties
c. June – Aug 1944: The Mariana
Islands
1) to be used as base for B-29
(heavy bomber) – could fly
farther than any other plane in
the world – could bomb
Japan!!
2) US captured Siapan, Tinian &
Guam by Aug 1944
3) enabled US to bomb Japan
few months later
Island Hopping Campaign
Mariana Islands #3
(June-Aug 1944)
Marshall Islands #2
(Feb 1944)
Tarawa #1
(Nov 1943)
3. Retaking the Philippines – led by Gen
Douglas MacArthur
a. Aug 1942 +: began with attack
on Guadalcanal (Philippines)
b. Oct 1944: Battle of Leyte Gulf
1) largest naval battle in history
2) MacArthur returns to
Philippine soilGen Douglas
MacArthur
“People of the Philippines, I have returned. By
the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand
again on Philippine soil”
3) first time Japanese used Kamikaze attacks
4) Japanese casualties
- 80,000 killed, less than 1000 surrendered
c. March 1945: Manila (capital of Philippines) captured by US troops
- city in ruins
- 100,000 Filipino civilians dead
d. Japanese retreat north – still fighting in Aug 1945 upon Japanese surrender
Battle Leyte Gulf
USS White Plains
attacked by
kamikaze plane
V. The War Ends
A. The Third Reich Collapses
1. Closing in on Germany
a. D-Day successful, but hedgerows
in France were an obstacle to
further advancement
- built to fence in cattle & crops,
Germans used them to defend
their positions
- broke through in July 1944
- Paris liberated Aug 25, 1944!
The French Hedgerows
Hedgerow: row of shrubs or trees surrounding a field, often on a dirt wall
Tech. innovations helped
turn the tide in Normandy.
A Sherman tank is
equipped with a hedgerow
cutter made of materials
from German beach
obstacles. Invented by Sgt.
Curtis G. Culin (2nd
Armored Div.), the “rhino”
device aided our tanks in
hedgerow combat.
The French Hedgerows
Hedgerow = tank traps
Liberation of Paris
Aug 25, 1944
US soldiers march down the
Champs Elysees after the
liberation of Paris
2. Battle of the Bulge – last German
offensive of WWII
a. By winter late 1944, Allied forces
closing in on Germany
- British & US from west; USSR
from east
b. Dec 1944: Germans launch
surprise counteroffensive
1) raced west to cut of Allied
supplies coming through
Belgium
2) created a huge bulge in the
Allied lines, thus the name
3) Allies regroup and drive
Germans back
3. The War Ends in Europe
a. Feb 1945: USSR troops had reached Oder River (just 35 miles east of Berlin)
b. March 1945: US troops cross into Germany from the west (bridge)
c. April 1945: USSR takes Berlin
d. April 30, 1945: Hitler kills himself
- Admiral Doenitz offers to surrender to Americans & Brits but keep fighting USSR
- Eisenhower demands unconditional surrender!
March
1945
US troops
cross the
Rhine
River into
Germany
The execution of Mussolini, his
mistress and other fascists April 1945
4. May 8, 1945: V-E Day
Victory Europe!
- Germany surrendered
unconditionally May 7, 1945
B. Japan is Defeated
1. Iwo Jima
a. Nov 1944: US bombs Tokyo
1) B-29s from US base in Marianas
2) Problem? Marianas too far –led to bombing inaccuracy
3) Solution? To capture island closer to Japan where B-29s could refuel. US military planners choose Iwo Jima (750 mi from Japan)
b. Feb 1945: 60,000 US marines land on Iwo Jima w/o air cover
1) rugged volcanic terrain
2) Japanese defended from network of caves & concrete bunkers connected by tunnels
c. Iwo Jima captured
- 6800 US marines KIA
- 21,570 Japanese KIA (less than 1000 survived); 12,000 still MIA History Channel: Shootout Iwo Jima
Part 1
US forces landing
on Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi
Iwo Jima Today
Now called Iwo To
Sulphur sublimates around
hot gas vent on Iwo Jima.
Field of view is about 20
inches (50 cm) wide. Iwo
Jima is Japanese for
"Sulphur Island
Suribati-
yama from
the ENE
(invasion
beach)
2. Firebombing Japan – begins March 1945
a. US drops napalm-filled bombs
1) pro? explode + start fires: if target missed, fire could still hit the target
2) con? Increased civilian casualties
b. Result? By June 1945, Japan’s 6 most important industrial cities had lost almost ½ their urban area to firebombing
3. April 1945: Invasion of Okinawa
a. Why Okinawa? Only 350 mi from
Japan! Thus close enough from
which to launch a full scale invasion
b. Why were we planning an
invasion? Despite the horrifying
effects of the firebombing campaign
on Japan, the Japanese showed no
signs of surrender
c. 300,000 US troops poured ashore
1) bloodiest island fight of the
Pacific
1) 12,000 Americans KIA
2) 110,000 Japanese KIA
d. June 22, 1945: Okinawa
captured
1) provided US w/ more
airbases from which to
bomb Japan
2) firebombing continues
4. Terms for Surrender
a. After Okinawa, Japanese consider surrender
1) the sticking point? US demands for unconditional surrender
2) Japanese want to keep their emperor, but Americans largely blame the emperor for the war and want him removed
b. Truman continues to demand unconditional surrender
Emperor
Hirohito
5. The Manhattan Project
a. 1939: German scientist Albert
Einstein, a refugee in the US,
signs a letter to FDR
1) informs him that German
scientists had split the uranium
atom
2) b/c enormous energy is
released in the process,
potential for extremely
powerful bombs to be
constructed
Albert Einstein
b. Manhattan project: the American
program to build an atomic bomb
1) team led by J. Robert
Oppenheimer
2) July 16, 1945: detonated
the 1st atomic bomb near
Los Alamos, NM
6. The Decision to Drop the Bomb
a. Truman faced a harrowing
decision. What were the
options?
1) Don’t use it – launch a full
scale invasion of Japan
- but US casualties
projected at ~ 1 million!!
& high Japanese civilian
casualty rate projected also
2) Invite the Japanese for a
test viewing
- but we only had 2 more
President Harry
S. Truman
3) Warn them about it
- did this. Truman sent a
letter declaring that if
they didn’t surrender,
they would face “prompt
and utter destruction.” -
still no surrender
4) Use it
- but indiscriminate civilian
casualties
b. Truman’s decision? Use it
1) considered the bomb a
military weapon
2) believed he should use
every weapon available to
save American lives!
President Harry Truman's approval for the atomic attacks: A handwritten note by President Harry Truman approves the wording of a statement he plans to issue after the first atomic bomb is dropped on Japan. Sent in reply to a cable from Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the message reads, "Release [the statement] when ready but not sooner than August 2." The Allies' demand for unconditional surrender, sent to Japan on July 26, 1945, was rejected.
c. Aug 6, 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
1) bomb named “Little Boy”dropped from B-29, Enola Gay
2) Result?
- 80,000-120,000 killed
- 63% of city destroyed
- but still no surrender
3) warning leaflets dropped to warn civilians of more to come unless Japan surrenders
After bomb
on
Hiroshima,
US dropped
leaflets
written in
Japanese.
The
translation:
d. Aug 9, 1945: Atomic bomb
dropped on Nagasaki, Japan
1) USSR declared war on Japan
2) bomb named “Fat Man”
3) Result?
- 35,000 – 74,000 dead
7. Japanese surrender
a. Aug 15, 1945: Japan surrendered
b. V-J Day Victory Japan!!!
- formally celebrated Sept 2,
1945 the day the surrender
treaty signed aboard USS Missouri
Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri
World War II Military Deaths
As a percent of total
Military vs. Civilian Deaths
Wow
WWI vs WWII
What factors do you think contributed to this drastic difference ?
C. Building a New World
1. Creating the United Nations April 25, 1945
a. goals of the United Nations (UN)?
1) To keep peace throughout the world.
2) To develop friendly relations between nations.
3) To work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms.
4) To be a center for helping nations achieve these aims.
b. UN organization
2. Summer 1945: The Nuremberg Trials
a. To hold government and military
officials accountable for their
actions
- many German leaders of Nazi
Germany prosecuted, some
executed
b. Similar trials took place in Tokyo
- did not prosecute the emperor
Nuremberg Trials