- Consider the reasons for the impacts of National Socialism and Stalinism from 1920–1945. Do you believe that personality, ideology (personal and/or political beliefs), or technology was most to blame for the scope of devastation these leaders created? Given your selection, describe a safeguard (a policy, law, oversight body, etc.) that the United States might have put in place to prevent the devastation. Your journal entry must be at least 300 words in length. No references or citations are necessary. Please write it in your own words and get at some of your response from the attached information.
UNIT V STUDY GUIDE
World War II
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit V
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
5. Contrast varied perspectives concerning America’s presence in the world.
5.1 Compare the opposing views of different groups within the United States regarding the United
States’ entry and participation in World War II (WWII).
6. Explain the United States’ evolving role as a superpower.
6.1 Explain the United States’ growing power and influence throughout the world during WWII.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
5.1
6.1
Learning Activity
Unit Lesson
Chapter 27: Fighting the Good Fight in World War II, 1941–1945 (4 sections)
Unit V Essay
Unit Lesson
Chapter 27: Fighting the Good Fight in World War II, 1941–1945 (4 sections)
Unit V Essay
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following resource, click the link below.
Throughout this course, you will be provided with sections of text from the online resource U.S. History. You
may be tested on your knowledge and understanding of the material listed below as well as the information
presented in the unit lesson. This unit’s chapter title and sections are provided below:
Chapter 27: Fighting the Good Fight in World War II, 1941–1945, Sections 27.1, 27.2, 27.3, and 27.4
Unit Lesson
In this unit, it will once again be important to consider perspective relevant to the time period, with an
emphasis on the impact of the lingering effects of worry, anxiety, and opportunity. We will review questionable
actions from all fronts, including those of both successful and unsuccessful regimes, and compare attitudes
and actions of civilians during those times. It is nearly impossible not to hold a preconceived perspective on
this conflict, as it is one of the most enduring and discussed subjects in recorded history.
Challenge yourself to view this era through a broader lens. How did certain events elicit and result in certain
responses? What would compel people to react in ways unimaginable in today’s world? This unit will consider
social change, its subsequent impact, civilian response, and the beginnings of a tension-filled Cold War. You
will be challenged to look past modern understandings to engage in debates from the time.
A Time of Unrest
By the latter 1930s, the United States was watching its economy slowly starting to rebound, and President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR) New Deal was continuing to put willing Americans back to work. By 1933,
aggressions again began to stir in Europe. Despite his personal international ambitions which echoed the
previous Roosevelt’s imperial interests, FDR knew that the American people needed domestic stability before
HIS 1302, American History II
1
the country could once again reenter the world stage. The Good Neighbor Policy
was
a promise
to remain as
UNIT
x STUDY
GUIDE
a dormant, isolated power; it was more show than substance, but it kept America
progressing economically.
Title
Things were not going as well across the Atlantic. The reconstruction of Europe following World War I (WWI)
was slow, as those nations who faced a generation’s worth of loss struggled to regroup and rebuild their
ancient lands. One of the few nations successfully on the rise was the unlikely Germany. Under the
leadership of a charismatic orator named Adolf Hitler, whose personal drive and ambition allowed him to
quickly rise through the ranks, Germany was no longer tending to its wounds. Instead, it was boasting about
its progress on the world stage. Hitler’s Nazi initiative had given direction, hope, and stability to a people who
had either lost or forfeited much of their culture after the Great War. By 1936, the swastika hung in Berlin next
to the Olympic flag (Corbett et al., 2014).
The Different Faces of Twentieth-Century Fascism
Understanding this period can be limited due to the inaccurate use of the terms “fascism” and “socialism” in
our current political discourse. Definitions of words are “conventional,” meaning that they evolve through time
as society changes. History scholars must anticipate this and expect to research the meanings of words
associated with political or economic ideas in specific eras.
The name of Adolf Hitler’s party, the National Socialist Party, can be confusing. It was not socialism as we
think of it. Both the National Socialists and Mussolini’s Fascists promised some economic reforms, but they
were supported by national economic elites who wanted to undercut the rising popularity of socialist
movements. Their military goals required some “corporatism,” or coordination of key war industries. Both
Hitler and Mussolini, though, were anti-socialist and anti-communist and used violence to suppress socialist
parties. By shifting away from the anti-capitalism of his youth to his crusade against communism, Hitler
gained the confidence of the middle classes and the financial elites who supported his appointment as
Chancellor of Germany in 1933 (McKay et al., 2017, p. 919).
While these regimes were totalitarian like the communist Soviet Union at the same time, the goal of the
Fascists and National Socialists was not economic equality or state ownership. The shared feature of fascism
removed it from the usual scale of liberal to conservative or left to right. That scale represented rational
arguments; political philosophies (ideologies) on the scale did not agree with each other but overall pursued
consistent, logical principles. Fascism did not offer consistent, rational principles because loyalty was
generated through emotion by the hearkening to a sometimes mythic past (Stern, 1972). For Mussolini, this
meant reinventing the glory of the Roman Empire, while Hitler was obsessed with the idea of resurrecting a
fabled Arian tribe of super humans. This glorified view of national achievement powered fascism. The ideas
catalyzed intense emotion fusing nationalistic pride, resentment of past glory robbed, and entitlement to glory
recaptured (Laqueur, 1976). Rallies emphasized sensational scale and gripping visuals aimed at emotional
responses. Fascism whether in Italy, Germany, or Japan, coupled ruthless totalitarian efficiency with mythic
and emotional components.
HIS 1302, American History II
2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Reichsparteitag. Mass assemblage of political leaders on the searchlight-illuminated Zeppelin field in
Nuremberg. (September, 1937). Note how Hitler’s rallies emphasized massive numbers and dramatic
effects intended to create a spectacle of unity and strength. Leni Reifenstahl created propaganda films
of rallies, including her most famous, Triumph of the Will (1935). This film, with its monumental style
and worship of Hitler, was satirized by Charlie Chaplin in his own 1940 film, The Great Dictator. The
popularity of film in this period made for a very effective propaganda vehicle for rallies designed to
have a cinematic impact. How might the use of film rather than print or radio shape propaganda in this
period?
(U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 1937)
Hitler and His Allies
In 1933, Hitler had taken the role of Chancellor. He had suspended the German Parliament and declared the
nation in need of emergency action, even at the expense of basic civil liberties and rights (Corbett et al.,
2014). His Nazi Party, though socialist only in name, would quickly gain support from all ages through a series
of programs ranging from work opportunities to the Hitler Youth, which was a program for all German children
meant to indoctrinate them into the role of an ideal Nazi. Der Fuhrer, the leader, had stealthily and
successfully made himself dictator of the most powerful fascist government in Europe, meaning the
government was extremely conservative, bordering on autocratic. And yet, his greatest motivation was still
only known by a select few.
HIS 1302, American History II
3
In much the
same
traditionGUIDE
of Caesar and
UNIT
x STUDY
Napoleon,Title
Hitler quickly amassed a
powerful circle of advisors and muscle,
including a secret enforcement squad
called the Gestapo. These propelled him
to a level of unchecked power and
influence. His success was so surprising
to the world that he was even honored
with the cover of Time Magazine’s “Man
of the Year” issue in 1939 (Corbett et al.,
2014).
Hitler salutes marching Nazis in Weimar in October 1930
(Pahl, 1930)
Hidden behind the glamor was a dark
cloud that was about to envelop Europe
once again. Unfortunately, many did not
hear the rising sound of a beating drum.
The Wehrmacht, the German war
machine, was about to march once
again—this time under the Nazi banner.
Among those who responded to the
beating drum were fellow fascist dictators
Il Duce (the leader); Benito Mussolini of
Italy; and Hideko Tojo, Prime Minister of
Japan, under the rule of Emperor Hirohito.
Japan and Italy, though not major factors in any Great War alliance, felt disregarded in the previous treaties.
Fueled by both desperation and outrage, these two joined with Germany, creating a new Axis alliance against
the revitalized Alliance of Western power. Their tactics included deploying fear-filled propaganda and
aggressive oratory.
For all of the domestic building that had been accomplished in Germany, what would make Nazism distinct
from Fascism was the central role of cultural aggression and blame. For Hitler, his aggressive anti-Semitism
was a rallying cry across political borders. However, what was yet unknown were the lengths he would go
with this charge.
To the East, Japan’s ambitions of naval superiority rivaled only those of Britain in the Atlantic, and Emperor
Hirohito and his Prime Minister Tojo would prove their might and resolve with attacks on longtime rival China.
What united Tojo with Hitler was simple; each wished to retake what he believed culturally belonged to his
country, despite political boundaries or declarations from a previous generation. Just as Hitler had violated
stipulations from the Great War, Japan openly disregarded naval treaties based on past trade battles —a
move that would ultimately leave the United States, whose population had again embraced isolationism, no
choice but to enter the fray.
In 1936–1937, while Hitler was retaking the lost West German lands, Japan would invade China (Corbett
et were the continued loyalties stemming from the Great War. The United States’ greatest international
ally during this era, and arguably still today, was the United Kingdom. The Japanese threats against
China required the United States to disrupt this trade, which included oil experts essential to continued
Japanese prosperity.
In addition, trade would ramp up with the creation of the Lend-Lease Act in 1941 (Corbett et al., 2014). This
promise to continuously supply war and civilian needs to Britain, without requirement for repayment, would
ensure an American presence in the war, even if not with troops. It would also se rve as a manufacturing
boom for struggling American industries. This concerned many of Roosevelt’s contemporaries, who feared
this alliance was sending the United States headfirst into the war. FDR was cast as a warmonger, baiting
possible future Nazi attacks to which the United States would have to respond.
HIS 1302, American History II
4
The War to End All Wars
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Hitler would continue to spread his Nazi influence by malevolently extending Germany’s borders throughout
Europe. In 1938, Austria was again incorporated into Germany. In 1939, the German-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact was signed. Czechoslovakia would fall, followed by Poland on the heels of the unrelenting blitzkrieg
(lightning war) by the German Luftwaffe (Nazi Air Force). Britain and France, still weary from the Great War,
had tried to reason with Hitler. They allowed him to disregard certain parts of the overbearing Treaty of
Versailles in an attempt to appease him, as long as he promised to stop this annexation of neighboring
nations. The brash nature of Hitler’s refusal to leave Poland again triggered the alliance system, prompting
Britain and France to take up arms to avenge Poland, a tactic that would lead the German army into Paris
once again, despite the efforts of Commander Charles de Gaulle. The war to end all wars, as it is often called,
had officially began anew.
What is sometimes overlooked was the opportunity at this time for other revolutions. Perhaps the best -known
case was Spain’s Francisco Franco, who was also a fascist. His efforts would hinder the democratic process
in Spain and spark the Spanish Civil War of 1936, but perhaps the greatest significance of his rise was the
revelation of the nature of chaos in Europe during this time. His contemporaries, Hitler and Mussolini,
recognized Franco, but ultimately the Spanish Civil War would do little more than ensure that Spain was a
nonfactor in the greater world conflict throughout the 1930s (Corbett et al., 2014).
As 1940 rolled around, Germany began looking west. Despite their interests and attempts to fight, the
Scandinavian nations provided little interference against Hitler’s might, eventually pushing the remaining
French resistance south into a territory known as Vichy France (Corbett et al., 2014).
On June 4, 1940, in response to Hitler’s progress, a single voice spread through the airways to the resistant
British camps, homes, and bases from the confident and defiant oratory of Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime
Minister of Great Britain, whose calm, unwavering tone provided the Allies with a sense of comfort in a time of
uncertainty and chaos (Corbett et al., 2014). He, like FDR during the Depression, would be the rock of
defiance against Hitler, and the resounding, composed tenor urged the British people to have the spirit to
“keep calm and carry on.”
Hitler would invade the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) on June 22, 1941(Corbett et al., 2014). On the American
front, FDR stayed the isolationist course. The military, continuing to address its own issues with regard to
integration and with the newly formed Army Air Corps, felt confident that the two oceans provided the
necessary forewarning to react to threats. Still, the fleets remained on alert, especially in Norfolk, VA, home of
the Atlantic fleet, and at the United States’ westernmost military installation, a small port off of the Hawaiian
island Oahu, named Pearl Harbor.
On December 7, 1941, everything changed. The United States, in hopes of limiting the Japanese threat and
in response to its earlier aggression toward Anglo populations in Asia, cut off the supply lines to oil, which
were essential to the Japanese military and cultural ways of life. Japan already had agreed to a defensive
pact with the European Axis nations, and Tojo, now in complete control of military operations, felt it was time
to act to ensure a future for the empire. With the use of 183 fighter planes, known as Zeros, the Japanese
completely decimated the Pacific naval fleet stationed at the Pearl Harbor port. The attack was immediately
considered an act of war. FDR’s message on December 8, 1941, addressed the significance of the attack as
“a date which will live in infamy” (Corbett et al., 2014).
HIS 1302, American History II
5
Congress
officially
declared
UNIT
x STUDY
GUIDE
war on the Axis Powers,
Title
making the United States the
replacement nation in the
Allied Powers, replacing the
now-occupied France.
Alongside Britain’s Churchill
and the U.S.S.R.’s Stalin,
FDR’s presence would
complete the Big Three, who
would dictate the pattern of
the war in the 1940s.
At home, the war was a part
of everyday life once again.
For many families, this meant
that husbands, brothers,
uncles, and sons of adequate
age would likely be sent
overseas. For women, this
meant a return to industry
and manufacturing. All able
factories switched from
commercial to wartime
production. Scrap materials
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
and goods were carefully
(U.S. Navy, 1941)
monitored to avoid waste,
and the victory garden became a common sight throughout most neighborhoods as the U.S. government
rationed most consumable staples such as bread, gas, and meat.
With much of the luster of war lost during the horrors of the Great War only a generation ago, propaganda
and enlistment would change. One of the most notable icons during this age would be Rosie the Riveter, a
characterization in the style of Uncle Sam who personified the spirit of the ideal industrial woman. Rosie
inspired many to forego traditional gender roles in order to aid the American cause. In addition, a heavy
emphasis was given to a new style of media, which was attractive to all ages: cinema and animation.
Though the United States would be shocked by the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was quickly trouble in the
Atlantic in the form of U-boats threatening the Lend-Lease Act supply lines with Britain and the Soviet Union.
It was official that the United States was now facing a two-front war, with oceans separating battle lines.
FDR’s strategy would have to be one of great innovation and action to keep the Axis Powers from spreading
the blitzkrieg to American shores as well as avoiding another disaster like Pearl Harbor.
Politically, two new actions were taken to attempt to ensure American support and to limit the spread of
secrets. First, the Selective Service Act had been enacted in 1940, thus guaranteeing a continued enlistment
through the draft if voluntary enlistments started to wane (Corbett et al., 2014). Still in use today, this act
requires all males by their 18th birthday to declare for the draft. To many, this would be seen as a violation of
rights, but to others, it was a leveling of the chances for military service, as the draft would hinge on the
random draw of numbers, without regard of race, wealth, or beliefs. In addition, with the influence of union
leader A. Philip Randolph, FDR created the Committee on Fair Employment Practices to ensure that race
would not be a discriminating factor in employment.
The second act by executive order of FDR was almost a complete about-face in tolerance. Naturalized
Americans of Japanese descent (particularly on the West coast), some of whom were multi-generational
Americans, were forcefully taken from their homes and sequestered in internment camps, all in the name of
security. This round-up, a direct reaction to the Pearl Harbor disaster, was generally nonviolent but was a
clear violation of basic civil rights done in the name of security.
Though unique to American history, this type of internment was not unique to even this time. Across the
Atlantic, Hitler’s anti-Semitic agenda became clear. Hitler was fixated on creating a master race, specifically a
HIS 1302, American History II
6
revival of the mythical Aryans, whose god-like powers would give Hitler the necessary
means GUIDE
to spread his
UNIT x STUDY
influence across the globe.
Title
Hitler’s legacy actually includes a heavy helping of religious and occult symbolism. Most often associated with
his right-hand man, Minister of the Interior Heinrich Himmler, much of the modern research concerning this
partnership displays Hitler’s intent to secure power in any way possible. In contemporary discussion of
Himmler, it can become difficult to find where fact ends and conspiracy theory begins, but it is important to
note that Hitler’s inner circle and Schutzstaffel (SS) corps used much occult and religious symbolism in their
rituals and garb. Use of these symbols was an effective motivator for many Germans, e ven leading to the
roundup and violent suffering of another ancient culture, the Jewish people, during the Holocaust. In all,
approximately 11 million deaths at concentration camps throughout Europe were attributed to the Holocaust —
6 million of which were directly related to Hitler’s anti-Semitic agenda (Corbett et al., 2014).
June 1942 would be a turning point in the war (Corbett et al., 2014). The Battle of Midway changed the tide of
Japan’s pressure on the Americans for the remainder of the war. In November, Nazi General Erwin Rommel,
one of history’s most legendary strategists, was stopped before securing the invaluable Suez Canal pipeline,
and American General George Patton (known as “Ole Blood and Guts” for his brutal successes) would ensure
the removal of the Germans from North Africa only a few months later.
With the fighting now focused only in Europe, a new Allied strategy would pit the Soviet Union against the
Nazis while the other allies went after Mussolini. By February 1943, the Nazis were being pushed back from
Stalingrad in the East, and Mussolini was ousted from the south in July of 1943 (Corbett et al., 2014). This
removed the Italian threat, leaving only Hitler’s Nazis around the Mediterranean.
Just as Britain had dealt with nighttime bombings and blitzkrieg tactics by Germany, by 1943, Germany was
dealing with air raids from American and British bombers, and 1944 saw a considerable drop in Allied
casualty rates (Corbett et al., 2014). The war had changed course. Now the Axis powers were fighting a twofront war and scrambling to keep their reclaimed territories throughout Europe. It was now time for the Allies
to retake the conquered lands, starting with France.
On June 6, 1944, Eisenhower commanded Operation Overlord, also known as D-Day. This was a multi-point
amphibious attack on the German-occupied coast of northern France, taken to open up the ports between
Britain and France that were necessary to allow for a last, full-scale invasion. This was just the first in a series
of pivotal and deciding battles across Europe: Paris was reclaimed on August 25th, the Battle of the Bulge
took place on December 16th, and the Allies made their final push into Germany itself. On May 7, 1945,
Germany unconditionally surrendered (Corbett et al., 2014). Hitler, no longer able to visualize his dream, had
taken his own life only a week prior, and the Third Reich collapsed. With both Italy and Germany out of the
fight, Europe began to rebuild. The United States and U.S.S.R. switched their focus to Japan.
FDR, in his fourth term in office, died from a stroke on April 12, 1945 (Corbett et al., 2014). He had seen
America through some of its toughest times and prevailed through the waves of criticism, doubt, and
bloodshed that the world continued to offer. As the war entered its final stage, a fresh leader would have to
make two of the most significant and difficult choices in American military history.
FDR’s successor, Harry S. Truman, wanted to end the war swiftly and mightily. Japan expected invasion,
from the Soviets if not the Americans, and had its troops prepared for a defense of the island nation. What it
did not expect was for America to finish the war with an attack of unprecedented size and impact.
Fearing for the possibility of hundreds of thousands more American casualties if the war continued, Truman
believed it was time to demand Japan’s surrender. On August 6, 1945, following Japan’s failure to respond to
Truman’s demands, the industrial city of Hiroshima, heavily populated and still relatively intact from the war,
became the site of the first nuclear bomb, which wiped it from the map in a matter of moments. Three days
later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, an important Japanese port city. Japan saw the might of
American technology and knew that the Soviet Union was primed for invasion. On August 14, 1945, Japan
surrendered unconditionally, and the war was over (Corbett et al., 2014).
HIS 1302, American History II
7
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Firestorm cloud over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945
(U.S. Army, 1945)
The Cold War
With men home from war, new families quickly grew into what we now call the Baby Boom era, but the same
elation felt after the Great War was not present. While hostilities had ended, much of the world was in ruins,
and through the rubble, there remained two big powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. While FDR,
Churchill, and Stalin had worked well enough together to mutually benefit from the destruction of the Nazi
regime, the communist power that had previously toppled, Nicholas II was still not tolerant of capitalist
nations. Stalin was now the supreme commander of much of Eastern Europe, specifically the lands that his
army had liberated and occupied, including half of all former German lands and half of its capital city, Berlin.
This began the period of uneasy calm and warnings, most often called the Cold War.
By 1947, only 2 years after Japan’s surrender, America was again on high alert, this time partially due to its
own actions (Corbett et al., 2014). The bombs that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki were worldwide news.
With two remaining superpowers, what emerged was a series of philosophical differences and an eventual
arms race.
The Allied Powers sought to rebuild the world they had helped destroy to avoid repeating the same
mistakes made following the Great War, including the consequential punitive reparations that delivered
Germany to Hitler. This included rebuilding Germany to its former economic power, while still imposing
strict military sanctions.
Stalin, however, saw weakness, and in that weakness, opportunity. His philosophy was to spread the Soviet
influence as far as it would go, which would include economic equality and forced reparations on the Axis
nations to rebuild the Soviet lands devastated by the fighting. Truman, sensing potential conflict down the
road, committed the U.S. intervention to support nations under oppression from internal or external pressures.
This Truman Doctrine, in conjunction with the Marshall Plan, which pledged $13 billion to European rebuilding
aid, set the scene for the U.S. presence in the world for the next 50 years. In 1949, the United States and her
Western European allies would create a new pact, known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
HIS 1302, American History II
8
to prepare for potential Soviet conflict. In addition, a new intelligence program,UNIT
the Central
Intelligence
x STUDY
GUIDE Agency
(CIA), would emerge with a focus on international espionage (Corbett et al., 2014).
Title
Though World War II was over, the peace process would also include a fair amount of military action, the first
of which would be the still-controversial creation of an Israeli State within Palestine. On one side, the new
inhabitants claimed the land as ancestral homelands taken by force; on the other, the current residents
claimed that the land had been abandoned and was now occupied. Needless to say, this separation in views
would only continue to fester into greater issues, some still appearing in our contemporary headlines. In Asia,
communism quickly spread among the poorer nations. China, for example, would rally behind Mao Zedong
(Tse-Tung), who would eventually craft the second most powerful communist power in the world.
At home, the end of the war also meant the end of wartime production. Many women lost their positions or
lost a significant percentage of their wages with the return of the men from war. In addition, unions, fearing
the loss of their workers’ wages, strategically worked to keep new measures implemented by Truman,
such as the fallout from the Employment Act of 1946, from taking the jobs of established workers (Corbett et
al., 2014).
Also apparent was the continued segregation at home. Once again, a full generation of men from all races
went to war only to find their treatment better abroad than at home, including African Americans, Mexica n
Americans, and Japanese Americans, many of whom came home only to find that their families had been
taken forcefully to camps while neighbors and opportunists took the chance to steal or destroy their personal
effects. Arguably, Truman’s most effective measure was geared toward the poor, as his Housing Act of 1949
succeeded in increasing government housing, although it proved to only be a patch on a growing wound
(Corbett et al., 2014).
The Cold War was also not simply a conflict on the international scale; the communist threat would weave
itself into almost every part of daily life. Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy would become the face of a
revived Red Scare during these drastic federal changes. McCarthy, noteworthy for his national following and
common theme of anti-communist messages, would prompt an internal investigation into almost everything
American, including cinema, media, government, and even lifestyles.
Under the cape of McCarthyism, simply to be considered un-American was traitorous. For many, even
previous associations such as school groups or connections with known communists at any time could result
in life as an outcast, loss of jobs and homes, or even incarceration. This high state of alert would mean
keeping close eyes on the spread of communism into new nations. Soon, it would usher in a new period of
American action: the Korean War.
Looking back, this was a time of high alert for many. The war had been a blessing and a curse for Americans.
It resurrected the economy but only led to greater issues back home, and the fallout of the war would lead
directly into a new period of fear and violence. Considering the times, it is important to reflect on some of the
actions taken at home and abroad. What may have possessed so many to willingly give these fascist leaders
almost unlimited political control? Why did Americans allow the government to incarcerate neighbors? Finally,
was Europe arguably any less in danger with the rise of communism in the Soviet Union and China?
References
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. history.
OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/1-introduction
Laqueur, W. (1976). Fascism: A reader’s guide. University of California Press.
McKay, J. P., Crowston, C. H., Wiesner-Hanks, M. E., & Perry, J. (2017). A history of Western society: Vol. 2.
From the age of exploration to the present (12th Concise ed.). Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Pahl, G. (1930). Weimar, Aufmarsch der Nationalsozialisten [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_10210541,_Weimar,_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg
HIS 1302, American History II
9
Stern, F. (1972). The failure of illiberalism. Knopf.
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
United States Army. (1945). Firestorm cloud over Hiroshima [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Firestorm_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. (1937). Reichsparteitag. Der grosse Appell der
Politischen Leiter auf der von Scheinwerfern berstrahlten Zeppelinwiese in Nürnberg. Mass
assemblage of political leaders on the searchlight-illuminated Zeppelin field in Nuremberg
[Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reichsparteitag._Der_grosse_Appell_der_Politischen_Leiter
_auf_der_von_Scheinwerfern_berstrahlten_Zeppelinwiese_in_Nrnburg._Mass_assemblage_of_politi
cal_leaders_on_the_searchlight-illuminated_Zeppelin_field_in_Nuremberg._-_NARA_-_532605.gif
U.S. Navy. (1941). US Shaw exploding in Pearl Harbor [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Shaw_exploding_in_Pearl_Harbor.jpg
Suggested Unit Resources
In order to access the following resource, click the link below.
Learn about the experiences of Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II. Students
should consider the film as a whole and be advised that this film is rated for offensive language and some
nudity. This clip has an instance of offensive language.
Burns, K. (Producer). (2007). Japanese internment camps (Segment 23 of 53) [Video]. In When things get
tough (January 1943–December 1943). Films on Demand.
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPl
aylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=44293&loid=128242
The transcript for this video can be found by clicking the “Transcript” tab to the right of the video in the Films
on Demand database.
HIS 1302, American History II
10
Unit V
•
Checking In – How’s it Going?
Checking In – How’s it Going?
Hello Everyone, You’ve made it halfway! Almost through now. On the down side
of 8 weeks….
Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you’d like some help!
All best,
Renee
•
Unit V Themes and Advice
Unit V Themes and Advice
Hello Everyone. I hope all is well with you. You’ve made it past the
halfway mark so congratulations! Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if
you need some help to make it to the finish line. I know how that can
be!
Before you complete this unit, please read the definition of fascism and
totalitarianism below. The additional information on
Spiegelman’s Maus and the cult of personality is optional for interested
students.
Please watch for an announcement on the Unit V Essay workshop this
week.
Last week, we considered the excesses, cultural heights, and social
transformations after World War I, including the Gilded Age, the
Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Depression.
This week, unfortunately, we cover a great deal of material highly
significant for our contemporary geopolitics, culture, and ethics: WWII,
the Nazi extermination of Jews, the bombing of Nagasaki and
Hiroshima, the severe repression of the Soviet Union, and the causes
of the Cold War with all of its domestic and global implications. It is
absolutely necessary to review the definition of fascism to ensure that you
are using the correct one from the interwar and WWII era.
CRITICAL PREPARATION: NATIONAL SOCIALISM WAS NOT
SOCIALISM.
Please be very careful to note the difference between communism and fascism
before you complete the assessment. Sometimes people become confused
due to the totalitarian means used by the fascists (Hitler and Mussolini)
and the communists (Stalin). Please note that totalitarianism is a form of
government. Communism and fascism are different political philosophies
or ideologies used in totalitarian regimes during this period. Our current
political discourse is woefully inaccurate re: these different ideologies
which are thrown around as epithets without being understood. I think
this is due to the name of the Nazi party – “National Socialism” – which
was not socialism!
By now, you know very well that the definitions of terms shifted over
time. National Socialism was not socialism; it was fascism that
installed some “corporatist” elements, meaning some control (not
possession) of key industries in preparation for mobilization. Fascists
in Italy and the fascist “National Socialists” in Germany promised
certain reforms but they were supported by economic elites who
wanted to undercut the rising popularity of socialist movements. Here
is a key sentence in a well-respected source: “To appeal to middleclass voters, Hitler de-emphasized the anticapitalist elements of
National Socialism and vowed to fight communism” (McKay et al., p.
919). Economic elites in their nations preferred these fascists to actual
socialists because they did not threaten their property.
THEN WHAT IS FASCISM? The shared feature of fascism puts it right
off the scale of left to right, socialist to liberal to conservative, or
democratic to totalitarian. That scale represents rational arguments they don’t agree with each other but the choices are based on
“content” or principles and allegiance can be intellectual. But for
fascism this is not necessary because loyalty is generated through a
cult of leader personality and hearkening to a mythic past (manifested
in both Italy and Germany). It is a false image of past glory based on a
simplified view of actual past glory fused with actual mythology. This is
what I find so frightening because it’s not rational. There are no
principles to which people hold; there is only loyalty to the leader and
the myth with which he or she becomes identified.
In fascism, the false premises have already been bought into and exert
a great power and influence, strong the way that nostalgia and hope
are strong. You can feel victimized and more powerful at the same
time. You can applaud the future as something you’ve already
achieved. Fascism has this coupling of ruthless totalitarian efficiency
(even more so in Germany with the systematized removal and killing of
millions) with mythic and emotional components (even more so in
Germany because Rome actually did exist and did reach the scope of
power Mussolini referred to). Close attention to history and to new data
rather than “cherry picking” should be possible but is not compelling to
people with fascistic beliefs because they accept myth as the greater
reality.
So that should clarify what the ideologies and regime features were.
Please review the quick definitions at this link and be careful to use
.edu source or read histories by historians – and our librarians would
be happy to help you with that:
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl_258/lecture%20notes/capitalism%20et
c%20defined.htm
Make a habit of assuming you do not know what political labels meant in
their own day before you research their definitions in their own day.
McKay, J. P., Crowston, C. H., Wiesner-Hanks, M. E., & Perry, J.
(2017). A history of Western society: Vol. 2. From the age of
exploration to the present (12th ed., concise ed.). Boston, MA:
Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Food for Thought: ART SPIEGELMAN’S MAUS
Art Spiegelman was one of the first people to use the graphic novel to
address a serious issue – the Holocaust. His Maus and Maus 2 contain
a story within a story that centers on his relationship with his father as
he relates his story of Holocaust survival. Spiegleman uses cats and
dogs to represent Germans and Jews so that we can take nothing for
granted about human nature. The novels are emotionally difficult but I
recommend them because his vivid illustrations force us to think about
the brutality and senselessness paired with a technological and
systems efficiency that marked the Nazi world. We rightly focus on the
racism and the genocide but that scope of horror was made possible
by technology and administration.
This mundane dimension of evil was among the most horrifying in the
pursuit of Nazis for crimes against humanity. Some participants were
clearly leaders who shaped policies but what of the people who, dulled
by the bureaucratic processing of Jews and other “undesirables” let it
happen? This lead philosopher Hannah Arendt to write of “the banality
of evil:”
“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make
up their minds to be good or evil.”
and
“The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill
convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.”
Some say that Speigleman is responsible for the evolution of the
graphic novel into literature. I would like to know, if you have time,
what you think. Is the gravity of the subject well-served by his work?
Here’s a famous section of his famous graphic novel, Maus:
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/image/s/spiegelman/spiegelman_maus.jp
g
Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus: A survivor’s tale. New York: Pantheon
Books.
Food for Thought: THE CULT OF PERSONALITY AND THE COLD WAR
As we are nearing the end of the course, I really want to focus on
further developing analytical and critical thinking. Enhancing HOW you
think (not what you think) is probably the fundamental goal of a college
education. Regardless of what that degree will bring you professionally, we
focus on this because it enhances your ability to problem solve, to evaluate
rather than to absorb, to think outside of the box, to develop an active,
inquiring habit of mind. And then you can teach yourself, right? Lifelong
learning.
Below is an example of what might happen when we don’t think
critically about ourselves. We’re studying “the cult of personality” from
the 1920’s on. Here’s an example of an authentic hymn praising Stalin.
When I first read this, I thought the author was being sarcastic but he is not.
How much influence do you think this Cult of Personality had on the
developing Cold War? Once Hitler was defeated, was there still a perception
that history was being driven by strong leaders on either side? If you decided
last week that personalities are not as important in our modern era, does this
change your mind?
Thank you, Stalin. Thank you because I am joyful. Thank you
because I am well. No matter how old I become, I shall never
forget how we received Stalin two days ago. Centuries will pass,
and the generations still to come will regard us as the happiest of
mortals, as the most fortunate of men, because we lived in the
century of centuries, because we were privileged to see Stalin, our
inspired leader. Yes, and we regard ourselves as the happiest of
mortals because we are the contemporaries of a man who never
had an equal in world history.
The men of all ages will call on thy name, which is strong,
beautiful, wise and marvelous. Thy name is engraven on every
factory, every machine, every place on the earth, and in the hearts
of all men.
Every time I have found myself in his presence I have been
subjugated by his strength, his charm, his grandeur. I have
experienced a great desire to sing, to cry out, to shout with joy and
happiness. And now see me–me!–on the same platform where the
Great Stalin stood a year ago. In what country, in what part of the
world could such a thing happen.
I write books. I am an author. All thanks to thee, O great educator,
Stalin. I love a young woman with a renewed love and shall
perpetuate myself in my children–all thanks to thee, great
educator, Stalin. I shall be eternally happy and joyous, all thanks to
thee, great educator, Stalin. Everything belongs to thee, chief of
our great country.
And when the woman I love presents me with a child the first word
it shall utter will be : Stalin.
O great Stalin, O leader of the peoples,
Thou who broughtest man to birth.
Thou who fructifies the earth,
Thou who restorest to centuries,
Thou who makest bloom the spring,
Thou who makest vibrate the musical chords…
Thou, splendour of my spring, O thou,
Sun reflected by millions of hearts.
—A. O.Avidenko
Modern History Sourcebook: Hymn to Stalin. Fordham University.
Retrieved from http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/stalinworship.asp
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Attention: Unit Access Information
Attention: Unit Access Information
Please make sure that you have submitted the activities requiring grading in order
to access this unit.
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To access Unit III: All activities requiring grading for Unit I must be submitted.
To access Unit IV: All activities requiring grading for Unit I and II must be submitted.
To access Unit V: All activities requiring grading for Units I-III must be submitted.
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Unit V Study Guide
Unit V Study Guide
Click the link above to open the unit study guide, which contains this unit’s lesson
and reading assignment(s). This information is necessary in order to complete this
course.
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Unit V Journal
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Weight: 2% of course grade
Grading Rubric
Instructions
Consider the reasons for the impacts of National Socialism and Stalinism from 1920–1945. Do
you believe that personality, ideology (personal and/or political beliefs), or technology was
most to blame for the scope of devastation these leaders created? Given your selection,
describe a safeguard (a policy, law, oversight body, etc.) that the United States might have put
in place to prevent the devastation.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are
necessary.
Submit Unit V Journal »
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Unit V Essay
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Weight: 12% of course grade
Grading Rubric
Instructions
For this assignment, you will write an essay that identifies yourself as one of President
Roosevelt’s advisors from 1939–1946. Based on your chosen office (Secretary of State,
Secretary of the Treasury, etc.), what advice would you give the president regarding these two
key decisions in this period?
How should he manage the American entry into the war despite a population with varied
reactions to entry and participation in World War II?
What is the appropriate global role of the United States through the end of World War II?
Write your essay as if it were a briefing to the president. Include data and as much context as
available. Begin with a specific insight or vision statement about importance of domestic
versus international considerations in decision-making about America’s role from 1939–1946.
Remember that you are looking at this from the perspective of the date of your briefing.
Follow the steps below to develop your essay:
Step 1:
Choose one appropriate secondary source and one relevant print primary source. A secondary
source is a peer-reviewed history journal article or history book. A primary source is an
account, item, or data generated in the historical period by a participant or witness.
Appropriate print primary sources include parts of speeches, debates, and newspaper
editorials. At least one source must come from the CSU Online Library.
Step 2:
Complete your research. Your advice must center on two key decisions and reflect what a
likely advisor and not your modern self would reasonably be expected to say. Create a
detailed portrait of the background and political views they would be likely to have. Then,
gather details and compare the alternatives for each of the two major decisions you selected.
Weigh the political consequences for the president at home, as well as for the U.S. role on the
global stage by 1946.
Step 3:
Draw conclusions about this person’s view of the most important factors. Prepare your insight
or vision statement. Your vision statement should offer your reader your specific insight into
the weight of domestic versus international considerations in decisions. Use specific examples
to make your point. Make sure that the advice reflects what this particular persona would
reasonably be expected to say.
Use the following guidelines to help compose and present your advice:
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Compose a list of the characteristics of this advisor, including office, profession, education, class, and
political opinions so that you can consider these biographical elements as you formulate their advice.
Ensure that your insight or vision statement is about the period 1939–1945 only and that you are not
projecting your own personal opinions but building the likely opinions of a person in this period.
Avoid including the decision made by President Harry Truman to drop the atomic bomb, but you are
free to include Roosevelt’s decisions to pursue the Manhattan Project and plans to drop the bomb.
Use specific decisions and/or data.
Consider the relative weight of domestic political concerns and geopolitical struggles in making the two
decisions.
Consider the advisor’s reactions to other political ideologies involved in World War II.
Ask yourself how the chosen primary source can be presented by this advisor to shape Roosevelt’s
decision-making. Direct quotations from this primary source should not exceed 10% of your content.
Step 4:
Compose your briefing in essay form.
Your essay must be at least two pages in length, double-spaced. APA formatting is not
necessary, however, adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this
assignment. Please note that no abstract is needed.
How to Find Peer-Reviewed Resources video and Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary
Sources video will also help students when researching for this assignment.
Figure 27.1 During World War II, American propaganda was used to drum up patriotism and
support for the war effort. This poster shows the grit and determination of infantrymen in the
face of enemy fire.
Chapter Outline
27.1 The Origins of War: Europe, Asia, and the United States
27.2 The Home Front
27.3 Victory in the European Theater
27.4 The Pacific Theater and the Atomic Bomb
World War II awakened the sleeping giant of the United States from the lingering effects of the
Great Depression. Although the country had not entirely disengaged itself from foreign affairs
following World War I, it had remained largely divorced from events occurring in Europe until
the late 1930s. World War II forced the United States to involve itself once again in European
affairs. It also helped to relieve the unemployment of the 1930s and stir industrial growth. The
propaganda poster above (Figure 27.1) was part of a concerted effort to get Americans to see
themselves as citizens of a strong, unified country, dedicated to the protection of freedom and
democracy. However, the war that unified many Americans also brought to the fore many of the
nation’s racial and ethnic divisions, both on the frontlines—where military units, such as the one
depicted in this poster, were segregated by race—and on the home front. Yet, the war also
created new opportunities for ethnic minorities and women, which, in postwar America, would
contribute to their demand for greater rights.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
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Explain the factors in Europe that gave rise to Fascism and Nazism
Discuss the events in Europe and Asia that led to the start of the war
Identify the early steps taken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to increase American aid to
nations fighting totalitarianism while maintaining neutrality
Figure 27.2
The years between the First and Second World Wars were politically and economically tumultuous
for the United States and especially for the world. The Russian Revolution of 1917, Germany’s
defeat in World War I, and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles had broken up the Austro-Hungarian,
German, and Russian empires and significantly redrew the map of Europe. President Woodrow
Wilson had wished to make World War I the “war to end all wars” and hoped that his new paradigm
of “collective security” in international relations, as actualized through the League of Nations, would
limit power struggles among the nations of the world. However, during the next two decades,
America’s attention turned away from global politics and toward its own needs. At the same time,
much of the world was dealing with economic and political crises, and different types of totalitarian
regimes began to take hold in Europe. In Asia, an ascendant Japan began to expand its borders.
Although the United States remained focused on the economic challenges of the Great Depression
as World War II approached, ultimately it became clear that American involvement in the fight
against Nazi Germany and Japan was in the nation’s interest.
ISOLATION
While during the 1920s and 1930s there were Americans who favored active engagement in Europe,
most Americans, including many prominent politicians, were leery of getting too involved in
European affairs or accepting commitments to other nations that might restrict America’s ability to
act independently, keeping with the isolationist tradition. Although the United States continued to
intervene in the affairs of countries in the Western Hemisphere during this period, the general mood
in America was to avoid becoming involved in any crises that might lead the nation into another
global conflict.
Despite its largely noninterventionist foreign policy, the United States did nevertheless take steps to
try to lessen the chances of war and cut its defense spending at the same time. President Warren G.
Harding’s administration participated in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, which
reduced the size of the navies of the nine signatory nations. In addition, the Four Power Treaty,
signed by the United States, Great Britain, France, and Japan in 1921, committed the signatories to
eschewing any territorial expansion in Asia. In 1928, the United States and fourteen other nations
signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, declaring war an international crime. Despite hopes that such
agreements would lead to a more peaceful world—far more nations signed on to the agreement in
later years—they failed because none of them committed any of the nations to take action in the
event of treaty violations.
THE MARCH TOWARD WAR
While the United States focused on domestic issues, economic depression and political instability
were growing in Europe. During the 1920s, the international financial system was propped up largely
by American loans to foreign countries. The crash of 1929, when the U.S. stock market plummeted
and American capital dried up, set in motion a series of financial chain reactions that contributed
significantly to a global downward economic spiral. Around the world, industrialized economies faced
significant problems of economic depression and worker unemployment.
Totalitarianism in Europe
Many European countries had been suffering even before the Great Depression began. A postwar
recession and the continuation of wartime inflation had hurt many economies, as did a decrease in
agricultural prices, which made it harder for farmers to buy manufactured goods or pay off loans to
banks. In such an unstable environment, Benito Mussolini capitalized on the frustrations of the Italian
people who felt betrayed by the Versailles Treaty. In 1919, Mussolini created the Fasci Italiani di
Combattimento (Italian Combat Squadron). The organization’s main tenets of Fascism called for a
heightened focus on national unity, militarism, social Darwinism, and loyalty to the state. Mussolini
wanted a state organized to be what he called totalitario (totalitarian), which he insisted would mean
“all within the state, none outside the state, none against the state. With the support of major Italian
industrialists and the king, who saw Fascism as a bulwark against growing Socialist and Communist
movements, Mussolini became prime minister in 1922. Between 1925 and 1927, Mussolini
transformed the nation into a single party state and removed all restraints on his power.
In Germany, a similar pattern led to the rise of the totalitarian National Socialist Party. Political
fragmentation through the 1920s accentuated the severe economic problems facing the country. As
a result, the German Communist Party began to grow in strength, frightening many wealthy and
middle-class Germans. In addition, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles had given rise to a deepseated resentment of the victorious Allies. It was in such an environment that Adolf Hitler’s antiCommunist National Socialist Party—the Nazis—was born.
The Nazis gained numerous followers during the Great Depression, which hurt Germany
tremendously, plunging it further into economic crisis. By 1932, nearly 30 percent of the German
labor force was unemployed. Not surprisingly, the political mood was angry and sullen. Hitler, a
World War I veteran, promised to return Germany to greatness. By the beginning of 1933, the Nazis
had become the largest party in the German legislature. Germany’s president, Paul von Hindenburg,
at the urging of large industrialists who feared a Communist uprising, appointed Hitler to the position
of chancellor in January 1933. In the elections that took place in early March 1933, the Nazis gained
the political power to pass the Enabling Act later that same month, which gave Hitler the power to
make all laws for the next four years. Hitler thus effectively became the dictator of Germany and
remained so long after the four-year term passed. Like Italy, Germany had become a one-party
totalitarian state (Figure 27.3). Nazi Germany was an anti-Semitic nation, and in 1935, the
Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews, whom Hitler blamed for Germany’s downfall, of German citizenship
and the rights thereof.
Figure 27.3 Italian Fascists under the dictatorial leadership of Benito Mussolini (a, center) and
German National Socialist Party leader and dictator Adolf Hitler (b) systematically dismantled
democratic institutions and pushed military buildups, racial supremacy, and an aggressive
nationalism in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Once in power, Hitler began to rebuild German military might. He commenced his program by
withdrawing Germany from the League of Nations in October 1933. In 1936, in accordance with his
promise to restore German greatness, Hitler dispatched military units into the Rhineland, on the
border with France, which was an act contrary to the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. In March
1938, claiming that he sought only to reunite ethnic Germans within the borders of one country,
Hitler invaded Austria. At a conference in Munich later that year, Great Britain’s prime minister,
Neville Chamberlain, and France’s prime minister, Édouard Daladier, agreed to the partial
dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and the occupation of the Sudetenland (a region with a sizable
German population) by German troops (Figure 27.4). This Munich Pact offered a policy
of appeasement, in the hope that German expansionist appetites could be satisfied without war. But
not long after the agreement, Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia as well.
Figure 27.4 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arrives home in England bearing the Munich Pact
agreement. The jubilant Chamberlain proclaimed that the agreement meant “peace in our time.”
Leaders in the Soviet Union, which developed its own form of brutal totalitarianism through
communism, paid close attention to Hitler’s actions and public pronouncements. Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin realized that Poland, part of which had belonged to Germany before the First World
War, was most likely next. Although fiercely opposed to Hitler, Stalin, sobered by the French and
British betrayal of Czechoslovakia and unprepared for a major war, decided the best way to protect
the Soviet Union, and gain additional territory, was to come to some accommodation with the
German dictator. In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union essentially agreed to divide Poland
between them and not make war upon one another.
Japan
Militaristic politicians also took control of Japan in the 1930s. The Japanese had worked assiduously
for decades to modernize, build their strength, and become a prosperous, respected nation. The
sentiment in Japan was decidedly pro-capitalist, and the Japanese militarists were fiercely
supportive of a capitalist economy. They viewed with great concern the rise of Communism in the
Soviet Union and in particular China, where the issue was fueling a civil war, and feared that the
Soviet Union would make inroads in Asia by assisting China’s Communists. The Japanese militarists
thus found a common ideological enemy with Fascism and National Socialism, which had based
their rise to power on anti-Communist sentiments. In 1936, Japan and Germany signed the AntiComintern Pact, pledging mutual assistance in defending themselves against the Comintern, the
international agency created by the Soviet Union to promote worldwide Communist revolution. In
1937, Italy joined the pact, essentially creating the foundation of what became the military alliance of
the Axis powers.
Like its European allies, Japan was intent upon creating an empire for itself. In 1931, it created a
new nation, a puppet state called Manchukuo, which had been cobbled together from the three
northernmost provinces of China. Although the League of Nations formally protested Japan’s seizure
of Chinese territory in 1931 and 1932, it did nothing else. In 1937, a clash between Japanese and
Chinese troops, known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, led to a full-scale invasion of China by the
Japanese. By the end of the year, the Chinese had suffered some serious defeats. In Nanjing, then
called Nanking by Westerners, Japanese soldiers systematically raped Chinese women and
massacred hundreds of thousands of civilians, leading to international outcry. Public sentiment
against Japan in the United States reached new heights. Members of Protestant churches that were
involved in missionary work in China were particularly outraged, as were Chinese Americans. A
troop of Chinese American Boy Scouts in New York City’s Chinatown defied Boy Scout policy and
marched in protest against Japanese aggression.
FROM NEUTRALITY TO ENGAGEMENT
President Franklin Roosevelt was aware of the challenges facing the targets of Nazi aggression in
Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia. Although he hoped to offer U.S. support, Congress’s
commitment to nonintervention was difficult to overcome. Such a policy in regards to Europe was
strongly encouraged by Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota. Nye claimed that the United States
had been tricked into participating in World War I by a group of industrialists and bankers who
sought to gain from the country’s participation in the war. The United States, Nye urged, should not
be drawn again into an international dispute over matters that did not concern it. His sentiments
were shared by other noninterventionists in Congress (Figure 27.5).
Figure 27.5 This protest sign shows the unwillingness of many Americans to become involved in a
foreign war. A reluctance to intervene in events outside of the Western Hemisphere had
characterized American foreign policy since the administration of George Washington. World War I
had been an exception that many American politicians regretted making.
Roosevelt’s willingness to accede to the demands of the noninterventionists led him even to refuse
assistance to those fleeing Nazi Germany. Although Roosevelt was aware of Nazi persecution of the
Jews, he did little to aid them. In a symbolic act of support, he withdrew the American ambassador to
Germany in 1938. He did not press for a relaxation of immigration quotas that would have allowed
more refugees to enter the country, however. In 1939, he refused to support a bill that would have
admitted twenty thousand Jewish refugee children to the United States. Again in 1939, when
German refugees aboard the SS St. Louis, most of them Jews, were refused permission to land in
Cuba and turned to the United States for help, the U.S. State Department informed them that
immigration quotas for Germany had already been filled. Once again, Roosevelt did not intervene,
because he feared that nativists in Congress might smear him as a friend of Jews.
To ensure that the United States did not get drawn into another war, Congress passed a series of
Neutrality Acts in the second half of the 1930s. The Neutrality Act of 1935 banned the sale of
armaments to warring nations. The following year, another Neutrality Act prohibited loaning money
to belligerent countries. The last piece of legislation, the Neutrality Act of 1937, forbade the
transportation of weapons or passengers to belligerent nations on board American ships and also
prohibited American citizens from traveling on board the ships of nations at war.
Once all-out war began between Japan and China in 1937, Roosevelt sought ways to help the
Chinese that did not violate U.S. law. Since Japan did not formally declare war on China, a state of
belligerency did not technically exist. Therefore, under the terms of the Neutrality Acts, America was
not prevented from transporting goods to China. In 1940, the president of China, Chiang Kai-shek,
was able to prevail upon Roosevelt to ship to China one hundred P-40 fighter planes and to allow
American volunteers, who technically became members of the Chinese Air Force, to fly them.
War Begins in Europe
In 1938, the agreement reached at the Munich Conference failed to satisfy Hitler—in fact, the refusal
of Britain and France to go to war over the issue infuriated the German dictator. In May of the next
year, Germany and Italy formalized their military alliance with the “Pact of Steel.” On September 1,
1939, Hitler unleashed his Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” against Poland, using swift, surprise attacks
combining infantry, tanks, and aircraft to quickly overwhelm the enemy. Britain and France had
already learned from Munich that Hitler could not be trusted and that his territorial demands were
insatiable. On September 3, 1939, they declared war on Germany, and the European phase of
World War II began. Responding to the German invasion of Poland, Roosevelt worked with
Congress to alter the Neutrality Laws to permit a policy of “Cash and Carry” in munitions for Britain
and France. The legislation, passed and signed by Roosevelt in November 1939, permitted
belligerents to purchase war materiel if they could pay cash for it and arrange for its transportation
on board their own ships.
When the Germans commenced their spring offensive in 1940, they defeated France in six weeks
with a highly mobile and quick invasion of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. In
the Far East, Japan took advantage of France’s surrender to Germany to occupy French Indochina.
In response, beginning with the Export Control Act in July 1940, the United States began to embargo
the shipment of various materials to Japan, starting first with aviation gasoline and machine tools,
and proceeding to scrap iron and steel.
The Atlantic Charter
Following the surrender of France, the Battle of Britain began, as Germany proceeded to try to bomb
England into submission. As the battle raged in the skies over Great Britain throughout the summer
and autumn of 1940 (Figure 27.6), Roosevelt became increasingly concerned over England’s ability
to hold out against the German juggernaut. In June 1941, Hitler broke the nonaggression pact with
the Soviet Union that had given him the backing to ravage Poland and marched his armies deep into
Soviet territory, where they would kill Red Army regulars and civilians by the millions until their
advances were stalled and ultimately reversed by the devastating battle of Stalingrad, which took
place from August 23, 1942 until February 2, 1943 when, surrounded and out of ammunition, the
German 6th army surrendered.
CLICK AND EXPLORE
Listen to the BBC’s archived reports of the Battle of Britain, including Winston Churchill’s “Finest
Hour” speech.
In August 1941, Roosevelt met with the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, off the coast of
Newfoundland, Canada. At this meeting, the two leaders drafted the Atlantic Charter, the blueprint of
Anglo-American cooperation during World War II. The charter stated that the United States and
Britain sought no territory from the conflict. It proclaimed that citizens of all countries should be given
the right of self-determination, self-government should be restored in places where it had been
eliminated, and trade barriers should be lowered. Further, the charter mandated freedom of the
seas, renounced the use of force to settle international disputes, and called for postwar
disarmament.
Figure 27.6 London and other major British cities suffered extensive damaged from the bombing
raids of the Battle of Britain. Over one million London houses were destroyed or damaged during
“The Blitz” and almost twenty thousand Londoners were killed.
In March 1941, concerns over Britain’s ability to defend itself also influenced Congress to authorize a
policy of Lend Lease, a practice by which the United States could sell, lease, or transfer armaments
to any nation deemed important to the defense of the United States. Lend Lease effectively ended
the policy of nonintervention and dissolved America’s pretense of being a neutral nation. The
program ran from 1941 to 1945, and distributed some $45 billion worth of weaponry and supplies to
Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and other allies.
A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
By the second half of 1941, Japan was feeling the pressure of the American embargo. As it could no
longer buy strategic material from the United States, the Japanese were determined to obtain a
sufficient supply of oil by taking control of the Dutch East Indies. However, they realized that such an
action might increase the possibility of American intervention, since the Philippines, a U.S. territory,
lay on the direct route that oil tankers would have to take to reach Japan from Indonesia. Japanese
leaders thus attempted to secure a diplomatic solution by negotiating with the United States while
also authorizing the navy to plan for war. The Japanese government also decided that if no peaceful
resolution could be reached by the end of November 1941, then the nation would have to go to war
against the United States.
The American final counterproposal to various offers by Japan was for the Japanese to completely
withdraw, without any conditions, from China and enter into nonaggression pacts with all the Pacific
powers. Japan found that proposal unacceptable but delayed its rejection for as long as possible.
Then, at 7:48 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet at anchor
in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Figure 27.7). They launched two waves of attacks from six aircraft carriers
that had snuck into the central Pacific without being detected. The attacks brought some 353
fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers down on the unprepared fleet. The Japanese hit all eight
battleships in the harbor and sank four of them. They also damaged several cruisers and destroyers.
On the ground, nearly two hundred aircraft were destroyed, and twenty-four hundred servicemen
were killed. Another eleven hundred were wounded. Japanese losses were minimal. The strike was
part of a more concerted campaign by the Japanese to gain territory. They subsequently attacked
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines.
Figure 27.7 This famous shot captured the explosion of the USS Shaw after the Japanese bombed
Pearl Harbor. While American losses were significant, the Japanese lost only twenty-nine planes
and five miniature submarines.
Whatever reluctance to engage in conflict the American people had had before December 7, 1941,
quickly evaporated. Americans’ incredulity that Japan would take such a radical step quickly turned
to a fiery anger, especially as the attack took place while Japanese diplomats in Washington were
still negotiating a possible settlement. President Roosevelt, referring to the day of the attack as “a
date which will live in infamy,” asked Congress for a declaration of war, which it delivered to Japan
on December 8. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States in
accordance with their alliance with Japan. Against its wishes, the United States had become part of
the European conflict.
CLICK AND EXPLORE
You can listen to Franklin Roosevelt’s speech to Congress seeking a Declaration of War at this
archive of presidential recordings.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
•
•
•
•
Describe the steps taken by the United States to prepare for war
Describe how the war changed employment patterns in the United States
Discuss the contributions of civilians on the home front, especially women, to the war effort
Analyze how the war affected race relations in the United States
The impact of the war on the United States was nowhere near as devastating as it was in Europe
and the Pacific, where the battles were waged, but it still profoundly changed everyday life for all
Americans. On the positive side, the war effort finally and definitively ended the economic
depression that had been plaguing the country since 1929. It also called upon Americans to unite
behind the war effort and give of their money, their time, and their effort, as they sacrificed at home
to assure success abroad. The upheaval caused by White men leaving for war meant that for many
disenfranchised groups, such as women and African Americans, there were new opportunities in
employment and wage earning. Still, fear and racism drove cracks in the nation’s unified facade.
MOBILIZING A NATION
Although the United States had sought to avoid armed conflict, the country was not entirely
unprepared for war. Production of armaments had increased since 1939, when, as a result of
Congress’s authorization of the Cash and Carry policy, contracts for weapons had begun to trickle
into American factories. War production increased further following the passage of Lend Lease in
1941. However, when the United States entered the war, the majority of American factories were still
engaged in civilian production, and many doubted that American businesses would be sufficiently
motivated to convert their factories to wartime production.
Just a few years earlier, Roosevelt had been frustrated and impatient with business leaders when
they failed to fully support the New Deal, but enlisting industrialists in the nation’s crusade was
necessary if the United States was to produce enough armaments to win the war. To encourage
cooperation, the government agreed to assume all costs of development and production, and also
guarantee a profit on the sale of what was produced. This arrangement resulted in 233 to 350
percent increases in profits over what the same businesses had been able to achieve from 1937 to
1940. In terms of dollars earned, corporate profits rose from $6.4 billion in 1940 to nearly $11 billion
in 1944. As the country switched to wartime production, the top one hundred U.S. corporations
received approximately 70 percent of government contracts; big businesses prospered.
In addition to gearing up industry to fight the war, the country also needed to build an army. A
peacetime draft, the first in American history, had been established in September 1940, but the initial
draftees were to serve for only one year, a length of time that was later extended. Furthermore,
Congress had specified that no more than 900,000 men could receive military training at any one
time. By December 1941, the United States had only one division completely ready to be deployed.
Military planners estimated that it might take nine million men to secure victory. A massive draft
program was required to expand the nation’s military forces. Over the course of the war,
approximately fifty million men registered for the draft; ten million were subsequently inducted into
the service.
Approximately 2.5 million African Americans registered for the draft, and 1 million of them
subsequently served. Initially, African American soldiers, who served in segregated units, had been
used as support troops and not been sent into combat. By the end of the war, however, manpower
needs resulted in African American recruits serving in the infantry and flying planes. The Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama had instituted a civilian pilot training program for aspiring African American
pilots. When the war began, the Department of War absorbed the program and adapted it to train
combat pilots. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt demonstrated both her commitment to African
Americans and the war effort by visiting Tuskegee in 1941, shortly after the unit had been organized.
To encourage the military to give the airmen a chance to serve in actual combat, she insisted on
taking a ride in a plane flown by an African American pilot to demonstrate the Tuskegee Airmen’s
skill (Figure 27.8). When the Tuskegee Airmen did get their opportunity to serve in combat, they did
so with distinction.
Figure 27.8 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt insisted on flying with an African American pilot to help
fight racism in the military. The First Lady was famous for her support of civil rights.
In addition, forty-four thousand Native Americans served in all theaters of the war. In some of the
Pacific campaigns, Native Americans made distinct and unique contributions to Allied victories.
Navajo marines served in communications units, exchanging information over radios using codes
based on their native language, which the Japanese were unable to comprehend or to crack. They
became known as code talkers and participated in the battles of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Peleliu, and
Tarawa. A smaller number of Comanche code talkers performed a similar function in the European
theater.
While millions of Americans heeded the rallying cry for patriotism and service, there were those who,
for various reasons, did not accept the call. Before the war began, American Peace Mobilization had
campaigned against American involvement in the European conflict as had the noninterventionist
America First organization. Both groups ended their opposition, however, at the time of the German
invasion of the Soviet Union and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, respectively. Nevertheless,
during the war, some seventy-two thousand men registered as conscientious objectors (COs),
and fifty-two thousand were granted that status. Of that fifty-two thousand, some accepted
noncombat roles in the military, whereas others accepted unpaid work in civilian work camps. Many
belonged to pacifist religious sects such as the Quakers or Mennonites. They were willing to serve
their country, but they refused to kill. COs suffered public condemnation for disloyalty, and family
members often turned against them. Strangers assaulted them. A portion of the town of Plymouth,
NH, was destroyed by fire because the residents did not want to call upon the services of the COs
trained as firemen at a nearby camp. Only a very small number of men evaded the draft completely.
Most Americans, however, were willing to serve, and they required a competent officer corps. The
very same day that Germany invaded Poland in 1939, President Roosevelt promoted George C.
Marshall, a veteran of World War I and an expert at training officers, from a one-star general to a
four-star general, and gave him the responsibility of serving as Army Chief of Staff. The desire to
create a command staff that could win the army’s confidence no doubt contributed to the rather
meteoric rise of Dwight D. Eisenhower (Figure 27.9). During World War I, Eisenhower had been
assigned to organize America’s new tank corps, and, although he never saw combat during the war,
he demonstrated excellent organizational skills. When the United States entered World War II,
Eisenhower was appointed commander of the General European Theater of Operations in June
1942.
Figure 27.9 Dwight D. Eisenhower rose quickly through the ranks to become commander of the
European Theater of Operations by June 1942.
MY STORY
General Eisenhower on Winning a War
Promoted to the level of one-star general just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dwight D.
Eisenhower had never held an active command position above the level of a battalion and was not
considered a potential commander of major military operations. However, after he was assigned to
the General Staff in Washington, DC, he quickly rose through the ranks and, by late 1942, was
appointed commander of the North African campaign.
Excerpts from General Eisenhower’s diary reveal his dedication to the war effort. He continued to
work despite suffering a great personal loss.
March 9, 1942
General McNaughton (commanding Canadians in Britain) came to see me. He believes
in attacking in Europe (thank God). He’s over here in an effort to speed up landing craft
production and cargo ships. Has some d___ good ideas. Sent him to see Somervell and
Admiral Land. How I hope he can do something on landing craft.
March 10, 1942
Father dies this morning. Nothing I can do but send a wire.
One thing that might help win this war is to get someone to shoot [Admiral] King. He’s
the antithesis of cooperation, a deliberately rude person, which means he’s a mental
bully. He became Commander in Chief of the fleet some time ago. Today he takes over,
also Stark’s job as chief of naval operations. It’s a good thing to get rid of the double
head in the navy, and of course Stark was just a nice old lady, but this fellow is going to
cause a blow-up sooner or later, I’ll bet a cookie.
Gradually some of the people with whom I have to deal are coming to agree with me
that there are just three “musts” for the Allies this year: hold open the line to England
and support her as necessary, keep Russia in the war as an active participant; hold the
India-Middle East buttress between Japs and Germans. All this assumes the safety
from major attack of North America, Hawaii, and Caribbean area.
We lost eight cargo ships yesterday. That we must stop, because any effort we make
depends upon sea communication.
March 11, 1942
I have felt terribly. I should like so much to be with my Mother these few days. But we’re
at war. And war is not soft, it has no time to indulge even the deepest and most sacred
emotions. I loved my Dad. I think my Mother the finest person I’ve ever known. She has
been the inspiration for Dad’s life and a true helpmeet in every sense of the word.
I’m quitting work now, 7:30 p.m. I haven’t the heart to go on tonight.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Diaries
What does Eisenhower identify as the most important steps to take to win the war?
EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION PATTERNS IN THE UNITED STATES
Even before the official beginning of the war, the country started to prepare. In August 1940,
Congress created the Defense Plant Corporation, which had built 344 plants in the West by 1945,
and had funneled over $1.8 billion into the economies of western states. After Pearl Harbor, as
American military strategists began to plan counterattacks and campaigns against the Axis powers,
California became a training ground. Troops trained there for tank warfare and amphibious assaults
as well as desert campaigns—since the first assault against the Axis powers was planned for North
Africa.
As thousands of Americans swarmed to the West Coast to take jobs in defense plants and
shipyards, cities like Richmond, California, and nearby Oakland, expanded quickly. Richmond grew
from a city of 20,000 people to 100,000 in only three years. Almost overnight, the population of
California skyrocketed. African Americans moved out of the rural South into northern or West Coast
cities to provide the muscle and skill to build the machines of war. Building on earlier waves of
African American migration after the Civil War and during World War I, the demographics of the
nation changed with the growing urbanization of the African American population. Women also
relocated to either follow their husbands to military bases or take jobs in the defense industry, as the
total mobilization of the national economy began to tap into previously underemployed populations.
Roosevelt and his administration already had experience in establishing government controls and
taking the initiative in economic matters during the Depression. In April 1941, Roosevelt created the
Office of Price Administration (OPA), and, once the United States entered the war, the OPA
regulated prices and attempted to combat inflation. The OPA ultimately had the power to set ceiling
prices for all goods, except agricultural commodities, and to ration a long list of items. During the
war, major labor unions pledged not to strike in order to prevent disruptions in production; in return,
the government encouraged businesses to recognize unions and promised to help workers bargain
for better wages.
As in World War I, the government turned to bond drives to finance the war. Millions of Americans
purchased more than $185 billion worth of war bonds. Children purchased Victory Stamps and
exchanged full stamp booklets for bonds. The federal government also instituted the current taxwithholding system to ensure collection of taxes. Finally, the government once again urged
Americans to plant victory gardens, using marketing campaigns and celebrities to promote the idea
(Figure 27.10). Americans responded eagerly, planting gardens in their backyards and vacant lots.
Figure 27.10 Wartime rationing meant that Americans had to do without many everyday items and
learn to grow their own produce in order to allow the country’s food supply to go to the troops.
The federal government also instituted rationing to ensure that America’s fighting men were well fed.
Civilians were issued ration booklets, books of coupons that enabled them to buy limited amounts of
meat, coffee, butter, sugar, and other foods. Wartime cookbooks were produced, such as the Betty
Crocker cookbook Your Share, telling housewives how to prepare tasty meals without scarce food
items. Other items were rationed as well, including shoes, liquor, cigarettes, and gasoline. With a
few exceptions, such as doctors, Americans were allowed to drive their automobiles only on certain
days of the week. Most Americans complied with these regulations, but some illegally bought and
sold rationed goods on the black market.
CLICK AND EXPLORE
View an excerpt from a PBS documentary on rationing during World War II.
Civilians on the home front also recycled, conserved, and participated in scrap drives to collect items
needed for the production of war materiel. Housewives saved cooking fats, needed to produce
explosives. Children collected scrap metal, paper, rubber, silk, nylon, and old rags. Some children
sacrificed beloved metal toys in order to “win the war.” Civilian volunteers, trained to recognize
enemy aircraft, watched the skies along the coasts and on the borders.
WOMEN IN THE WAR: ROSIE THE RIVETER AND BEYOND
As in the previous war, the gap in the labor force created by departing soldiers meant opportunities
for women. In particular, World War II led many to take jobs in defense plants and factories around
the country. For many women, these jobs provided unprecedented opportunities to move into
occupations previously thought of as exclusive to men, especially the aircraft industry, where a
majority of workers were composed of women by 1943. Most women in the labor force did not work
in the defense industry, however. The majority took over other factory jobs that had been held by
men. Many took positions in offices as well. As White women, many of whom had been in the
workforce before the war, moved into these more highly paid positions, African American women,
most of whom had previously been limited to domestic service, took over White women’s lowerpaying positions in factories; some were also hired by defense plants, however. Although women
often earned more money than ever before, it was still far less than men received for doing the same
jobs. Nevertheless, many achieved a degree of financial self-reliance that was enticing. By 1944, as
many as 33 percent of the women working in the defense industries were mothers and worked
“double-day” shifts—one at the plant and one at home.
Still, there was some resistance to women going to work in such a male-dominated environment. In
order to recruit women for factory jobs, the government created a propaganda campaign centered
on a now-iconic figure known as Rosie the Riveter (Figure 27.11). Rosie, who was a composite
based on several real women, was most famously depicted by American illustrator Norman
Rockwell. Rosie was tough yet feminine. To reassure men that the demands of war would not make
women too masculine, some factories gave female employees lessons in how to apply makeup, and
cosmetics were never rationed during the war. Elizabeth Arden even created a special red lipstick for
use by women reservists in the Marine Corps.
Figure 27.11 “Rosie the Riveter” became a generic term for all women working in the defense
industry. Although the Rosie depicted on posters was White, many of the real Rosies were African
American, such as this woman who poses atop an airplane at the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in
Burbank, California (a), and Anna Bland, a worker at the Richmond Shipyards (b).
Although many saw the entry of women into the workforce as a positive thing, they also
acknowledged that working women, especially mothers, faced great challenges. To try to address
the dual role of women as workers and mothers, Eleanor Roosevelt urged her husband to approve
the first U.S. government childcare facilities under the Community Facilities Act of 1942. Eventually,
seven centers, servicing 105,000 children, were built. The First Lady also urged industry leaders like
Henry Kaiser to build model childcare facilities for their workers. Still, these efforts did not meet the
full need for childcare for working mothers.
The lack of childcare facilities meant that many children had to fend for themselves after school, and
some had to assume responsibility for housework and the care of younger siblings. Some mothers
took younger children to work with them and left them locked in their cars during the workday. Police
and social workers also reported an increase in juvenile delinquency during the war. New York City
saw its average number of juvenile cases balloon from 9,500 in the prewar years to 11,200 during
the war. In San Diego, delinquency rates for girls, including sexual misbehavior, shot up by 355
percent. It is unclear whether more juveniles were actually engaging in delinquent behavior; the
police may simply have become more vigilant during wartime and arrested youngsters for activities
that would have gone overlooked before the war. In any event, law enforcement and juvenile courts
attributed the perceived increase to a lack of supervision by working mothers.
Tens of thousands of women served in the war effort more directly. Approximately 350,000 joined
the military. They worked as nurses, drove trucks, repaired airplanes, and performed clerical work to
free up men for combat. Over sixteen hundred of the women nurses received various decorations for
courage under fire, but many also died or were captured in the war zones. Those who joined the
Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) flew planes from the factories to military bases. Many
women also flocked to work in a variety of civil service jobs. Others worked as chemists and
engineers, developing weapons for the war. This included thousands of women who were recruited
to work on the Manhattan Project, developing the atomic bomb.
THE CULTURE OF WAR: ENTERTAINERS AND THE WAR EFFORT
During the Great Depression, movies had served as a welcome diversion from the difficulties of
everyday life, and during the war, this held still truer. By 1941, there were more movie theaters than
banks in the United States. In the 1930s, newsreels, which were shown in movie theaters before
feature films, had informed the American public of what was happening elsewhere in the world. This
interest grew once American armies began to engage the enemy. Many informational documentaries
about the war were also shown in movie theaters. The most famous were those in the Why We
Fight series, filmed by Hollywood director Frank Capra. During the war, Americans flocked to the
movies not only to learn what was happening to the troops overseas but also to be distracted from
the fears and hardships of wartime by cartoons, dramas, and comedies. By 1945, movie attendance
had reached an all-time high.
CLICK AND EXPLORE
This link shows newsreel footage of a raid on Tarawa Island. This footage was shown in movie
theaters around the country.
Many feature films were patriotic stories that showed the day’s biggest stars as soldiers fighting the
nefarious German and Japanese enemy. During the war years, there was a consistent supply of
patriotic movies, with actors glorifying and inspiring America’s fighting men. John Wayne, who had
become a star in the 1930s, appeared in many war-themed movies, including The Fighting
Seabees and Back to Bataan.
Besides appearing in patriotic movies, many male entertainers temporarily gave up their careers to
serve in the armed forces (Figure 27.12). Jimmy Stewart served in the Army Air Force and appeared
in a short film entitled Winning Your Wings that encouraged young men to enlist. Tyrone Power
joined the U.S. Marines. Female entertainers did their part as well. Rita Hayworth and Marlene
Dietrich entertained the troops. African American singer and dancer Josephine Baker entertained
Allied troops in North Africa and also carried secret messages for the French Resistance. Actress
Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash while returning home from a rally where she had sold
war bonds.
Figure 27.12 General George Marshall awards Frank Capra the Distinguished Service Cross in
1945 (a), in recognition of the important contribution that Capra’s films made to the war effort. Jimmy
Stewart was awarded numerous commendations for his military service, including the French Croix
de Guerre (b).
DEFINING AMERICAN
The Meaning of Democracy
E. B. White was one of the most famous writers of the twentieth century. During the 1940s, he was
known for the articles that he contributed to The New Yorker and the column that he wrote
for Harper’s Magazine. Today, he is remembered for his children’s books Stuart
Little and Charlotte’s Web, and for his collaboration with William Strunk, Jr., The Elements of Style, a
guide to writing. In 1943, he wrote a definition of democracy as an example of what Americans
hoped that they were fighting for.
We received a letter from the Writer’s War Board the other day asking for a statement
on ‘The Meaning of Democracy.’ It presumably is our duty to comply with such a
request, and it is certainly our pleasure. Surely the Board knows what democracy is. It is
the line that forms on the right. It is the ‘don’t’ in don’t shove. It is the hole in the stuffed
shirt through which the sawdust slowly trickles; it is the dent in the high hat. Democracy
is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of
the time. It is the feeling of privacy in the voting booths, the feeling of communion in the
libraries, the feeling of vitality everywhere. Democracy is a letter to the editor.
Democracy is the score at the beginning of the ninth. It is an idea that hasn’t been
disproved yet, a song the words of which have not gone bad. It is the mustard on the
hot dog and the cream in the rationed coffee. Democracy is a request from a War
Board, in the middle of the morning in the middle of a war, wanting to know what
democracy is.
Do you agree with this definition of democracy? Would you change anything to make it more
contemporary?
SOCIAL TENSIONS ON THE HOME FRONT
The need for Americans to come together, whether in Hollywood, the defense industries, or the
military, to support the war effort encouraged feelings of unity among the American population.
However, the desire for unity did not always mean that Americans of color were treated as equals or
even tolerated, despite their proclamations of patriotism and their willingness to join in the effort to
defeat America’s enemies in Europe and Asia. For African Americans, Mexican Americans, and
especially for Japanese Americans, feelings of patriotism and willingness to serve one’s country both
at home and abroad was not enough to guarantee equal treatment by White Americans or to prevent
the U.S. government from regarding them as the enemy.
African Americans and Double V
The African American community had, at the outset of the war, forged some promising relationships
with the Roosevelt administration through civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune and Roosevelt’s
“Black Cabinet” of African American advisors. Through the intervention of Eleanor Roosevelt,
Bethune was appointed to the advisory council set up by the War Department Women’s Interest
Section. In this position, Bethune was able to organize the first officer candidate school for women
and enable African American women to become officers in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
(WAAC), which was renamed Women’s Army Corps (WAC) a year later when it was authorized as a
branch of the U.S. Army.
As the U.S. economy revived as a result of government defense contracts, African Americans
wanted to ensure that their service to the country earned them better opportunities and more equal
treatment. Accordingly, in 1941, African American labor leader A. Philip Randolph pressured
Roosevelt with a threatened “March on Washington.” In response, the president signed Executive
Order 8802, which created the Fair Employment Practices Committee to bar racial discrimination in
the defense industry. While the committee was effective in forcing defense contractors, such as the
DuPont Corporation, to hire African Americans, it was not able to force corporations to place African
Americans in well-paid positions. For example, at DuPont’s plutonium production plant in Hanford,
Washington, African Americans were hired as low-paid construction workers but not as laboratory
technicians.
During the war, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded by James Farmer in 1942, used
peaceful civil disobedience in the form of sit-ins to desegregate certain public spaces in Washington,
DC, and elsewhere, as its contribution to the war effort. Members of CORE sought support for their
movement by stating that one of their goals was to deprive the enemy of the ability to generate antiAmerican propaganda by accusing the United States of racism. After all, they argued, if the United
States were going to denounce Germany and Japan for abusing human rights, the country should
itself be as exemplary as possible. Indeed, CORE’s actions were in keeping with the goals of
the Double V campaign that was begun in 1942 by the Pittsburgh Courier, the largest African
American newspaper at the time (Figure 27.13). The campaign called upon African Americans to
accomplish the two “Vs”: victory over America’s foreign enemies and victory over racism in the
United States.
Figure 27.13 During World War II, African Americans volunteered for government work just as White
Americans did. These Washington, DC, residents have become civil defense workers as part of the
Double V campaign that called for victory at home and abroad.
Despite the willingness of African Americans to fight for the United States, racial tensions often
erupted in violence, as the geographic relocation necessitated by the war brought African Americans
into closer contact with White people. There were race riots in Detroit, Harlem, and Beaumont,
Texas, in which White residents responded with sometimes deadly violence to their new Black
coworkers or neighbors. There were also racial incidents at or near several military bases in the
South. Incidents of African American soldiers being harassed or assaulted occurred at Fort Benning,
Georgia; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Alexandria, Louisiana; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Tampa,
Florida. African American leaders such as James Farmer and Walter White, the executive secretary
of the NAACP since 1931, were asked by General Eisenhower to investigate complaints of the
mistreatment of African American servicemen while on active duty. They prepared a fourteen-point
memorandum on how to improve conditions for African Americans in the service, sowing some of
the seeds of the postwar civil rights movement during the war years.
The Zoot Suit Riots
Mexican Americans also encountered racial prejudice. The Mexican American population in
Southern California grew during World War II due to the increased use of Mexican agricultural
workers in the fields to replace the White workers who had left for better paying jobs in the defense
industries. The United States and Mexican governments instituted the “bracero” program on August
4, 1942, which sought to address the needs of California growers for manual labor to increase food
production during wartime. The result was the immigration of thousands of impoverished Mexicans
into the United States to work a…