Moodle Notes – WW2 and Truman’s Fair Deal

Despite isolationism, Roosevelt managed to argue for an arms buildup. Congress went along in late 1938 by increasing the military and naval budgets by nearly two-thirds. Still, by 1939, the U.S. Army consisted of less than 200,000 men—About the size of the army of Romania.

March 1938 - Hitler broke the Munich agreement by sending troops to occupy all of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France pledged to declare war on Germany if he went further [believing he was about to take Poland.]

They assumed they could count on Joseph Stalin, to join with them, since communism and fascism were ideological enemies AND, Russia helped the Allied Powers defeat Germany during WWI. They were shocked in 1939 to discover that Stalin and Hitler signed a nonaggression pact, whereby Stalin and Hitler agreed to divide Poland between them. [If Stalin stayed out of the War]

September 1, 1939 - German tanks and planes began a full-scale invasion of Poland. Britain and France declared war against Germany in response

Axis Allies - Italy and Japan Allied Powers - England, France, U.S., Soviets, and China.

Stalin joins with the Allied powers when Hitler violated the non-aggression pact and invades the Soviet Union.

England. After a relatively inactive winter, the war was resumed in the spring of 1940 with Germany attacking its Scandinavia neighbors to the north and its chief enemy, France, to the west. Denmark and Norway surrendered in a few days, France in only a week.

Americans were alarmed by news of Nazi tanks, planes, and troops conquering one country after another. Most Americans strongly opposed Hitler, but still wanted to keep their country out of war.

• In September 1940, Britain was under constant assault by German bombing raids. • German submarine attacks threatened British control of the Atlantic. • Roosevelt could not sell U.S. destroyers under the neutrality acts. • But, he arranged a trade - Britain received 50 older but desperately need U.S. destroyers in exchange for giving the U.S. the right to build military bases on British islands in the Caribbean. [Which we didn't need]

• Proposed ending cash and carry in favor of lend-lease - allowed Britain to get everything it needed on credit. Roosevelt compared this to lending your neighbor a hose when his house was on fire. You don't charge them for the hose right away; you help them. • Majority opinion had shifted toward aiding Britain, and Lend-Lease was signed into law on March 1941.

• Through 1940 and 1941, U.S. relations with Japan becoming increasingly tense as a result of Japan's invasion of China and ambitions to extend its conquests to Southeast Asia. Japan then joined the Axis powers in September 1940. • Roosevelt responded by prohibiting the export of steel and scrap iron to all countries except Britain and the nations of the Western Hemisphere.

• July 1941, Japanese troops moved into French Indochina. • In response, Roosevelt froze all Japanese credits in the U.S. and cut off Japanese access to vital materials, including U.S. oil, which it needed to fuel its navy and air force.

• If embargo did not end, Japan was going to extend its conquests into the Dutch East Indies for more resources. • Invasion of China considered by the US to be a violation of the Open Door policy. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, insisted that Japan pull its troops out of China. Japan refused. • In October, a new government, headed by General Hideki Tojo, made a final attempt at negotiating an agreement.

• War seemed inevitable, but U.S. hoped armed confrontation could be averted until U.S. forces were sufficiently strong in the Pacific. • Japan believed that quick action against the U.S. was necessary due to its own limited oil supplies. Attack while strong, instead of being attacked when weak.

• U.S. fleet in the Pacific was anchored at Pearl Harbor. • Sunday, December 7, 1941 - most sailors still asleep - Japanese planes from aircraft carriers flew over Pearl Harbor bombing every ship in sight. • Last less than 2 hours—2,400 Americans were killed, including over 1,100 when the Arizona sank. 1,200 wounded, 20 warships sunk or severely damaged, and 150 airplanes were destroyed. • High level officials new an attack was immanent, because they broke the Japanese codes. But, most thought that the attack would come in the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, or Malaya.

• December 8, 1941, Roosevelt described Pearl Harbor as \"a date that will live in infamy.\" He declared that \"a state of war had existed between the U.S. and the Japanese Empire.\" December 8, Congress declared war, with only one dissenting vote. 3 days later, Germany and Italy honored their treaty with Japan by declaring war on the U.S.

supervised production for war purposes. Charged with converting civilian industry to war production. It regulated the production and allocation of materials and fuel during World War II. It rationed such things as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, paper and plastics to make sure there was enough for the war.

Had the power to control prices, thus preventing inflation. It froze prices, wages, and rents and rationed such commodities as meat, sugar, gasoline, and auto tires.

• passed over Roosevelt's veto, empowered the government to take over war-related businesses whose operations were threatened by a strike.

• Labor unions and large corporations agreed to no strikes. [Just like during WWI] • But workers became disgruntled—their wages were froze, while corporations made large profits. John L. Lewis called a few strikes in coal mines in response. • The Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act of 1943 - In 1944, Roosevelt ordered the army to take over the nation's railroads for a brief period.

100 billion spent in 1945 alone. Congress increased income tax and sold bonds to pay for the war.

• Over 200,000 served in the military. • Acute labor shortage at home brought 5 million women into the workforce—many in industrial jobs in shipyards and defense plants. • \"Rosie the Riveter,\" a popular song from the period, encouraged women to work in industry as their patriotic duty. An iconic image of her soon appeared to rally women to work in industry. Women received pay well below what men made.

• Over 15 million African-Americans left the south for jobs in the North and West. About 1 million left to serve in the army.

• New group, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was formed in 1942 to work more militantly for social justice.

• Suffered from association with the wartime enemy. Following Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which allowed him to send over 100,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast to leave their homes and reside in internment camps. Most of them were American citizens. • Most centers were barbed-wire-surrounded enclaves with unpartitioned toilets, cots, and a budget of 45 cents daily for food rations.

• Korematsu v. U.S. (1944) upheld the policy as justified during wartime. • In 1988, the federal government agreed that an injustice had been done and awarded financial compensation to those still alive.

• In late July, after Germany's surrender, only Stalin remained as one of the Big Three. Truman was President in the U.S. and Clement Attlee had just been elected the new British prime minister. *The 3 leaders met in Potsdam, Germany (July 17-August 2, 1945) and agreed: 1. To issue a warning to Japan to surrender unconditionally. [Truman just learned that we had successfully tested the A-bomb] 2. To hold a war-crime trials of Nazi leaders.

• After Okinawa, a huge invasion force stood ready to attack Japan, extremely heavy casualties were feared. But Truman was then told of the top secret Manhattan Project, directed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, which 2 billion to develop the A-Bomb. • Successfully tested on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico. Truman called on Japan to surrender unconditionally or face \"utter destruction.\" Truman consulted with his advisers after they refused - decided to use the new weapon on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. • About 250,000 Japanese died, either immediately or after a prolonged period of suffering.Within a week after second bomb fell, Japan agreed to surrender.

• Over 10 million American soldiers, sailors, and marines returned to civilian life in 1945 and 1946, and had to find jobs and housing. Plan was to bring them home slowly—but troop riots forced Truman to change his mind. • Many feared the end of the war would mean the return of the depression. • But—the war years raised the per capita income of most Americans, tucked away in savings' accounts, as wartime shortages meant there had been few consumer goods to buy. • Pent-up consumer demand for autos and housing combined with government road-building projects quickly overcame economic uncertainty and introduced an era of unprecedented prosperity and economic growth.

• Servicemen Readjustment Act of 1944 (More popularly known as the GI Bill of Rights) helped during the transition to a peacetime economy by keeping people out of the workforce. This program allowed the returning GI's to seize the opportunity to attend college at government expense. • Over 2 million attended college, which started a postwar boom in higher education. They also received over 16 billion in low-interest, government-backed loans to buy homes and farms and to start businesses.

• Returning soldiers, with a basic confidence in postwar America, resulted in an explosion in marriages and births. • Younger marriages and families resulted in 50 million babies being born in the U.S. between 1945 and 1960. • But, the trend in women in the workforce continued. Many got used to the freedom and independence they experienced from working in factories during the war. By 1960, 1/3 of all married women worked outside of the home.

• Desperate need for housing after the war (thanks to the GI Bill) resulted in a construction boom. William J. Levitt led in the development of postwar suburbs with his Levittown, a project of 17,000 mass-produced, low-priced family homes on Long Island, New York. • This type of housing soon became commonplace as low interest rates on mortgages that were government insured and tax deductible made the move from city to suburb affordable for almost any family of modest means. • In a single generation, the majority of middle-class Americans became suburbanites. • The flip-side is that it was disastrous for inner cities—by the 1960s, cities from Boston to Los Angeles became increasingly poor and racially divided, as the money moved into the suburbs. [Housing values plummeted, and taxes moved to the suburbs]

• Moving became practically a habit during this period. Not only did people move into suburbs, but many moved out of the region as well. • Warmer climates, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense-related industries [from the Cold War build up] attracted many GI's and their families to the Sunbelt states from Florida to California. • By transferring tax dollars from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West, military spending during the Cold War helped finance the shift of industry, people, and ultimately political power from one region to the other. [Increasingly, states like Florida, Texas, and California would become more important politically]

• Bypassing southern Democrats who controlled key committees in Congress, the president used his executive powers to establish the Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 to explore ways to end discrimination. • Furthermore, he strengthened the civil rights division of the Justice Department, which aided the efforts of black leaders to end segregation in schools. • In 1948, he called for an anti-lynching bill, and anti-poll tax bill. [both had been major goals of African American activists for decades] Congress refused to act on his proposals, and he started to lose the support of Southern Democrats as a result. [Which is why Roosevelt never pushed for civil rights] • Bypassing Congress, in 1948, Truman ordered an end to racial segregation in the departments of the federal government and all 3 branches of the armed forces. • He also urged Congress to make permanent the Fair Employment Practices Commission, which required that companies with government contracts not discriminate on the basis of race or religion. • Finally, Truman appointed the first African-American federal judge.