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*Section 1*

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*"Mobilizing for War"*

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What was an advantage the US had in entering WWII?

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*The industrial output: American workers were twice as productive as German workers and five times a productive as Japanese workers. In less than four years, the US fought and won a two-front war against two powerful military empires, forcing each to surrender unconditionally.*

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Why could the US expand its war production quickly after the attack on Pearl Harbor?

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Because the gov't had begun to mobilize the economy before the US entered WWII. FDR had already started building 50,000 warplanes a year, which built up America's defenses.

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What did FDR believe was the best way to mobilize the economy?

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He wanted to give industry an incentive to move quickly.

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What were *cost-plus* contracts?

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The government agreed to pay a company whatever it cost to make a product plus a guaranteed percentage of the costs as profit. So, the faster a company produced goods, the more money it would make. This resulted in war materials that were made quickly and in large numbers.

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What did FDR do to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)?

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This was set up during the Depression, but FDR now permitted it to make loans to companies to help them cover the cost of converting to war production.

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How did the automobile industry help the US in WWII?

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Automobile factories produced trucks, jeeps, and tanks. These were critical in moving troops and supplies quickly, which was the US's greatest advantage in WWII. The factories also built artillery rifles, mines, helmets, bridges, cooking pots, and other equipment. They produced ⅓ of the military equipment manufactured during the war.

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What was "the Liberator"?

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This was the name for enormous B-24 bombers. Henry Ford created an assembly line at Willow Run Airport in Detroit to manufacture this aircraft.

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What did Henry Kaiser build?

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His shipyards build *Liberty ships*. These were the basic cargo ships used during the war. These were welded ships, so they were cheaper, easier to build, and harder to sink compared to riveted ships. It's hull was one solid piece of steel so it would not come apart. These ships saved cargo as well as lives.

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What did FDR do to improve the mobilization system?

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He created the War Production Board (WPB). The chairman Donald M. Nelson could set priorities and production goals to control the distribution of raw materials and supplies.

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Who clashed with the WPB?

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The military: military agencies continued to sign contracts without consulting the WPB.

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What did FDR create to settle arguments between the military agencies and the WPB?

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the Office of War Mobilization (OWM)

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What was the Selective Service and Training Act?

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This was a plan for the first peacetime draft in American history. People now were in favor of a peacetime draft after Germany defeated France, and Congress approved the draft.

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What was the problem with the overwhelming amount of new soldiers?

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The training facilities could not accommodate everyone with training materials, so substitutions had to be used to train them (sticks for guns, stones for grenades, and trucks for tanks).

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Why were American soldiers called GI's?

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New soldiers were sent to a reception center where they were given physical exams. They were issued uniforms, boots, and whatever equipment they could find; the equipment was marked with GI ("Government Issue).

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What was the training process like?

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Recruits were trained for 8 weeks where they learned army skills. After the war, however, veterans complained that the training was useless because the soldiers rushed through the program. They didn't learn the skills they needed.

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What was the benefit of basic training?

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It unified soldiers from all over the country and created a "special sense of kinship" that helped their morale in battle.

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Describe the segregation of the army.

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Whites and blacks were very segregated and they trained separately; blacks had separate barracks. Blacks were organized into their own military units under a white officer. Most military leaders wanted to keep blacks out of combat and assigned them to construction and supply units. Some blacks didn't wanted to support the war because of this.

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What does it mean to be *disenfranchised*?

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African Americans were often denied their right to vote.

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Describe the *Double V* campaign.

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This urged blacks to support the war in order to achieve a double victory - a victory over Hitler's racism abroad and America's racism at home. This was brought about by the National Urban League. FDR ordered the army to recruit blacks and he put them in combat.

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Who was Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Sr.?

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the highest-ranking black officer; FDR promoted him to the rank of brigadier general.

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What was the 99th Pursuit Squadron?

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the first black air force unit; The pilots trained in Tuskegee, AL and were known as the "Tuskegee Airmen." They were sent to the Mediterranean and commanded by Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. They helped win the battle of Anzio in Italy

question

Who was the 33rd Fighter Group?

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These squadrons were ordered to protect American bombers as they flew to their targets. They flew 200 missions and did not lose a single bomber to enemy aircraft.

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What was the 761st Tank Battalion?

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This all-black group was commended for its service during the Battle of the Bulge.

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What was the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion?

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Blacks in this group won 8 Silver Stars for distinguished service, 28 Bronze Stars, and 79 Purple Hearts.

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As a whole, what did the military do for segregation?

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It integrated the military bases and steadily expanded the role of blacks within the armed forces. These successes paved the way for Truman's decision to fully integrate the military in 1948.

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Who else joined the army for the first time?

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Women joined but were banned from combat. By assigning women to clerical jobs, more men could work in combat.

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Who was the first director of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)?

answer

Oveta Culp Hobby, an official with the War Department

question

Why were women unhappy with the WAAC?

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They were unhappy that it was an auxiliary corps and not party of the regular army. So, it was replaced with the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and Director Hobby was assigned as colonel. The Coast Guard, the navy, and the marines quickly followed the army and set up their own women's units; another 68,000 served as nurses in the army and navy.

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How did the American soldiers do when the went to war?

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Despite their inexperience, they did well in battle. Of all the major powers involved in the war, *the United States suffered the fewest casualties in combat.* Their uniforms were usually a mess, but they "walked like free men."

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*Section 2*

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*"The Early Battles"*

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Who was Admiral Chester Nimitz?

answer

the commander of the US Navy in the Pacific; He began planning operations against the Japanese navy because although the American fleet at Pearl Harbor was damaged, the American aircraft carriers were undamaged because they were at sea on a mission. However, he could do little to stop Japan's advance into Southeast Asia.

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What happened in the Philippines?

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Two days after Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops landed in the islands and the forces were outnumbered by the Japanese. US commander Douglas MacArthur retreated to the Bataan Peninsula where he and his troops held out for more than 3 months. But he was losing supplies, so FDR ordered MacArthur to evacuate to Australia because MacArthur's capture would hurt the American's morale.

question

What happened to MacArthur's troops after he went to Australia?

answer

They surrendered to the Japanese and were forced to march to a Japanese prison camp. Thousands died on this march known as the *Bataan Death March*. A small force held out on the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay, but they eventually surrendered too; the Philippines had fallen.

question

What did FDR do to boost the American morale?

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He put Lt. Colonel *James Doolittle* in charge of a mission: he wanted to replace short-range bombers with long-range B-25 bombers so he could bomb Tokyo from a farther distance.

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Was the mission successful? How did the Japanese respond?

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Yes: 16 B-25 bombers were loaded onto an aircraft carrier called Hornet, and they successfully bombed Tokyo. The Japanese leaders were distraught and had to change their strategy.

question

How did the Japanese change their strategy?

answer

Instead of cutting American supply lines to Australia by capturing New Guinea as they had originally planned, they decided to attack Midway Island - the last American base in the North Pacific west of Hawaii. This was Admiral Yamamoto's idea; he believed it would lure the American fleet into battle and enable his fleet to destroy it. The attack on New Guinea would still go on, but only 3 aircraft carriers were assigned to the mission, and all others prepared to assault Midway.

question

What was the Battle of Coral Sea?

answer

The US decoded Japanese messages that alerted the US to the Japanese attack on New Guinea. So Admiral Nimitz sent the Yorktown and the Lexington to intercept the Japanese in the Coral Sea. The Japanese sank the Lexington and damaged the Yorktown, but the US forced the Japanese to call off their landing on New Guinea and the American supply lines to Australia stayed open.

question

Describe the Battle of Midway Island.

answer

The US learned of the Japanese plan to attack Midway Island. The Japanese launched their aircraft against Midway, unaware of the US carriers waiting for them near Midway. 38 Japanese planes were shot down; as they prepared a second wave to attack, American aircraft launched a counterattack. The Japanese were defeated and Yamamoto ordered his retreat. his was a turning point in the war because the Japanese Navy lost 4 of its largest carriers - the heart of its fleet. *The Japanese were now on the defensive.*

question

How did the U.S. start sending messages?

answer

They recruited Navajo Indians to send messages.

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What did the Soviet Union ask the US to do?

answer

Stalin wanted the US to open a second front in Europe because they needed more soldiers to attack Germany from the west.

question

What did Churchill think of Stalin's request?

answer

He didn't think the US and Britain were ready to launch an invasion of Europe. he wanted to attack the *periphery* (edges) of the German empire. FDR agreed and ordered the invasion of Morocco and Algeria (two French territories indirectly under German control).

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Why did FDR want to invade Morocco and Algeria?

answer

1. The invasion would give the army some experience without requiring a lot of troops. 2. Once American troops were in North Africa, they would be able to help British troops fighting the Germans in Egypt.

question

Why was Egypt important to Britain?

answer

Most of Britain's empire (and other countries) used the Suez Canal (located in Egypt) to send supplies to Britain. Britain desperately needed the canal.

question

Describe the Battle of El Alamein.

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The British troops forced General Erwin Rommel ("The Desert Fox") and his German troops known as the "Afrika Korps" to retreat, but his forces still remained a serious threat.

question

What did Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower do about Rommel's troops?

answer

He began the invasion of North Africa. The American forces in Morocco, led by General George Patton, quickly captured the city of Casablanca, while those in Algeria seized the cities of Oran and Algiers. The Americans then headed east into Tunisia, while British forces headed west into Libya. The plan was to trap Rommel between the two Allied forces.

question

How did the US army do when fighting the German army for the first time?

answer

They did not do well: at the Battle of Kasserine Pass, the Americans suffered 7,000 casualties and lost 200 tanks. So Eisenhower put Patton in command, and the Americans, along with the British, finally pushed the Germans back. The last German forces in North Africa finally surrendered.

question

What did Americans do to protect US ships from being sunk by the Germans?

answer

The Germans could easily see the ships at night because of the city lights, so the Americans dimmed their light every evening, put up "blackout curtains" and drove with their headlights off.

question

What did the US do because so many oil tankers were sunk by the Germans?

answer

To keep oil flowing, they built the first long-distance oil pipeline, stretching 1,250 miles from Texas to Pennsylvania.

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What is a *convoy system*?

answer

Cargo ships traveled in groups and were escorted by navy warships. This system made it much harder for a submarine to torpedo a cargo ship and escape without being attacked.

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How did the Americans end up winning the Battle of the Atlantic?

answer

They built tons of new ships and used new technology, including radar, sonar, and depth charges to locate and attacks submarines.

question

How did Hitler want to defeat the Soviet Union?

answer

He wanted to destroy its economy. He ordered his army to capture strategic oil fields, industries, and farmlands in southern Russia and Ukraine. The key to the attack was Stalingrad; it controlled the Volga River and was a major railroad junction. If it was captured, the Soviets would be cut off from the resources they needed to stay in the war.

question

What happened at the battle?

answer

Stalin ordered his troops to hold the city at all costs; retreat was forbidden. Soviet reinforcements arrived and forced 91,000 Germans to surrender. Only 5,000 survived the Soviet prison camps and returned home after the war. The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in the war because it put the Germans on the defensive.

question

*Section 3*

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*"Life on the Home Front"*

question

What did WWII do to American society?

answer

It had a positive effect on society and put an end to the Great Depression. The war brought 19 million new jobs and doubled the average family income.

question

What did factories do because so many men were in the military?

answer

They recruited women and minorities, although some believed that women shouldn't take jobs away from men supporting their families.

question

Who was *Rosie the Riveter*?

answer

She was the symbol of the campaign to hire women and was a character from a popular song by the Four Vagabonds. The lyrics told of Rosie who worked in a factory while her boyfriend served in the marines. She was put on posters everywhere.

question

Who was A. Philip Randolph?

answer

He was the head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (a major union for black workers). Blacks weren't being hired, so he told FDR that he would take 50,000 blacks to march in WA DC in support of securing jobs, national defense, and integration into the military and naval forces.

question

What did FDR do in response to Randolph's statement?

answer

He issued Executive Order 8802 which declared "there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color or national origin."

question

What did FDR create to enforce this Order?

answer

the Fair Employment Practices Commission; This was the first civil rights agency established by the federal government since the Reconstruction era.

question

What was the Bracero Program?

answer

This arranged for Mexican farmworkers to help in the harvest (bracero is Spanish for worker). 200,000 Mexicans came to harvest fruit & vegetables, and some built & maintained railroads. This program made migrant farmworkers important in the Southwest's agricultural system.

question

Why did Americans move to the west and the south during the war?

answer

They were moving to find work in the new jobs that had been created.

question

What was the *Sunbelt*?

answer

a new industrial region in southern California and the Deep South; For the first time since the Industrial Revolution began in the United States, the South and West led the way in manufacturing and urbanization.

question

What was one of the most difficult tasks for cities with war industries?

answer

Deciding where to put the thousands of new workers; To help solve this, the government allocated $1.2 billion to build housing, schools, and community centers. Although the buildings were poor quality, 2 million lived in gov't-built housing during the war.

question

How did whites respond to the blacks coming into industrial cities to find jobs?

answer

They greeted them with suspicion and intolerance, and these attitudes sometimes led to violence.

question

What was the worst racial violence of the war?

answer

On a hot day in June, 100,000 people crowded into Belle Isle (a park on the Detroit River) to cool off. Fights erupted between black and white gangs, and a full-scale riot erupted across the city. 25 black and 9 whites were killed. However, blacks still remained committed to their Double V campaign.

question

What crimes happened in southern California?

answer

Crimes committed by young people rose dramatically.

question

What was a *zoot suit*?

answer

It had very baggy, pleated pants and an overstuffed, knee-length jacket with wide lapels. A wide-brimmed hat and a long key chain were with it, and zoot-suit wearers usually wore their hair long, gathered into a ducktail. Most teenagers in CA wore this.

question

What was a victory suit?

answer

It had no vest, no cuffs, a short jacket, and narrow lapels. This was made to save fabric for the war, and made the zoot suit seem unpatriotic.

question

What happened after soldiers heard rumors that zoot-suiters had attacked sailors?

answer

2,500 soldiers and sailors stormed into Mexican American neighborhoods in LA. They attacked Mexican American teenagers, cut their hair, and tore off their zoot suits. The police did not intervene, and the violence continued for several days. The city of Los Angeles responded by banning the zoot suit.

question

Did Mexican Americans serve in the war?

answer

Yes: 500,000 hispanics served. 400,000 were Mexican. 65,000 were Puerto Rican. They fought in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. 17 Mexican Americans received the Medal of Honor by the end of the war.

question

What happened to Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack?

answer

American mobs attacked Japanese American businesses and homes and banks and groceries refused to serve them.

question

What did newspapers spread rumors about?

answer

Japanese spies in the America; Political and business leaders demanded that all people of Japanese ancestry be removed from the West Coast. They thought the Japanese wouldn't remain loyal to the US during WWII.

question

What did FDR sign that removed some of the Japanese people?

answer

an order allowing the War Department to declare any part of the US to be a military zone and to remove anybody they wanted from that zone. Secretary of War Henry Stimson declared most of the West Coast a military zone and ordered all people of Japanese ancestry to evacuate to 10 internment camps.

question

Who was Fred Korematsu?

answer

a Japanese American who argued that his rights had been violated; He took his case to the Supreme Court in Korematsu v. the U.S. The Court ruled that relocation was constitutional because it was based not on race, but on military urgency.

question

What was Ex Parte Endo?

answer

The Court ruled that local citizens could not be held against their will, so the gov't began to release the Japanese Americans from the camps.

question

What were some good things that the Japanese did during WWII?

answer

No Japanese were tried for espionage or sabotage. Japanese served as translators for the army in the Pacific. The all-Japanese 100th Battalion, later integrated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was the most highly decorated unit in World War II.

question

What was the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)?

answer

It tried to help Japanese who had lost property during the relocation. President Reagan apologized to Japanese on behalf of the US gov't and signed legislation granting $20,000 to each surviving Japanese American who had been interned.

question

What groups also faced racial discrimination during this time?

answer

Italians & Germans (because the United States was also at war with Italy and Germany). Many lost jobs because of curfews, were subject to police searches, confiscation of fishing boats used to provide a source of income, forced relocations, and even internment. Lack of housing and controls on wages and prices also made immigrant life hard.

question

What was FDR become concerned about as the economy mobilized?

answer

The possibility of inflation: Both wages and prices rose because of the demand for workers and raw materials.

question

What did FDR create to stabilize both wages and prices?

answer

1. The Office of Economic Stabilization (OES): This regulated wages and the price of farm products 2. The Office of Price Administration (OPA): This regulated all other prices. These kept the inflation under control, despite some problems with labor unions.

question

What was the "no strike pledge"?

answer

Instead of striking, unions asked the WLB (War Labor Board) to serve as a mediator in wage disputes. By the end of WWII, the WLB settled over 17,000 disputes involving more than 12 million workers.

question

What did the OPA do to make sure enough products were available for military use?

answer

The begin *rationing* (limiting the availability of) products. Meat & sugar were rationed, gasoline was rationed, driving was restricted, and the speed limit was set at 35 miles per hour.

question

Describe the books of ration coupons.

answer

Blue coupons (blue points) controlled processed foods. Red coupons (red points) controlled meats, fats, & oils. Other coupons controlled items such as coffee & sugar. Coupon points were required to cover food purchases.

question

What were *victory gardens*?

answer

These gardens produced food for the war. Any area of land could become a garden - backyards, schoolyards, city parks, empty lots. The gov't praised them in film reels, pamphlets, and official statements.

question

What were scrap drives?

answer

The gov't organized these to collect certain vital raw materials. Americans collected rubber, tin aluminum, & steel, and objects with metal (bikes, car bumpers, etc.) were donated. Oils and fats were so important to the production of explosives that the WPB set up fat-collecting stations. Americans would exchange bacon grease and meat drippings for extra ration coupons. Scrap drives were very successful.

question

How much did the gov't have to pay for the war and what did the gov't do to raise the money?

answer

They had to pay $300 billion. The gov't raised taxes but refused to raise taxes as high as FDR requested bc they knew Americans opposed large tax increases. This covered 45% of the war cost.

question

What were war bonds?

answer

These covered the rest of the cost of the war. When Americans bought bonds, they were loaning money to the government. In exchange for the money, the government promised that the bonds could be cashed in at some future date for the purchase price plus interest.

question

What were the most common bonds?

answer

*E bonds* sold for $18.75 and could be redeemed for $25 after 10 years. Individual Americans bought nearly $50 billion worth of war bonds, and banks, insurance companies, & other financial institutions bought the rest (over $100 billion worth of bonds).

question

What did WWII do to the unification of Americans?

answer

The majority of Americans were united behind one goal: winning the war.

Scruggie History Chapter 12 – Flashcards

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