|
Section 2
Mobilizing for War -Pearl Harbor thrust US into WWII -Had to quickly get ready -Selective Services and Training Act (1940) -Required all men b/w 18 and 38 to register for service -Draft -Military was segregated -Tuskegee Airmen (99th Fighter Squadron) -10,000,000 men were drafted -After Pearl Harbor, unions agreed not to go on any strikes -Boom in productionàend of Great Depression -US was Allies biggest supplier of weapons -War production created economic boom -Over 4 million people moved to other states to find work -Farmers produced enough food for US and Allies -War Production Board coordinated economy -US produced 60% of Allied ammunition -Government expansion -Big war = big government -In 1940, 1m. gov’t employees -1945à3m. employees -Directing the economy -Gov’t needed to pay for war -Made more people pay taxes -Middle class, lower class paid taxes -Sold war bonds -Gov’t rationed products -Gas, oil, tires, coffee, sugar, meat, butter -GNP increased 2.5 times in 6 years
Battles in Africa and Italy-North Africa was important (Suez Canal and oil) -Battle of El Alamein (June 1942) -British stopped Germans from advancing -Germany retreats -US attacks -Axis surrender in North Africaàran out of supplies -Invasion of Italy -500K troops invaded Sicily (July 1943) -Bitter fighting -In Sept. 1943àItaly signs armistice (treaty) -Mussolini ousted -Allies now start advancing north
Allied Advance and D-Day -Battle of the Atlantic -Up until 1942, Germany controlled Atlantic -U-boats That changed when allies got SONAR -Germany attacks Stalingrad in Fall of 1942 -Devastated by winterà200,000 German soldiers died -Estimated 1,000,000 Russians died -Ended Germany’s hope on eastern front -Invasion of France -Operation Overlord -Allied invasion of France -Eisenhower in charge -Allies put out phony messages -D-DayàJune 6, 1944 -150K US, British, Canadian soldiers -Beginning of “Saving Private Ryan” -Germans had fortified areaàtough to break -Allies attackàHitler doesn’t send in reinforcements -Phony messages worked! -By end of June 1944, 850,000 Allied troops in France -Allies liberating France -Germany’s last chance -By Sept. 1944, it was given that Allies were going to win -Battle of the Bulge (late 1944) -Germany’s last shot at winning -Germany tries to push Allies way back into France -Created a huge bulge in the front lines -200K Germans attack 80K Allies -Allied line holds strong; pushes Germany back Victory in Europe -February 1945àGermany retreating -US/Britain coming from West; Soviets from East -Allies planning for victory -Yalta Conference -Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill met at Yalta -Stalin promised to help out against Japan -Major bombings on German cities -April 1945àRoosevelt dies -Harry S. Truman becomes president -April 1945àAllies reach Germany -April 30àHitler commits suicide with wife Eva Braun -May 2àSoviets get to Berlin first -May 7àGermany surrenders -May 8àV-E Day -After war, Allies see atrocities of Germany -Holocaust
|