Chapter 17 Summary

17.1

            This section evaluates the role of the US in fighting the war. Japan thought after Pearl Harbor the United States would be “shaking in her shoes”. But, Japan was wrong. The United States was anything but scared. They set out for war chanting “Remember Pearl Harbor”. Many young men were eager to fight. About 5 million volunteered, but that wasn’t enough. The United States ended up drafting about 10 million soldiers. Men weren’t the only ones helping out with the war. The WAAC (women’s auxiliary army corps) was born. This was a program in which women would work in the war, but have no direct combat. Women were nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots. Minorities struggled during the war. The minorities didn’t see why they should fight for freedom when they don’t even have it. Despite the segregation in the military, more than 300 000 Mexican Americans joined the arm forces. About 1000000 African Americans volunteered to be in the war as well. Japanese Americans were also in the war, but many served as spies. The war dramatically affected industries. A lot of companies switched from, for example, filling bottles with soda to filling shells with explosives. All these industries changed to further support the war. Since so many men were drafted, women had to take their place in the factories. They did the same jobs but only earned about 60 % of a mans paycheck. More than 2 million workers were minorities but, these workers had very menial jobs. A. Phillip Randolph protested such discrimination with a march in Washington. Roosevelt called Randolph to the white house asking him to back down. Randolph told him he couldn’t. In the end, Roosevelt was the one to back down. Albert Einstein warned Roosevelt about Germany learning to split the uranium atom. This developed the Manhattan Project, one of the best kept secrets in history. They developed one of the deadliest bombs of all time. They developed the atomic bomb. As war production increased, demand of food and other goods increased while supplies decreased, therefore increasing prices. Known as OPA.   Then the government started the war production board. This was used to allocate raw materials to key industries to use for the war. The government’s next tactic was to start rationing. Rationing was, establishing fixed allotments of goods deemed essential for the military.

17.2

            The United States and Britain join forces and make war plans. They decided to take out Hitler before going after Japan or Italy.

 THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC: Germany vs America, The Atlantic Ocean, Because Germany wanted to stop supplies from getting to Britain and the Soviet Union. US won.

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: Soviet Union vs Germany, battling for the land itself, in Stalingrad, Germany held in the freezing cold of Moscow with no form of heat and no supplies or food, Soviets won the battle.

THE NORTH AMERICAN FRONT: Operation torch, an invasion of axis controlled North Africa, Commanded by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Axis vs allies. German surrender, Allies victory.

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN: allies meet and agreed to only accept axis powers unconditional surrender. Attacking Italy first, Benito Mussolini was forced to resign. King victor Emmanuel took his place. Bloody azino: worst battle allies faced. Germany left to collapse.

Many different ethnicities were fighting in the war and served in segregated units. One African American group named the Tuskegee Airmen became very famous. Known for their bravery and there skilled use of the aircrafts, the men were a hit. Mexican Americans also fought in segregated units.

D-DAY: June 6 1944, the first day of the invasion of Normandy. German retaliation was horrible. People were yelling and dying everywhere.

By September 1944 allies freed France Belgium and Luxemburg.

BATTLE OF THE BULGE: tanks drove 60 miles into allied territory creating a bulge in the lines the desperate last ditch offensive. Went for a month Germans were destroyed after this battle and could do little but retreat.

Soviets went to concentration camps and saw the events occurring there. This liberated concentration camps.

V-E DAY: victory in Europe day, when Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the third Reich. May 8 1945

Roosevelt died of stroke before this on April 12 1945. Harry Truman took his place as president.

17.3

            The Japanese were making advances while Hitler was being taken down. They conquered an empire. Took over Hong Kong, French Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, and much of china. Douglas Macarthur was in control of allied forces on the islands at the time of the Japanese invasion. He promised he would return before he left. America went in on Japan and bombed Tokyo. Dampened japans sprits while lifting Americas.

BATTLE OF CORAL SEA: Americans and Australia vs. Japan, war by airplanes, may 1942; Japanese invasion was stopped and turned back.

BATTLE OF MIDWAY: MAJOR TURNING POINT IN THE WAR. America knew Japan was coming and got ready for the attack, Chester Nimitz commanded American naval forces and did it successfully, Japan was devastated, saying Americans avenged Pearl Harbor. Soon allies began island hopping. Allies go on the offensive. Allies invaded Guadalcanal. Japans first defeat on land. Macarthur returned to the Philippians after two years. The Japanese had a new defense called kamikaze, or suicide bombers. Literally it translates to divine wind. This took place in the Philippines. The battle of Leyte Gulf was a disaster for Japan despite the kamikaze.

IWO JIMA: the allies turned to Iwo Jima. It was critical because it was a base which heavily loaded bombers might reach Japan. Most heavily defended spot on earth. Allies won and placed the famous flag in Iwo Jima soil.

OKINAWA: US marines invaded Okinawa. Japanese unleashed 1900 kamikaze pilots here. Sinking ships and killing men. Fiercer than Iwo Jima on land. Over 7600 American soldiers died.

The atomic bombs are what ended the war. The bombs were developed in the Manhattan project. Tested the bomb July 16 1945 in Alamogordo, Mexico. The bomb worked.

HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI: first bomb was dropped in Hiroshima; the allies thought this would lead to surrender from Japan. Impatiently waiting three days, the allies dropped another bomb in Nagasaki. An estimated 200,000 people died from radiation and impact of the explosion. After this the emperor knew he couldn’t put his people through any more pain and surrendered, September 2^nd.  Formal surrender ceremonies took place. At the Yalta conference they decided and kept Germany in occupation zones and put allied powers in control so they would never threaten the Soviet Union. This is also where Soviet Union said they would help with Japan. America knew they weren’t done with Germany yet. Hitler wasn’t the only one in the Holocaust so the allies went back and arrested everyone who helped Hitler in the Nuremburg war trials. For 7 years Douglas Macarthur occupied Japan fixing it and bringing it up to be an acceptable nation. He made a constitution about women suffrage that would provide for women suffrage and basic freedoms. He essentially created the new Japan.

17.4

            World war two helped the economy and made America the dominant economic and military power. Unemployment was very rare, workers worked hard and long hours but were able to save money for the future. Farmers also prospered during the war. Women enjoyed the war because they were able to go out and get jobs. California became a popular spot to move to for work during the war, led to be one of the greatest migrations in American history. Juvenile delinquency grew because moms went to work while the dad was at war often leaving teenagers alone to themselves. When the men came back the GI Bill of Rights was passed to ensure veterans got education and training paid by the government. African Americans moved to the Midwest and jobs were plentiful. IN 1942 James Farmer developed CORE to confront urban segregation in the North. Riots began and violence increased. This reveled how serious racial tension was in the USA. African Americans were determined to get the gains they made. In Los Angeles racial tension was the same with Mexican Americans. The zoot was a popular suit among Mexican Americans to show their rebellion against tradition. 11 sailors said they were attacked by zoot suit wearing Mexicans. This started the violence, the riots lasted almost a week. The Japanese Americans had the worst racial tension. America turned to internment, or confinement of the Japanese because they were scared to be attacked, scared that they were spies. They imprisoned many Japanese and put them to work. Japanese people fought for their rights but were unsuccessful for a long time. The Japanese American citizens league pushed the government to compensate for the time the Japanese spent on the camps once they were released. So anyone who was in the camps got a check for 20000 dollars. 

Klor De Alva, Krieger, Wilson, and Woloch. "Unit 5." The Americans. By Danzer. McDougal Littell. Print.