Podcast 9
Following the Yalta Conference
the timeline of World War II is fairly straightforward. In 1945, the Allied powers invaded Germany. By April 12 of 1945, Franklin Roosevelt passed away, and his vice president, Harry Truman, became president of the United States. By April 30, the situation for Nazis in Germany was so bleak that Adolf Hitler committed suicide, and by May 2, Italy surrendered. A few days later on May 7, Germany surrendered to the Allied Powers and the war in Europe had ended.
2 how did the United States get involved in World War II?
December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack at the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As Franklin Roosevelt put it, this was "a day that will live in infamy." Up until this point, the American focus had been on Europe and the wars going on in Europe. Now the United States faced a two-front war. If they responded to the Japanese attack, they would be fighting a war in Japan. But there was also an ongoing war in Europe that the United States was invested in.
1941, Franklin Roosevelt pushed for the creation of the Lend-Lease Act.
Act allowed the British to obtain arms from the United States without paying cash with the promise to reimburse the United States when the war ended. In Roosevelt's eyes, this would be a way to defend democracy and human rights without getting directly involved in the war. Because Great Britain was virtually bankrupt by 1941 and they were the main country fighting against Nazi Germany, Franklin Roosevelt hoped that the Lend-Lease Act would allow the American government to fund the sale of armaments and other war materiel to Great Britain without costing the British any money. This would allow the United States to continue to defend democracy around the world without being directly involved in the war. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in mid-1941, Franklin Roosevelt also extended the Lend-Lease Act to the Soviet Union.
wartime economy
America focused on global production, producing goods not only for the United States but for all Allied nations to help the war effort and to support men overseas who were fighting against the Axis powers. This became the tangible side of Roosevelt's "arsenal of democracy," and it also was what pulled the United States out of the Great Depression.
World War I ended with
American position of isolationism
After the Great Depression
Americans believed that the highest priority was domestic struggles. Roosevelt, in particular, sought to combine domestic economic recovery with a low-profile foreign policy that encouraged free trade and disarmament.
threat of rising German and Japanese aggression seemed distant to the majority of Americans.
Americans continued to embrace a foreign policy position of isolationism. For some Americans, the threat of Japanese and German aggression seemed good for business as companies in both those countries were purchasing American goods as they prepared for war. In addition, these new powerful countries seemed to be a counterweight to the growing power of the Soviet Union. As had always been true, the United States remained suspicious of foreign entanglements. Getting involved in World War I had been a mistake. America's good intentions had not been beneficial to the world or the United States. And so why repeat the errors of the past?
the emperor of Japan and his military leaders argued that they were determined to fight to the death.
Americans were already aware that the Japanese were using kamikaze pilots, that is, Japanese suicide bombers who would be willing to fly planes into buildings and ships in order to defeat the Americans. We know from historical research that these kamikaze pilots did not need a lot of training in order to be able to fly a plane. They could also build these planes relatively quickly because the planes themselves did not have landing gear. This meant that it could take a long time to force the Japanese to surrender.
Why Truman dropped the bomb
For Truman, an immense amount of resources had already been expended on fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and fighting the other Axis Powers in Europe. In addition, there had been a secret scientific project to build atomic weapons called the Manhattan Project, a program that had been ongoing since 1939. The United States government had already spent $2 billion, and it had employed 120,000 employees. So one consideration was that this would be a waste of resources if this new technology was not used. However, more importantly, the reality of fighting Japan in the conventional method seemed to be very high risk. By August of 1945, 6 months of bombing of 67 Japanese cities with conventional bombs had already exacted a severe toll on Japan. For example, 100,000 Japanese citizens were killed in Tokyo alone. Estimates for a land invasion suggested that somewhere between 31,000 and 280,000 Americans would be killed if they tried to invade Japan by land. Furthermore, if the United States did not end the war in Japan quickly, the Soviet Union would be involved in the war, and this would allow the Soviet Union to gain more power in the postwar world, a position that Truman was not confident in. The general response from the American public was about a 75% approval rating
Following the attack at Pearl Harbor
Franklin Roosevelt set aside his New Deal programs of relief, recovery, and reform and instead focused his attention on American involvement in World War II, rapidly expanding the economy to support the war effort as well as preparing men to serve in the military abroad. This meant a couple of changes for everyday life in America. The first had to do with widespread fear of espionage and internal subversion. As had been true during World War I, during World War II Americans were concerned that persons living in the United States might have loyalties to their home country.
why create the GI Bill during World War II in 1944?
GI Bill created an incentive for people to enlist in the U.S. military. There was a need for massive mobilization because of the two-front war, and the GI Bill guaranteed that surviving veterans would be supported in their postwar life. In addition, it created a spirit of patriotism that was necessary after the United States became involved in the war. Furthermore, it demonstrated the American commitment to the war effort and used the resources of the federal government to improve American society after the war. In addition, the GI Bill positioned Americans to value veterans after their service in the war, which had been a mistake after World War I. Because so many people felt that American involvement in World War I had been a mistake, veterans were not valued and oftentimes felt left out without government support and living in poverty. The GI Bill was intended to give veterans the assurance that the United States would continue to support their quest for freedom and democracy if they were willing to put their life on the line for their country.
growing militarization in both Europe and Asia
Japan, the Japanese government began to be pushing for what they called "Asia for Asians." By 1931, Japan was experiencing an economic depression, and their reaction to this depression was to start a war with China, hoping to distract their people from the problems at home. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, a province in northeastern China that was rich in natural resources. They hoped that by gaining control of Manchuria, it would prevent Russia expansion and help stabilize Korea. They also hoped that gaining Manchuria would increase the food supply in Japan as well as increase access to both iron and coal. The invasion of Manchuria in 1931 demonstrated the inherent weakness of the League of Nations against the aggressive expansionist policies of a member nation. Although the League of Nations condemned this invasion, there seemed to be nothing that the League of Nations could do to prevent Japan from expansion.
wartime homefront meant unprecedented government expenditures for wartime production. This meant that American citizens experienced prosperity even with rationing and shortages of goods.
New jobs opened up in the workforce as factories began to operate around the clock, and importantly women found new positions of employment. Before World War II, most women who had jobs worked as nurses, teachers, social workers, or domestic servants, jobs that had typically been labeled as female. However, during World War II, new government propaganda suggested that household work prepared one for work on the factory line. Therefore, women picked up jobs working in factories, doing things like welding and building ships.
how did the United States get involved in World War II?
Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands placed a trade embargo on Japan. Importantly, they cut off the supply of essential materials in order to protect their imperial interests in southeast Asia. These resources included oil, tin, and rubber, all of which were vitally important to making war. Japan itself was eager to secure these resources in southeast Asia, and so their hope was that by attacking the United States, they could destroy the American capacity to be involved in the war in the Pacific, and it would be much easier for the Japanese to gain control over southeast Asia.
nativist sentiments that emerged after the attack at Pearl Harbor, the United States had to very quickly build a civilian army and a wartime economy
Selective Service Act registered men of military age for the draft. All told, the civilian military included 10 million men in the army, 4 million in the navy, 600,000 in the marines, and 240,000 in the coast guard. At this time, the army included the air force, and that is why the army numbers are so large.
new president, Harry Truman, was left with a dilemma
Should he use the newly developed atomic bomb to force Japan to surrender? Or were there other options?
President Calvin Coolidge
The people have had all the war, all the taxation, and all the military service they want." Young people in the United States continued to embrace the position of isolationism. One group formed with an ironic title, "The Veterans of Future Wars", making fun of the idea that young men would choose to give their life away to fight any war without the possibility of enjoying their life first.
All of these aspects helped the United States participate in World War II. But how did the United States win the peace?
There are three important aspects of American victory in World War II. (1) The first are battles through military means that took place in the Pacific, on the western front, and in Africa going into Italy. We will not cover any of these today as they all take place outside the United States. (2) The United States participated in negotiations with the heads of Great Britain and the Soviet Union to determine the postwar balance of powers. (3) The United States used nuclear weapons to end the war quickly and ensure Allied victory.
United States was faced with a two-front war.
They had to fight the war in the Pacific where the Japanese were trying to take American strongholds, particularly in the Philippines and Hawaii. And secondly, there was an ongoing war in Europe with a question of when and how the United States would enter this front. Now if you know anything about military strategy, common military wisdom states that you should never fight a war on two fronts at the same time. You should fight one war, finish that war, and then fight the other. Most times when a country tries to fight two wars at the same time, there are overwhelmed with a lack of resources and end up losing both wars. The United States, however, was in a difficult position. They were the only country that was capable of fighting and defeating Japan. At the time, China was the only country that was fighting the Japanese, and they had very limited success. However, the United States was allied with Great Britain, and Great Britain feared that if they fell to the Nazis, then the United States might be next. And therefore, Roosevelt pushed for the United States to enter both fronts at the same time, to fight both in Japan and on the western front in Europe, but pushing for unconditional surrender in both cases. This meant that the United States had to take wartime production and the building of a civilian army very seriously.
1944, Congress passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also known more popularly as the GI Bill.
This bill put the finances of the federal government behind soldiers fighting for freedom and democracy. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act or the GI Bill promised certain supports from the federal government for veterans after the war. In particular, there were several clauses in the GI Bill. (1) Veterans would qualify for low-interest, zero down payment loans for houses, and after World War II, veterans who took advantage of this would move out of urban apartments into suburban homes. (2) The GI Bill also included a 52-20 clause, which allowed veterans to get $20 a week cash for a maximum of 52 weeks while looking for work. This would provide a transition period for veterans who may have experienced loss or trauma during the war. After World War II, less than 20% of veterans used this clause. Most found employment or went back to school immediately. (3) In addition, the GI Bill also provided for low-interest loans to start businesses, or (4) cash payments of university tuition and living expenses to attend either university or vocational school.
There were a series of negotiations that took place between the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, but today we will only talk about on. In February of 1945, Franklin Roosevelt; Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain; and Joseph Stalin, the head of the Soviet Union met at the Yalta Conference to determine the postwar balance of power.
Yalta Conference resulted in 5 agreements. (1) These three leaders agreed that Germany would be divided into four occupation zones following the end of World War II. These occupation zones would be occupied by the militaries of the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. (2) In addition, they agreed that eastern European countries that were occupied by the Red Army would be able to determine for themselves the type of national government that would be put in place as they positioned out of Nazi rule. (3) They pledged their support for nationalist Chiang Kai-shek as the leader of China in his ongoing fight against communist Mao Zedong on the mainland. (4) The Yalta Conference agreement allowed the Soviet Union to have a role in the government of both Korea and Manchuria in exchange for fighting against Japan after defeating Germany. (5) The fifth point that came out of the Yalta Conference was the creation of the United Nations, an international peacekeeping organization that would replace the League of Nations.
treaties between Germany, Japan, and Italy,
and the failure of negotiation with Germans after the invasion of Czechoslovakia reinforced isolationist sentiments in the United States. In particular, the failure of the League of Nations, Wilson's brainchild, reinforced the idea that the United States should not have been involved in World War I.
1939, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany
began World War II. By June of 1940, France had surrendered to Hitler, and by Christmas of 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that the United States was the "great arsenal of democracy" with the responsibility to send "every ounce and every ton of munitions and supplies that we can possibility spare to help the defenders at the front line."
flaws of the League of Nations
had been its inability to enforce its mandates against war. In addition, the League of Nations needed a unanimous vote in order for anything to be issued. The United Nations addressed both of these issues. In particular, they created a Security Council with five permanent members: Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union as well as the two occupied Allies, France and China. For the United Nations to issue any statement or to pledge action, the members of the Security Council would have to vote unanimously for the United Nations to move forward. However, they did not need the unanimous vote of all countries that belonged to the United Nations. And indeed, the United States joined the United Nations after the Senate ratified
Woodrow Wilson
had pushed for "peace without victory," but the Treaty of Versailles had been signed in a way to create peace with victory in an extreme fashion. Germany felt humiliated by the terms of the peace treaty they were forced to sign, and following World War I, they aspired to regain their power and avenge their losses through war. Both Italy and Japan felt alienated by the Treaty of Versailles. In particular, Italy had been on the winning side of the war but had not gained the sense of victory it sought.
Executive Order 9066
issued in February of 1942 especially provided for the regulation of the conduct of persons who were called "alien enemies." This executive order provided for the "possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities."; created the program of interning Japanese-American citizens in relocation centers. There was a fear after the attack at Pearl Harbor that persons of Japanese descent would be more loyal to their homeland than the American government. Franklin Roosevelt was worried that Japanese Americans living on the west coast might become spies for their home country and aid the Japanese in their fight against the United States.
surprise attack at Pearl Harbor
killed approximately 2400 Americans. However, due to a stroke of luck, the U.S. aircraft carriers were not on base at the time of the attack and therefore were not destroyed. The United States responded to the Japanese surprise attack by immediately declaring war against Japan, and Germany and Italy responded to this war declaration by declaring war against the United States. Therefore, in one short week in December of 1941, the United States transitioned from an isolationist policy with some inclination toward support of Great Britain and the Soviet Union to being involved in a two-front war in both the Pacific and Europe fighting against the three Axis powers, Japan, Germany, and Italy.
Because of shortages
of appliances and cars because factories were producing war items, personal consumption spending rose with people spending their excess money on cosmetics, movie tickets, and music recordings. This increase in employment opportunity and the creation of spending for personal consumption helped the United States feel that it was no longer experiencing the Great Depression.
while Japan was busy invading China
similar developments were happening in Germany. Hitler blatantly violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles by building Germany's army and beginning military campaigns. In 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler in Munich, following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. The solution to this negotiation was that Chamberlain and other countries would allow Hitler to continue to occupy parts of Czechoslovakia so as long as Germany did not continue its expansionist program. Neville Chamberlain famously left this meeting, saying, he had achieved "peace in our time." Such a peace required Hitler to keep the terms of the agreement, which Hitler had no intention of keeping. So why did the Prime Minister of Great Britain agree to this? It seemed to be a convenient and less risky solution than going to war. But this was the fundamental problem with the League of Nations. It lacked leverage to enforce any peace agreements, including the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
1937, Japan invaded China,
starting the Second Sino-Japanese War, which lasted from 1937 to 1945. During this time, both the communists and the nationalists in the country of China joined together to defeat the Japanese and the Japanese invasion.1930s, Japan signed alliances with both Germany and then Italy. These countries had a common enemy, that is, communists. So in 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, pledging support to each other to fight communist Russia. In 1937, Italy joined this pact, and in 1939, after the Nazi invasion of Poland, this pact evolved into the Tripartite Pact.
Following the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan,
the United States became the undisputed military power in the world. American leaders argued that they could use the atomic bomb to enhance the peace and spread American values around the world. The atomic bomb made the United States the moral leader of the world, it seemed. And Truman in his diary wrote, "We thank God that it has come to us instead of to our enemies, and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes."
Harry Truman decided
to allow bombs to be used in Japan, dropping the first atomic bomb on August 6 in Hiroshima, killing 120,000 Japanese men, women, and children. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki with a total number of victims of 75,000. Five days later on August 14, the Japanese surrendered with a single condition that the emperor could remain on the throne as a head of state in name only.
Executive Order 9066 forced Japanese Americans
to be relocated to makeshift prisons operated by the U.S. military in isolated locations. These Japanese Americans were already citizens, and many of them had been born in the United States. However, they were considered to be of Japanese descent and therefore possibly dangerous. These Japanese Americans were forced to sell or leave most of their belongings behind, including houses, businesses, and friends, with very little notice. A Supreme Court case in 1944 challenged the constitutionality of Japanese-American internment, but the Court ruled that it was justified by "military necessity." All told, Japanese-American interment affected about 150,000 people, and there was no attempt to distinguish between loyal and disloyal Americans. In fact, historians have looked back at the moment of Japanese-American internment and have found no indication that any person who was relocated had any possibility of being a spy for the Japanese country.
the United States passed as a series of neutrality acts
which prohibited American businesses from making loans and selling arms to nations at war. In 1937, Congress passed another neutrality act that created a cash-and-carry policy that required warring nations to pay cash for any non-military goods they purchased from the United States, and it also required these countries to transport the materials themselves. The Neutrality Act of 1937 and this cash- and-carry policy was created to allow American businesses to continue to profit from trade with warring nations while preventing the United States from having any liability from transporting the goods over the Atlantic Ocean. The cash-and-carry policy covered only non-military goods, which would be things such as food, appliances, clothing, and medicine. The hope was that this would allow the United States to remain neutral while still making money during the Great Depression.
Women during WWII
women found positions in the U.S. military in nearly every non-combatant assignment. Women served in nurses' corps; women's military units in the army, navy, and marine corps; and in stateside support positions such as secretaries and assistants.
