The United States and World War II

De Baripedia
The United States and World War II
Faculté Lettres
Département Département d’histoire générale
Professeur(s) Aline Helg[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Cours The United States and Latin America: late 18th and 20th centuries

Lectures


The Second World War had a profound impact on the Americas, particularly the United States. The US entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and became one of the major Allied powers. The war effort led to a massive mobilization of resources, which helped the US emerge from the Great Depression.

The war brought about significant economic changes, such as an increase in government spending, which led to the creation of new jobs and industries. This resulted in a boom in the economy, as demand for goods and services increased dramatically. The government also implemented policies such as rationing and price controls to ensure a fair distribution of resources.

On the social front, the war had a significant impact on American society. Women entered the workforce in large numbers, as men went off to fight. Minorities, particularly African Americans and Mexican Americans, faced discrimination in the military and civilian jobs, but also saw increased opportunities as a result of the war. The war also led to the growth of the middle class and the beginning of the Baby Boom.

The relative isolation of the Americas during the Second World War allowed the US to solidify its position as a dominant power in the region. The US used its economic and military power to influence events in other countries in the Americas and to advance its interests in the region. This marked a period of increased American imperialism in the Americas, as the US sought to establish itself as the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere.

While some Latin American countries may have maintained the illusion of autonomy after the Second World War, the launch of the Cold War by the US led to a significant erosion of social, political, and economic gains in the region.

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U.S. Entry into World War II

A few points of reference

The US was economically and politically active in Latin America during the 1920s and 1930s. During this time, the US implemented policies aimed at promoting stability and economic development in the region. This included investment in infrastructure, such as roads and ports, and support for trade and commerce.

At the same time, the US followed a policy of neutrality with respect to the growing conflict in Europe in the years following the stock market crash of 1929. This reflected the American public's desire to avoid involvement in another foreign conflict and to focus on domestic issues.

Aerial view of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

However, this changed on December 7, 1941, with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, which prompted the US to enter the Second World War. The US quickly became one of the major Allied powers and began to mobilize its resources to support the war effort. This marked a turning point in American foreign policy, as the US became more active in world affairs and more engaged in international conflicts.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor resulted in the deaths of 2400 people, but did not completely destroy the American base. Nevertheless, it served as a catalyst for a shift in American public opinion in favor of entering the war.

The attack on Pearl Harbor is often compared to other significant events in American history, such as the sinking of the USS Maine and the September 11 attacks, as they have served as catalysts for American military action.

The sinking of the USS Maine in 1898, which was attributed to Spain, led to the Spanish-American War and marked the emergence of the US as a world power. Similarly, the September 11 attacks in 2001, which were carried out by terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda, led to the US-led War on Terror and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

In each of these cases, the attacks served as a catalyst for a shift in American foreign policy and a change in the role of the US in world affairs. The attacks on Pearl Harbor, the USS Maine, and the World Trade Center have each had a profound impact on American society and have been used to justify military action and the use of military force.

In the US, the decision to go to war must be approved by the American public and its representatives in Congress. The attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized public opinion and led to a widespread sense of outrage and a desire for revenge. This made it easier for the US government to make the case for entering the war and to secure the necessary support from the American people.

As a result of the attack, the US declared war on Japan the following day and soon thereafter entered the Second World War as one of the major Allied powers. This marked a turning point in American foreign policy and a significant change in the role of the US in world affairs.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was a strong consensus among the American public in favor of declaring war on Japan. This sentiment was reflected in the immediate response of the US government, which declared war on Japan the following day.

In the days and weeks that followed the attack, the American Congress voted to mobilize all able-bodied men between the ages of 20 and 44 in order to support the war effort. This was part of a larger effort to fully mobilize the American economy and society in support of the war.

The attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent US declaration of war marked a significant turning point in the Second World War, as it brought the full resources of the United States into the conflict. This played a critical role in the eventual defeat of the Axis powers and shaped the post-war world order.

American troops advancing in the water at Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944.

During the early years of the Second World War, the United States focused its efforts on the war in the Pacific. This was largely due to the proximity of the Japanese threat, as well as the need to secure American interests in the region.

However, after the United States achieved a string of victories against Japan in 1942, President Roosevelt shifted his focus to Europe and the war against Nazi Germany. This decision was motivated by a growing recognition of the threat posed by Nazi Germany and the need to bring an end to the war in Europe as soon as possible.

The United States prioritized the war in Europe for the remainder of the conflict, working closely with its Allies to defeat Nazi Germany and bring an end to the war. This involved a massive military effort, including the landing of American and Allied forces in Italy and the Normandy beaches in France, as well as a sustained bombing campaign against German cities and industrial targets.

Ultimately, the US-led efforts in Europe helped bring an end to the Second World War and shaped the post-war world order.

The Allies, under the leadership of Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, planned and executed the North Africa campaign (Operation Torch) in 1942, followed by the Normandy landings (D-Day) in 1944. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union, fighting on the Eastern Front, made significant progress against the Germans, culminating in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943.

The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 was a turning point in the war in Europe and led to the fall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The Normandy landings in June 1944, also known as D-Day, marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control. The Normandy landing was a massive undertaking, involving 156,000 troops, and resulted in heavy casualties for both the Allies and the Germans. Despite the high cost, the success of the Normandy landing was a critical moment in the war and paved the way for the eventual defeat of the Axis powers.

The Normandy landings marked the beginning of the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi control. After the landing, the Allies continued their push into France and defeated German forces in several key battles. Meanwhile, the Allies launched intense bombing campaigns against German cities, causing significant damage and undermining the German war effort. The German army eventually surrendered in May 1945, after the death of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the appointment of Harry S. Truman as the new president. The end of the war in Europe marked a major victory for the Allies and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Despite the end of the war in Europe, Japan continued to resist the Allies in the Pacific theater. The US, under Truman's presidency, sought to bring a swift end to the war and limit American casualties. In an effort to force Japan to surrender, the US dropped napalm bombs on Tokyo and conducted a series of bombing raids against other cities. To end the war quickly, the US made the controversial decision to use atomic bombs, which had only been developed recently. The US tested an atomic bomb in Mexico and then dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. The use of atomic bombs remains one of the most heavily debated decisions of the war and its consequences are still felt today.

Overall assessment of the Second World War

World War II was a catastrophic global conflict that resulted in the deaths of millions of people and widespread destruction. The war caused between 40 and 50 million casualties, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. The losses were particularly heavy in Europe, where the majority of the fighting took place. The Soviet Union suffered the highest number of casualties, with estimates suggesting that up to 10% of its population was killed during the war. The Second World War had far-reaching impacts on the world, shaping the course of international relations and leading to the rise of the US and the Soviet Union as superpowers. Its legacy continues to shape the world today.

Europe was the hardest hit region during World War II and suffered significant losses and damage. The continent had already been devastated by World War I and the interwar period, and World War II only compounded the suffering and destruction. The war resulted in the deaths of millions of Europeans, the displacement of millions more, and widespread destruction of cities and infrastructure. The war also had profound political and social effects, leading to the decline of European colonial empires and the rise of the US and the Soviet Union as dominant powers. Europe took many years to recover from the war and its aftermath, and the continent continues to be shaped by its legacy to this day.

Although the US was not directly impacted by the fighting on its own territory, the country was heavily involved in World War II, both militarily and economically. About 12 million American soldiers and Marines took part in the war, representing a significant portion of the country's population. Approximately 100,000 women also served in various capacities, including as nurses and in other support roles. The US economy was also mobilized for the war effort, with the country supplying crucial resources and materials to support the Allies. The war had a major impact on the US, both at home and abroad, and played a crucial role in shaping the country's post-war role as a superpower.

Although World War II was a major global conflict, the number of casualties suffered by the US was relatively small compared to other countries. Approximately 405,000 American soldiers were killed during the war and around 670,000 were wounded. It's worth noting that the Civil War was indeed the deadliest conflict in American history, with an estimated 620,000 deaths. The impact of World War II on the US was significant, however, and helped to establish the country as a global superpower in the post-war period.

The United States during the War

No institutional or political change, but an extraordinary economic boom

Trois hommes en costume debout devant plusieurs personnes à l’arrière-plan
Joseph Staline, Harry S. Truman and Winston Churchill in Potsdam in July 1945.

The US did not experience major institutional or political changes during or immediately after World War II, despite being deeply involved in the conflict. Franklin D. Roosevelt served as president until his death in April 1945, and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman. Truman was elected to a full term in 1948, and his presidency was marked by the beginning of the Cold War and the development of the US as a superpower. In the USSR, Joseph Stalin remained in power throughout the war and for several years thereafter, until his death in 1953.

The US experienced a significant economic boom during World War II, due in large part to the country's increased production efforts to support the war. The government implemented several measures to stimulate the economy and encourage production, such as implementing a draft and investing heavily in war-related industries. As a result, employment rose and the country's industrial capacity expanded dramatically. The war also created new opportunities for technological innovation and growth in industries such as aviation and electronics.

In addition to these direct effects, the war also had a broader impact on the US economy by ending the Great Depression. The increased production and employment generated by the war helped to bring the country out of the economic downturn, and the US emerged from the war as the world's dominant economic power. The economic boom of World War II laid the foundation for the post-war economic expansion and prosperity that defined the second half of the 20th century.

The economic boom during World War II was indeed much stronger than the boom of the 1920s and the effects of the New Deal. During the war, the US government implemented several measures to stimulate the economy, such as investing heavily in war-related industries and implementing a draft, which led to a significant increase in employment. This helped to bring the country out of the Great Depression and created a strong economic foundation for post-war expansion and prosperity. As a result, unemployment decreased dramatically from 1938-1939, and the country's economy continued to grow throughout the war and beyond.

The economic boom during World War II was largely centered around the arms industry, which was heavily invested in by the US government. As a result, the largest and wealthiest corporations, especially those in the defense industry, benefited the most from the war-related economic expansion. However, the boom also had broader effects on American society, as it led to an acceleration of the social, cultural, and technological changes that had already begun in the 1920s. This period marked a turning point in American history and helped to establish the country as a leading global economic and military power.

During the war, it is estimated that as many as 20 million Americans moved to new locations within the country, as they sought to take advantage of the economic opportunities created by the war. This was a significant increase from the earlier decade, when 15% of the US population had moved internally. The migration had a major impact on many parts of the country, especially in areas that were home to military installations and defense factories. For example, California, which was home to a number of key military bases and defense plants, saw its population grow significantly during the war. This migration helped to spur economic growth in the state and contributed to the transformation of California into one of the leading economic and cultural centers of the country.

This context of economic recovery and large migrations during the Second World War had a significant impact on the development of the United States. The war effort required a massive increase in industrial production, which led to a decrease in unemployment and a boost to the economy. At the same time, the migration of millions of Americans to new cities and regions created new opportunities for growth and contributed to the overall prosperity of the country.

during the 1940s, there was a significant shift in population from rural areas and central states to urban areas and coastal states. As a result, many rural areas faced population decline and faced difficulty in finding labor for their farms, leading to the exemption of farm workers from military service through the Selective Service Act.

Increasing the role of the federal government

US-WarProductionBoard-Seal.png

With all this war effort, we have an increased role for the federal state.

Just after Pearl Harbour, Roosevelt declares the War Production Board, which turns civilian production for military purposes; production is multiplied by 3.[8][9][10]

  • Trophy celebrating the productivity of the "Department 2" team, awarded on January 5, 1943 by the War Production Committee[11]

  • Poster inviting the public to preserve rubber stocks by taking public transport or car-pooling rather than private cars to avoid wearing out their tyres. Source: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The federal government signs contracts with companies that guarantee the payment of production costs plus a surplus X; companies are guaranteed to earn this for a total of $175 billion; 2/3 of these contracts go to the hundred largest companies, including General Motors, which receives 8% of the contracts, in return ½ small companies have to close their doors because they can no longer access raw materials that are taken over by the large companies; there is a concentration of production that has already taken place in the last two decades.

With the universities, the federal state signs major research contracts with MIT, Harvard and the University of California, including a secret contract divided among a few universities for $4 billion to develop the atomic bomb. Einstein is rejected from the American project because he is considered "too peaceful" and "Zionist" to be judged "a man of confidence".

Increase in the number and influence of industrial workers and members of major unions (AFL, CIO)

The number of workers is growing in large companies and with the increase in workers comes the growth of unions, which see the number of members double during the war that will be the peak of unionization in the United States.

It is these unions that raise the money and the electorate that allows Roosevelt to be re-elected for his fourth term as president; it is the longest in U.S. history and since then Republicans have passed a law that allows a person to serve no more than two terms as president.

During this period, unions made enemies among Republicans and conservative Democrats who began dominating Congress in 1948, passing laws that limited workers' rights.

Growth of large mechanized farm businesses

Farming is starting up again, but it is the large mechanised farming business financed by banks and insurance companies that is picking up the contracts. It is the big mechanized agriculture that wins this war at the expense of small family businesses, which explains, among other things, the great migration, especially of small farmers who can no longer manage to get by.

Multiplication of debt

The federal government controls a large part of the economy and finance, in particular through bond issues.

Between 1941 and 1945, US debt increased fivefold to $260 billion.[12][13]

US federal debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP, from 1790 to 2013, projected to 2038.

The great transformations of American society during the war

Industrial workers

Industrial workers are generally doing quite well, prices are up 28% and wages are up 40%, there is a huge need to produce. Industrial workers are increasing their purchasing power, their economic and political power over society while the weight of small farmers continues to decrease.

Increasing the economic and social role of women with the war economy

In many nations women were encouraged to join female branches of the armed forces or participate in industrial or farm work.

The war has positive effects for many women, especially white women, but also African-American women. The economy needs women's paid work, 6 million women are joining the labour force while 60% of women work.

Women are no longer single women, but married women with children and older; they are no longer confined to the "female" professions, but have access to physical work as road workers, woodcutters, police officers, taxi drivers, etc.[14][15]

At the same time, 400,000 African-American women are leaving their domestic jobs to work in factories with better wages, greater autonomy and unionization.[16][17]

In the aeronautics industry, the number of women employed rose from 320,000 to 410,000. In a society where the laws of Victorian morality dominate the media and public opinion stop mocking women workers to support their benefit to the population.

However, we are a long way from equality between men and women, for equal work a woman earns 65% of a man's salary. There are practically no crèches or canteens to bring up women with children, for example.

It is a great change of mentality that is taking place, women are becoming more autonomous, women whose husbands are at the front, the return will require a lot of adjustment and will be very complicated, because many men would like to return to the situation before they leave for war.

A turning point for African-Americans

The 332nd Fighter Group attends a briefing in Italy in 1945.

The war is a real turning point, because they are participating fully in the national effort. One million of them are mobilized in the army and the navy. At the same time, more than a million of the segregated southerners leave the countryside to go either to northern cities like Chicago or to the east like Washington to work in the war industry.

These people experience new conditions and stay in touch with the blacks who remain in the rural south. Their migration is often very poorly received by the population; the U.S. military is still segregated with African Americans billeted in separate regiments, but they can become pilots and move up the ranks while many distinguish themselves and receive medals.

The fact that there is racial segregation in the U.S. military becomes very embarrassing for the image of the United States as a defender of civilization and democracy in the face of Axis forces. They make a crusade against fascism and Nazism while in their army there is segregation.

African-Americans are asked to be patriotic, but they cannot vote. The Nazi propaganda will use these contradictions to force Congress to pass the Soldier Voting Act[18] which allows soldiers in the armed forces to vote as well as black Southerners participating in the war effort.

In 1944, the War Department banned segregation in army transport and recreation facilities. These legal changes did not prevent many attacks against black soldiers in the army and in the southern states.

There were also tensions in the North and East where there was immigration of blacks; they joined unions and there were riots, particularly in Detroit in 1943, which resulted in 34 deaths between whites and blacks. However, many changes were made.[19][20]

All this shows the changes that took place during the war and which will spread with great force afterwards; at the same time, there is the development of trade unionism, especially for the black soldiers of the South, the experience of the war and the welcome they will receive in France as liberators will give them a new pride and the strength to take up the fight again in the face of the strong reaction of the whites of the South.

Braceros Agreement

For Mexican Americans, the years of war in the United States do not bring great hope for change.

During the Great Depression there was the mass deportation of Mexican workers forced to return to Mexico.

During the war there is a need for migrant workers for agriculture. Roosevelt agreed to the arrival of dozens of seasonal Mexican workers called "braceros" to work in agriculture, but others found work in the shipyards of the West.[21][22][23][24][25][26]

They are victims of segregation, race riots and lynchings; unlike African-Americans, they are ill-prepared to respond.

Internment in Japanese-American concentration camps

The ethnic group that suffered the most during the war were the Japanese Americans. In 1940, there were about 130,000 of them, mainly along the Pacific coast, and they were small fruit and vegetable growers; they had always been victims of racism, especially when migration from Asia was banned.

After Pearl Harbour, there are no more limits, the population thinks that simply because of their race they are internal enemies even if some of them serve in the American troops.

In 1941 Roosevelt ordered the internment of all first and second generation Japanese in concentration camps in the middle of the desert in Arizona and Texas.[27][28] At the same time, the government seized their land and property to the value of $500 million.

It is a story that has recently resurfaced and the federal government acknowledged its mistake in 1989 in compensating survivors.[29]

  • San Francisco Examiner, February 1942.

  • A Challenge to Democracy (1944)

  • Official notice of exclusion and removal.

  • Friends say good-bye as family of Japanese ancestry await evacuation bus. Hayward, California, 8 May 1942.

  • Heart Mountain Relocation Center, January 10, 1943.

  • The baggage of Japanese Americans from the west coast, at a makeshift reception center located at a racetrack.

  • Dust storm at Manzanar War Relocation Center.

  • A monument at Manzanar, "to console the souls of the dead.

  • U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted reparations for the internment of Japanese Americans.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the war brings the United States out of the Great Depression, but does not resolve its internal contradictions; the small ones get smaller and smaller and the big ones get bigger and bigger.

Certain ethnic groups are particularly discriminated against, but the war marks the full entry of women into the labour force and the renewal of the struggle of blacks for their rights.

The war also continues the process of increasing federal state involvement in the economy that began with the New Deal.

After the Second World War, the United States was the only superpower facing only the USSR.

Annexes

  • History.com Editors. “American Women in World War II.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 5 Mar. 2010, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii-1.

References

  1. ↑ Aline Helg - UNIGE
  2. ↑ Aline Helg - Academia.edu
  3. ↑ Aline Helg - Wikipedia
  4. ↑ Aline Helg - Afrocubaweb.com
  5. ↑ Aline Helg - Researchgate.net
  6. ↑ Aline Helg - Cairn.info
  7. ↑ Aline Helg - Google Scholar
  8. ↑ Executive Order 9024 - Establishing the War Production Board (January 16, 1942)
  9. ↑ Herman, Arthur (2012). Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
  10. ↑ Industrial Mobilization for War: History of the War Production Board and Predecessor Agencies: 1940-1945. United States Bureau of Demobilization, Civilian Production Administration. 1947. pp. 961–962.
  11. ↑ .Photo : Office for Emergency Management. War Production Board du fonds historique de la National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
  12. ↑ Hall, George J., and Thomas J. Sargent. 2011. "Interest Rate Risk and Other Determinants of Post-WWII US Government Debt/GDP Dynamics." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 3 (3): 192-214.
  13. ↑ Hall, George J., and Thomas J. Sargent. A history of us debt limits. No. w21799. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2015
  14. ↑ Campbell, D'Ann. Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1984.
  15. ↑ Weatherford, Doris. American Women during World War II. United Kingdom, Routledge, 2010.
  16. ↑ Anderson, Karen Tucker. "Last hired, first fired: Black women workers during World War II." The Journal of American History 69.1 (1982): 82-97.
  17. ↑ Honey, Maureen, ed. Bitter Fruit: African American Women in World War II. University of Missouri Press, 1999.
  18. ↑ The Soldier Voting Act of 1942 represented the first legislation guaranteeing military members a vote in presidential and congressional elections during wartime, even when away from their homes of record, Brunelli said. It extended that right regardless of registration and poll tax requirements, as long as the voter met state qualifications; Servicemembers to Follow Long Absentee Voting Tradition By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
  19. ↑ Capeci, Dominic J., Jr., and Martha Wilkerson (1991). Layered Violence: The Detroit Rioters of 1943. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 0-878-05515-0.
  20. ↑ Sitkoff, Harvard. "The Detroit Race Riot 1943," Michigan History, May 1969, Vol. 53 Issue 3, pp 183–206, reprinted in John Hollitz, ed. Thinking Through The Past: Volume Two: since 1865 (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005) ch 8.
  21. ↑ Fred L. Koestler, "Bracero Program," in Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association, February 22, 2010.
  22. ↑ Barbara Driscoll De Alvarado, The Tracks North: The Railroad Bracero Program of World War II. Austin, TX: CMAS Books/Center for Mexican American Studies, the University of Texas at Austin, 1999.
  23. ↑ Otey M. Scruggs, "Texas and the Bracero Program, 1942–1947," Pacific Historical Review (1963) 32#3 pp. 251–264 in JSTOR
  24. ↑ Michael Snodgrass, "The Bracero Program, 1942–1964," in Beyond the Border: The History of Mexican-U.S. Migration, Mark Overmyer-Velásquez, ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 79–102.
  25. ↑ Michael Snodgrass, "Patronage and Progress: The bracero program from the Perspective of Mexico," in Workers Across the Americas: The Transnational Turn in Labor History, Leon Fink, ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 245–266.
  26. ↑ Bracero History Archive (Archivo histórico del Bracero)
  27. ↑ Hirasaki National Resource Center : « Resources – Frequently Asked Questions », sur le site du Japanese American National Museum, janm.org, consulté le 28 octobre 2009.
  28. ↑ Élise Prébin, « Mémoire des camps américains. L’exemple japonais », Ateliers, n° 30, « Ethnographies japonaises », avril 2006, p.251-282, mis en ligne le 8 juin 2007, consulté le 28 octobre 2009.
  29. ↑ Daniel Sabbagh, « Le statut des « Asiatiques » aux États-Unis – L’identité américaine dans un miroir », Critique internationale no 20, juillet 2003, p. 77-78, sur le site ceri-sciencespo.com, consulté le 28 octobre 2009.
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