World War II. President Roosevelt, 1937

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1 World War II It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading. When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease...war is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared...we are determined to keep out of war, yet we cannot insure ourselves against the disastrous effects of war and the dangers of involvement. We are adopting such measures as will minimize our risk of involvement, but we cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which confidence and security have broken down. President Roosevelt, 1937 There can be no objection to any hand our government may take which strives to bring peace to the world so long as that hand does not tie 130,000,000 people into another world death march...we reach now a condition on all fours with that prevailing just before our plunge into the European war in Will we blindly repeat that futile venture? Can we easily forget that we won nothing we fought for then- -that we lost every cause declared to be responsible for our entry then? Senator Gerald P. Nye, 1937 Our whole program of aid for the democracies has been based on hardheaded concern for our own security and for the kind of safe civilized world in which we wish to live. Ever dollar of material we send helps to keep the dictators away from our own hemisphere. Every day that they are held off gives us time to build more guns and tanks and planes and ships. President Roosevelt, May, 1941 We know that our fate is tied up with the fate of the democratic way of life. And so, out of the depths of our hearts, a cry goes out for the triumph of the United Nations. But...unless this war sounds the death knell to the old Anglo-American empire systems, the hapless story of which is one of exploitation for the profit and power of a monopoly capitalist economy, it will have been fought in vain. Our aim then must not only be to defeat nazism, fascism, and militarism on the battlefield, but to win the peace, for democracy, for freedom and the Brotherhood of Man without regard to his pigmentation, land of his birth or the God of his fathers... White citizens...should [not] be taken into the March on Washington Movement as members. The essential value of an all-negro movement as the March on Washington is that it helps to create faith by Negroes in Negroes. It develops a sense of self-reliance with Negroes depending on Negroes in vital matters. It helps to break down the slave psychology and inferiority-complex in Negroes which comes and is nourished with Negroes relying on white people for direction and support. A. Philip Randolph, 1942, proposing a march on Washington

2 1. Did President Roosevelt try as hard as he could to avoid American involvement in World War II or did he actually seek American involvement? Roosevelt sought US involvement- must contain the disease to keep Democracies safe. 2. Could American involvement in the war have been avoided? No, we had to protect the idea of a democracy and the freedoms we believed all people should have. We also believed that if we didn t do anything the idea of Nazism could take over. 3. Should the United States have been better prepared for war? Why wasn't it? The United States should have started wartime production earlier- the Neutrality acts pushed US involvement back. But Lend-lease and cash and carry helped prepare us for the war. The soldiers however were not ready for the war. Many were not used to the new war tactics being used- like in North Africa and especially in the war in the Pacific- guerrilla warfare. 4. Would stronger American policies in the l930s have forced Germany, Italy and Japan to adhere to the principles of international law? The US tried to keep peace through the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the League of Nations tried to keep the peace between nations but proved unsuccessful due to the lack of enforcement. The US did participate in embargos- trying to hurt the nations through economic facets. The Munich Pact just appeased (policy of appeasement) the aggression so you could say that if the League would have been able to punish these countries and the policy of appeasement did not happen they might have stopped. But people were tired of war (WWI) and they were trying to avoid war at all cost. The Treaty of Versailles really damaged countries - putting them into depressions and not listening to colonies pushing for self-determination. 5. What should the American role be when other nations are threatened by military aggression? Opinion- If you don t get involved then you might have trouble when they get large enough they start taking other contries and have no sign of stopping (like the Nazis in Germany spreading thorugh Europe, Africa and the Soviet Untion) or if you choose to get inovelevd right away you are putting your country- economy (huge debt) and people (draft and horrors of war) though a lot. 6. Describe the status of black Americans during the war. Do you agree with A. Philip Randolph's proposal to limit leadership in a march on Washington to blacks only? Randolph only wants African Americans because he was them to be proud of who they are and not have to rely upon whites to push for their rights as US citizens. But on the flip side you could say that without white support you couldn t get the attention of legislators (who were all white) for minorities rights. Distribution of Family Income

3 Impact of World War II Average Earnings 1940 $1, $2, $2,589 Personal Savings 1940 $ 4.2 billion billion billion billion billion Wealthiest 5% Wealthiest 20% Second Wealthiest 20% Middle 20% Second Poorest 20% Poorest 20% Labor Force Participation Males Females % 28 % % 37 % % 31 % billion billion billion 1. What impact did World War II have on family income, the distribution of income, earnings, labor force participation, and savings? Family income greatly increased and people were able to save the money they made, the distribution of income was made distributed a little more equally. The middle class grows the number of the wealthy decreases. All of these all lead to the coming of the consumer era, where people have the money to buy a house, land, car, etc. 2. What happened to women's participation in the labor force during and after the war? Women did enter into non traditional jobs during the war, though after the war we see a lot of women to leave those jobs when the war is over to fulfill traditional roles in the family structure (stay at home- homemakers) but it opens up new opportunities for some women to work outside of the home and take on a new role- we see a split culture where the traditional role was

4 idealized but in reality many women were working two jobs- the ruler of the house and a job outside of the house. Wartime expenditures Percent of National Income Spent on Defense, 1937 United States 1.5 % British Empire 5.7 % France 9.1 % Germany 23.5 % Japan 28.2 % USSR 26.4 % Armaments Production, United States $1.5 billion $37.5 billion Britain 3.5 billion 11.1 billion USSR 5.0 billion 13.9 billion Germany 6.0 billion 13.8 billion Japan 1.0 billion 4.5 billion Federal Government Spending billion billion

5 billion billion billion billion billion billion 1. What happened to federal spending during the second world war? Federal spending increases almost 10x during the war. 2. Compare armaments production by the allied and axis powers. The allies were able to out produce compared to the axis powers. The allies really had to focus on new ways to fight warthrough intelligence and new weapons. Multiple Choice Review: 1. Which of the following economic problems was targeted by the Office of Price Administration? a. Inflation b. Recession c. Depression d. Unemployment 2. In response to Japanese aggression in Southeast Asia in mid 1941 the United States a. Declared war on Japan b. Cut oil supplies to Japan c. Broke off peace talks with Japan ended its trade embargo against Japan d. Started sending peace talkers to Japan 3. Which of the following is not true about the Atlantic Charter? a. Consisted of 26 nations against the Axis powers b. Only accept unconditional surrender c. Met in the Pacific Ocean to discuss goals d. Believed Hitler was the number one enemy 4. The North African campaign was set into motion to protect the a. Libya b. Morocco c. Suez Canal d. Morocco 5. The America First Committee had a goal of what? a. To raise awareness of war tragedies b. To keep America out of the war c. To increase the number of men in the Selective Service d. To help people in America prepare for war 6. The United States was able to resist the wolf packs in the Atlantic Ocean mainly because of a. Radar and Sonar b. OSRD c. Torpedoes

6 d. Bombs 7. In the Battle of Stalingrad, what were Hitler s goals? a. Gas and fossil fuels b. To reach Munich c. Oil and the Volga River d. Kill Stalin 8. The invasion into North Africa was called this a. Operation Overlord b. Operation Torch c. Operation no man s land d. Operation Afrika 9. After Japan surrendered which was not one of the conditions? Oops- all are conditions of the Japanese surrender. a. Forced Hirohito to explain he was human b. Stripped of military c. Tojo was executed 10. When the United States entered the Second World War, one of its allies was a. Germany b. Japan c. the Soviet Union d. Italy 11. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's goal in supporting the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 was to a. encourage Japanese Americans to relocate voluntarily b. use foreign investment as a way of stimulating the American economy c. maintain an isolationist stance by providing only limited aid to both sides in the European conflict d. assist Britain's war effort without violating United States neutrality law