APUSH 35-36

Describe the Federal Government’s discriminatory policies against Japanese Americans during WWII.

Executive Order no. 9066 authorized the War Department to remove Japanese "enemy aliens" to isolated internment camps. Immigrants and citizens (regardless if they were 2nd generation) alike were sent away from their homes, neighborhoods, schools, and businesses as a result, losing millions in property and foregone earnings as well as basic civil rights. Washington feared that Japanese Americans might act as saboteurs for Japan in case of invasion. The order was also fueled by anti-Japanese sentiment after Pearl Harbor, especially on the west coast.

The official reason for the order was to “protect” these Japanese americans from rouges on the streets who would potentially take out their Pear Harbor frustrations on them. The ulterior motive was distrust, with worries that they were Japanese spies.

See Korematsu v. U.S.

Describe how the war impacted women.

Over 200,000 were employed for noncombat duties in the armed forces (WACs, WAVES, SPARs) \n \n Due to the draft, more than 6 million women took jobs outside the home (many for the first time). This was also caused by a demand for industrial and defense jobs. However, the majority of American women continued in their traditional roles during the war. Many more went to work in the Soviet Union and Britain.

The Women who worked continued to receive lower pay than men and were expected to leave their jobs once the war was over. \n \n Many of the new working women were mothers, and so the government was obliged to set up about 3000 daycare centers to care for their children during working hours. \n \n After the war, many women continued to work. The war foreshadowed a revolution in the roles of women in American society, though that revolution would not come till decades later. \n \n The postwar period did not see a permanent widening of women's employment. Instead, it saw a widespread rush into suburban areas and the Baby Boom.

See Rosie the Riveter

Describe how the war impacted African Americans.

Despite economic stimulus in the South, 1.6 million African-Americans left the South to seek jobs in Northern and Western war plants.

Discrimination was common in defense work. \n \n Forever after, race relations were a national issue. Tensions developed over employment, housing, segregated facilities, etc.

Race riots broke out in cities such as Detroit and NY

A. Philip Randolph: an American labor unionist and civil rights activist \n \n African Americans were drafted into the armed forces, but generally were regulated to service branches. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American aviators in the U.S. Army. Served in segregated units. \n \n In general, the war emboldened African-Americans in their struggle for equality (NAACP membership rose and CORE was established). \n \n Northward migration of African Americans accelerated after the war, thanks to the mechanical cotton picker and the resulting decrease in need for workers in the South.

FDR passed Executive Order 8802: promoted equal opportunity and prohibited employment segregation.

See Double V and CORE

Describe how the war impacted Mexican Americans

The draft left the nation's farms and factories short of personnel.

So, the US made an agreement in 1942 that brought thousands of Mexican agricultural workers (braceros) across the border to work in the West. (The Bracero Program; allowed Mexican farm workers to work in the U.S. w/out formal immigrant proceedings)

They weren't always well received, and were targets of violent discrimination, especially in areas like LA. (The Zoot Suit Riots were when white sailors and marines attacked Mexican-Americans in east LA, 500 of the Mexican Americans were arrested.)

SIDE NOTE: impact on Native Americans

Received opportunities in defense work and in military (see Code Talkers)

About 1/2 wouldn’t return to reservation life.

Explain what the American Pageant means by saying “…the hand of government touched more American lives than ever before.”

Every household felt the constraints of the rationing system. \n \n Millions of people worked for the US military in the armed forces or defense industries. \n \n Employers and unions were monitored by the National War Labor Board and Fair Employment Practices Commission and their personal needs were covered by government-sponsored housing proects, day-care facilities, and health plans. \n \n Scientific research, universities, and government became interconnected, which would lead to the US's economic and tech leadership in the postwar era. \n \n The income tax net was expanded to be four times as large to cover war costs. Minimum tax rates rose as high as 90%. \n \n War spending and industry "cured" unemployment. The postwar economy depended dangerously on military spending for its health, creating a "warfare-welfare state."

Describe key events in the war in the Pacific.

Largely the U.S.’s responsibility to fight Japan

following Pearl Harbor Japan had lots of land occupation

MILITARY STRATEGY: The US Navy "leapfrogged" the Japanese-held islands in the Pacific. The strategy of island-hopping called for bypassing some of the most heavily fortified Japanese posts, capturing nearby islands, setting up airfields on them, and then neutralizing the enemy bases through heavy bombing. Deprived of essential supplies from the homeland, Japan's outposts would slowly wither away.

KEY VICTORIES:

Battle of the Coral Sea: Site of a crucial naval battle in which American and Australian forces were victorious over the Japanese. For the first time, the fighting was all done by carrier based aircrafts. Neither fleet saw or fired directly at each other.

Battle of Midway: turning point, where Japanese expansion was halted

Battle of Guadalcanal: In August 1942, American forces gained a toehold on Guadalcanal Island in an effort to protect the lifeline from America to Australia in the SW Pacific. A naval defeat at the hands of the Japanese shortened US supplies, but US troops managed to hold on to the islands for weeks. After a series of sea battles, in Feb 1943, Japanese forces evacuated Gudalcanal. Japanese losses numbered 20,000, while the US losses were about 1700 (this ratio would continue throughout the war).

Battle of Leyte Gulf: last major battle in Pacific, Japan navy all but destroyed

Describe key events in the war in Europe.

Soviet’s stop German advance at Stalingrad

Allies focus first on North Africa to Italy (to defeat Mussolini)

D-Day (6/6/44): massive 2nd front opened (brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France.)

Enigma-code broken, Allies able to decipher messages and locate German U-boats

V-E Day (5/8/45): victory Europe Day

MILITARY STRATEGY:

Old techniques, such as escorting convoys of merchant vessels and dropping depth bombs from destroyers, were strengthened by air patrol, radar, and the bombing of submarine bases.

Allied submarines used British code breaking to pinpoint German U-boats in the Atlantic.

In August 1942, US forces joined Britain in cascading bombs on German cities.

On the Soviet front, the Russian army halted German progress and regained much of the land that had been invaded by Hitler. (But they suffered significant losses)

Why was “unconditional surrender” a controversial military policy? Describe the arguments for and against this policy.

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR: Unconditional surrender would hearten the Soviets, who feared separate Allied peace negotiations. It would forestall charges of broken armistice terms and force a thorough postwar reconstruction.

WHY CONTROVERSIAL? It was still a sign of weakness; the western allies could only offer Stalin words, not action. The main criticism against it was that unconditional surrender would steel the enemy to fight to a last-bunker resistance and would discourage anti-war groups in Germany from revolting.

Describe the arguments for and against using the atomic bomb against Japan discussed in the Varying Viewpoints section.

FOR: \n Both British and American planners believed that whoever detonated the bombs would be the decisive victor of the war. \n \n The Japanese were seeking terms that went against the American intention of "unconditional surrender." \n \n The book maintains that the decision to drop the bombs was made in 1942 (not 1945!) when the US committed to developing a bomb program. From this point of view, the bomb droppings were inevitable. \n \n No major policy-makers seriously questioned the decision to drop the bombs at the time. \n \n American leaders wanted to end the war as soon as possible. \n \n AGAINST: \n The motivations behind dropping the bombs may have been racist in nature, considering they were both dropped on a nonwhite population. \n \n The Japanese were already on the verge of collapse by 1945; the bombs were unnecessary to bring the war to a conclusion. \n \n Some historians argue the Truman willfully ignored Tokyo's attempts to surrender and insisted on dropping the bombs so that he could intimidate and isolate the Soviet Union and freeze the SU out of reconstruction policy. \n \n There is a serious moral issue in designating civilians as legitimate military targets.

Korematsu v. the U.S. Government

SC decision that upheld the Japanese internment policy as constitutional

Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act

(1943) passed amidst worries about the effects of labor strikes on war production, this law allowed the federal government to seize and operate plants threatened by labor disputes. It also criminalized strike action against government-run companies.

Rosie the Riveter

Nickname for the women who went to work during the war, filling in the jobs left by drafted men. The image was used in patriotic war advertising and imagery.

Fair Employment Practices Comission

(1941) threatened with a massive "Negro March on Washington" to demand equal job opportunities in war jobs and in the military, Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration issued an executive order forbidding racial discrimination in all defense plants operating under contract with the federal government. The FEPC was intended to monitor compliance with the Executive Order

Double V

African Americans rallied around this slogan for equality during the war. It was "victory over fascism abroad and racism at home." The slogan reflected African Americans' emboldened struggle for equality during the war.

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality. Nonviolent civil rights organization founded in 1942 and committed to the "Double V." After WWII, this program would become a major force in the civil rights movement.

Code Talkers

Native American men who served in the military by transmitting radio messages in their native languages, which were undecipherable by German and Japanese spies.

Casablanca Conference

Site of a historic conference between FDR and Churchill, in which they agreed to step up the Pacific war, invade Sicily, increase pressure on Italy, and insist upon "unconditional surrender."

Teheran Conference

Capital of Iran and site of a meeting between Stalin, Churchill, and FDR. They made broad plans to launch Soviet attacks on Germany simultaneously with an Allied assault from the west.

Yalta Conference

The WWII meeting of the heads of government of the U.S., the UK and Soviet Union to discuss the post-war reorganization of Germany and Europe

Potsdam Conference

(1945) from July 17 to August 2, 1945, President Harry S. Truman met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and British leaders Winston Churchill and later Clement Attlee (when the labour party defeated Churchill's Conservative party) near Berlin to deliver an ultimatum to Japan: surrender or be destroyed

Describe the problems facing the U.S. economy after WWII, during the demobilization period.

Big fear that the economy would collapse and that the GD could return (or a recession)

Real gross national product (GNP) slumped in 1946/47 from wartime peak.

Without wartime price controls, prices rose sharply - up to 33 %. (inflation)

Strikes swept the country; 4.6 million workers striked in 1946.

People feared returning GIs would be forced into unemployment.

See Taft-Hartley Act

Describe the solutions employed by the U.S. federal government in attempting to address the problems of demobilization.

Sold war factories and other government installations to private businesses at "fire-sale" prices. \n \n Secured passage of the Employment Act of 1946 and the GI Bill (1944). The GI Bill nurtured the economic expansion that eventually took hold in the late 1940s and shaped the history of the postwar era.

Council of Economic Advisors: gave the president solid data to make solid decisions

Describe the factors which facilitated a long economic boom between 1950 and 1970.

WWII was a powerful stimulus: the US had used the crisis to rebuild the depression-plagued economy. Massive production helped to “jump-start” the economy.

Much of the prosperity relied on colossal military budgets. The economic upturn of 1950 was fueled by massive appropriations for the Korean War. Defense spending accounted for 10% of the GNP throughout the decade, and Pentagon spending fueled industries like plastics, aerospace, and electronics as well as scientific research and development.

Cheap energy and American control of petroleum coming from the Middle East also fed the economic boom.

Workers became more productive, at a rate of 3% per year after the outbreak of the Korean War. Productivity was enhanced by rising education levels of the workforce. Rising productivity essentially doubled the standard of living during the 1950s and 1960s.

The country's economic structure also changed: family farms gave way to giant agribusinesses powered through mechanization.

More people were going to school and receiving an extended education.

Describe the impact of the “baby boom” on American society.

Added 50 million babies to the population. \n \n Elementary school enrollments swelled and then declined steadily, leading to closed schools and teacher unemployment. \n \n Eventually it led to a crowded job market/social mobility. \n \n The consumer market followed the Baby Boomer generation as it aged.

Describe the U.S. - Soviet Union relationship in 1945.

There were long-held tensions between the two countries over communism vs. capitalism. \n \n Soviet skepticism toward the West was nourished by the American and British delays in opening a second front in Europe during WWII, which had led to high Soviet losses. \n The US had terminated a vital lease-lend loan to the USSR in 1945 and spurned the Soviet Union's requests for a reconstruction loan (while simultaneously agreeing to give one to Britain).

The U.S. also refused to recognize the U.S.S.R. until 1933 \n \n The Soviet Union wanted to maintain a "sphere of influence" in postwar Eastern Europe, but the US viewed this as it wanting an undemocratic, ill-gained empire. \n \n There was a lot of suspicion and rivalry, especially now that there was no enemy to bind them in alliance against. This would lead to the beginnings of the Cold War.

How did the international Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United nations shape the post-war world?

IMF: Encouraged world trade by regulating currency exchange rates and provided aid to underdeveloped countries. The US took the lead in funding and creating the organization, while the Soviet Union refused to participate. The IMF also started the World Bank to give loans to needy nations.

UN: Preserved peace in Iran and Kashmir, played a large role in creating the new Jewish state of Israel, guided former colonies to independence, brought benefits to people across the world through various aid organizations. The UN guaranteed veto power to all permanent members of its Security Council (Britain, China, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.) The atomic bomb and Cold War strained the UN's early successes, though.

Describe the allied plan for Germany after the war ended.

Nuremberg War Crimes Trial: punished Nazi leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity as part of the Allies denazification program in postwar Germany. The trials led to several executions and long prison sentences. \n \n Besides the trials, the Allies couldn't agree much on postwar Germany. The Soviet Union wanted reparations and some in the US wanted to deindustrialize the country. The US later came to the conclusion that a healthy German economy was necessary for European recovery, but the Soviet Union did not come to share that view. \n \n At war's end, Germany had been divided into 4 military occupation zones, each controlled by one of the Big 4 powers (US, France, SU, Britain). The Allies, except for the SU, later began making the case for a reunited Germany. Soviet resistance to this idea led to the country being split into East and West Germany, dividing Europe with the "iron curtain."

Describe the policy of containment

America's strategy against the Soviet Union based on ideas of George Kennan; the doctrine declared that the Soviet Union and communism were inherently expansionist and had to be stopped from spreading through both military and political pressure. Containment guided American foreign policy throughout most of the Cold War.

What was the Marshall Plan and how is it connected with containment?

a massive transfer of aid money to help rebuild postwar Western Europe, intended to bolster capitalist and democratic governments and prevent domestic communist groups from using poverty and misery to gain power. \n \n The plan called on European democracies to workout a joint plan for financial recovery, though the Soviet Union eventually accused it of being a capitalistic trick and walked out.

What was the Berlin Airlift and how is it connected with containment?

(1948) year-long mission of flying food and supplies to blockaded West Berliners, whom the Soviet Union cut off from access to the West in the first major crises of the Cold War

What was the NATO and how is it connected with containment?

The Soviet threat forced Western European democracies together, and they created a treaty of defensive alliance that the US was invited to join (this would become NATO.)

US participation, despite past American resistance to entangling alliances, would strengthen the policy of containing the Soviet Union, would provide a framework for the reintegration of Germany into the European family, and it would reassure Europe that the US was not going to abandon it to the Soviet Union or to a resurgent, domineering Germany.

NATO consisted of old Allies: U.S., Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. If one was attacked, all were attacked.

What was the Truman Doctrine and how is it connected with containment?

President Truman's universal pledge of support for any people fighting any communist or communist-inspired threat; Truman presented the doctrine to Congress in 1947 in support of his request for $400 million to defend Greece and Turkey against Soviet-backed insurgencies.

Describe how the fear of communism abroad, impacted the U.S. domestically.

Many people feared communists were undermining the government and foreign policy.

In 1947, Truman launched a "loyalty" program that investigated 90 supposedly "disloyal" organizations (See Loyalty Review Board.)

Individual states became fearful, demanding loyalty oaths from employees and teachers.

Communists and suspected individuals were taken to courts under peacetime anti sedition laws.

People questioned whether or not personal freedoms could be maintained in the Cold War Era.

See McCarthy and the HUAC.

Conservative politicians used fear of communism to target real *and perceived social changes: declining religious sentiment, sexual freedom, and calls for civil rights.

Anticommunist crusaders ransacked schools and drove "debtors, drinkers, and homosexuals'' from their jobs.

Smith Act: the first peace-time sedition act since 1781. This act was upheld in the SC case Dennis v. US. Under this act 11 communists were tried, convicted and imprisoned in NY.

McCarran Internal Security Bill: allowed the president to arrest and hold suspicious persons during an “internal security emergency”. Truman vetoed this but Congress passed it anyway.

Describe the Election of 1948. Why is it considered one of the biggest upsets in presidential history?

The Republicans had won back Congress in 1946 and had good prospects. They nominated NY governor Thomas E. Dewey. \n \n The Democrats were unenthusiastic about renominating Truman, but did so in the face of vehement opposition from southern delegates (who disliked Truman's stance in favor of civil rights and desegregation of the military.) \n \n "Dixiecrats" split from the main Democratic party and nominated J. Strom Thurmond. \n \n Former VP Henry A. Wallace ran with the new Progressive party. \n \n The Democratic party and its voters were split between Truman, Thurmond, and Wallace. \n \n Truman had very little money or active supporters and ran a grassroots campaign. \n \n On election night, the Chicago Tribune ran off an early edition that declared Dewey the winner. However, Truman had actually won, drawing support from farmers, workers, and African Americans.

Describe the causes of the Korean War.

When Japan collapsed in 1945, Soviet Union troops accepted the Japanese surrender north of the 38th parallel on the Korean Peninsula and American troops did the same south of that line. Each set up a rival regime above and below the parallel. Tensions between the two hostile regimes rose until June 25, 1950, when, using Soviet-made tanks, North Korea's army invaded the southern side of the parallel, forcing Southern forces to a dangerous tiny defensive area. \n \n Truman felt the attack justified Washington's containment policy, and that even a slight relaxation of America's guard was an invitation to communist aggression. This led to Truman ordering American support for South Korea in the conflict.

Taft-Hartley Act

(1947) Republican-promoted, anti-union legislation passed over President Truman's vigorous veto that weakened many of labor's New Deal gains by banning the closed shop and other strategies that helped unions organize; it also required union leaders to take a noncommunist oath, which purged the union movement of many of its most committed and active organizers.

Employment Act

(1946) legislation declaring that the government's economic policy should aim to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power, as well as to keep inflation low; a general commitment that was much shorter on specific targets and rules than its liberal creators had wished. \n \n The act created the Council of Economic Advisers to provide the president with data and recommendations to make economic policy.

Sunbelt

the fifteen-state crescent through the American South and Southwest that experienced terrific population and productivity expansion during World War II and particularly in the decades after the war, eclipsing the old industrial Northeast (the "Frostbelt").

Levittown

suburban communities with mass-produced tract houses built in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas in the 1950s by William Levitt and Sons; typically inhabited by white middle-class people who fled the cities in search of homes to buy for their growing families

White Flight

Term that refers to the movement of white Americans to the suburbs in the postwar period; they fled urban/inner city areas. African-Americans migrating from the South took up residence in the inner city areas that the whites had left behind.

Spheres of Influence

Stalin was determined to have friendly governments along the Western soviet border. By maintaining extensive Soviet spheres of influence in Eastern and Central Europe, the USSR could protect itself and consolidate its revolutionary base as the leading communist country in Europe.

Iron Curtain

Boundary separating Europe into two areas after WWII and the division of Germany. The term symbolizes the Soviet Union's efforts to block itself and its satellite states from contact with the west and its allies.

George Kennan

American diplomat who authored the "containment doctrine" in 1947, arguing that the Soviet Union was inherently expansionist and had to be stopped, via political and military force, from spreading throughout the world

National Security Council (NSC)

Established under the National Security Act to advise the president on security matters.

Loyalty Review Board

Under Truman's 1947 Loyalty Program, this board investigated more than 3 million federal employees. 3000 resigned or were dismissed (one under formal indictment). The Board reflected fears of communism in the US.

HUAC

(House Un-American Activities Committee) investigatory body established in 1938 to root out "subversion"; sought to expose communist influence in American government and society, in particular through the trial of Alger Hiss.

Joe McCarthy

Senator McCarthy led the search for communists in Washington, using fear-mongering tactics rather than concrete evidence.

Fair Deal

President Truman's extensive social program introduced in his 1949 message to Congress; Republicans and Southern Democrats kept much of his vision from being enacted, except for raising the minimum wage, providing for more public housing, and extending old-age insurance to many more beneficiaries under the Social Security Act