01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Chester W. Nimitz, Erwin Rommel, Shortage
13 May 2018
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Chapter 28 - America In A World At War
1)War on Two Fronts
a)Containing the Japanese
i)After Pearl Harbor US forces surrendered in the Philippines, Guam, Wake
Island; to turn tide US lead 2 offensives- Gen Douglas MacArthur’s attacks
from the south, and Admiral Chester Nimitz attacked from HI to the west
ii)May 1942 Battle of Coral Sea weakened Jap navy; more important Battle of
Midway Island June 1942 regained US central Pacific control
iii)Mid-1943 after fighting in Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal) US turned tide
b)Holding Off the Germans
i)US military plans in Europe influenced by Soviet Union and GB; FDR
decided to delay invasion into France in favor of October 1942 counter-
offensive in N. Africa against Nazi Gen Erwin Rommel; by May 1943 Gen
George Patton and British Gen Montgomery had driven Germans from Africa
ii)Soviet Red Army held off immense German 1942-1943 winter offensive at
Stalingrad, Hitler’s forces exhausted and forced to abandon eastern advance
iii)July 1943 US agreed to British plan to invade Sicily, Mussolini govt
collapsed but German reinforcements prevented capture of Rome until June
1944; slow, costly Italy campaign delayed French channel invasion Soviets
had called for
c)America and the Holocaust
i)By 1942 news of Holocaust (Nazi campaign to exterminate European Jews)
prompting public cries to end killing, but US govt resisted calls for military aid
+ officials at the State Dept deliberately refused to let Jews enter US
2)The American People In Wartime
a)Prosperity
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i)WWII ended Great Depression problems of unemployment, deflation,
production b/c of wartime economic expansion + massive govt spending
(federal budget grew from 1939 $9 billion to 1945 $100 billion)
b)The War and the West
i)West shared disproportionally in massive govt capital investments;
ii)Businessman Henry Kaiser steered federal funds to make Pacific Coast
major industrial center for shipbuilding, aircraft; launching stage for Japanese
war
c)Labor and the War
i)Labor shortage caused by military recruitment; unemployed from Depression
worked, but also women + other previously unused groups entered workforce
ii)Union membership increased; new govt limits on wage increases +“no-
strike” promise, in return govt allowed all new workers to automatically join
unions
iii)Govt+ public sought to reduce inflation + guarantee production w/o
disruption
d)Stabilizing Boom
i)1942 Congress passed Anti-Inflation Act which allowed Pres to freeze prices
and wages, set rations; enforced by the Office of Price Administration
ii)Govt spent 2X more $ btwn 1941-1945 than it had during whole existence;
raised $ thru bond sales, Revenue Act of 1942 created new high tax brackets
e)Mobilizing Production
i)1942 War Production Board created to organize mobilization effort but was
largely unable to direct military purchases + include small businesses;
program later replaced by White House Office of War Mobilization
ii)Nevertheless, US economy met all war needs; new factories were built,
entire rubber industry created. By 1944 output 2X that of all Axis nations
combined
f)Wartime Science and Technology
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Document Summary
Chapter 28 - america in a world at war. 1)war on two fronts a)containing the japanese i)after pearl harbor us forces surrendered in the philippines, guam, wake. Island; to turn tide us lead 2 offensives- gen douglas macarthur"s attacks from the south, and admiral chester nimitz attacked from hi to the west ii)may 1942 battle of coral sea weakened jap navy; more important battle of. George patton and british gen montgomery had driven germans from africa ii)soviet red army held off immense german 1942-1943 winter offensive at. Stalingrad, hitler"s forces exhausted and forced to abandon eastern advance iii)july 1943 us agreed to british plan to invade sicily, mussolini govt collapsed but german reinforcements prevented capture of rome until june. + officials at the state dept deliberately refused to let jews enter us. By 1944 output 2x that of all axis nations combined f)wartime science and technology i)govt stimulated new military technologies by funneling massive funds to.
