CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 27
The Second World War at Home and Abroad, 1941-1945

Chapter Summary
The first two sections of Chapter 27, “Winning the Second World War” and “The War in the Pacific,” trace the European and Pacific theater campaigns that led to Allied victory in World War II. The undercurrent of suspicion among the Allies, obvious in the second-front controversy, provides the theme for discussion of the European campaigns. Discussion of the war in the Pacific focuses on America’s wartime perception of Japan as the major enemy. The authors also consider the “island-hopping” strategy adopted by American forces after breaking the momentum of Japan’s offensive at the Battle of Midway, and the American goal of crippling Japan’s merchant marine. The success of these strategies led to the conventional bombing of Japan’s cities and ultimately to the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman’s rejection of suggested alternatives to the atomic bomb and the strategic, emotional, psychological, and diplomatic reasons for his decision to use it are explained at the end of the section on the war in the Pacific.
The focus of the chapter then shifts to a discussion of the impact of World War II on the home front. In the economic sphere the war brought (l) renewed government-business cooperation and an acceleration of corporate growth, (2) the growth of scientific research facilities through government incentives, (3) the growth of labor unions, and (4) increased mechanization of agriculture as part of a transition from family-owned farms to mechanized agribusiness. The Second World War, to an even greater extent than the First World War, was a total war, requiring not only military mobilization but mobilization of the home front as well. The responsibility for coordinating total mobilization fell on the federal government. As a result, the federal bureaucracy mushroomed in size.
Life in the military, life away from family, and the experience of war profoundly affected the men and women who served in the armed forces during the course of the Second World War. The frame of reference of many GIs was broadened by associations with fellow soldiers from backgrounds and cultures different from their own. Some men and women homosexuals found the freedom within the service to act upon their sexual feelings. As a consequence of the military’s technical schools, many soldiers returned home with new skills and ambitions. But as GIs returned to civilian life, they quickly realized that life at home had continued without them; thus, many felt a sense of loss and alienation.
The war had a special impact on Japanese Americans, nonwhites, and women. The authors note that the treatment of Japanese Americans was the “one enormous exception” to the nation’s generally creditable wartime civil liberties record; Japanese Americans were interned chiefly because of their ethnic origin. For African Americans, the war did provide some opportunities in the military and at home, but the Detroit riot of 1943 made clear that racism remained a shaping force in blacks’ lives. The zoot-suit riot in Los Angeles in 1943 demonstrated that the same was true for Mexican Americans.
For women, the war became a turning point. More women, including more married women and mothers, entered the labor force than ever before. As some of the negative attitudes toward women working in heavy industry began to change, women experienced more geographic and occupational mobility. Although they continued to receive lower pay than men and were still concentrated in sex-segregated occupations, more women than ever were deciding to remain in the labor market. But even with those changes, home and family responsibilities continued to fall on their shoulders. In many cases, the wartime absence of husbands and fathers made women fully responsible for the family. The combination of these factors and experiences meant that many women gained a new sense of independence.
The political impact of the war is the theme of “The Decline of Liberalism and the Election of 1944.” Then, in the last two sections of the chapter, the authors examine wartime foreign policy. The goals of the United States, embodied in the Atlantic Charter, were based to some extent on the memory of the post-First World War period. Continued suspicions among the Allies made cooperation to achieve these objectives difficult. Despite these suspicions and continued disagreement over Poland, Stalin and Churchill reached some agreements about Eastern Europe; and, though China’s role was not determined, the Allies agreed in most other respects on the charter for a United Nations Organization.
After a brief discussion of American policy toward Jewish refugees—a policy characterized by anti-Semitism and fear of economic competition—the authors turn to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. The Yalta Conference was “the high point of the Grand Alliance.” The agreements reached there are explained in the context of the suspicions among the Allies, the goals of each of the Allies, and the positions of each of the Allied armies. The Potsdam Conference, on the other hand, revealed a crumbling alliance in which any sense of cooperation had given way to suspicions among competitive nation states. These suspicions, so obvious at Potsdam, were a portent concerning the post-war world.



Learning Objectives
1. Describe the military strategy and the major military operations undertaken by the Allies in the European theater; discuss the disagreements that arose concerning strategy; and explain the resolution of these disagreements.
2. Discuss United States military strategy and the major military operations in the Pacific theater that brought America to the verge of victory by 1945.
3. Explain and evaluate President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb.
4. Examine the impact of the Second World War on America’s economic institutions, organized labor, agriculture, and the federal government, and discuss and assess the role played by the federal government in the war effort.
5. Discuss the impact of military life and wartime experiences on the men and women in the United States armed forces during the Second World War.
6. Examine and evaluate the civil liberties record of the United States government during the Second World War, and discuss the government’s response to the Holocaust and to the plight of Jewish refugees.
7. Discuss the impact of the Second World War on African Americans, Mexican Americans, women, and the family.
8. Discuss the decline of political liberalism during the early 1940s, and examine the issues and personalities and explain the outcome of the 1944 presidential election.
9. Examine the relations, the issues debated, and the agreements reached among the Allies from the second-front controversy through the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, and discuss the issues left unresolved after Yalta and Potsdam.
10. Assess the impact of the Second World War on the world community of nations and on the world balance of power.



Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
World War II marked a watershed in American history. The immediate challenge of defeating the enemy directly affected thousands of men and women, while the new world the war created had ramifications for millions of people.

II. Winning the Second World War
A. Second Front Controversy
Americans strongly supported the war, but from the beginning Allied leaders had differences. In particular, difficulties arose over how the Americans and the English would carry the war into Europe.
B. Teheran Conference
This meeting managed to ease the strain and renew relations between the allies.
C. D Day
The second front offensive began with the Allied landings at Normandy in June 1944. Less than a year later, Germany surrendered.
D. The War in the Pacific
At first the war in the Pacific, largely the responsibility of the United States, did not go well.
E. Battle of Midway
The Japanese enjoyed early successes, but the Battle of Midway in June 1942 was the turning point in the war.
F. Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Facing intense fighting, American forces “island hopped” across the Pacific, bypassing a number of strongly held Japanese islands. The Japanese and Americans engaged in especially bloody combat on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
G. The Atomic Bomb
The Japanese surrendered after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
H. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
A variety of military, scientific, and political reasons motivated the U.S.

III. Mobilizing the American Home Front
A. Office of Price Administration
To control inflation, this agency was given the power to fix price ceilings on commodities and control rents in defense areas.
B. War Production Board and War Manpower Commission
The WPB succeeded in turning the civilian manufacturing economy into a powerhouse of military industrial might. The WMC recruited workers for the nation’s factories.
C. Government Incentives to Business
Wartime policy encouraged the growth of big business.
D. University Research and Weapons Development
Universities benefited from government grants to aid the war effort.
E. Unions and Wartime Labor Strikes
Despite a “no strike” agreement with the government, some workers staged walkouts during the war. Congress responded with a bill designed to place limits on labor.
F. Wartime Change in Agriculture
Agriculture mechanized to replace workers.
G. Growth in the Federal Government
The American economy expanded dramatically during the war. The national government also experienced remarkable growth.

IV. The Military Life
A. The Ordeal of Combat
Americans faced the stress of combat and struggled to cope.
B. Homosexuals on Active Duty
Many men and women in the armed forces who had a same-sex orientation found the freedom to act on their feelings.
C. Postwar Ambitions
The interaction of people from all over the U.S. facilitated an exchange of ideas. Soldiers returned home with new skills, and many took advantage of the GI Bill of Rights.

V. Enemy Aliens, Conscientious Objectors, and Japanese American Internees
A. “An Enemy Race”
Many in the U.S. saw the war against Japan as a struggle against the “Japanese race.” Despite anti-Japanese sentiment, Japanese Americans fought valiantly for the United States as evidenced by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
B. Life in the Internment Camps
The camps were bleak and demoralizing.

VI. Jobs and Racism on the Home Front
A. African Americans in Combat
Almost a million African Americans served in the armed forces and distinguished themselves on the battlefield. However, there were a number of racist incidents during the war.
B. Civil Rights Movement
Blacks, more militant and more willing to protest, waged a “Double V” campaign. CORE, which advocated nonviolent direct action, was founded.
C. African American War Workers
When the government prohibited discrimination in defense jobs, thousands of blacks migrated to the North and West to find work.
D. Race Riots of 1943
Racial tensions began to develop in the North. Racial warfare broke out in Detroit in June 1943.
E. Bracero Program
The United States turned to Mexican laborers during the war. The “zoot-suit riot” in Los Angeles in 1943 involved attacks on young Mexican Americans.

VII. Women and Children in the War Effort
A. Women in War Production
Women participated in war production on an unprecedented scale.
B. Discrimination Against Women
Wartime needs made millions of jobs available, and many women went to work for the first time. They found that discrimination often characterized the workplace.
C. Children in Wartime
The government became involved in childcare as a result of wartime pressures. Children contributed to the war effort by buying war bonds. Many also dropped out of school to go to work.
D. Increase in Marriage, Divorce, and Birth Rates
During the war, the number of marriages, births, and divorces, rose markedly. The new social dynamic had long term consequences for women.

VIII. The Decline of Liberalism and the Election of 1944
A. Wartime Liberalism
As conservatives worked to limit or dismantle the New Deal, Republicans made gains in the election of 1942. However, in his Economic Bill of Rights Roosevelt pledged to provide jobs, food, shelter, clothing, and financial security to every American.
B. Roosevelt and Truman
The President chose a loyal New Deal trooper to aid him in his reelection.
C. Roosevelt’s Fourth-term Victory
In apparent ill health, Roosevelt defeated Thomas Dewey for a fourth term in 1944. Roosevelt died in April 1945, and Vice President Harry Truman became president.

IX. Planning for Peace
A. Allied Disagreement over Eastern Europe
The Allies shared a commitment to defeating the enemy, but they also had a number of differences. The fate of Eastern Europe posed the greatest problem.
B. Creation of the United Nations
In 1944, diplomats established the framework for the United Nations.
C. Jewish Refugees
Six million Jews died in concentration camps during the war, but the Allies took few steps to stop the killings.
D. The Holocaust
The U.S. did too little, too late, to greatly affect the Holocaust.
E. The Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference of February 1945 shaped the postwar world. As the meeting convened, each of the Allies had its own agenda. Russia wanted a friendly Poland to serve as a buffer state. The Allies agreed to accept a coalition government in Poland and to resolve disputed borders at a later date.
F. Potsdam Conference
At Potsdam, Truman, who knew the United States had achieved atomic capability, showed less deference to Stalin than had Roosevelt.