World War 2 3/11/09

U.S. is revving up to prepare for the war after the Pearl Harbor attacks
- all production is shifting from consumer to war; War Production Board (WPA)
- mobilizing: victory gardens, rationing
- men were being drafted  shortages of labor causes women to be in
workforce
- Propaganda Machine—more sophisticated, movies, news reels, cartoons
- War Labor Board, unions were discouraged
Japanese in U.S.
-Internment/ prison camps in Nevada because the Japanese were accused of being
spies
- West Coast mostly
- held until the end of war
- Apology and reparations
- The Japanese held were American, native citizens
- In Hawaii, there was Marshall Law—no constitutional rights provided
European Theater
- Players: (U.S in N. Africa) George Patton, Dwight Eisenhower
- Brit. General—Bernard Montgomery
- German General—Erwin Rommel “sly fox”, defeated at “El Alamein”
- George Patton—fall of Rome
- Eisenhower—Normandy, France
D-Day
- Also called operation OVERLORD
- June, 6, 1944. Normandy, FR.
- Marshall (John?) thinks of D-Day Plan, Eisenhower orchestrates the surprise
attacks
- Plain: set up fake equipment at another site (Calais) but secretly invade
Normandy to get closer to the German border.
- leads to deeper in France; liberation of Paris

Germany is sandwiched between Allies on the West and Soviets on the East.
- Battle of the Bulge: Last major German offensive.

Tehran Conference
- Iran, 1st time discussion of what Germany was going to be like after the war
- Divide Germany into zones

Yalta Conference 1945

- Stalin, Churchill, FDR
- Talk about what to do w/ newly liberated countries

FDR dies, Harry Truman takes over

Victory in Europe
 - German surrender May 7 1945.
- VE Day, May 8 1945
- Shuts down European theater
- Supposedly Hitler committed suicide under a bunker in Berlin.
Pacific Theater
Japanese follow up to the Philippines
- occupy all islands: Philippines, guam
- Players: Douglas MacArthur (Supreme commander of pacific troops),
Chester Nimitz
- Patan (sp?) Death March—the torture of Douglas MacArthur’s troops after he
(MacArthur) left for supplies.
- Early victory: the U.S. plan was usually defensive but the Battle of Midway
was a surprise offensive. It was a morale booster.
- Shifted the power in the pacific
- U.S.—island hopping, attack at random
- Battle of Coral Sea—shuts down invasion of Australia
October 1944
- MacArthur’s troops take back the Philippines
Iwo Jima
- 750 miles from Tokyo
- 6 weeks, bloody
- Allied Victory
Okinawa
- 12 wk, close to Tokyo
- Tremendous casualties for Japanese
- Bloody, like Iwo Jima

These two battles convince Truman that Japanese will not give up Manhattan Project to
end the war once and for all.

Atomic Bombs
- Hiroshima—Aug. 6 Enola Gay (Plane)
- Nagasaki—Aug. 9
- After that Japan started negotiating, end of the war
- August 1945—Formal Japanese surrender