Chapter 11 Section 4: World War II

Chapter 11Section 4: World War II • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • How did World War II affect Georgians?

Increasing Tensions • Dictator: individual who ruled a country through military strength

The War Begins • 1938: Hitler’s Germany attacks France to “take back” land lost in WWI (Rhineland) • Sent troops to take over Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland • Great Britain and France declared war • Soviet Union invaded nearby countries and agreed to split Poland with Germany • By 1940, Hitler controlled Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and a large part of France and began bombing Great Britain

A Neutral United States • Most Americans did not want to get involved in the war, but Roosevelt wanted to help Britain • Hitler turned on Stalin in 1941 and invaded the Soviet Union • Lend-lease: policy to lend or lease (rent) weapons to Great Britain and the Soviet Union • American ships began escorting British ships in convoys

Lend-Lease • Japan, Italy, the Soviet Union, and Germany were fighting Great Britain • Most Americans felt the U.S. should not get involved • 1930’s Congress had passed “neutrality acts” to keep the U.S. out of another war (we could not sell weapons to any warring nation) • 1939 FDR got Congress to pass a new law that allowed the Allied Powers to buy arms if they paid cash and carried them in their ships

Lend-Lease (continued) • 1940 FDR gave Great Britain old weapons and traded 50 destroyers for British bases in the Western Hemisphere • 1941 British ran out of $ so Congress let FDR “lend or lease” arms to them • Germany “turned” on the Soviet Union and invaded them so FDR gave lend-lease aid to the Soviets • FDR built air bases in Greenland and Iceland. The planes from these bases tracked German submarines. • U.S. Navy escorted British ships part of the way across the Atlantic

“A Day that Will Live in Infamy” • President Roosevelt stopped exports to Japan to protest its expansion into other countries • Exports of oil, airplanes, aviation gasoline and metals were stopped • The Japanese attacked the U.S. Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 • Japan hoped to destroy the fleet giving them control of the Pacific Ocean • The USA declared war on Japan • Allied Powers: USA, Great Britain, Soviet Union • Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan

Pearl Harbor • Japanese-American relations got worse • U.S. stopped exporting planes, metals, aircraft parts, and aviation gas to Japan • 1941 Japan invaded French Indochina-FDR seized all Japanese property in U.S. • Late 1941 Japan decided to invade Indonesia to get gas • U.S. Navy stationed at Pearl Harbor were the only ones that could stop them

Pearl Harbor (continued) • Dec. 7, 1941 Sunday morning 8:00 AM the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor • 8 battleships destroyed or damaged • More than 180 planes were destroyed • Over 2,000 people killed/over 1,000 wounded • “day that will live in infamy” • Dec. 8 Congress declared war on Japan

American Military Forces • Millions of Americans enlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor • 330,000 women joined – could not serve in combat roles • Segregation in the military kept African American and white service men in different units • Tuskegee Airmen: famous African American flyers of the Army Air Force

U.S. enters World War II • Allied Powers-U.S., Great Britain, and the Soviet Union • Axis Powers-Germany, Japan, and Italy • U.S. fighting on two fronts-Germany and Italy in Europe and Africa and Japan in the Pacific

The War in Europe • 1942-1943: British and American troops won control of Africa • 1943: Mussolini overthrown and Italy joined the Allies • American general Dwight D. Eisenhower coordinated plan to recapture Europe • D-Day: June 6, 1944 – Allied forces land in northern France • Early 1945: Germans pushed out of France • April 1945: Soviet and American troops meet and Germany surrenders – Hitler commits suicide

Georgia Loses a Friend • President Roosevelt visited Georgia often at his “Little White House” in Warm Springs • His polio symptoms were eased in the mineral springs • April 24, 1945: President Roosevelt died suddenly of a stroke in Warm Springs, GA • Millions of Georgians and Americans mourned • Vice President Harry Truman became president

FDR’s Impact on Georgia • Got Congress to pass laws to protect workers • ND created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) which created Blue Ridge Lake, Lake Chatuge, and Lake Nottely • FDR’s body was carried by train to Washington as thousands of crying Georgians lined the tracks

The War in the Pacific • 1942: Japan expanded its territory throughout the Asian Pacific region • 1945: Allied forces began to retake Japanese controlled lands • Japan refused to surrender • President Truman authorized the use of atomic bombs to force Japan’s surrender • Enola Gay: plane that dropped first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan • Japan surrendered after a second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki • Over 50 million people died in the war

The Holocaust • The Holocaust: name given to the Nazi plan to kill all Jewish people • Auschwitz, Buckenwald, Dachau, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen infamous concentration camps where Jews and others were executed • 6 million people killed in the Holocaust

The Holocaust • Spring 1945-Allied troops pushed into Poland, Austria, and Germany • They found Auschwitz, Buckenwald, Dachau, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen (concentration camps) set up by the Nazis as the “final solution to the Jewish problem” • Those alive were emaciated skeletons from years of starvation, disease, cruel treatment, forced labor, and medical experiments • “systematic extermination (killing) of 6 million Jews” • 5-6 million others labeled as “undesirables” were also killed by the Nazis

The Holocaust (continued) • Prisoners, including children, were gassed in chambers they thought were showers • Their bodies were incinerated in huge ovens or thrown into mass graves • Hitler wanted to rid the world of “inferior” people including Jews, Poles, Czechs, Russians, Gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally or physically disabled • 1986 the GA Commission on the Holocaust was established • The Commission fosters tolerance, good citizenship and character development among the young people of GA • Annual art and writing contest for middle and high school students

The War’s Effects on Society • Everyone was expected to help in the war effort • Women began working in jobs to replace men who had gone to war • G.I. Bill: law to help returning soldiers adapt to civilian life • Low cost loans for homes or business • College education opportunities • Women and African Americans did not want to go back to the kind of life they had before the war

Georgia During World War II • 320,000 Georgians joined the armed forces – over 7,000 killed • Military bases were built in the state which improved the economy • Farmers grew needed crops – income tripled for the average farmer • Limits were put on the consumption of goods such as gasoline, meat, butter, and sugar (rationing) • Students were encouraged to buy war bonds and defense stamps to pay for the war • Victory Garden: small family gardens to make sure soldiers would have enough food • POW (prisoner of war) camps in Georgia at some military bases

Bell Aircraft • Needed to build aircraft plants to build more B-29 bombers • Bell Aircraft Co. of Buffalo, N.Y. got the contract for a new plant in Marietta • Largest aircraft assembly plant in the world with 4.2 million square feet • 1943 they began assembling bombers with 1200 employees • 1945-27,000 employees making 60-65 planes a month • 1950 Lockheed Aircraft Corp. reopened the plant

Military Bases • WW II brought millions of federal $ to GA strengthening the economy Major Bases in GA: • Fort Benning (Columbus) largest infantry center in U.S. • Camp Gordon (Augusta) • Fort Stewart/Hunter Air Field (Savannah) • Warner Robins Air Field (near Macon) • Glynco Naval Air Station (Brunswick) flew blimps to search for German submarines

Military Bases (continued) • Fort McPherson (Atlanta) induction center for newly drafted soldiers • Fort Gillem (Clayton County) army storage facility and railroad yard • Prisoners of war (POWs) were held at Forts Benning, Gordon, Oglethorpe, and Stewart • At Fort Oglethorpe, 150,000 women (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp-WACs) trained to become postal workers, clerks, typists, switchboard operators, code clerks, and drivers or aides • Atlanta Airport became an air base in 1941

Savannah Shipyard • Built “Liberty” ships (named after Patrick Henry’s famous quote) • Nov. 1942 launched first Liberty ship-the U.S.S. James Oglethorpe (sunk by a German sub in 1943) • 88 Liberty ships built by 15,000 workers, many of whom were women

Brunswick Shipyard • 1943-1944 over 16,000 men and women worked around the clock on 6 ships at a time • 1944 set a record by building 7 ships in just one month • Worked on Christmas day and donated $ for that day to the war effort • Produced 99 Liberty ships

Richard B. Russell, Jr. • June 1931, Winder resident Richard Russell became GA’s youngest governor in the 20th Century • Sworn in by his dad, GA Supreme Court Justice, Richard B. Russell, Sr. • Former member and speaker of the GA House of Representatives • Combined 102 state offices into 17 agencies • Combined the boards of trustees of state colleges and universities into one governing group-the Board of Regents of the Univ. System

Richard B. Russell, Jr. (continued) • Gov. Russell tried to run the state like a successful business • 1932 he was elected to the U.S. Senate (served for 38 years) • He favored national military preparedness and states’ rights • Served on the Senate Appropriations Com • Co-sponsored legislation to provide a school lunch to all children • Advisor to 6 U.S. Presidents • Served as president pro tempore of the Senate (third in line for the presidency)

Carl Vinson • U.S. House of Representatives (served 25 consecutive terms from 1914 -1965) • Promoted a strong national defense • 1934 Vinson-Trammel Act (manufactured 92 warships) • Law to expand naval aviation system to 10,000 planes,16,000 pilots, and 20 air bases • Law to ease labor restrictions in shipbuilding to allow faster construction of navy ships

Carl Vinson (continued) After World War II: • Wanted a strong defense throughout the Cold War with the Soviet Union • 1964-President Johnson awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom • Retired to his Milledgeville farm in 1965 • 1972-President Nixon named the 3rd nuclear carrier for him • He died in 1981

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Chapter 11 Section 4: World War II