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The Meanings of WWII

The Meanings of WWII. I. What the War was Not. A. Abandonment of the Jews Known by 1942 Henry Ford, “Dearborn Independent”  “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” Asst. Sec’y State Breckenridge Long (weaken UN, Romania 70,000) Congress: reduced quotas for refugees

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The Meanings of WWII

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  1. The Meanings of WWII

  2. I. What the War was Not A. Abandonment of the Jews • Known by 1942 • Henry Ford, “Dearborn Independent” “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” • Asst. Sec’y State Breckenridge Long (weaken UN, Romania 70,000) • Congress: reduced quotas for refugees • Public: 1938: 71-85% oppose increasing quotas; 1939: Kristallnacht 42.3% due to Jews’ “unfavorable characteristics”; Dec. 1944: majority aware cruelty: 12% untrue, 27% 100,000, 4% 5mil+ • Military: bomb w/in 50 miles Auschwitz

  3. B. Ideological Vacuum • FDR: Four Freedoms (speech, worship, from want, from fear) • Most Americans: bring boys home • 94% opposed US intervention pre-PH

  4. “He can’t be a combat man. He’s looking for a fight.” (Bill Mauldin, Stars and Stripes)

  5. “I’m disgusted. I been in th’ infantry two days an’ I ain’t heard a shot.”

  6. Politics of Sacrifice • Politics of sacrifice: only willing to give up if others do as well; sacrifice= not gaining too much • Only US improved econ

  7. II. Race War A. Germany • Lucy Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews • T-4 Program: purify German race • Einsatzgruppen • Ordinary Men vs. Hitler’s Willing Executioners

  8. B. Japan • Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: anti-colonial empire independence from European powers • Japanese Monroe Doctrine • AAA: Japan the Leader of Asia, Japan the Protector of Asia, Japan the Light of Asia • Racial purity: “Yamamoto race”

  9. Rape of Nanking • Dec. 1937-Mar. 1938: 6 Weeks of Horror • 260,000-350,000 civilians • 20-80,000 rapes • Forced incest • Nazi observers: “bestial machinery” • Part of US propaganda

  10. C. United States • Many Americans: G distraction on way to Japan—annihilate for Pearl Harbor • Brainwashing/bad leaders vs. racial diff. • Anti-Nazi propaganda Double V, abandonment Social Darwinism

  11. Caption: “Arizona war worker writes her Navy boyfriend a thank-you note for the Jap skull he sent her.” Life Magazine, 5/22/1944

  12. D. War Without Mercy • Pacific worse Europe • Except Eastern Front • Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Bataan Death March, fire bombings • Kamikazes: knew Allies uninterested in prisoners • Allies ordered not to surrender (W. Churchill + D. MacArthur)

  13. III. Power Politics • FDR + WC: Atlantic Charter • Territory, markets, resources, people • Hiroshima + Nagasaki: stop USSR?

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