U.S. prepares for war

1. Chapter 18, Section 1

2. Setting the Scene
 As early as 1940, FDR was preparing
citizens for war
 He said that Axis nations such as Germany
posed a “direct threat to the security of the
US”
 “We must be the great arsenal of
democracy
 He asked businesses to support Britain’s
defense efforts or face the possibility of war
being waged on US soil

3. Setting the Scene
 FDR knew that the outcome of the war
in Europe depended on the US’s ability
to produce the following:
 Planes, tanks, guns, uniforms, and other war
materials for the Allies

4. Mobilizing the Armed
Forces
 FDR knew that building up the military
was key
 Defense spending went from $2 billion
to $10 billion in less than year
 September of 1940, Congress passed
the Selective Training and Service Act
 Required all males aged 21 to 36 to register
for military service
 A limited number of men would be selected
from this pool to serve a year in the army

5. Four Freedoms
 FDR gave this speech, outlining the
following freedoms that US troops would
be fighting for:
 Freedom of speech and expression
 Freedom of every person to worship God in
his own way
 Freedom from want (need)
 Freedom from fear
 This speech was given January 6, 1941

6. Norman Rockwell

8. The GI War
 16 million Americans served
 GI= “Government Issue”
 Far from home
 “What I’d give for a piece of blueberry
pie”

9. Diversity and Gender in Military
 300,000 Mexican Americans served in
WWII
 25,000 Native Americans
 400 Navajo radio operators=“code talkers”
 500,000 African Americans
 Until 1942, African Americans were limited in
their role
 As casualties increased, they were now
called into more active roles
 Mostly segregated units

10. Women
 350,000 American women volunteered
for military service
 Officials used women in all areas except
combat
 Clerks, typists, airfield control tower
operators, mechanics, photographers,
drivers, and ferrying planes around the
country

11. Preparing the Economy for War
 US entered war when production levels
of the other Allies had dropped sharply
 British and Soviet production was
affected by German bombing
 Japanese attacks in Pacific threatened
to shut off rubber, oil, and tin supplies
 FDR pushed industries to move quickly
into the production of war equipment

12. War Production
 January, 1942: gov’t set up the War
Production Board
 Directed the conversion of peacetime industries
into industries that produced war goods
 Halted production of civilian goods such as cars,
lawn mowers, and many other products
○ Ford Motor Company built B-24 bombers instead
of cars, for example
 Armed forces decided which companies would
receive contracts to manufacture military
hardware

13. Office of War Mobilization
 Served as a super-agency in the
centralization of resources
 Led by James Byrnes: he was often
called the “assistant president” due to
his decision-making powers
 Some said Byrnes ran the country while
FDR ran the war

14. Business Incentives
 Government established “cost-plus”
system for military contracts with
businesses
 Military paid development and
production costs
 Also added a percentage of costs as
profit for the manufacturer

15. Production Levels
 By 1945, the US had produced:
 300,000 airplanes
 80,000 landing craft
 100,000 tanks and armored cars
 5,600 merchant ships
 6 million rifles, carbines, and machine guns
 41 billion rounds of ammunition
 WOW! That’s a lot of production!
 “There’s a war on you know!”

16. Wartime Work Force
 Massive unemployment levels dropped due
to need to produce!
 Wages greatly increased as well (50%)
 Union membership rose again: 1.5 million
workers joined unions in 1941
 14.8 million total workers in unions
 Workers and employers agreed to no
strikes during war
 But as cost of living went up, strikes were
more common due to wages not matching
the COL

17. How does the US pay for the
War?
 US Gov’t vowed to “spend
whatever was necessary” to
sustain the war effort
 Federal spending went from
$8.9 billion in 1939 to $95.2
billion in 1945
 GNP more than doubled in that
time
 Overall spending of federal
gov’t between 1941-1945 was
about $321 billion
 This was 10X as much as was
spent for WWI

18. How does the US pay for the
War?
 Higher taxes paid for 41% of war costs
 US Gov’t borrowed the rest of the
money from banks, private investors,
and general public
 The US Treasury issued bonds to help
finance war, which brought in $186
billion
 National debt went from $43 billion in
1940 to $259 billion in 1945

19. Daily life on the Home Front
 30 million moved during war
 Population grew by 7.5 million, high birth
rate, start of the “Baby Boom”
 Better spirits w/ end of Depression

20. Daily life on the Home Front
 Rationing of goods were put in place
 Other items were just not available
 Metal, nylon, rubber
 Food supply was short of the demand
 Supplies of sugar, tropical fruits, and
coffee were cut off due to enemy
occupation of foreign countries

21. Office of Price
Administration
 Set up in April 1941
 It’s job was to control inflation by limiting
prices and rents
 Overall, the OPA was successful for the
most part: cost of living rose, but not as
bad as in WWI
 Also oversaw rationing of goods such as:
 Meat, butter, sugar, coffee, canned fruit, shoes,
gas
 Consumers had coupon books with points to
use

22. WWII Propaganda