Chapter 13. World War II

Table of Contents

Beginning the Journey
Sources for the era of the Second World War are scattered throughout the American Journey Online database.

Users will find relevant information in: "The African-American Experience," "The Asian-American Experience," "Women in America," "The Immigrant Experience," "Civil Rights," "The Great Depression and the New Deal," and "The Cold War." And of course, the module "World War II" includes materials on all aspects of the war, foreign as well as domestic.

The same search strategies recommended for earlier units hold true here as well. Scanning the "Key Topics" and moving down the "Years" for each module are good initial strategies for locating documents and assessing how each of the topical modules fits into the chronological period of World War II (1939-1945). Locating relevant information can also be accomplished by looking for "World War II" in the "Index" of each module except "World War II" (which discusses the war throughout) or by searching each index for specifics.

Activity 1
The Nazi invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 officially began what came to be known as the Second World War. But tensions in Europe and Asia dated back several years, to the mid-1930s, when the leaders of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan revealed their desires to take territory at the expense of others--both near and far.

The U.S. response to the German, Italian, and Japanese grab for territory was at first restrained. Americans were mindful of their nation's long tradition of remaining apart from the troubles of the outside world, and perhaps more importantly they well remembered the horrors of the First World War, a conflict that many Americans still believed had not really concerned the United States. Out of this "isolationist" sentiment came a series of Neutrality Acts between 1935 and 1937 that were designed to keep the United States aloof from the gathering storm in Europe and Asia. (A good discussion of U.S. policy during this period may be found under the Key Topic "Isolationism and American Entry into World War II" within the module "World War II.")

To begin exploring U.S. neutrality and how it was eventually turned around, first go to "'Neutrality Act' of August 31, 1935, Joint Resolution," which may be located by going to "Index," then "N," then "Neutrality Acts" within the module "World War II."

Use these documents to answer the following questions.

1. What does this law call for? What concerns does it reveal? How does it reflect recent U.S. experiences, both foreign and domestic?
2. What effects would this act have had on U.S. policy toward rising tensions in Europe and Asia? What general ideas about foreign policy is it based on?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not share the isolationist concerns of Congress or the American people. Instead, he believed firmly that the United States could not hide its head in the sand while Europe and Asia drifted toward war.

Accordingly, Roosevelt pushed repeatedly for revision or repeal of the Neutrality Acts and took action on his own to provide aid to the nations that were resisting fascist aggression, most notably Great Britain. What emerged was an all-out struggle between Congress and the president over the direction of U.S. policy, a struggle that the president eventually won.

To explore this struggle in greater depth, and to see the sorts of policies that Roosevelt set for the nation, within the module "World War II" go to the following documents:

• "Quarantine Address"
• "Destroyers for Bases Agreement, September 2, 1940"
• "Lend Lease Act."

Use these documents to answer the following questions.

3. How does President Roosevelt paint the threat from fascist aggression in the first document? What does he believe the United States should do to address that aggression? How do you think Americans at the time would have responded to this address?
4. What do the second and third documents commit the United States to doing to assist the Allied war effort? How do these commitments amount to an alteration or revision of the Neutrality Acts? What dangers might such commitments pose to the nation?
5. Taking these documents together, consider why Roosevelt believed that it was necessary to do more to stand up to fascist aggression abroad. What does his conviction that U.S. action was necessary suggest about how he viewed the role that the nation should play in international affairs? Be specific.

Activity 2
After war began in Europe in 1939, the Roosevelt administration sought to keep the American people apprised of how the situation abroad affected them.

In keeping with the way he dealt with domestic policy, the president delivered a series of fireside chats on foreign policy subjects. Through these radio addresses, FDR informed the public of foreign developments, let them know how his administration was responding to those developments, and advised them on how best to meet the challenges these developments created.

Several of Roosevelt's fireside chats on foreign policy matters are included in the American Journey Online. Studying them collectively provides insights into Roosevelt's thinking on foreign policy matters, especially as the crisis in Europe worsened, as well as how he sought to move public opinion in the United States toward the idea of eventual U.S. entry into the war.

Within "The Great Depression and the New Deal," go to "Fireside Chat on War in Europe," "Fireside Chat on National Defense," and "Fireside Chat Announcing a National Emergency." (All three of these documents may be located by going to "Contents," then "Documents," then "F," then scroll down to and click on each individual title.)

Use the document to answer the following questions.

1. What is the purpose of each of these three speeches? How does each reveal FDR's speaking and propaganda skills? How effective do you find these speeches? Be specific.
2. How does the role that FDR outlines for the United States in the European crisis change over the course of the three speeches? Why does it change? Does FDR believe that the nation can just sit back and stay out of European events? Why or why not?
3. How do these speeches make clear the connections between foreign and domestic policy? What is FDR trying to lead the American people to? What would be the logical conclusion of the policy outlined in these speeches?

The tortured course of American neutrality in World War II came to an end with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The war preparations that FDR had outlined in the fireside chats discussed above would now give way to all out war.

Two days after Pearl Harbor, FDR delivered a fireside chat explaining the decision to declare war on Japan. This speech explained why war was necessary and how it would affect the American people.

Within "The Great Depression and the New Deal," locate this speech by going to "Fireside Chat on the Declaration of War with Japan." (This speech may be located by going to "Contents," then "Regions," then "West," then scroll down to and click on the title. Be sure to play the audio that accompanies the printed version of FDR's speech.)

Use the document to answer the following questions.

4. What is the tone of FDR's speech? What personal emotions does it reveal? What specific words does Roosevelt employ to reveal his sentiments? How does FDR frame the conditions that the American people will face now that the nation is at war? Why does he refuse to say that the nation must "sacrifice"? What is he trying to accomplish by avoiding that word? How is he appealing to Americans' patriotism in doing so?
5. How does listening to FDR's speech compare with simply reading it? What can you determine about his state of mind and the gravity of the situation from hearing the speech as it was broadcast to the American people? How do you think people at the time responded to it?

Activity 3
Almost immediately after Pearl Harbor some in the United States began calling for retaliation on Japanese-Americans. Many Americans feared that Americans of Japanese ancestry living in the United States, even those who had been born here and were American citizens, were disloyal to the United States and might even be spies or saboteurs working for the Japanese. (The Japanese experience during the war may be followed in detail in the Key Topic "Enemy Aliens: Japanese Americans in World War II" in the module "The Asian-American Experience." The module "World War II" contains a Key Topic under the same title with links to slightly different documents.)

Despite the lack of evidence to support such claims, anti-Japanese hysteria gripped the nation in the weeks and months after Pearl Harbor as calls solidified for detaining all persons of Japanese descent in federally run facilities for the duration of the war. Accordingly, more than one hundred thousand Issei (Japanese who had immigrated to the United States) and Nisei (their children who were born in the United States and who were therefore U.S. citizens) on the West Coast were forced to sell their belongings and move to government run camps.

The government at the time defended the policy of internment as necessary for national security, and the Supreme Court upheld its legality in several different cases. Over the course of the postwar period, criticism of the relocation policy became more vocal, and not only among Japanese-Americans who had been harmed. In 1982 Congress issued an apology for the internment; in 1988 it authorized compensation to the surviving victims.

Exploring the Japanese internment is best done through sources in three databases within the American Journey Online.

Within "Civil Rights," go to "Executive Order 9066" and "Internment of Japanese-Americans." (Both of these sources may be located by going to "Index," then "J," then "Japanese Americans," then click on the titles. Be sure to play the video component of the second source.)

Within "The Asian-American Experience," go to "Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry," "Closing Out Sale," "Losing Livelihoods," "Evacuees Ready to Leave," and "Many Thanks." (You may locate all of these sources by going to "Contents," then "Regions," then "California," then scroll down to and click on each individual title.)

Within "World War II," go to "Los Angeles Hotel under New Management in 'Little Tokyo'" and "American Farmer Sign." (Both may be located by going to "Contents," then "Images," then the initial letter of each image, then click on the individual image titles.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. What do the tone and language of Executive Order 9066 tell you about the way that FDR approached the relocation order? About the way that he and others viewed the threat to national security posed by people of Japanese ancestry?
2. How do the video clip and the sources from "The Asian-American Experience" and the images from "World War II" convey the human cost of the Japanese internment? What do you find most striking about the video clip? About the photographs?

Many Japanese who were sent to the internment camps wrote about their experiences after the war. Others wrote fictionalized accounts set in the camps. Exploring these written sources on the internment and comparing them to the photographs explored above can help to provide a fuller understanding of how relocation affected Japanese.

Within "The Asian-American Experience," go to "Kubota," "Then Came the War," and "Excerpt of No-No Boy." (One way to locate these sources is to go to "Index," then "I," then "Internment camps," then click on each individual title.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

3. What similarities and differences do you note in the first two sources? How might historians account for these similarities and differences? Are there pitfalls with using memoirs such as these in historical work? Explain.
4. How does the third source, the excerpt from No-No Boy, complement the other sources? Does the fact that it is fiction make it less useful to historians or other scholars? Must special care be exercised when using it? Why or why not?
5. Taking all of these sources together, what do they reveal about the costs of the Japanese internment? Think about all of the possible costs here, not just those involving money or property.

Activity 4
World War II witnessed the inclusion of women in the American military for the very first time. By war's end, all of the military branches had women's organizations or auxiliaries, and some 350,000 women had served in uniform.

American Journey Online contains numerous sources relating to the military service of American women during World War II. Studying them provides insights into the reasons for including women in the wartime military efforts and some of the consequences of such a development.

Within "World War II," go to "Act for the Establishment of the Women's Reserve, Navy," "Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. Establishment for Non Combat Service with the Army of the United States," and "An Act to Establish a Women's Reserve as a Branch of the Coast Guard Reserve." (All of these documents may be located by going to "Index," then "W," then "Women's war contributions," then click on each document's title.)

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. What similarities and differences do you note in the documents establishing the various women's military branches? How might these similarities and differences be accounted for?
2. What specifics concerning the role of women in each service branch and their conditions of employment and day-to-day living are outlined in the documents? Why would it have been necessary or desirable to spell these sorts of things out?
3. What specific sorts of tasks or jobs will women in the military be expected to undertake, according to these documents? What do these expected jobs say about how military officials viewed women's fitness for military service?
4. What correlation, if any, can be drawn between the sorts of jobs women are to perform during the war and their traditional--and accepted--roles in American society? Does service in the military mark a huge departure from the things women had always done in American society? Why or why not?
5. Consider how the wartime military experiences provided to American women outlined in these documents might have affected women's postwar thinking about their place in society. What expectations might these experiences have created for some women? Be specific in your answer.

Activity 5
The World War II period saw an unprecedented influx of women into the workforce, largely to replace men who left civilian life for the military. Millions of Americans, many of them married with young children, assumed positions in industry, construction, and other trades.

The "Women in America" module within the American Journey Online contains many photographs of women war workers. Within that module, go to:

• "Putting the Finishing Touches on the Shells"
• "Woman Worker Riveting on a B-17F Bomber during WWII"
• "Woman Worker at Boeing Aircraft Company during WWII"
• "Hauling Vital Parts to Aircraft Production Line"
• "Italian-American Woman Sewing Bandages during WWII"
• "African-American Nurse in a Chicago Hospital"
• "First Women Marines Reporting for Duty (1943)"
• "Nurse at a Field Hospital in Normandy, France."

All of these messages may be located by going to "Contents," then "Images," then the initial letter of each title, then click on the individual titles.

Use the images to answer the following questions.

1. What do these images tell you about the ages and races of women involved in war work? About the range of activities they were engaged in?
2. How do the images reflect both continuity/tradition and change/innovation in women's lives? How significant are the departures from traditional roles? Make specific reference to the images here.
3. What differences in job responsibilities are evident in these images? How dangerous were the jobs women were engaged in?
4. What do you find most striking or thought provoking in these images and the activities they portray?
5. How do these images taken together reveal the variety of contributions American women made to the war effort? About their possible motivations? About the different vehicles they had for contributing (that is, civilian work, volunteer activities, military service)?

Activity 6
As suggested in Activities 4 and 5, American women played an important role in the nation's involvement in World War II. In addition to undertaking a variety of roles related to the war effort, women wrote and spoke out about why America was fighting and what the nation hoped to secure as a result of the war.

Studying some of what women had to say on these topics explains the impact of traditional gender roles in women's war participation, but it also reveals that some women were thinking beyond those roles. (An extended discussion of the role of American women during the war may be found in the Key Topic "Women During World War II" in the module "World War II.")

Within that module, go to "War and the Family" by Margaret Culkin Banning and "What Kind of World Do We Want?" by Margaret Mead. (One way to locate these sources is to go to the Key Topic and then scroll down and click on the links "mothers and homemakers" and "Margaret Mead.")

Use the document to answer the following questions.

1. What similarities and differences do you note in the views presented in these documents? How might you account for these similarities and differences? Make specific reference to the documents when answering these questions.
2. How do these two documents urge that Americans--especially women--view the war and their roles in it? What do they say about the importance of thinking beyond simply the personal?
3. What sorts of postwar changes and developments do these documents call for? Why? Who would bear the largest responsibility for implementing such changes?
4. How do these two documents portray American society? What contrasts do they make between American society and that of other nations? How important are these differences?
5. Trace the sources of the thinking behind these documents. What ideas lay at their heart? What roles and responsibilities do they place on American women? On others in society?

Activity 7
Because the war necessitated extensive and long-term sacrifices on the part of the civilian population, the government mounted a widespread propaganda campaign to sell the American public on the righteousness of the fight and the need for their sacrifices. (A good summary of wartime propaganda and mobilization may be found under the Key Topic "Hollywood, Propaganda, and World War II" within the module "World War II.")

One aspect of the propaganda war reflected recent advances in motion picture technology and was contained in movies that served to educate servicemen, mobilize support for the war, and shape public thinking on the nation's future place in international affairs. Another utilized posters with catchy slogans that called on patriotic Americans to do their part to support their country and its brave soldiers abroad.

Exploring a few components of this wartime propaganda campaign will introduce users to some of the ways that the government sought to sell the American people on the war, as well as the different ways that the government portrayed the nation's enemies.

Within "World War II," go to:

• "Dorie Miller Recruiting Poster"
• "United We Win" (poster)
• "Get a War Job"
• "Rosie the Riveter"
• "Save Gas"
• "Save Waste Fats for Explosives"
• "Within Striking Distance."

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. What messages do the first two images convey? To what groups in American society are they most likely targeted? Do you believe one of these images to be more powerful or potentially more effective than the other? If so, which one and why?
2. What do the next two images suggest about the proper wartime role(s) of American women? How does each convey its message? What emotions or feelings does each conjure up? Which do you find more moving or effective? Why?
3. To which segment(s) of the domestic population are the fifth and sixth images directed? What messages do they contain? How does each appeal to the viewer's sense of patriotism or national obligation? Speculate on how these images might have been received by the American public during the war.
4. How does the last image portray Japan and its people? What emotions does it suggest? What stereotypes or prejudices? How is this source reflective of its time?
5. Taking these sources together, how do they paint a picture of the ways the government tried to mobilize support for the war effort? What similarities and differences do you note in the various sources? Do any of them point the way to developments in the postwar period? If so, which ones and how?

Activity 8
African-American leaders used the occasion of the Second World War as a catalyst for a renewed drive for civil rights. Convinced that the war should be a "Civil War II" to end racism and discrimination in American society, they called for marches, public demonstrations, and government action on behalf of the domestic side of what they called the "Double V," victory against fascism abroad and discrimination at home.

One of the biggest complaints of African Americans during the war was their exclusion from many of the highest paying defense-related jobs. They were also unhappy with continued segregation in the U.S. military.

Studying these issues requires work in two databases within the American Journey Online.

Within "The African-American Experience," go to: "Call to the March," "Executive Order 8802," and "Carry a Sign in Front of a Milk Company." (To locate the first two sources, go to the Key Topic "African-American Labor History," scroll down to "Black Labor in the Nation's Defense Industries," and click on the links "protests" and "executive order." The third source may be selected from the list of related items that appears at the top of "Executive Order 8802.")

Within "The Immigrant Experience," go to "Excerpt of Taps for a Jim Crow Army." (You may locate this document by searching for the term "Jim Crow Army." The document is the first of the two items the search returns.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. What conditions does A. Philip Randolph rail against in the first document? How does he believe these conditions can be improved?
2. How is the second document a response to the first? What sorts of concerns does it reveal within the Roosevelt administration? How effective would Roosevelt's proposal be in eliminating the conditions Randolph decries in the first document?
3. What does the image add to the story of Randolph's proposed march and FDR's executive order? How is this image likely typical for the time?
4. How does the last source (the two letters) reveal the tensions among African-American military men over their situation? How might these tensions boil over into civilian life once the war is over? How do they reveal a certain hypocrisy in American society?

In addition to complaining privately, picketing individually, and threatening to march en masse on Washington, civil rights advocates also formed a new organization during the war, the interracial Congress of Racial Equality. CORE, as the new organization was called, pioneered the nonviolent protest methods that would be made famous by Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1950s and 1960s.

Go now to "Statement of Purposes and Methods" within "The African-American Experience." (This document may be located by going to "Index," then "C," then "Congress of Racial Equality," then click on the title.)

Use the source, along with those above, to answer the following question.

5. How does the Congress of Racial Equality plan to remedy the inequities described in the sources above? Are its methods appropriate for the fight? Why or why not?

Activity 9
Even before the United States officially became a belligerent in the war, it was helping to define the goals and purposes of the war and the aims of the postwar settlement. And once the nation did join the Allied war effort, American policymakers worked consistently for Allied agreement on both wartime and postwar policies. (A good discussion of wartime diplomacy may be found under the Key Topic "The Wartime Conferences, 1941-1945" within the "World War II" module.)

Documents from many of the wartime diplomatic conferences are included in the American Journey Online database. Studying them helps to provide users with a good introduction to the issues confronting the Grand Alliance during the war, the compromises that were necessary in order to keep the coalition together, and the role that these wartime conferences played in helping to shape the postwar world. Within "World War II," go to the following:

Within the "Cold War" module, go to:

• "The Atlantic Conference: Joint Statement by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, August 14, 1941" (one way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Regions," then "United States," then scroll down to the title)
• "Excerpt from Radio Address Given By President Roosevelt Regarding Casablanca Conference" (you may locate this document by going to "Contents," then "Documents," then "E," then scroll down to the document's title)
• "Declaration of the Three Powers" (this document may be selected from the list of related titles that appears at the top of the previous document)
• "Briefing of President Truman by W. Averell Harriman on Soviet Actions in Eastern Europe, April 20, 1945"
• "Joint Communique on Crimea Conference" (one way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Years," then "1945," then scroll down to the title).

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. What are the Allied goals in the war as laid out in the first document? How do these goals compare to the ideals supposedly championed universally by the United States? To the goals that Woodrow Wilson laid out for the nation in World War I? What is striking about the timing of the document?
2. What does Roosevelt spell out as the accomplishments of the Casablanca Conference in the second document? Why might these accomplishments be important for the conduct of the war? How might they affect relations among the key Allies?
3. The third document summarizes the agreements reached at the Tehran Conference. What are these agreements? Why are they important? What role might they play in future relations among the two main Allies--the United States and the Soviet Union?
4. Identify the main issues outlined in the last document. What is significant about these issues? Why might it be difficult for the United States and the Soviet Union to reach agreement on them? How might the two nations' inability to agree help to color the postwar world?
5. Considering these documents as a whole, what do they tell you about relations between the Allies during the war? About the challenges of coalition warfare? About how events and developments during the war continued to color events and developments into the postwar period?

Activity 10
Among the most enduring images of World War II are photographs of the atomic explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945. Coming three months after the surrender of Germany in Europe, the atomic bombings brought the Japanese to their knees and compelled them to surrender.

The story of the American atomic program--the so-called Manhattan Project--was a success story on a giant scale, an inspiring tale of bureaucratic cooperation and national determination. (It was also an example of governmental secrecy, as news of the project was kept from all but a select few who absolutely had to know about it.)

Historians have studied the atomic bombings of Japan like few other issues in U.S. history. Endless--and perhaps unresolvable--debates have ensued over the wisdom and morality of the atomic bombings. If resolving these kinds of questions may never be truly possible, students and scholars can at least study documents and images about the atomic bombing to get a sense of what they meant for people at the time.

To that end, go to the following sources within "The Cold War":

• "Atomic Damage, Hiroshima" (be sure to play audio portion)
• "Mushroom Cloud"
• "Little Boy"
• "Fat Man"
• "Enola Gay."

These sources may be located by going to "Index," then "A," then "Atomic bomb," then click on each individual title.

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. How does the newsreel footage in the first source describe the damage from the atomic bomb? What images does the audio conjure up in your mind? How do you think Americans at the time would have reacted to it?
2. How do the four photographs and their accompanying commentaries add to your knowledge of how Americans in 1945 would have understood the bomb? What do you expect was the most important thing about the bombs for them at the time? What about the bombs might have been the hardest for people to understand?
3. Although the bombs and planes themselves were just inanimate objects, they could at the time and can today inspire powerful emotional reactions. (Proof of this came in the mid-1990s when the Smithsonian's plans to display the Enola Gay aroused an intense public debate.) Why do you suppose these "things" can become so invested with meaning, even after all this time? What does their continued power say about the importance of the atomic bombings for American society?

Historians who have studied the atomic bomb have devoted a fair amount of attention to the question of whether the bomb might have been used as a diplomatic weapon to win concessions from the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. Recently declassified Soviet documents suggest that far from being surprised about the bomb, Soviet leaders knew all about and were already hard at work on an atomic bomb of their own.

Within "The Cold War," go to "Stalin's Secret Order: Build the Bomb 'on a Russian Scale.'" (This document may be located by the same procedure used to locate the sources above.)

Use this document, along with the sources above, to answer the following questions.

4. What do these documents reveal about the way Soviet officials viewed atomic weapons? About their determination not to be left out if the United States had them?
5. How does the second part of this document confirm the idea that if one side in the emerging Cold War had nuclear weapons, the other side would want them too? In other words, can you see the genesis of the arms race here? Why was it so dangerous for the two superpowers in the postwar period and into the Cold War era to try to constantly outdo each other in the field of atomic bombs?