WORLD WAR II - DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

I. INTRODUCTION

Although World War II (1939-1945) began in Europe and fighting never took place within the continental United States, American involvement in the conflict profoundly affected the political, economic, and social order at home. Even before entering the Allied effort against Germany and Japan, Americans felt the effects of the war as burgeoning production for export opened jobs and ended the Great Depression. Economic revival did not shake Americans from their isolationism however. The fall of France in June 1940 was not enough to rouse popular support for American military intervention, and for more than a year Britain was left to face Germany alone. The administration of President Franklin Roosevelt led the movement to send money, supplies, and strategic aid to the British, but his desire to help was tempered by the crucial campaign season he faced in 1940, when he was elected for a third term.

The dramatic shift in America's war-time role came in December 1941, after the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. America immediately entered the war and instituted a draft, calling up nearly fifteen million service men over a five year period. With this movement for war came quick social change as women and African Americans won more rights in the workplace and armed forces. But, the war was not without its domestic troubles. Many law-abiding Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps because of prevailing anti-Japanese feeling, while anti-Communism spread and intensified with the close of the war. In the end, however, five years of fighting brought the downfall of Hitler's Nazis in Germany, the defeat of the Japanese in Asia, and America's emergence as one of only two post-war superpowers.

II. THE INTER-WAR PERIOD AND ISOLATIONISM IN AMERICA

Although the United States had been on the victorious side in World War I, many Americans felt they had been let down in the final hours of that crisis. President Woodrow Wilson had called the conflict the "war to end all wars" and the "war to make the world safe for democracy," but he sacrificed much of his idealistic post-war plan at the Versailles Peace Conference to secure his favorite brainchild, the League of Nations. However, once back in the United States, Senate opposition to the League blocked ratification of the Treaty, and America never joined the new international organization. This defeat was compounded by the rise of "One hundred percent Americanism" at home: the red-scare raids of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, and the race riots of the Red Summer of 1919.

One of the most obvious examples of the bigoted nationalism that followed the war was Congress's Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, which dramatically slowed the influx of foreigners from eastern and southern Europe into the United States. A strict annual cap was established on immigration from any European country, limiting it to 3 percent of the number of nationals who had lived in the United States at the time of the 1910 census. In 1924 the Act was made permanent, and the census date was pushed back to 1890, while the cap was lowered to 2 percent. Japanese immigration was bared entirely.

Nativism and isolationism did not stop their however. Even as Italy's fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, ordered the attack of Ethiopia (1935), and Germany's Adolf Hitler began rearmament (1933), introduced compulsory military service (1935), and reoccupied the Rhineland (1936) - all in violation of the Treaty of Versailles - America did nothing. Having read books like J.C. Engelbracht's Merchants of Death (1934) and Walter Millis's The Road to War (1935), many Americans believed that thousands of American soldiers had died on the battlefields of World War I to line the pockets of greedy arms manufacturers looking for big profits. This feeling gained increased political legitimacy between 1934 and 1936 as the Senate Munitions Investigating Committee headed by Gerald Nye held public hearings that stressed the clandestine activities of arms manufacturers who supposedly forced America into World War I.

As tensions flared in Europe during the mid-1930s, Americans sought to disentangle themselves from foreign wars entirely. After Italy invaded Ethiopia, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935, which authorized the President to prohibit all arms shipments to nations at war and forbid American citizens from traveling on belligerent vessels except at their own risk. In 1936, the Neutrality Act was broadened and loans and credits to belligerent nations were forbidden. Then, after the Spanish Civil War began in 1937, Congress moved to prohibit participation in Civil Wars (the previous legislation dealt only with wars between nations). The Neutrality Act of 1937 further authorized the President to embargo all trade with nations at war, and it made travel on belligerent vessels illegal.

Many historians have argued that American isolationism aided the fascists powers in Italy, Germany, and Spain. Falling back on the Neutrality Acts, the United States denied Ethiopia arms to fight against Mussolini's Italian assault, when a simple oil embargo might have halted that attack. Then during the Spanish Civil War, the United States watched while General Franciso Franco - aided by Mussolini and Hitler - took power from the recognized republican government in Spain. However, the most damning defeat for neutrality legislation and the appeasement policy came in 1938 at the Munich Conference, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain offered Hitler the Sudentenland of Czechoslovakia to end German expansionism in Europe. In response to this agreement, Roosevelt sent Chamberlain the two-word cable, "Good Man." When Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia early in 1939, the failure of "Good Men" was obvious; appeasement had not worked.

III. ROOSEVELT, THE EARLY WAR, AND THE ELECTION OF 1940

Despite Roosevelt's letter to Chamberlain after the Munich Conference, it is well known that he was not an isolationist. In a famous Chicago speech in October 1937, the President opposed the idea and argued that the international quarantine of aggressor nations was the only way to preserve peace in the era ahead. When war between the Anglo-French Alliance and Germany began in September 1939, Roosevelt went before the nation in a fireside chat saying: "This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well." Although he briefly prohibited the export of arms and munitions to all the belligerents under the Neutrality Act of 1937, the President called a special session of Congress to repeal the arms embargo because it was hurting England and France. The Neutrality Act of 1939, which resulted, allowed for the export of arms and munitions on a "cash and carry" basis only. The democracies could buy goods from America, although at war, but they would have to pay in cash and transport the goods themselves.

This belated support was not enough to save most of Europe from the Nazi onslaught. Hitler's forces quickly overran Denmark and Norway (April 1940), the Netherlands and Belgium (May 1940), and then France (June 1940). Following the shocking fall of France, Hitler launched a summer air raid over the British Isles to soften their resistance to a cross channel invasion. The British Royal Air Force tenaciously defended its homeland making the German invasion impossible, and radio broadcasts from London brought the battle into millions of American homes. In response to the "Battle of Britain," Roosevelt and Congress appropriated $9.25 billion between July and September to foster preparedness; instituted the first peace time draft in American history in September 1940, calling up 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves; and, by Executive Order the President agreed to transfer 50 out-of-date destroyers to the British Navy in exchange for the right to 99-year leases on naval and air bases all over the world.

In the midst of this foreign crisis, Roosevelt was running for a controversial third term as President. Although he said he would not seek the Democratic nomination in the summer of 1940, he would accept it if drafted. At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt was nominated on July 18. Roosevelt's Democratic platform supported the New Deal domestic agenda, national and hemispheric defense, and all possible aid to Britain short of war. The Republican nominee, Wendell Wilkie, attacked the New Deal and said he would not allow American boys to fight someone else's war. Although the campaign season began cordially, it turned dirty. Wilkie called the "destroyers-for-bases" deal the "most arbitrary and dictatorial action ever taken by any President in the history of the United States." Like the Court Packing Plan of 1937, it was, to many Republicans, a perfect example of Roosevelt's arbitrary and autocratic rule by fiat. However, the popular vote still went in favor of Roosevelt, who received 27,244,160 votes to Wilkie's 22,305,198. Roosevelt's victory in the electoral college was more dramatic: 449 (38 states) to 82 (10 states).

IV. LEND-LEASE, ATLANTIC CHARTER, AND PEARL HARBOR

As the tortured world scene gave way to 1941, President Roosevelt prepared a momentous state of the union address proclaiming his hope for "a world founded upon four essential human freedoms" - freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. As he declared these idealistic goals for which the democracies of the west were fighting, Britain was in dire need of financial and military support. The "cash and carry" provision of the Neutrality Act of 1939 ceased to be of importance because Britain could not afford to buy military supplies for the war effort. The Roosevelt administration again stepped forward offering "Lend-Lease" aid to Britain. With this package, the United States would send massive supplies of free arms and munitions to states at war with Germany, while at the same time remaining out of the war. At the end of the war, debts would be settled by returning the used supplies or their equivalents to the United States. The idea was hotly debated in Congress and throughout the nation, as isolationists said the United States would be forced to enter the war to protect its investment and Republicans argued that used supplies were like used pieces of gum, no one wanted them back. However, it went through on March 11, 1941, and by the end of the war America had sent over $50 billion worth of arms and supplies to the nations fighting Hitler's Germany.

The isolationists who opposed "Lend-Lease" proved to be right about the programs danger. As American convoys escorted or carried supplies to Britain, Germany submarines began sinking US vessels on the high seas. In May, 1941, President Roosevelt declared an "unlimited national emergency" to combat the German onslaught. Then, when Hitler violated the Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact (1939), and invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, America immediately extended a $1 billion aid package to Russia, which grew to $11 billion by war's end.

As the summer of 1941 wore on, Roosevelt secretly met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on warships off the Newfoundland coast. On August 14, the two leaders issued a press release that became known as the Atlantic Charter. Although it called for the "final destruction of Nazi tyranny," the charter centered on the "common principles" for which the two countries were fighting. These eight idealistic goals included the self-determination of all peoples, equal access to raw materials, economic international cooperation, freedom of the seas, and a new organization for collective security.

Although Germany continued to sink American ships in the fall of 1941 - most infamously the Kearny and the Reuben James - the United States did not join the war until December 1941 after the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japanese-American relations had been deteriorating since the 1920s, as Japan sought to extend its sphere of influence in East Asia, especially in China, French Indochina, and in Dutch and British colonies in the south Pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a calculated attempt by the Japanese to remove America and her allies from Japanese "territory," but its most immediate effect was the end of isolationism in America. A day after the attack, Congress (with only one dissenting vote) declared war on Japan, and then when Japan's allies - Italy and Germany - declared war on America on December 11, Congress recognized a state of war between the United States and those nations.

IV. AMERICA'S DOMESTIC WAR EFFORT

As America entered a two front global war in December 1941, there was much to do. Congress immediately passed two War Powers Acts, the first of which gave the president the authority to reorganize government agencies for the war effort (December, 1941), and the second of which sanctioned government allotment of materials and facilities needed for defense (March, 1942). The selective service had already drafted almost 1.5 million service men by July 1, 1941, but 14 million more would be called up in the next four years. Without the uniting drive, which Pearl Harbor gave the American people, there might have been serious opposition to the draft. But, the development of the war led many of the soldiers and their families to think of service in the armed forces as a citizen-soldier's duty for the American cause. In addition, with war's end the soldiers were the beneficiaries of the G.I. Bill, which provided $14.5 billion to veterans to attend college, receive professional training, start businesses, and buy homes.

Backing these men in arms was the strongest industrial force on the planet. As had happened in World War I, the federal government created a War Production Board (January 1942), which oversaw the conversion of domestic production to war-time production. Two leading American business men - Donald Nelson from Sears and Charles E. Wilson from General Electric - headed the organization. By halting the manufacture of non-essential item like passenger cars, and allocating inadequate resources, especially in steel, rubber, and oil, the Board orchestrated the production of 40 billion bullets, 300,000 aircraft, 76,000 ships, 86,000 tanks, and 2.6 million machine guns. To pay for this war production, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1942, which brought in about $7 billion dollars in increased revenue by making the federal income tax a mass tax, paying off about 45% of the war costs. At the same time, Americans were encouraged to buy war bonds - about $150 billion in bonds was sold.

As men left for the war and industry grew, the government encouraged women to enter the work force, and they did in unprecedented numbers. More than 6 million women took jobs outside the home; over half of them having never worked for wages before. The jobs they entered were traditionally "men's jobs" - skilled labor was required and high wages were earned. They became toolmakers, machinists, blacksmiths, railroad workers, and aircraft specialists. However, when the war ended women were encouraged to leave the workforce and make way for their returning husbands and sons. Although the majority of these women wanted to continue in their new jobs, the main result of their wartime experience was not economic liberation but a rush into postwar suburban domesticity - a move they did not seek but took.

African Americans made dramatic, but fleeting, gains as well. Around 1.6 million blacks left the South for jobs in the North and West during the war. Race relations became a national issue, especially as African Americans entered the armed services and war time production. A. Philip Randolph, a black leader who headed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, threatened President Roosevelt with a mass "Negro March on Washington" in 1941, if African Americans were not given equal opportunities in the armed forces and war jobs. Roosevelt responded with an executive order forbidding discrimination in defense industries, and he also established the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to oversee compliance with the order. With these gains and their war time experience, many African Americans returned to join the growing National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, whose membership surpassed half-a-million. Still, segregation was not ended in the South, and the Civil Rights movement lay 20 years ahead.

Although the American record on civil liberties was improved from World War I, Japanese Americans suffered from intense hatred and bigotry during the war. More than 100,000 were removed from their homes and business and placed in "War Relocation Camps." It was not until the 1980s that the US government recognized the injustice that had been done to these people and that compensation was provided for each sufferer still living.

V. THE WAR'S CONCLUSION

As the fighting in Europe became more intense in 1943, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met at the Casablanca Conference (January 14-24, 1943) in French Morocco. They declared that the war would be fought until the "unconditional surrender" of each enemy had been secured. Joseph Stalin - the leader of the Soviet Union - was included in the next major Allied meeting at Teheran (November 28-December 1, 1943). There the Big Three reached agreements on broad plans for the defeat of Germany: an Anglo-American force would attack Germans in western Europe, while the Soviets would move in from the east. The Allies also laid the initial plans for an international organization to keep the peace after the war (United Nations). The Anglo-American D-Day invasion of Normandy followed six months later in June, 1944, while the Soviets began their move from the east. As the battle for German grew hotter in late 1944 and early 1945, the Big Three met again at Yalta (February 4-11, 1945). With victory over Germany near, Stalin agreed that Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania should have free elections and be independent states, a promise he soon broke. In addition, Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan within three months of war's end in Europe. In return, the Roosevelt promised Stalin the southern half of Sakhalin Island, and Japan's Kurile Islands as well. The Soviet Union was also granted joint control over the railroads of China's Manchuria and received special privileges in the two key seaports of that area, Dairen and Port Arthur. The war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, and in June Germany was divided into four occupational zones: one American, one British, one French, and one Russian.

Most of the political conflict that came with the end of the war, followed the untimely death of Franklin Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. Harry Truman, the Vice President, entered Roosevelt's place as supreme commander of American domestic and foreign policy. Questions were raised however: had Roosevelt been too sick to negotiate successfully at the Yalta Conference; did he give too much to the Soviets in the Far East; was "unconditional surrender" a realistic objective over Japan; and, could Truman carry on with an administration about which he knew almost nothing. Truman quickly established himself as his own man, removing officials he could not work with. And, when the experimental atom bomb was ready in August 1945, Truman ordered it dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war against Japan.

VI. ROOTS OF THE COLD WAR

Although the war against Germany and Japan ended in 1945, and America emerged from World War II more powerful than she had ever been before, there was a "new threat." The Soviet Union, which had been allied with America since 1941, had a very different ideological and economic system than that in the United States, and the fear of global Communism led many in America to push for tough relations with the Soviets. The Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia in 1917-18, but the United States refused to recognize Communist rule until 1933, causing tense relations between the two countries. In addition, the Soviets had originally signed an Non-Aggression Pact with Hitler in 1939, only coming to the side of Britain (and the US) in 1941 after German forces invaded. Throughout the war the two countries had numerous disagreements on troop movements, the opening of a second (western) front, and the creation of atomic weaponry. However, real problems had there roots at Yalta. There the Soviets demanded massive war reparations from Germany, but the US and British sought to temper this drive and pledged to rebuild Germany after the war. In addition, Britain demanded free elections in Eastern Europe - an area the Soviet Army occupied - and Stalin agreed saying that he only wanted friendly governments on the border of the USSR.

Many historians see the dropping of the atomic bomb at least in part as an attempt by the United States to exert its power in East Asia and limit Russian expansion. However, this did not have a great affect on Eastern Europe, and the Soviets built up puppet governments there to control the area and extort its wealth. The Cold War rested here, with the Western Democracies aiding Western Europe and the Soviet Union controlling Eastern Europe. It was - as Winston Churchill said in 1946 - as if an "Iron Curtain" had descended over half of Europe.

VII. CONCLUSION

World War II reshaped America's role in the world more than any event before or since. Although the US suffered only around 300,000 military casualties - of an estimated 17 million military dead, and 18 million civilian dead - the war's effect on the nation was tremendous. America emerged as one of only two global superpowers and had the strongest economy in the world, with a gross national product that grew from $200 billion in 1945 to $600 billion in 1960. With a monopoly on atomic weaponry, America entered the cold war confidently, but the lessons of the Nazi holocaust and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would soon be brought home in a long and fearful cold war in which almost every nation on earth participated.