Chapter 33: America in World War II

The United States entered the inferno of World War II following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, an event that instantly galvanized national unity. Strategically, Washington adopted the "getting Germany first" approach, despite initial public cries for vengeance against Japan. The paramount challenge was rapidly retooling the economy for all-out military production, orchestrated by the War Production Board (WPB), which ended the Great Depression and poured forth an avalanche of weaponry. Economic strains necessitated government intervention; the Office of Price Administration (OPA) managed rationing and inflation, while the National War Labor Board (NWLB) set wage ceilings. The Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act was passed to preempt disruptive labor stoppages in critical industries. On the home front, the war spurred tremendous demographic shifts, including the massive migration of African Americans out of the South seeking war jobs, leading to the "Double V" campaign for victory abroad and equality at home, championed by figures like A. Philip Randolph and supported by the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). Meanwhile, the Bracero program brought Mexican agricultural workers to the West. In a major domestic failure, post-Pearl Harbor hysteria fueled the unnecessary and unjust internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans—two-thirds of whom were citizens—under Executive Order No. 9066, a policy later upheld in Korematsu v. U.S.. Nearly 15 million men and 216,000 women (including WACs, WAVES, and SPARs) served in uniform, and millions of women entered factory work, symbolized by "Rosie the Riveter," forecasting a major societal shift. In the European theater, Allied victory in the critical Battle of the Atlantic was secured by 1943 through anti-submarine tactics and the cracking of German codes. Key turning points included the Soviet stand at Stalingrad and the British victory at El Alamein. After the Casablanca Conference set the policy of "unconditional surrender", the Allies invaded North Africa and then Italy, led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Following coordination at the Tehran Conference, Eisenhower commanded the decisive cross-channel invasion on D-Day (June 6, 1944) into Normandy. The Battle of the Bulge marked Hitler's final, failed offensive. Following the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, Harry S. Truman assumed the presidency, shortly before V-E Day (May 8, 1945) and the full revelation of the Nazi Holocaust. In the Pacific, the tide turned in 1942 with the crucial Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, halting Japan's expansion. General Douglas MacArthur famously pledged "I shall return" after retreating from Bataan. American strategy focused on "island hopping," led by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The costly victories at Iwo Jima and Okinawa set the stage for a planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. After issuing the Potsdam ultimatum, President Truman authorized the use of the atomic bombs, developed by the Manhattan Project, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Japan surrendered shortly thereafter, leading to V-J Day (September 2, 1945), ending the war and positioning the United States, which emerged economically vigorous and physically unscathed, as the world's leading power.