Monday -
German U-Boats
- After repeated attacks by German U-boats on US ships in the fall of 1941, FDR announced that he had ordered the US navy to attack German and Italian war ships in the "waters which we deem necessary for our defense"
- War was imminent after this
How did the US fight back against U-Boats
- Convoy System - Groups of ships packed together that travel across the Atlantic
- Hunter-Killer Convoy Groups - Hunter killer groups would typically be formed around an escort aircraft carrier that would provide aerial reconnaissance and air cover for the convoy group
- Hedgehogs and Depth Charges
Enigma
- System in which Germany transferred their information through codes
Battle of the Bulge
- Known as the coldest, snowiest weather in memory in the Ardennes Forest on the German/Belgium line
- Over a million men partook
- 81,000 American casualties, 19,000 dead
Tuesday -
Yalta Conference
- Before the end of WWII; Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Yalta, USSR to plan what should happen when the war ended
- Establishment of UN
- Germany to be divided into four zones
- Free elections allowed in the states of Eastern Europe
- USSR promised to join the war against Japan
(watched DDay invasion)
Wednesday -
OPA and Rationing
- The Office of Price Administration was established in 1941 to control prices of goods
- Food rationing included restrictions on sugar and meat; clothing rationing restricted silk and nylon
- Gasoline rationing began in May 1942 - five gallons per week
- A black market developed in stolen/counterfeit stickers that were used in up to 30% of gasoline sales
War Finance Committee and War Bonds
- Over the course of the war 85 million Americans purchased bonds totaling approximately 185 Billion
- Helped pay for the war
- It was an investment by US citizens
- As low as $18.75 per bond
- Ten years later gov't paid out $25 per bond
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