US Homefront:
1. Selective Training and Service Act- 1940
- It was the first peacetime draft in US History
- Used until 1973 to fill military needs
- After 1973, US military depended on volunteers to fill needs
2. Women's role in WWII
- Women began to work as waitresses, farmers, and factory workers, filling in for the men's jobs
- 6 million took war time jobs in factories
- 3 million women volunteered for the Red Cross
- Basically did the work that the men used to do
- Worked as nurses, taking care of injured soldiers
- Worked as war secretaries
- Farmers, typists, sales people, waitresses, teachers, bus drivers, taxi drivers, messengers, laundresses, conductors, elevator operators, map making (cartographers)
- Every branch of the military had a spot for women to do small business work like typing and stuff. But women did not work on the front lines of warfare.
3. African-American's role in WWII
- Tuskegee Airmen were the first African Americans that really stepped up and helped out US working as pilots
- Most worked as remedial jobs like cooks
4. Asian's role in WWII
- Served as translators in the Pacific Front
- Had to wear badges to show that they were not part of the Japanese military and that they were Japanese Americans
5. Hollywood's role in WWII
- Hollywood started making a lot of movies about what the Nazis were doing to the Jews to get Americans angry about the US not being in the war yet.
- Bob Hope was a great American comedian, actor, etc. He worked with the United Service Organization and worked to help the troops.
- USO was a nonprofit organization that provides entertainment for troops
6. Office of Price Administration 1921
- Put set limits on prices of certain goods
- Dealt a lot with rationing (gas, food, clothing)
- Gas stickers were used to ration gas.. A,B,C stickers A gets least, C stickers get most
7. War Production Board
- A government agency that made sure that enough was produced as far as war materials in factories.
- Encouraged people to work hard and produce as many materials as they could, no slacking.
8. National War Labor Board
- Government agency that helped to keep workers happy to avoid workers striking.
- Encouraged bosses to cooperate with their workers to get the job done
- Regulated transportation and communication as well
9. Why the Homefront helped win the war
- Produced lots of war supplies
- Rationing, cutting back
- Women took over men's jobs
- Hollywood kept the war positive with propaganda
10. How US/Allies fought back against U-boats
- Germany sank thousands of Allied submarines
- We fought back by building faster ships that would outrun them, Ultra, Hf/Df (Underwater Radar), Radar, Convoy System (Travel in large numbers)
- Germany fought back by using "Wolfpacks" and traveling in large numbers
11. Intelligence gathering--Ultra/Magic
- Ultra- British code name for deciphering German military code
- Magic-cryptanalyst project that the Allies had to crack the Japanese code
12. Operation Barborossa(USSR vs Germany)
- Operation Barborossa was Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union using Blitzkreig attacks
- Hitler invaded Soviet Union because he wanted Lebensraum, living space for Germans
- Hitler didn't trust Josef Stalin, German propaganda showed that Stalin was planning to attack Germany
- The defeat of the USSR would further isolate the Allies
- Stalingrad, Leningrad, Moscow were the 3 main places that the Germans attacked
- German Wehrmacht (Army) was the army that took over the three cities above
- Siege- blockade and surround a city and bombarding it
13. Battle in Africa and Italy
- Invasion of Africa- was called Operation Torch
- Erwin Rommel was named the Desert Fox because he was so sly and cunning as a German General
- General George Patton was the great generals of WWII. He fought at North Africa for the US
- Italy surrendered after the US invaded them, Italy was an easy victory in terms of getting the government to surrender, but difficult to free them from Germany
14. US Generals-Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, MacArthur, Nimitz, Bradley
- George Marshall- chief of staff of the US Military during WWII
- Dwight Eisenhower- Supreme Allied Commander of Allied Forces during WWII, he later became president
- General George Patton was a major general in WWII, he fought in the North African campaign
- MacArthur was a US general in the army against Japan
- Nimmets was an admiral for the navy. He was the chief of navigation.
- Omar Bradley was another famous WWII General, he worked with Patton in North Africa and he was also involved in the D-Day Invasion
15. D-Day-Operation Overlord- June 6, 1944
16. Battle of the Bulge
- December 16, 1944. It was Hitler's final attempt to break the Allies and his last offensive attack
- Hitler had a 3 part plan for this battle, but was not successful in his plan
- For Germany, it was a huge offensive attack.
- It took place on the German/Belguim border
- It was the coldest, snowiest weather on the Germany/Belguim border
- The Malmedy Massacre where 86 American soldiers were murdered by German Soldiers, was the worst atrocity committed against US troops during the course of the war in Europe
- This battle was the worst battle in terms of losses to the American Forces in WWII
17. FDR Dies-Truman takes over
- FDR died of cerebral hemorage, otherwise known as a stroke.
- Truman took over and was reelected for a 2nd term
- Truman became one of the most unpopular presidents when he left office
18. VE Day
19. Battle in the Pacific-Island Hopping, Philippines, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
20. Navajo Code Talkers
21. Doolittle's Raid
22. Manhattan Project
23. Hiroshima bombing
24. Nagasaki bombing
25. VJ Day
26. Yalta Conference
27. Nuremburg Trials
28. Japanese Internment Camps in US
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