1. SS8H9: The student will describe the role of Georgia in WWII
Georgia and WWII
SS8H9: The student will describe the role of Georgia in WWII
a. Describe key events leading up to American involvement in World War II; include the Lend-Lease Act and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
b. Evaluate the purpose and economic impact of the Bell Bomber Plant, military bases, and the Savannah and Brunswick shipyards.
c. Explain the economic and military contributions of Richard Russell and Carl Vinson.

2. UBRAT Causes of World War II
U: Unfair – Germany felt the Treaty of Versailles (to end WWI) was unfair to them since the did not start WWI and had no input on the Treaty.
B: Blame – Germany did not feel that it was to blame for the war, since technically Serbia started it.
R: Reparations – Germany felt that paying reparations further damaged its’ economy.
A: Army – The German Army & Navy were reduced in order to prevent another uprising in the future. Germany felt unprotected.
T: Territory – Germans lost a tenth of their territory, and forced ethnic Germans to live in other countries.

3. Setting the stage for a fight
The beginnings of War
Dictatorships in some nations (AXIS POWERS)
Germany – Hitler
Italy – Mussolini
Japan – Hirohito/Tojo
Appeasement
Attempt to avoid war
When Hitler took over Sudetenland, Great Britain & France allowed it

4. Setting the stage for a fight
Sept. 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland
Soviet Union & Germany divide Poland
GB & France declare war with Germany
ALLIED POWERS
Great Britain
France
Russia
USA
Germany moves through Europe and into France by spring
Blitzkrieg (bombings by air) begin in England
Japan acts aggressively throughout Asia

5. The US remains “Neutral”
1930s  US signs neutrality acts to keep US out of war
1937  Japan invades China and will occupy it until the end of the war (1945)
1939  Germany invades Poland
Roosevelt obtained law to allow US to sell weapons to Allied Powers

6. The Lend-Lease Act
As war raged on in Europe and Asia, most Americans wanted to remain out of the war. Stories of terrible bombings in Great Britain, brutal Japanese treatment of the Chinese, and the Nazi persecutions of minorities.
Most Americans agreed that the U.S. should only join the war if attacked.
Roosevelt feared that the Axis Powers might win the war and disrupt U.S. trade in Europe.
In late 1939, the U.S. reversed an earlier policy that made it illegal to sell arms (weapons).
The U.S. allowed warring nations to buy weapons.
Countries had to pay cash and had to transport the weapons on their own ships
When these countries began to run out of cash, Roosevelt allowed them to borrow supplies in exchange for land in foreign countries
The U.S. was mainly only selling to Allied Countries, and began to deny Japan materials such as oil and scrap metal… this leads to…

7. “A day that will live in infamy.”
Tensions grew between US & Japan
US stops sending supplies to Japan
When Japan invades French Indochina (Vietnam), US seizes all Japanese property in US
Japanese-Americans placed in interment camps
December 7, 1941
Japanese planes and Kamikaze pilots attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
All 8 Battleships damaged or destroyed
180+ planes destroyed
2400+ people killed
1000+ people injured
US declares war on Japan
Germany & Italy declare war on US
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8. Map of World War II Allies before Pearl Harbor bombing
Allies after Pearl Harbor bombing
Axis Powers
Neutral countries

9. The Holocaust
Provided Nazis with “the final solution to the Jewish problem”
6 Million Jews killed
5-6 Million other people labeled “undesirables” killed as well
Poles, Czechs, Russians, Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill and physically disabled
Death occurred by:
Starvation
Disease
Mistreatment
Medical experiments
Gassing and other ways
Bodies burned in huge ovens or buried in mass graves
Allied troops entering Poland, Austria & Germany, were unprepared for what they found
Concentration camps
Auschwitz
Buckenwald
Dachau
Treblinka
Bergen-Belsen
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10. War boosts Georgia’s economy
Richard B. Russell, Jr.
Influential US Senator from Georgia
Bring $Millions$ of Federal money to state through military instillations
13 new bases/instillations bring $25 billion to Ga./year
Ft. Benning, Camp Gordon, Ft. Stewart, Hunter Air Field, Warner Robins Air Field, Glynco Naval Air Station
Carl Vinson
Influential US Representative from Georgia
Known as the “Father of the Two-Ocean Navy”
Helped to bring Naval Fleets and bases to the West Coast and Hawaii
Bell Bomber Plant – Marietta
30,000 men & women built B-29 bomber planes
Job opportunities for African-Americans
Automobile & Textile workers benefit
Farmers benefit
Manufacturing finally surpasses Agriculture
Rations – gas, shoes, meat, butter and sugar were rationed (limited)
Ration books and stamps

11. Liberty Ships Cargo ships nicknamed “Liberty Ships” by FDR
Savannah Shipyard
88 ships built by 15,000+ workers, mostly women
Brunswick Shipyard
16,000 men & women worked around the clock in on 6 ships at a time
Set national record by building 7 ships in 1 month.
Produced 99 ships in all

12. Ration Booklet

13. Women during WWII
Ft. Oglethorpe trained some of the 150,000 WAC’s (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp)
Trained to become postal workers, clerks, typist, switchboard operators, code clerks, and drivers or aides
Women in Georgia
Worked at Bell Bomber Plant & on Liberty Ships
Worked in textile mills that produce uniforms
Worked in automobile plants that produced military vehicles
Many women & children grew “Victory Gardens” to help conserve food for soldiers

14. The End of the War
Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, about a week after Hitler committed suicide.
Know as “VE-Day” for Victory in Europe
Japan was offered a chance to surrender without conditions in early July, but they would not agree to this
August 6th: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
August 9th: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan
August 15th: Japan officially surrenders to the Allies.
Known as “VJ-Day” for Victory in Japan
September 2nd: Japan officially surrenders and the war is declared over.
Casualties of WWII
50 – 80 million
Including deaths from war-related disease and famine
50 – 55 million civilians
6 million Jews in concentration camps plus up to 6 million more undesirables
US: 418,000 casualties