1. THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR II
US History

2. The War Effort at Home
Before WWII the United States was trying to come out of the Great Depression.
The New Deal had some effect. But not enough.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese the US was fully engaged in WWII.
With the help of the US, the Allied countries were able to push the Axis countries back and eventually defeat them.
The work done at home is what dramatically changed the course of the war.
Arsenal of Democracy –Industry & Manufacturing
Science

3. A PRODUCTION MIRACLE
Americans converted their auto industry into a war industry
The nation’s automobile plants began to produce tanks, planes, boats, and command cars
Many other industries also converted to war-related supplies
Called the “arsenal of democracy”
What does this mean?
Converting to war time footing
The depression left many factories and workers under utilized
American industrialization built the capacity, the war provided the need.

4. LABOR’S CONTRIBUTION
By 1944, nearly 18 million workers were laboring in war industries (3x the # in 1941)
More than 6 million of these were women and nearly 2 million were minority
The contributions of women in the war production efforts were invaluable to the war effort
Not copied in Germany and Japan
Rosie the Riveter
Character created to encourage women to work in factories to increase production

5. MOBILIZATION OF SCIENTISTS
In 1941, FDR created the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) to bring scientists into the war effort
Focus was on radar and sonar to locate submarines
Also the scientists worked on penicillin and pesticides like DDT

6. MANHATTAN PROJECT
The most important achievement of the OSRD was the secret development of the atomic bomb
Einstein wrote to FDR warning him that the Germans were attempting to develop such a weapon
The code used to describe American efforts to build the bomb was the “Manhattan Project”

7. WAR PRODUCTION BOARD
To ensure the troops had ample resources, FDR created the WPB
The WPB decided which companies would convert to wartime production and how to best allocate raw materials to these industries
Does this idea run counter to American “free market” ideas?

8. COLLECTION DRIVES
The WPB also organized nationwide drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags and cooking fat for recycling
Additionally, the OPA set up a system of rationing
Households had set allocations of scarce goods – gas, meat, shoes, sugar, coffee
What do you think would be the impact of this kind of programming today?