1. The U.S.A. and WWII

2. The key to victory for the U.S.A. in WWII would depend on their ability to produce enough weapons to defeat Japan and Germany. Luckily......

3. FDR saw the war coming. In 1940, he announced a plan for the U.S. to build 50,000 warplanes a year. Many businesses began producing vital war materials

4. U.S. auto producers became weapons producers, making tanks, jeeps, trucks, rifles, mines and pretty much anything else you could think an army would need

5. Liberty ships were mass produced welded cargo ships and proved invaluable and superior to riveted ships. They were rarely sunk and were cheap to build

6. The Selective Service and Training Act FDR knew as early as 1940 that the U.S. army needed to be expanded. This act was the first peacetime draft in U.S. history and trained men to be soldiers

7. African- Americans in WWII These soldiers fought in segregated units, usually led by a white commander. Denied basic rights in much of the U.S., these men were required to defend their country and risk their lives.

8. Double V Campaign African-Americans hoped that if they fought Hitlers racism in Europe they would help end racism in the U.S. FDR began the process of promoting African-Americans to important military positions

9. The Tuskegee Airmen was one of many groups of African-American war heroes who fought valiantly in WWII for the U.S

10. U.S. Women and WWII Women in the U.S. made an enormous contribution to the war effort. Women worked in factories, and served the armed forces in clerical positions and of course as nurses. However, women were barred from combat.

11. Events got worse for the U.S. after Pearl Harbor. Japan was able to take the Philippines by May, 1942

12. During the Bataan Death March, 78,000 U.S. prisoners of war were forced to march 105 kms to a Japanese prison camp. Thousands never reached the camp.

13. The U.S. Air Force began using B-25 bombers to attack Japan in April 1942. These planes had to land in China because they were too large to land on aircraft carriers

14. In June 1942, the U.S. repelled the Japanese air invasion at Midway Island and also destroyed four of Japans largest aircraft carriers. This was a major turning point in the war.

15. Meanwhile in Europe, Stalin was begging FDR and Churchill to attack Germany from the west, but FDR and Churchill didnt feel the time was right. Instead, they looked towards North Africa.

16. FDR and Churchill decided to attack Algeria and Morocco, French colonies now in the hands of Hitler and the Nazis.

17. FDR and Churchill believed fighting in North Africa would give experience to the troops and then allow them to help the British army presently fighting the Germans in Egypt

18. Egypt was important because the Suez Canal allowed Britain to move supplies to its colonies. The U.S. and British forces were able to trap the Germans in North Africa in 1943.

19. German submarines were able to sink many U.S. ships in 1942-1943. But the Germans lost ships too and the U.S. was able to build replacements quickly to limit the damage.

20. Hitler thought he could defeat the U.S.S.R. by taking its oil fields at Stalingrad and this would cripple the Soviet economy.In May 1942, the invasion was launched.

21. The Germans reached Stalingrad in September 1942. Hitler ordered his army to hold the city, retreat was forbidden. In November, Soviet reinforcements arrived.

22. The Soviets trapped 250,000 German troops in November. In February 1943, 91,000 were put in prison camps, and only 5,000 survived. Hitlers army was not invincible after all.

23. More work to be done After Midway and Stalingrad, it appeared the Allies had the momentum in this war. It would take more than two more years and millions of lives until the Germans and Japanese surrendered however.