HIS-144-T7.America at War Worksheet Online PDF

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Topic 7 Assignment...

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HIS-144 T7: AMERICA AT WAR Name: ________ Directions: Using resources from the Topic 7 Readings, including your textbook, materials provided by your instructor through class discussion, and materials from the GCU Library Guide for HIS-144 US History Themes, respond to the five questions below. Answer the questions on this worksheet regarding the war assigned to you by your instructor. Each answer should be a minimum of 100-200 words. The overall assignment must include three to five relevant scholarly sources in support of your content. While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. Wikipedia, Ask.com, ehow.com and other online information sites, encyclopedias, or dictionaries are not considered university academic sources and are NOT TO BE USED.

1. What were the causes of the war? What attempts were made beforehand to prevent war? There were multiple causes that started World War II, but perhaps the most significant was the Great Depression. It was said that if the New Deal could not end the Great Depression, a world war would. China and Japan were trying to claim authority over much of Asia which led to a full-scale war there by 1937. Talks of war were also becoming more urgent throughout Europe as well by the late 1930s. There was uncertainty created by a worldwide economic depression that created political vulnerabilities that were assisting the rise of militant, expansion-minded dictators in Japan, Italy, and Germany. Americans nervously were watching these situations, uncertain as to how they might be affected by Asian and European affairs. Little did they know, that in the end, World War II would transform America even more than the New Deal had (Schultz, K., 2018). Other causes of World War II were the Treaty of Versailles, Rise of Italian Fascism, Rise of Hitler and the Nazi party, Japanese expansionism, anti-communism, nationalism, and U.S. Isolationism. Attempts made to prevent war were that they U.S. held to its isolationist policy. Congress, under President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s approval, enacted a series of neutrality laws legislating against the factors that had supposedly taken the U.S. into World War I. As Italy was preparing to invade Ethiopia, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935. The Neutrality Act embargoed shipping of arms to either the aggressor or victim. Stronger legislation was enacted following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, in an effort to penalize the Spanish government, whose fascist enemies were receiving support from Mussolini and Hitler (Britannica.com, n.d.). My grandfather fought in Italy during World War II. 2. Describe the general course of the war (major battles, leader decisions, significant events). What was the turning point for victory or defeat? 

September 1939: Adolf Hitler was growing Germany’s military. Hitler had his sights set on

using Poland as part of his plans to wipe out an entire religious domination. September 1, 1939, Germany began its invasion into Poland, and World War II begins. In the months following, Germany had invaded Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and France. 

By 1940, almost all of Europe was under Hitler’s control. Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, “The Battle of France is over; I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” The Battle of Britain was mostly fought in the air. However, with great loss, the British Air Force needed to call off the war happening in the skies above Germany.

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December 7, 1941: Japan raided the United States Navy Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Over four thousand American soldiers were either terribly wounded or killed during this raid. The Japanese also destroyed over 300 American war aircrafts and over 20 American war ships. The next day America officially entered into World War II.

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June 4, 1942: Japan had plans to conduct a second surprise attack on the United States; the Battle of Midway was an attack on a small island off the Pacific Ocean (Zwiebel, 2009).

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1943: Germany’s first major defeat in 1943 was Stalingrad; North Africa’s stalemate ended, with the surrender of the Axis powers to the Allies in Tunisia. Tides were finally turning, but not fast enough for people in merchant vessels Germany had sunk in the Atlantic in four days in March. Bletchley codebreakers inflicted serious toll on U-boats and pretty well ended the Battle of the Atlantic. Italy fell to Allied forces in autumn and forced a German invasion there. Mussolini had been rescued by the Germans, and battles in Italy between north and south forces continued. Allied forces in the Pacific gained territory in New Guinea in an attempt to protect Australia from the Japanese. Soviets continued expelling Germans from their territory and the Battle of Kursk was key. Churchill and Stalin met in Iran at the end of the year to discuss the invasion of France (Rosenberg, J., n.d.).

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1944: American troops largely contributed in battles to take back France; this included landing on beaches of Normandy that caught Germans by surprise. Italy was also finally liberated as well, and Soviet counterattack pushed German soldiers back to Warsaw, Poland. Germany lost 100,000 soldiers to capture during the battle in Minsk. The Battle of the Bulge postponed the Allies marching into Germany for a bit. In the Pacific, Japan gained more Chinese territory, but the success was limited by Communist troops there. Allies fought back by taking Saipan and invading the Philippines (Rosenberg, J., n.d.).  January 27: The Siege of Leningrad is finally over.  June 6: D-Day  December 16: Battle of the Bulge begins.

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1945: Auschwitz and other concentration camps were being liberated and made the extent of the Holocaust clearer to the Allies. Bombs were still falling on London and Germany, but before April was over, two Axis leaders would be dead, and Germany’s surrender would soon follow. Franklin D. Roosevelt also died in April of natural causes. War in the Pacific continued, but Allies made significant progress through battles at Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa, and Japan started to retreat from China. It was all over by mid-August. Japan surrendered shortly after the second atomic bomb was discharged on the island nation. September 2, the surrender was formally signed and accepted, officially ending the conflict. The death toll is estimated to

be between 62 and 78 million people, including 24 million from the Soviet Union and 6 million Jews or 60% of the Jewish population in Europe (Rosenberg, J., n.d.).      

February 19: Battle of Iwo Jima begins April 1: Battle of Okinawa. April 12: Franklin D. Roosevelt dies. April 16: Battle of Berlin begins. August 6: First atomic bomb by America is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. August 9: Second atomic bomb by America is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

3. How did the home front respond to this war? Discuss some of the opportunities and challenges American society faced during the war. During World War II a lot of Americans looked to industrial areas as a way to gain “war jobs” that included making ammunition and uniforms. With a shortage of white male workers due to the white males being at war more women were entering the workforce. Due to the worker shortage, white middle-class women were chosen to go to work in industrial and other jobs. Eventually those of the lower class were also chosen to do work that needed to be done. Additionally, with both men and women being employed, the realms of equal and civil rights were opened up for all Americans. During World War II over 6 million women worked in different non-traditional defense industry jobs. These women later became known as “Rosies”, based on the popular song from 1943 entitled “Rosie the Riveter” about women who built planes during the war (U.S. National Park Service, n.d.). When the war began, President Roosevelt implemented the War Production Board (WPB) to help steer the economy into manufacturing weapons instead of consumer goods. Under WPB contracts, automobile companies like Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors were manufacturing tanks and airplanes instead of cars. Tire companies like B.F. Goodrich were making tires for jeeps, trucks, and airplanes instead of civilian car tires (Schultz, K., 2018). 4. What were the outcomes of the war? Explain the significant changes or results that followed the war. After World War II, America saw newfound freedom and newfound confidence. However, new worldwide tensions were being created between the Soviet Union and the United States. These tensions over the next 20 years would embark upon a time in history known as the Cold War. In addition to the Cold War, a huge stance for anti-communism began (Congress, n.d.). Other outcomes of the war were that America came out of the Great Depression apart from France and the U.K. The world was divided into two units; one unit led by the U.K./USA and the other by the U.S.S.R. and later Communist China. Colonial rule started to end, and communism began gaining popularity the world over. The era of the cold war between superpowers began and the United Nations Organization was formed. In Europe, the eastern portion was liberated by the erstwhile U.S.S.R., while the western portion was liberated by the allies. Europe split based on the basis of communist versus democratic rule. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was set up in 1949, and SEAT in 1954 to formulate defense of nations who entered into different protective treaties. The U.S.S.R. and others like France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, continued atrocities against Eastern Europeans, especially the Germans. The trend of targeting civilians in attacks that started in World War II continues

today and is visible all over the world where wars are happening. It is particularly evident in Africa. Superpowers started trying to influence developing nations by fighting wars on their soil for them and weakening their economies. Threats of nuclear powers being used by superpowers began looming (Historyrocket.com, n.d.). 5. How did this war contribute to the creation of an American Identity? The Great Depression was one of multiple causes that started World War II. Even after the war ended, America was still recovering from the Great Depression. Unemployment rates were still very high, and just as many Americans were filing for bankruptcy as were filing for unemployment. During the war, there were many jobs available because of the need to produce wartime supplies. When the war was over, there was no longer a need for wartime supplies. While American men were going off to fight in the war, American women were sent to take the man’s place in the workforce. Before the war, many women worked in the home and were not allowed to do “a man’s job” (PBS, 2020). After the war, many men came back and went back to work in the jobs they held before the war. There were also some who came back from the war and joined the ranks of the unemployed. Unprecedented opportunities were created by the war for returning soldiers. Near the end of the war, a number of influential social programs that were directed to help soldiers’ reentry to civilian life after the war. The most significant of these was the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which is also known as the GI Bill of Rights or GI Bill. The GI Bill promised benefits for unemployment, opportunities for education, low-interest housing loans, and medical care (Schultz, K., 2018).

Reference(s)

Britannica.com. (n.d.). World War II. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/World-War-II Congress. (n.d.). The Post War United States, 1945-1968: U.S. History Primary Source Timeline: Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress: Library of Congress. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/postwar-united-states-1945-1968/overview/ Historyrocket.com. (n.d.). Long Term Outcomes of World War II. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from http://historyrocket.com/World-War/world-war-ii/Long-Term-Outcomes-Of-WorldWarIi.html#:~:text=%20Some%20significant%20outcomes%20of%20WW%20II%20were%3A, final%20year%20of%20the%20war%2C%20the...%20More%20 PBS. (2020). Impact of World War II on the U.S. Economy and Workforce. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from http://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/artifact/impact-world-war-ii-us-economy-andworkforce Rosenberg, J. (n.d.). World War II Timeline: 1939 to 1945. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-timeline1779991#:~:text=World%20War%20II %20%28WWII%29%20was%20a%20long%20and, timeline%20of%20major%20events%20during%20the%20war. %201939 Schultz, K. (2018). HIST 5. Cengage. ISBN-13: 9781337294140. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/cengage/2018/hist5_5e.php U.S. National Park Service. (n.d.). The WWII Home Front. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-wwii-home-front.htm Zwiebel, D. (2009). Battle of Lake Erie: Turning Point of the War of 1812: Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-culturalheritage-map-pa/feature-articles/battle-lake-erie-turning -point-war-1812...