1. World War II
Dr. John Holmes
History 121, U.S After 1877
Diablo Valley College San Ramon,
Summer 2013

2. “The Good War”
WWII the key event of US history
between Civil War and now
“The Greatest Generation.”
Oral history — Studs Terkel’s The
Good War.
Letters from soldiers, docs. 25-2, 4
Contrast of Vietnam, the “Bad War”
Americans seen as liberators
Contrast with Nazis and Japanese
The Holocaust, doc. 25-3
Theme of discussion questions:
Was it truly a “Good War”?

3. Fascism
WebCT document on Communism
and Russian Revolution
Worldwide backlash to
Communism in 1920s
Movement founded by Benito
Mussolini in Italy
Nazism in Germany afterwards
Spanish Civil War: dress rehearsal
for WWII in Europe
German and Italian aid to Franco,
Russian aid to Republican side.
Axis vs. Allies in WWII

4. From isolation to involvement
Depression breaks down U.S.
economic isolation
WWII rise of US world power
Isolationism of 1930s
Nye Committee and Neutrality Acts
US neutrality in Spanish Civil War
“Lusitania clause” and FDR
US becomes “arsenal of democracy”
Latin American “Good Neighbor
Policy”
support to dictators as model for
future. Somoza, “our bastard”

5. US entry into WWII
Roosevelt wants US entry
Most Americans want to stay out
Opposition from Right, not Left
Charles Lindbergh’s “America First
Committee.”
Hitler-Stalin Pact discredits
communism among intellectuals
Pearl Harbor, doc. 25-1
Oil, Vietnam and WWII
Germany declares war on US as
part of deal with Japan

6. The War Abroad
The GI perspective. Docs. 25-4
and 25-2. The view “from below.”
The Holocaust, doc. 25-3.
View from above: two different
wars
War vs. Japan at least as
important as war in Europe.
Until January 1945, more US
troops in Asia than Europe

7. The War in Europe
European War essentially between
Germany and Soviet Union
90% of Germany army vs. USSR
Everything else, including D-Day, a
sideshow
Blitzkrieg halted at Moscow, before
Pearl Harbor
Moscow and Stalingrad the
decisive battles of the war
Foner overlooks siege of Moscow
The soldiers’ viewpoint: letter p.
202
Main US impact in Europe: the air
war

8. The Air War and Catch-22
Highest circulation WWII novel
Joseph Heller himself a bomber
pilot
Similarities to account from pilot on
p. 200
Accurate if exaggerated
description of air war in Europe
Great destruction of human life
Dresden and Hamburg
Was it effective militarily? German
civilian backlash, as with 9/11?
Gabriel Kolko, Politics of War:
Dresden to impress the Russians?

9. Race War in the Pacific
John Dower, War Without Mercy
Letter from Allen Spach, p. 200:
“crush Japan and the swines that are
their sons, fighting to rule the white race.”
Racial atrocities on both sides
“Take no prisoners”
Ears, skulls, gold teeth as souvenirs
Japanese: Bataan death march (Foner
804, letter p. 197))
Gallup poll 1944: kill all Japanese?
Precedent for Korea and Vietnam?

10. Economics of the Home Front
War ends Great Depression
Ultra-Keynesian war policy
Government spends more money
than in all previous US history!
Huge increase in debt and taxes
End of liberal New Deal programs
75% of all capital investment by
government
Transformation to military economy
Rationing and pent-up consumer
demand

11. WWII: the happy war?
Extreme suffering abroad
In US, WWII breaks psychological
depression
Increase in US (and German)
standard of living
Increase in birthrate
Poor farmers become rich
Government-labor collaboration
No strike pledge
Coal strike: John L. Lewis jailed
No unemployment, higher wages
Communist Party respectable then

12. Women and WWII
Great increase in working women
In unions: 4X. In Detroit: 5X! (note
womens’ role in Flint movie clip)
“Rosie the Riveter”
Only 1 in 4 in military production
Those who were, mostly unionized
Equal pay for equal work?
Most white-collar
Increase mainly among wives
Black women particularly benefit
The Backlash: document 23-5
Basis for women’s movement later

13. WWII and Black People
Segregated in army, but allowed to
work in war industry
Result of March on Washington
Movement
Model for Civil Rights Movement
A. Philip Randolph
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Oakland and the Dellums family
Entry, but not equality. CIO fights for
equality.
The “Great Migration”
Similar developments for Chicanos

14. Racial Liberalism
White racism legitimate until WWII
War needs lead to shift in ideology
Gunnar Myrdal, An American
Dilemma
Nazis give racism a bad name
and even more so anti-Semiitsm
Race war in Pacific contradicts
anti-fascism in Europe
Chinese good, Japanese bad?
Reversal after WWII
Hypocrisy discredits anti-Asian
racism

15. Rest of the Week
Tuesday: Hiroshima Debate
Discussion exercise and materials
posted
Wednesday: Review for Midterm
next Monday, and
Harry Truman, the Cold War, the
Korean War and McCarthyism
Readings: Foner Chapter 23,
Reader Chapter 26
Thursday: Fourth of July, no
class.