PREPAREDNESS AND WAR AT HOME (1940-45)- economy fully mobilized during 1940’s- economic and industrial build up- unemployment in US still very high until - September 1939, Germany invades Poland- US gov’t instituted a Preparedness Campaign; prepare for war just in case. Gov’t expands nat’l expense. Payed off after Japan bombed PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 7, 1941- all sectors of US economy mobilized to help US war effort- b/c of demand spurred by war, industry expanded, employment becomes available and there was a shortage of workers... problem- not enough workers to meet demand of military buildup- by 1943, unemployment was simply unheard of- by end of war 24 million ppl correlated directly in defense forces- labor shortage has variety of results; - 1) progressive and new deal era labor reforms fall by the wayside. Gov’t passed laws and regulations that we ignored then suspended with war. institute longer working day, wages cut. - 2) more and more women come into work force. women had to fill jobs of men that went to military. take up many office jobs and factory jobs. ROSIE THE RIVETER; represents women that took jobs in factories to replace men in war. women end up making over a third of nations work force. after war, many women quit or were fired from jobs. some continues to work. it becomes much more acceptable for women to work after the war.- WW2 drove social change. Trend of women in work force grows from then on- 3) social change for AA. during war, many white men enlist in army. so many AA men and women help fill demand. illustrates that they can do same jobs as white men. less racist attitudes with intermixing backgrounds of ppl working together, breaks down social barriers- shortage of workers causes wage increase initially. problem b/c gov’t doesn’t want to pay that much. - Result: NATIONAL WAR LABOR BOARD; charged with managing the nations labor supply in order to make sure that production goes smoothly. steps in and helps manage disputes b/w laborers and companies. designed to eliminate disputes (ppl going on strike) before they even get there. tackles issue of rising wages; institutes caps on what wages could be. board limits wages in a number of industries. - other problem of war; shortage of raw materials. RATIONING; of critical resources such as food and gasoline. ex: gasoline ration cards. - GROWING OF VICTORY GARDENS; if ppl grow food at home, all commercially grown food can be shipped overseas to help in people fighting in war- gov’t takes steps towards moving US to a gov’t planned economy. can’t trust the market. gov’t needs to get on board w/ american manufacturers..- WAR PRODUCTION BOARD; goal was to centralize organize and help guilt industrial production. regulate allocation of materials. Ex: rubber production goes to tires for jeeps for war. Ford needs to stop producing cars, and start producing tanks. Type writer factories not produce machine guns. entire american economy being re-gearedfor war. things you could no longer buy after 1941 (cars), would have to wait til after war. - WPB dictates how people dressed as well. idea: conserve cloth, metal. menswear no longer had vests, elbow patches, cuffs on pants. women’s skirts got shorter. all this because material needed to be utilized for war.- Post war, WPB disappears by 1946- how do we pay for a war this big? income tax, lending money to allies over seas, bonds, and schemes: income tax.- 1942 after pearl harbor. Roosevelt proposed 100% top marginal tax rate. didn’t pass but taxes did go up. successfully raised revenues for gov’t, still not enough - another scheme: sale of WAR BOND; regular treasury bonds marketed towards americans who wanted to support war. played on patriotism. americans put large portions of savings in war bonds. also dramatically increases fed’l debt, gov’t owes people money- PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN; get americans to accept all of the sacrifices they had to make during the war. want them to be happy that they’re in the factory, making their own food, and all the other thing they have to sacrifice. media and many businesses on board with this. - at this time, all hollywood scripts, had to be approved by gov’t to make sure they’re not trying to put out any message against propaganda campaign- POSTERS; play on fears of civilians to promote war effort. ideal war to promote war effort b/c posters are cheap. - “WHEN YOU RIDE ALONE, YOU RIDE WITH HILTER!” - poster refers to saving gasoline- JIMMY STEWART; served in military. stared in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” enlisted and made a career out of military experience. during war, Hollywood put out movies and other products focused on promoting patriotism- WW2 not just military campaign. it dominating american society and created lasting marks w/ social change. woman and AA’s get better jobs, changes american society after war4/8/13MOVIE: COLD WAR- WINSTON CHURCHILL; Prime minister during the war. speech- puts up wall b/w free and totalitarian, b/w liberal democratic nations and the communist soviet movement.- there was a huge growing divide. - towards end of war 1943.. soviets union is trying to consolidate their power along the Boltic sea. Stalin wants to secure Poland under Influence of USSR. poland = opportunity to create buffer b/w poland and eastern soviet union. - following that, comes debate of whats going to happen to Germany- Eastern and central europe turned into prison basically- CONTAINMENT POLICY- do not go invade and try to destroy communism, but rather contain the influence wherever we see stalin and soviet union trying to expand, stop it there.2/9/13MCCARTHYISM AND ANTI-COMMUNISM IN THE 1950’s- Cold war greatly influenced american society. - Fear of communism and Soviet union became a widespread concern. shown in films, books, politics. fear of communism and paranoia during late 40’s and 1950’s- Red Scare from 1917-1920’s targeted hatred at eastern and southern europeans. - THE 2ND RED SCARE; people paranoid. cold war w/ communist soviet union w/ leader Stalin. - unlike 1st red scare, they focus their energy on a much wider group of people. can’t tell who a communist is, so threat is greater. if you certain books, newspapers, supported certain organizations, people would suspect you were a communist. - HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE; an investigative committee of US house of Representatives. job- investigate individuals and groups who were suspected of
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