Impact Of World War 2

Question 1

Impact of WWII on politics

Answer 1

• war necessitated more state intervention —> fed govt increased in size
• in 1932 (when Roosevelt became president) fed govt collected $1.9 billion in taxes —> in 1945 it collected $45 billion + borrowed another $45 billion
• Roosevelt faced little political opposition = re-elected in 1944 to serve a fourth term + his vice president Harry Truman took over when Roosevelt died in 1945

Question 2

Impact of WWII on the economy

Answer 2

• the war saw the emergence of the US as a military industrial superpower
• US financed much of the war effort of its allies = from 1940 Britain was incapable of continuing without American loans + munitions + from 1941 the lend-lease act provided essential assistance to the USSR
• millions of new jobs created to increase production + to fill jobs left by workers called up for military service
• by 1945 American dominance over the world economy was evident = ‘bretton woods system’ agreed in 1944 made the US dollar the world currency

Question 3

Impact of WWII on society

Answer 3

• US living standards went up in contrast to the rest of the world —> cultural life + popular entertainment thrived supporting a strong sense of national unity
• deaths as a % of population was only 0.3% compared to other countries such as Germany with 10.8%

Question 4

Impact of WWII on living standards + social mobility

Answer 4

• strengthening of trade union organisations e.g. the American Federation of Labour (AFL) + the Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO)
• fed govt put pressure on employers to recognise unions + the CIO committed to a no-strike policy + accepted govt arbitration of wage disputes = encouraged moderate pay rises
• increased social mobility = African Americans moved to cities to take up factory jobs of men conscripted to war + women were employed in munitions industry that had been previously regarded as ‘men only’

Question 5

Impact of WWII on women + AAs

Answer 5

• the rise in social mobility raised awareness of race + gender discrimination
• the United Auto Workers union (UAW) had to deal with several ‘hate strikes’ by white male workers in Detroit
• fed govt made tame efforts to deal with the problem by setting up the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)

Question 6

National unity

Answer 6

• successful propaganda reflected the idea of the ‘Good War’ + the whole of the nation pulling together e.g. govt agencies promoted effective poster campaigns such as ‘Rosie the Riveter’ to encourage women to work in munitions factories
• civilian consumption went up by more than 20% + the gap narrowed between the rich + the poor
• there was a surge in mass entertainment = radios in every home providing extensive news coverage about the war as well as music + comedy shows

Question 7

National unity EVALUATION

Answer 7

• comforting national myths about the war often covered up the unpleasant realities
• hate strikes in factories + racial tensions in armed forces
• shameful treatment of Japanese-Americans = claims that those living in Hawaii + California had helped plan pearl harbour + were sent to internment camps with harsh conditions —> congress awarded $40 million in compensation in 1948
• shows a weakness in the assumption about diverse people being United in the togetherness of the common war effort

Question 8

Impact of WWII on African Americans

Answer 8

• huge increase in membership of the NAACP + CORE formed in 1942
• A Philip Randolph put pressure on Roosevelt by organising a March on Washington + to avoid the embarrassment Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 8802 prohibiting racial discrimination in the defence industry

Question 9

Impact of WWII on African Americans EVALUATION

Answer 9

• trade unions continued to bar African Americans from membership
• severe racial tensions worsened by extensive migration of AAs out of the south to the cities
• 1943 race riot in Detroit = more than 10,000 involved in street violence + 34 were killed
• 1943 ‘Battle of Bamber Bridge’ = extreme violent clashes between US military policemen + black American troops in Bamber Bridge (Lancashire) = four soldiers wounded + one killed

Question 10

Position of the US in the world in 1945

Answer 10

• unlike after WWI the US assumed the responsibilities of world power instead of retreating into isolationism
• the Grand Alliance of US, Britain + USSR was never a real partnership = deep ideological differences between the west + Soviet Union —> had only came together because of a common enemy
• the Cold War began to take shape by 1949, but its beginnings can be traced back well before 1945

Question 11

Yalta conference

Answer 11

• Feb 1945
• long discussion devoted to planning for post war peace
• the problem was the agreements made were provisional + incomplete, pending a final formal peace treaty later which was never signed + the Cold War happened instead
• Roosevelt died a few weeks after the conference

Question 12

Potsdam

Answer 12

• July 1945
• Truman met Stalin + Churchill at Potsdam
• negotiations were difficult, with there being mutual suspicions = failed to reach a final agreement + the chill of the Cold War was already being felt
• it was during the Potsdam conference that Truman received news of the the successful test of the atomic bomb in New Mexico (Stalin also received the news but Truman didn’t know this)
• the bomb was later used in Japan in august 1945