World War 2 The Game Changers
By: Patrice Miller
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
America was helping out China and Japan at first in the war. Then they decided to stop sending Japan supplies because they were ruthless and they were treating the chinese very poorly.The Americans stop sending the Japanese steel, scrap iron, and aviation fuel. The Americans were influenced by New York time reporter first hand account From F. Tillman, "All Captives Slain,'' The New York Times, December 18, 1937. He went over and witnessed the battle between Japan and China.The Japanese were running out of supplies quickly. The Japanese wanted the fuel act lifted because without it they would not be able to fly their planes and bomb people without the fuel. So they figured if they bombed pearl harbor then we would not be able to get supplies to the Chinese. This way the battle between the Japanese and the Chinese would be equal. That did not happen the bombing of pearl harbor actually made the US enter the war. The Japanese planned to surprise attack the US when they tried to bomb pearl harbor. They thought that if they destroyed the Pacific fleet then the Americans would not be able to fight them back. The Pacific Fleet were not there when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. The Japanese plan did not go as well as they had planned it to go. They should have made sure that the pacific fleet was going to be there when they attacked in order for them to hurt the American Navy. President Roosevelt was not very happy with this attack and he said on December 8 “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.” The Japanese did not want to go to war with America they just wanted the embargo acts lifted they did not intend for War to happen. Congress approved Roosevelt's declaration of War. Germany and Italy declared war on America too and it took more than two years after that for America to enter the World War 2. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the turning point in the War for the American people.
Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941 - The only color film of the attack
Lend Lease Act
The Lend Lease act was created to keep the US neutral on all sides of the war. All the US wanted to do was send supplies to other countries to help them out. The Lend Lease act is a game changer for the US because it is an improvement from the Neutrality acts that we have had in place. The neutrality acts were no longer working for us so we came up with a new plans and Roosevelt said “We have learned that when we deliberately try to legislate neutrality, our neutrality laws may operate unevenly and unfairly- may actually give aid to an aggressor and deny it to the victim. The instinct of self- preservation should warn us that we ought not to let that happen anymorehink.” That is why we came up with the Lend Lease act so that we would be acting evenly and fairly for all sides of the party. This is always a way of keeping us Neutral throughout the war seeing as though we don’t want to be in the war. Representative Anton F. Maciejewski from Illinois said “ Suppose in the papers of tomorrow or later on, the people of America should read of the defeat of Britain, what do you suppose will be their feeling? Will it be one of calmness, of safety and security, or will it be one of alarm, or with the feeling of fear, or impending danger? Would not their feelings be properly summed up in the words ‘we are next’? That is the reason why this is a defense measure and a peace measure so that ‘ we will not be next.’” We are using the lend lease bill as a peace measure and a defense measure. We want to have friends throughout this war because if war does break out on us we want the other countries that we are helping to think about us and help us out in our time of need whether it is now or later. We want to help out everyone that is fighting Germany.This is a defense measure because if somebody crosses us while they are in war we can and will cut off their supplies from us. They will no longer be supplied with military supplies from us. This was created also so that we could be apart of the war but not in the war as far as fighting. We just wanted to defeat Germany in anyway possible.
FDR and the Lend Lease Act
Japans War in Colour
The Japanese needed land to become more powerful so they decided to take over China. They invaded china and took over everything. The Japanese needed to modernize and industrialize. The Japanese where very determined people and they got what they wanted and what they needed. The Japanese invaded China because they were resource poor and they needed more resources. MP Winston Churchill said “ I have often written about Germany rearming let us gaiz for a moment at Japan here again is a nation being view with dreams and of war and conquest let every voice in moderation be silence by death”. He was basically saying that the Japanese were ready to go to war. When they invaded China we saw that. The Japanese needed resources that the Chinese had so they came over and starting killing the Chinese people. They killed Chinese people of all ages. They even killed the ones that surrendered. They only did what they were ordered to do. The Japanese people where very determined people and they were willing to take over China just so they could get the resources that they needed also so they could become more modernized and industrialize.
Japan's War in Colour (Complete Documentary)
Women in World War 2
There was an increase in female workers during this time since the males were enlisting in the military to fight in the war. This was a big step up for the women during this time because they were seen as they only need to help around the house. Now the country needed them to work in factories, land army,air force, and navy. Women before this war were viewed as people that stayed home, cooked, clean, watched after the kids, and made sure their husbands were happy. They were also secret agents too during this war. This was a very dangerous job and these women were risk takers. Also this was a smart idea for the military to use. Who would think that a women would be used as a secret agent during this time to spy. The women contributed a lot to the war. At this point it seemed as if the women were becoming equal to the men. They were not as equal but they were equal in that women got to do the same jobs as men but got different pay. African American women where also important here they as well got to contribute in helping with the war. They got to be nurses only 500 African American women got to be a nurse in the army. Eleanor Roosevelt helped women to get where they got to during world war 2 because she spoke about equal opportunity. This was a game changer for the war but also for the history of Women. The videos below give you a little bit more insight on what went down and how women where viewed in world war 2.
Women - the World War 2 'Manpower'
Tuskegee
The Tuskegee Airmen where very significant to this war. This was important to the African American men because this war their time and chance to change history for their people. They got a chance to become the first whatever and it go down in history and they get to be remembered by many people. This was the first African American Airmen group so the people that started this will go down in history as being somebody other than just being a black man. Not only did they contribute to America winning the war they also contributed to breaking cultural barriers within the African American community and caucasian community. They were well known for the most part in American and they were talked about in a magazine on March 24, 1945, an African American newspaper, the Chicago Defender. These men faced a lot of racism from other people throughout the war. They were strong men to be able to handle the pressure from the war and pressure from the people around them calling them all of type of name and treating them different from the others. Despite everything they wanted to be known and seen when they came and attacked according to Lt. Col. Herbert Carter of the Tuskegee Airmen “We got the reddest paint we could find and painted our aircraft. We wanted the bomber crews to know when we were escorting them and we wanted to make sure the Luftwaffe knew when we were airborne and in their territory”. They destroyed 111 german airplanes, earned 150 distinguished flying crosses, 774 air medals, 8 purple hearts,and 14 bronze stars.
Tuskegee Airmen - 70 Years Ago