chapter 34 // BOLDED Flashcards
ABC-1 agreement (1941)
An agreement between Britain and the United States developed at a conference in Washington, D.C., between January 29 and March 27, 1941, that should the United States enter World War II, the two nations and their allies would coordinate their military planning, making a priority of protecting the British Commonwealth. That would mean “getting Germany first” in the Atlantic and the European theater and fighting more defensively on other military fronts.
Executive Order No. 9066
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, it authorized the secretary of war to designate military zones from which certain categories of people could be excluded. Fueled by historic anti-Japanese sentiment as well as panic following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the order led to the forced removal of some 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry (70,000 of them U.S. citizens) from the Western Military Zone (the coastal sections of Washington, Oregon, and California) Most but not all of those removed were interned in relocation camps in the interior West. The order was rescinded in December 1944, and legislation passed in 1988 offered an official government apology and modest financial compensation to surviving citizen internees.
War Production Board (WPB)
Established in 1942 by executive order to direct all war production, including procuring and allocating raw materials, to maximize the nation’s war machine. The WPB had sweeping powers over the U.S. economy and was abolished in November 1945 soon after Japan’s defeat.
Office of Price Administration (OPA) (1941-1947)
A critically important wartime agency charged with regulating the consumer economy by rationing scarce supplies, such as automobiles, tires, fuel, nylon, and sugar, and by curbing inflation by setting ceilings on the price of goods. Rents were controlled as well in parts of the country overwhelmed by war workers. The OPA was extended after World War Ii ended to continue the fight against inflation.
National War Labor Board (NWLB)
Established by Franklin D. Roosevelt to act as an arbitration tribunal and mediate disputes between labor and management that might have led to war stoppages and thereby undermined the war effort. The NWLB was also charged with adjusting wages with an eye to controlling inflation.
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (1943)
Passed amidst worries about the effect that labor strikes would have on war production, this law allowed the federal government to seize and operate plants threatened by labor disputes. It also criminalized strike action against government-run companies.
WACs (Women’s Army Corps)
The women’s branch of the U.S. Army established during World War II to employ women in noncombatant jobs. Women now participated in the armed services in ways that went beyond their traditional roles as nurses.
WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)
The women’s branch of the U.S. Navy established during World War II to employ women in noncombatant jobs.
SPARs (U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve)
The women’s branch of the U.S. Coast Guard established during World War II to employ women in noncombatant jobs.
Bracero program (1942)
Program established by agreement with the Mexican government to recruit temporary Mexican agricultural workers to the United States to make up for wartime labor shortages in the Far West. The program persisted until 1964, by which time it had sponsored 4.5 million border crossings.
Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) (1941)
Threatened with a massive “Negro March on Washington” to demand equal opportunities in war jobs and in the military, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration issued an executive order forbidding racial discrimination in all defense plants operating under contact with the federal government. The FEPC was intended to monitor compliance with the executive order.
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) (1942)
Nonviolent civil rights organization founded in 1942 and committed to the “Double V” - victory over fascism abroad and racism at home. After World War II, CORE would become a major force in the civil rights movement.
code talkers
Native American men who served in the military by transmitting radio messages in their native languages, which were undecipherable by German and Japanese spies.
Battle of Midway (1942)
A pivotal naval battle fought near the island of Midway on June 3-6, 1942. The victory halted Japanese advances in the Pacific.
D-Day (1944)
A massive military operation led by American forces in Normandy beginning on June 6, 1944. The pivotal battle led to the liberation of France and brought on the final phases of World War II in Europe.
