impact of WWII Flashcards
Why did the US join the war and when?
-1941
-following the Japanese attack on pearl harbour
What was Roosevelt determined to make use of in the war effort and what is the evidence of this?
-leading US businessmen
-the War Production Board set up in 1941 and run by Henry Kaiser (big businessman)
What did Roosevelt do in order to make sure production of weapons for the war met the demand?
Contracts were given to large companies to make weapons
e.g General Motors prouduced machine guns among other things
In return the firms made a lot of money
The Second World War allowed the US to …
By 1945, they emerged the …
-expand its military and industrial complexes
-most powerful economy in the world
What percentage of the worlds weapons was the US producing by 1944
50%
How was unemployment resolved by WW2? Give examples
-conscription = 16 million men and women served in the forces
-factories = 14 million people in factories
-nearly 4 million people (mainly black Americans) migrated from rural south to industrial north
How many women join the workforce thanks to the war?
7 million
War: How many aircraft workers were women?
How many munitions workers were women?
-1 in 3 aircraft workers were women
-50% of munitions workers were women
By how much did the US GDP go up by from 1940-50?
$100,000
What did the Second World War massively contribute to?
recovery from the Great Depression
What was the aim of the War Production Board?
To maximise US war production by providing each factory with all the materials it needed to produce a large amount of goods in the shortest time
How did the war benefit the individual?
Americans cashed in their war bonds and used the money to buy consumer goods
War: What did sales of cars increase by between 1945-50?
Over 6.6 million
War: what did desert areas become?
Centres for weapon testing
Other than production why did America benefit from the war?
European nations had been ravaged by the war so there was high demand for American goods
Why did America get richer in the 1950s?
-Korean War and the Cold War meaning there were still big orders from steel, coal and electronics industries
-improved efficiency of the workforce meaning goods could be produced cheaply
-growth in population = growth in demand
What was the first suburb?
Levittown on Long Island
What were some reasons for mass migration from cities to suberbia?
-suberbs encapsulated the American dream for young couples and was a ‘safer’ place to raise children away from danger of city life
-houses were reasonably priced with low-interest mortgages = perfect for middle-class newlyweds
-most families had at least one car so didn’t have to live in their place of work
-1945-60 baby boom raised population to 40 million - need for more homes
When was the baby boom?
1945-1960
What did women in suberbs feel and how did they combat this?
-lonely and isolated if they weren’t able to go to work
-they organised Tupperware parties where they met over coffee to buy kitchen products
Give some examples of how not everyone benefitted from the affluence of the 40s and 50s
-many building developers would refuse to sell houses to ethnic minorities
-depended on where you lived (south earned much less)
-no national health service and the cost of medical care increased (and poor living conditions meant more illness)
Despite apparent affluence, how many people lived below the poverty line in 1959?
29%
What was the average wage for factory workers in 1950 vs 1959?
$55 - $80
