1. The Home Front
&
The Aftermath
of the War

2. USSR
• Leningrad – under siege for 900 days
• Battle of Machines – entire factories were
moved to the interior and produced war
munitions.
• Soviet women worked in industries, mines,
railroads, some served in the military as
snipers and aircrew.

4. U.S.
• American economy mobilization for war
• Turmoil
– Housing & schools shortage
– Racial tensions & race riots
– Segregation in U.S. military
• Japanese Americans
– 110,000 moved to internment
camps

5. Germany
• To maintain morale Hitler refused to cut
consumer goods production or to increase
the production of armaments
• 1942 order massive increase in
armaments, Albert Speer was put in charge
(too late)
• 1944 Schools, theaters, and cafes were
closed
• Women were encouraged to enter the work
force, few did

6. Japan
• Wartime Japan was
highly mobilized
• Young Japanese men
were encouraged to
volunteer in suicide
mission against the U.S.
(kamikaze)
• Female employment
increased in farming and
the textile industry
– Chinese and Korean labors
were brought in to meet the Kamikaze attack on the LST534
labor shortage

7. Bombing of Cities
• Most thought that bombing civilian populations
would be an effective way to force governments
to make peace.
• Battle of Britain – proved this theory wrong!
• British began bombing German cities
– Destruction of Dresden
• Incendiary bomb create firestorms
• 500,000 civilians die in bombing – survivors
were not more determined to fight to the death
• Bombing did not slow down production of war
goods

8. Bombing of Cities
cont.
• The bombing of civilians reached a new
level with the first atomic bomb.
U.S. B-29 Superfortress

9. Harry Truman
• Harry Truman – U.S. Pres after FDR dies
– Has to decide if U.S. should use atomic
bomb

10. Atomic Bomb
• Use of Atomic Bomb
– Allow U.S. to avoid invasion of Japan
• Estimated 90% casualty rate to invade JAP
– Aug 6 – 1st bomb dropped on Hiroshima
– Aug 9 – 2nd bomb dropped on Nagasaki
• Both cities leveled
• Hiroshima: 71,379 instantly killed, 70,000 die
later from radiation poisoning.
• Nagasaki: 25,000 instantly killed, 45,000 die
by end of year from radiation poisoning

11. Atomic Bomb cont.
• Almost everything within a one-mile radius
of the explosion’s center spontaneously
combusted.
• Granite stone melted
• People vaporized left ghostly images
imprinted on stone walls & sidewalks.
*Information from Everything World War II

12. Peace & a New War
• WWII was followed by a period of political
tensions known as the Cold War
• Tehran Conference
• Yalta Conference
• Potsdam Conference

13. End of the War
• Aug 14 – Emperor Hirohito surrendered
– 17 million dead in battle
– 20 million dead civilians
– Some estimate total dead 50 million
– Immediately after the war, Russia and the
U.S. went their separate ways
– This rivalry between east & west was known
as the Cold War

14. End of the War in Europe
• Alliespushed inland & broke
Ger defenses
•August 1944 –Allies liberated
Paris
•Russians defeated Germans at
Battle of Kursk
•Soviets move on to occupy
Warsaw–Jan 1945
•March 1945 – crossed Rhine
River into Germany
•End April 1945 – Allies in N.
Germany moved toward Elbe R
& linked w/Soviets
•Hitler committed suicide April 30, 1945-2
•Allies entered Berlin April 23, days later Mussolini is killed
1945 •May 7, 1945-Germans surrendered -VE
Day

15. • Nuremberg Trials
– Dachau Trials –
Prosecutor Colonel
Denson (Bham, AL)
– Alleged former Nazi
deported to Austria
from U.S.
Nuremberg Trials

16. • West thought Soviets were pushing
Communism world-wide
• Soviets viewed the West especially
America pushed global capitalism
• March 1946 “Iron curtain” divided EU into
two hostile camps