tv Reel America FDR and World War II CSPAN May 25, 2024 10:30am-11:02am EDT
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invasion of poland. 9ñby the time the war in 1945, more than 60 milon people have been killed and dozens of nations were desity of democraco sustain and survive a dect attack have been put to the test and proven. across the globe. the the 1930s has been a time of great unrest, as economic depression resulted in espair. some nations fell under the control of totalitarian leaders in europe. german dictator adolf and his italian counterpart benito mussolini, took advantage the financial turmoil and promised prosperity based on military expansion. in asia, the militaryinated government of japan plotted a similar course, separated from
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theseceans. americans to avoid involvement in yetat time, u.s. militaryked 17th in the world and were hardly in a to enter a world war. t roosevelt began view events in europe and the increasingly more justification of kind. the including vast numbers of women and children are being ruthlessly murdered with bombs. the air at 2:50 a.m. on september 1st, 1939. presidentsleep at the white house when the phone by his bedside rang. the had invaded poland as england and france had pledged to come to poland's defense of germany attacked. roosevelt realized that a larger was at hd. while his sympathies lay with the countries being overrun, the axis powers america's isolate in
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his mood limited his freedom to respond. the country's neutrality act prevented. the sale of american weapons to warring nations. there was little he could do at congress for authority and funds sufficient to manufacture munitions and was supplies of those nations which are now in with an aggressor nation. our most useful and immediate role iso as an arsenal for as well as forurselves. we should send an ever increasing number ship planes and gun. that is our purpose and our. on december 7th, 1941, debate over american in world war two ended abruptly when japan staged a surprise attack on pearl harbor. harbor. the
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japanese that tacked pearl harbor, hawaii president roosevelt, as just announced that also made on all naval and military activities. and the principal of oahu. f5december seven and 1941. a date which william in infamy united of america was suddenly and■> deliberately. naval and air forces of the empire of japan. i asked that the congress declare that since the and
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attack by japan on sunday, december seven, 1941, a state of war hasetween the united states and the■ japanese empire. the attack was part of a larger military plan to seize■dd contr, oil and other critical resources in the pacific destroy our ability to stand in their wfourd italy who were allied with japan, declared war on the united states. roosevelt had believed for some time that germany pose the greatest threat to america's when hitler, mussolini set their war machines against united ates, roel concerns were proven, justified, and his need to respond was obvious.
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entered war, the situation was much of america's west coast fleet a now controlled vast areas of the pacific. and the north atlantic. german continued their deadly campaign against supply ships bound for great britain. so what? what about.■v and in europe, union. winston churchill, the prime of england. america ally, traveled to washington to meet with roosevelt. together planned a strategy to combat the axis powers. it began to pay off in june of 42 as the allies stopped the expansioofiñhe axis powers and began to take the offensive in epic battle of midway. une, 1942 was a major turning point.
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the u.s. carriers and ended japan's dominance in the central. a month later, american invaded the island of guadalcanal this was the first step in a strategy that came be called island hopping. an island by island advance toward the japanese homeland in europe. theproved. british forces the german afrika korps in egypt. advance.american invasion contd the soviet union was stopped in a series of hard fought battles. in 1943, the tide ofatcontinuedf the allies as they gained greater and greater control of the fighting in both europe and the pacific. thet union turned back the german invasion and began hitler's armies july the alliesd sicily. the invasion led to the overthrow of mussolini's
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government. italy's surrender. soon after. the battle of the atlantic. the campaign end. the german submarine menace in the atlantic ocean began towell. the allies to eliminate this threat so they supplies in great britain that would be needed for the decisive of northwest europe. from 1pondered, when, where anda second f ie open this issue caused considerable friction between the big th roosevelt, churchilld stalin each had their own ideas concer t attack. stalin demanded that his allies strike at the heart of hitler''s empire in northwestern europe to distract and draw off a portion ofhe attacking the ussr. roosevelt also■ favored assault on northwestern europe, but realized attack would require time forzt careful planning and preparation. churchill pushed for a more rategy of attack along the of the axis empire, not
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november 1943. at the big three meeting in tehran, where spring. the war was far from won. thescussion of a postwar united nations organization. soviet fears of a resurgent germany led the russians to demand territorial adjustments in eastern e establish larger postwar buffer zone between germany and the ussr. the allies also agreed that they would accept nothing less than an unconditional surrender from the axis dawn broke on june 6th, the largest amphibious invasion force in history massed the waters of the english channel. the long awaited invasion of northwestern europe. ága second front was underway, codenamed had taken years to organize. hundreds ofho weapons
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equipment were transported across the atlantic ocean to the invasion force consisted chiefly americans, britons andc. in the tense early hours. the asult. tored reports the front. that evening he a statement to the american people. it took the form of a prayer which he read on national radio. almighty god, our nation this de mighty endeavor, a struggle to public, our religion and o civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity leading straight and cruel gives to their arms, darkness to their hearts, steadfastness in their fai invat hitler's armies trapped in a vise, fighting an expanding
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anglo-american canadian force in the west and the sovts■ army in the east. the allies began to tighten the by 1945, time was running out for the german and japanese forces. the year before the allied had empire.deep into japan's by autumn of 1940 for the liberation of the philippines american had begun a devastating fire campaign against japanese cities. bases in thefighting the war. marines landed on the island, iwo jima, midway between the marianas and tokyo. america was now in a position to begin the end game in the war against japan and germany. franklin roosevelt lived long enough to know that victory was assured. but on the morning of april45, d its 2,051st day, an exhausted president roosevelt woke in his cottage at the presidential;t?6 rem springs georgia,
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worn down by heart disease, the stress of wartime leadership. he had there for a brief vacation at 1 p.m. he was studying papers and sitting for a portrait painter when he suddenly complained of a terrific. seconds later, he. within hours,w/ief was dead of a massive stroke. less than a month later, hitler committed suicide in his berlin bunker. and on may 8th, 1945, germany surrendered the allies. four months later, on september 2nd, after sufferi atomic bomb strikes on the cities of hiroshima and the war formally ended when japan surrendered in a ceremony, the uss missouri in tokyo. world war two, the most important and most terrible event of the 20th century was over, but a profoundly economic, political and social onships that continue to influence the world we live in today are. we are now in this war.
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and we're all in it all the w. s a partner in the most tremendous undertake of our amerin we must share together the bad news and the good news. the defeat and the victory changing fortunes ofto fight a global war. the united needs to mobilize its entire population. and along what became known as the home front, the government turned to ordinary citizens and leaders of large corporations help lead the mobilionse was as. american wartime production. more than 299,000 aircraft, 630,000 jeeps, 88,000 tanks, 1500 naval vessels, six and a half million rifles and, 40
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billion bullets. by 1945, the unitedproducing 60d munitions and, 40% of the world's weapons. the american public was asked to conserve scae fomi products ranging from gasoline to sugar. were rationed civilians strove less, ate meat, less and often drank less coffee. dren organized scrap drives to salvage rubber metal for war industries. while their parents joined civil defense units planted victory gardens and purchaseds worth of, millions of americans began federal taxes for the first time, and to control inflation. fo the ves on wages, prices and rents. president and mrs. roosevelt at the forefront of this national mobilization effort, sng focusie goals of total victory. theyurchased war bonds, blackout shades, hung on their windows and commit wartime.
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the couple's four sons all served military during the war. mrs. roosevelt continued, the ceaseless activism that had long marked as america's most public first lady. outspoken in in her support for racial and gender equality. airmen women's admission into services and the right of workers to organize. in 1942, she england to offer support to america's and returnedith detailed reports for fdr. a year later, she a 25,000 mile tour of the south pacific, tative of the american red cross. the first lady traveled in military transports, putting herself at risk to visit hospitals, military camps and red cross clubs. during her trip, she saw an estimated hundred thousand american servicemen women. economic opportunities for women and minorities and advanced cause of these two major social
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movements. after being threatened by black leaders with a march on washington moved to confront racial discrimination in the defense industries by issuing ■xexecutive. 8802, which barred racial in war yplanto enforce it. he created the fair employment practices commission. many womfound opportunities traditionally held men were reluctant to return to the traditional role of homemakerrtr african-americans and women during the war contributed to he postwar civil rights and women's rights movements. grant us victory over the tyrants d men and that man should know bread and peace that he shall know. justice and righteousness. an opportunity and an equal chance to do his best, not only
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particularly those on the pacific coast, feared enemy attack and, saw danger in every corner. these wartime fears, combined with racial prejudice, led a great injuice. early in 1942, civilian and leaders on the west coast complained that members of the region's large community might be working the japanese military to plan acts of sabotage. though no serious of this existed, they pushed the roosevelt administration for . on february 19th, 1942, fdr which led to the forced relocation of more than 110,000 japanese-americans living on the west coast. they were confined to internment camps operated by the military. more people were native born americans. citizens abruptly ford abandon or sell their homes and businesses. many lost everything that they own. wartime led canada and nations throughout latin americs against residents of japanese
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ancestry. yet they remained loyal and some japanese-americans from. the camps served in the nation's military. they distinguished themselves with extraordinary valor in combat. the court upheld the president's orde in two wartime cases. but in the 1980s, the united stateson of the civil liberties american citizens and voted to provide some financial compensation to individuals who were confined to the camps. the supreme court also vacated its earlier wartime rulings. and. during world war, two millions of americans took up arms to fight totalitarianism and racism abroad. yet in 194 a was, a deeply racist nation and the can institutions, was segregated. discrimination in the military.
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wi controlled by powerful southern democrats, who staunchly rac separation, fdr felt he could not broadly challenge mion. yet world war two provided fdr discriminateities to take without having to go to congrs e in the military. in the name. during the war, blacks were admitted to the marine corps for the first time and the army air corps, its ban on black pilots with strong public support of first lady eleanor nearly 1000 black pilots were trained at alabama's tuskegee institute. many of the tuskegee airmen eventually served in combat in euroin the all-black 99th pursut escorted the unit was ever lost to enemy fire. here, for the first time, -- groomed to fly of a unit which
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was then a unian surrounding the 99% struck. americans of mexican and latino and asian descent as. well as native americans were also given opportunities in the nation's military. and in the fight united states and. ■÷long america entered the conflict. rame world war two in more universal terms as a struggle to defend freedom around the world. fdr is most enduring exes÷[sion of this concept came in his january sixth 1941 annual message to congress in the future days, which we seek to
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make secure, heward to a world d on four essential humanthe firsd expression. every square in the world. freedom of every person to worship god in his own way. everywhere in the world. the third is fre from one, terms, means which will secure to ti healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants. everywhere in the world. the fourth is freedom, fear, which translated terms
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means a■barmament to such a poin such a thorough that no will be in a position to commit an act. the perfect aggression against neighbornywhere in the world. ring the final year of the in europe, allied forces began overrunning camps used by nazi germany carry out its horrific final solution. the effort to eliminate europe's entire jewish population that is known today as the holocaust. in nazi ideology, which held that --er beings, who, by their very existence threatened the nazi concept of racial purity. this systematic by the nazi
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state re murder of approximately 6 million --. thedered millions of political dissidents physically andta and others. they considered to be undesirable. immediately after coming to power in 1933, adolf hitler began the ■apersut germany's jewish population. immigration to the world's democracies was seen by many as a way out. but immigration laws were complicated and often harshly. during late 1930s and world war two led to enormous growth in german controlled territory that put vast numbers. european -un control and greatly diminished their prospects for escape to safety. break of war persecution escalated mass murder. beginning in eastern europe and eventually involving millions of -- the entire continent. what known as the final solution to thepr jewish question was a
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carefully planned, organized effort to maximize the killing and destroy every --. the nazis. could find how utterly without mercy or regard for human life. is the germanherwise can explaie reports people from berlin and packed like cattle into trains with their destination? neither poland or some part of occupied russia. the scale and depravity of the final solution was staggered in reports of mass killings reaching the allies almost as soon as they happened. the response opramerican governs sparked heated scholarly in recent decades. historians debate whether fdr have more to admit might have undertaken policies. the bombing of the rails to auhwth
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■uroosevelt responded to einstein's letter by authorizing the formation, a scientific committee study whether an atomic weapon was feasible. later, he approved the creation of the manhattan, a top secret effort to build an atomic weapon. at a conference hyde park in september of 1944, fdr churchill agreed to keep the bomb project codenamed tube alloys secret from soviet leader joseph stalin. what neither was that russian spies were keeping informed about its progress. fdr was prepared to japan but a bomb was not ready for testingn germany surrender inident harryn authorized the use of atomic august were dropped on the japanese cities of hiroshima and nagasaki
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welcomed representiv allied nations to the white house to sign a declaration pledging eh liberty in dependance and religious freedom■ó and prerve human rights and justice. fdr, this wartime coalition, the united nations and later led efforts to expand it into a postwar international organization. and returning from this trip, the defense of the refreshed, oinspired with a firm belief tht we have made a goodthe road to a world of peaceident td the american people will accept the results of this a permanent structure of peace upon which we can begin to build an underground that better world in
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which our children and grandchildren your men, mine, and the children and must live and can■] live.e that, my friend we all imagine jack, give you what i feel is very deeply. and i know t you are feeling it today and are going to feel it in the future. president roosevelt imagined, an organization of nations dica to equality and mutual security with the institutions, backbone, being the four policemen, the united states great britain, the soviet union and china, who would enforce the peace. address the opening session of the conference that created the united nations and the day before his death, he labored over a speech about the postwar wo enemies
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