Ww2 Effects On America

World War II had a profound influence on the United States. It is agreed by many historians that WWII was as surely won on the American homefront as it was on the actual battlefield. In 1939, compared to that of its enemies, American preparation for war was by far lacking. After just four year, The United States became a “military superpower.” According to a comparative study by Richard Overy, about two-thirds of all Allied military equipment produced during the war was provided by American industry. Companies that would normally produce everyday vehicles (such as automobiles) began to manufacture tanks and aircrafts. Although no battles were fought on the mainland, the war still heavily affected all ways of American life. It heavily affected
Compared to Japanese planes, early American aircrafts were not really a match. The same goes for American tanks when compared with German tanks. By the middle of the war, more and more problems were being resolved. Science and technology were allowing for breakthroughs that were essential. Civilian government agencies began working closely with the military, industry, and universities. As part of the pre-Pearl Harbor defense effort, Roosevelt established the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) in June 1940. It was led by Vannevar Bush, who was head of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and former dean/vice president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Roosevelt then created the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), which included medicine and war production under aegis. Many projects from the OSRD led to critical innovations in areas such as atomic energy, large scale production of penicillin, whole-blood substitutes, radar, new pesticides, amphibious vehicles, etc… Perhaps the best known effort was that of the atomic bomb. What initially began as the “Uranium Project” was transferred from the OSRD to the U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers Manhattan Engineer District. Led by General Leslie Groves, the Manhattan Project built and operated more than three dozen facilities in the U.S. and Canada. an estimate of 150,000 people were
The role of the federal government also required significant expansion; first for drafting men for the military then in securing acceptable allocation and labor supply on the home front. Mobilizing manpower (in the beginning) was an easy effort due to the enormous slack in American economy. Though mobilizing military manpower was easier and more efficient than many had feared, mobilizing civilian manpower ran into the same issues of organizational and political difficulties as mobilizing production. Mobilizing the armed forces started with the Selective Training and Service Act that constructed the Selective Service System. Significant opposition was created by a traditional distrust of an all too powerful government and an anti-interventionist sentiment. even so, the fall of France and the collapse of Western Europe congressional majorities that were in favor of the drafting of 900,000 men between the ages of 21 and 27. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Selective Service saw to the expansion of over 12,000,000 G.I.s. Ultimately, about 16,000,000 Americans served in the military during World War II. Then the Selective Service System registered about 50,000,000 men between the ages of 18 through 60, screened about 18,000,000 and drafted about 10,000,000 from ages 18 to 38. The other 6,000,000 who joined the armed forces were just volunteer