The United States at War, 1941 - 1945 PDF
Preview The United States at War, 1941 - 1945
The American History Series Gary R. Hess Bowling green State UniverSity The United States at War, 1941–1945 THiRd EdiTion DaviDSon, inc. , illinoiS 60090 Gary R. Hess Bowling green State UniverSity The United States at War, 1941–1945 THiRd EdiTion Harlan DaviDSon, inc. wHeeling, illinoiS 60090 To the memory of Gregory Spanos Copyright © 1986, 2000, 2011 Harlan davidson, inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under United States copyright law, no part of this publica- tion may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or any retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address inquiries to Harlan davidson, inc., 773 Glenn Avenue, Wheeling, illinois 60090-6000. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hess, Gary R. The United States at war, 1941–1945 / Gary R. Hess. — 3rd ed. p. cm. — (The American history series) includes bibliographical references and index. iSBn 978-0-88295-281-9 1. World War, 1939–1945 — United States. 2. United States—History— 1933–1945. i. Title. d769.H47 2011 940.53’73—dc22 2011004778 Cover: USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes within 30 seconds off Kyushu. May 11, 1945. dead-372. Wounded-264. (80-G-323712) Manufactured in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 VP To the memory of Gregory Spanos Copyright © 1986, 2000, 2011 Harlan davidson, inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under United States copyright law, no part of this publica- tion may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or any retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address inquiries to Harlan davidson, inc., 773 Glenn Avenue, Wheeling, illinois 60090-6000. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hess, Gary R. The United States at war, 1941–1945 / Gary R. Hess. — 3rd ed. p. cm. — (The American history series) includes bibliographical references and index. iSBn 978-0-88295-281-9 1. World War, 1939–1945 — United States. 2. United States—History— 1933–1945. i. Title. d769.H47 2011 940.53’73—dc22 2011004778 Cover: USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes within 30 seconds off Kyushu. May 11, 1945. dead-372. Wounded-264. (80-G-323712) Manufactured in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 VP CONTENTS Preface to the Third Edition ix cHapter one: To Pearl Harbor: The United States and World Crisis 1 The Arsenal of Democracy: The War in Europe / 3 “Not Enough Ships”: The Effort to Restrain Japan / 8 cHapter two: Allied Defeats and the Axis Ascendancy, 1941–1942 20 The Nazi Empire at Its Peak / 20 Japan’s Imperial Conquests / 24 Defeat and Surrender in the Philippines / 25 Popular Perceptions and Expectations / 34 cHapter tHree: The War in Europe: The Turn of the Tide 38 The Debate over Strategy / 38 The North African Invasion / 41 The Eastern Front: The Russian Victory at Stalingrad / 45 The Battle of the Atlantic / 49 The Air War: The Bombing of Germany / 51 The Cross-Channel Invasion: D-Day / 53 CONTENTS Preface to the Third Edition ix cHapter one: To Pearl Harbor: The United States and World Crisis 1 The Arsenal of Democracy: The War in Europe / 3 “Not Enough Ships”: The Effort to Restrain Japan / 8 cHapter two: Allied Defeats and the Axis Ascendancy, 1941–1942 20 The Nazi Empire at Its Peak / 20 Japan’s Imperial Conquests / 24 Defeat and Surrender in the Philippines / 25 Popular Perceptions and Expectations / 34 cHapter tHree: The War in Europe: The Turn of the Tide 38 The Debate over Strategy / 38 The North African Invasion / 41 The Eastern Front: The Russian Victory at Stalingrad / 45 The Battle of the Atlantic / 49 The Air War: The Bombing of Germany / 51 The Cross-Channel Invasion: D-Day / 53 viii ContentS cHapter FoUr: The Pacific Theater: The War against Japan, 1942–1945 59 “Our War”: Characteristics and Popular Perceptions / 61 Midway: The End of Japan’s Naval Invincibility / 65 Guadalcanal: The First Offensive / 69 preface to the The Island Campaign, 1943–1944 / 72 third edition Iwo Jima and Okinawa / 78 Japan 1945: The Refusal to Surrender / 84 cHapter Five: The Diplomatic Front: Roosevelt and the American Vision of the Postwar World 87 The United Nations / 90 Soviet-American Cooperation / 92 China’s International Status / 98 The End of Colonialism / 102 World War ii was the most momentous event of the twentieth cen- tury, and remains one of unsurpassed popular interest. It is difficult cHapter Six: The Dilemmas of Victory 109 to comprehend the extent of the conflict, death, and destruction that Victory in Europe and the Extent of Nazi Tyranny / 110 much of the world endured. Unlike later wars in Korea, Vietnam, “The Greatest Thing in History”: The Atomic Bomb and and the Middle East, World War ii had a clear purpose that united Japan’s Surrender / 114 the public. America and its allies were fighting fascist militarism, Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Lingering Questions / 117 totalitarianism, and imperialism. The goal was “unconditional sur- A People Victorious: America at the End of the War / 125 render”—thorough defeat of Germany, Japan, italy, and the lesser Axis powers. conclUSion: Why the Allies Won 127 The war remains a topic of compelling interest. A large portion of the History Channel programs focus on World War ii, courses Bibliographical Essay / 146 on the war are popular at colleges and universities, and books on Index / 167 the war are prominently displayed on bookstore shelves. during the last decade, a number of important books have added to an already Photographs follow page 86 overwhelming body of scholarship. These recent books include major studies on the decisions that led to war, the Soviet Union’s Maps: wartime army, the battle of Stalingrad, combat operations in the Europe under the Axis / 21 Mediterranean, the naval war on the Atlantic ocean, the extent of Japan’s Empire, 1942 / 26 the Holocaust, the end of the war in the Pacific, and the biographies Allied Offensives, 1942–1945 / 39 of wartime leaders, including three on Winston Chruchill. U.S. Offensive against Japan / 60 The many stories—ranging from the scholarship of historians to the reflections of men and women who experienced the war— remind us that World War ii continues to generate diverse “memo-
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