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World War II campaigns -- arsenal of democracy American rearmament
Arsenal of Democracy: Neutral America--Rearmament (September 1939-December 1941)
Figure 1.--The U.S. Army conducted maneuvers with its growing force asca result of the draft in North Louisana (August-September 1941). Most of the key commanders that would direct the War participated. The only problem was that the arms needed to equip the men did not yet exist. The caption here read, "Still using wooden guns: Simewhere un Louisiana--A couple of Louisiana youngstersbpile aboard a bantam car [jeep] for a look-see at the wooden machine gun with which ut is armed. It is one of the vehicles in the sham battle between the 2nd and Third Armies." The photograph was dated September 18, 1941. Scenes like this explain why the U.S. Army had resisted sending arms to Britain. At the time this photograph was taken, the outcome of the War was beung determined as German armies moved deep into the Soviet Union. When you view images like this you get a feeling for the calculations that Hitler and the Japanese militarists were making. The Army may have been short of machine guns and tanks, but they had jeeps and tanks. And a major reason the Whermachtvfailed inthe Soviet Union ws tht they were stll depndent on draft animals and there was a seriu shorages of trucks and other motor vehicle.
The British Expeditionary force had been saved a Dunkirk, but they arrived back in England with literally only the shirts on their back. America had shipped large quatities of weapons to Britin and France and much of it was now lost in France. Now many question whrther the British could hold out alone. America was about to begin building the army that would defeat Hitler in the West. The great Arsensal of Democracy had not yet been brought into existence. Weapons production was still relatively limited. American military planners wanted the limited production to be allocated to building America's own forces. Military planners questioned further shipments to the Allies. The great architect of American war strategy in the coming War, Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, expressed his concerns, "There was no doubt that we had sold so generously to the Allied Powers that our own stocks were below the safety point. One could argue that by giving more aid to Britain and Canada we would be increasing our own defensive strength. That might be true, but it was not provable, and if Britain were defeated the Army and the Administration could never justify to the American people the risk they had taken." President Roosevelt signed the $1.3 billion defense spending bill (June 13). America had begun modernizing the Navy and Air Force (still the Army Air Corps), but the Army was another matter. The U.S. Army was totally unprepared for War.
The events of May-June 1940 dramatically changed American attitudes toward military preparation. The NAZI Western Offensive resulted in a shift in the strategic ballance of breathtaking proportions--posing a threat to America that even many isolationists could not ignore. The isolationist determination to keep America out of the War in Europe meant that Hitler could attack Britain and France with only the limited support Roosevelt could provide. Hitler's strategy in domestic politics was to divide and conquer. He used this strategy to great effect both domestically and in foreign affairs. After the fall of France, however, it was no linger effective, as only the most myopic (which included an amazing number of American isolaionists, could now see clearly his intentions. This in part explains Hitler's effectiveness and why after a series of spectacular successes he then was responsible for a series of equally spectacular failures. THe success of Hitler's war policiesshow a remarkable shift after the fall of France. By June 1940, however, The widely felt isolationist sentiment in America had put the country and actually Western civilization itself in mortal danger. The NAZIs struck in the West (May 1940). The result was the fall of France (June 1940). The French Army had been the backbone of the Western Front in World War I. France's fall meant that America would eventually have to fight NAZI Germany without a French ally. The strength of the isolationists nearly meant the fall of Britain as well. This would have meant that America might have to face NAZI Germany, perhaps united with Soviet Russia and Japan, alone.
Supplying Britain
The British Expeditionary force had been saved a Dunkirk, but they arrived back in England with literally only the shirts on their back. America had shipped large quatities of weapons to Britin and France and much of it was now lost in France. Now many question whrther the British could hold out alone. America was about to begin building the army that would defeat Hitler in the West. The great Arsensal of Democracy had not yet been brought into existence. Weapons production was still relatively limited. American military planners wanted the limited production to be allocated to building America's own forces. Military planners questioned further shipments to the Allies. The great architect of American war strategy in the coming War, Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, expressed his concerns, "There was no doubt that we had sold so generously to the Allied Powers that our own stocks were below the safety point. One could argue that by giving more aid to Britain and Canada we would be increasing our own defensive strength. That might be true, but it was not provable, and if Britain were defeated the Army and the Administration could never justify to the American people the risk they had taken."
Defense Spending
President Roosevelt asked for substantial, but compared with what was to come. modest defense increases in his annual budget (January 3, 1940). At the time it was widely believed that the British and French could contain Hitler's Whermacht on the Western Front as they had done in World War I. The President asked Congress to approve $1.8 billion for national defense. New appropriations totaked nearly $1.2 billion. Notable was preparation for the annual production of 50,000 aircraft. [Freidel, pp. 330-331.] President Roosevelt reported that American capacity for building airplanes had been increased from 6,000 to 12,000 planes annually.
As the Germans rolled into the Netherlands and Belgium and France threatened, President Roosevelt asked Congress to appropriate $2.5 billion to expand the U.S. Army and Navy (May 16). The Defense Advisory Commission wasd designated to supervise the military expansion program.
President Roosevelt established the National Defense Research Committee under the direction of Dr. Vannevar Bush to help plan and organize American defense preparations (June 16).
The U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Act (June 22). It was designed to collect $994 million annually for the American defense preparations. Congress raised the national debt limit by $4 billion to $49 billion.
After the fall of France, President Roosevelt launched into what would become the largest armaments program in American history. Events in Europe generated the political support he needed in Congress. He proceeded with the same speed that he had launched the New Deal in Match 1933. Congressional opposition to rearamament weakened, but the American Firsters and other isolationists still resisted. General Marshall had argued late into the night with Congressional leaders to get $18 million restored to the army budge (April 1940). The fall of France changed the outlook of manh Congressmen. The President in June rushed through an additional $5 billion without much more limited Congressioinal opposition.
With France in Germnan hands, the German threat in the North Atlantic was imeasuravly hightened. And Japanese actions in the Pacific was also threatening. The President puhed the Two Ocean Navy Act through Congress (July 20). The initial authorizatioin was over $5.2 billion. The U.S. Navy was authorized to expand the fleet by 70 percent to meet the added threats. American shipyards would build 201 new warships, including seven battleships of 55,000 tons each. The focus was still on battleships rather than aircraft carrietrs.
While the Congressional logjam was broken. Many American industrialists were not cooperating. Times were good. For the first time since the Depression began, cars, appliances, and other manufactured goods were selling. Americans had money and were spending. Many corporations did not want to convert their production lines to war-related production. Many people after the fall of France thought that the war was essentially over and the Germans had won it. The increases seemed massive at the time, but military budgets in 1940 were still only 2 percent of GNP and still only 5 percent in 1941. It would reach 42 percent in 1945. This shows just how important Pearl Haebor was in shifting a limited military expansion (1940-41) into a massive and rapid shift over to arms production.
Thee United States, still at peace, had the smallest military of all the the major World War II combatants at the outbreak of World War II. There were a mere 0.3 million men of all ranks in all the uniformed services, about half in the Army (September 1939). This is the military that Gen. Marshall and Adm. Stark (later Adm. King) had to work with to create the massive American military jugernaught. The United States had made some investment in the Air Force (still part of the Army) and Navy duriung the inter-War era, but virtually none in the Army. A few months later, the Germans achieved their great victory in the West and occupied France (June 1940). France had been the great bulwark against the Germans in the West during World War I. Now although many Amerians did not yet know it, Britain and Amnerica would have to confront the Germans in the West without the French Army. The first step was to initiate the first peace time draft in American history (Setember 1940). That was, however, only the beginning. The United States military would have to train the vast number of inexperienced young Americans pouring into military facilities--eventually over 16 million men and women. This was more than three times larger than the World War I effort and they would serve for a much longer period. And this had to be accomplished by the small core of professional soldiers from the peace-time military. This meant that the facilities for inducting and training one of the great armed forces of the war had to be enormously expanded. In addiution to the trainng was a major medical effort. There were some facilities built for World War I, but nothing to accomodate the military that the United States was creating. Many facilities since World War I had been closed or had deteroriated. Some had been slightly rehabilitated to accomodate the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal agency entrusted to the U.S. Army. But the existing facilities would have to be greatly expanded and a host of new facilities ooened and facilities constructed. This meant a massiuve construction effort, one of the largest of the War.
Services
America had begun modernizing the Navy and Air Force (still the Army Air Corps), but the Army was another matter. The U.S. Army was totally unprepared for war. The Navy and Air Firce were also unprepared for war, but nottobthe same degree as the Army. Not only was the Army obly about 0.2 million men, but aarms did not exost with which to equip the solddiers and those arms that ius exist were inferior to German arms.
U.S. Navy
Important Naval appropriation bills were passed through Congress during the 1930s. These would provide the ships, especially the carriers, that would stem the Japanese advance after Pearl Harbor. The Two Ocean Navy Act (July 20, 1940) provided for a massive expansion of the Navy and would provide many of the first wave of badly needed ships that would obliterate the Japanese Navy in thevPacific War. As aesult of the limited naval soending during the 1930s, the U,S. Navy unlike the Army had developed the modern technologies needed to buld first class, modern ships a technology that could be used to rapidy expand the leet even further after Pearl Harbor, especially with access to British secreat weapons research..
U.S. Army Air Corps
Orders from Europe had begun to expand the American aviatuon industry even before World War II broke out. Amd the Roosevelt Administration during the 1930s had placed a considerable emphasis on air power. The redoubtable B-17 Flying Fortress was developed in the 1930s with the idea of fighting a future war without the huge losses associated with lnd campaigns. No one imahined at the time he losses the Air Firce would suffer. nd major increased were approved in the Presodents budget infroduced (January 3, 1940).
The Army Air Corps had also received substantial allocations during the 1930s and thus American firms had the rechnical ability to rapidly produce high quality aircraft that wold takr the War to Germany and Japan. The planes in the American inventory were not up to German and Japanese standards, but within a year after Pearl Harbor, new high quality aircradt were moving off the production lines. The outpoiring of air craft woould be the criticl factor in overconing the German advanytage in tanks and high-qiality infantry weapons.
U.S. Army
While the Roosevelt Administration had begun modernizing the Navy and Air Foirce even before the War broke out in Europe, virtually nothing had been done with the Army. The U.S. Army totaled only bout 174,000 men in 1939 when Hitler launched World War II. This was the same level maintained throughout the inter-War era. It was not only small, but poorly armed. During the inter-Wwar era the Army focused the limited resources authorized by Congress on maintaining personnel strength rather than on developing and procuring new equipment. Army arsenals and laboratories had very limited budgets in contrast to what had occurred in Germany during the 1930s.
This would be a problem even after the War begun. Except for M-1 Garand rifle and artillery, American soldiers fought the Germans with largely inferior infantry weapons. This would be in part compensated for by quanity and air support. American infantry men would not get tanks that could go mussel to mussel with German tanbks, for example, until the final months of the War. American soldiers were told during training that they were the best equipped soldiers in the world. THey soon found when they actually came in contact with the Germans that this was not the case. Political restraints prevented the Roosevelt Administration from moving more quickly to prepare the Army. Expenditures on the Navy and Air force could be more easily couched in terms of defense and protecting the homeland. Building a large well equipped Army meant a more obvious intention to enter the Euopen war. Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act (September 22, 1940). It was the first peave time draft in American history and an act of considerable political courage by the President during the 1940 reelection campaign. Registration began soon after (October 16). The first lottery followed (October 29). It was the first step in building the Army that would fight World War II, but the arms with which to equip the new army did not yet exist.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt called upon the United States to be the 'great arsenal of democracy' and supply war materials to the Allies through sale, lease, or loan (DEcember 1940). The program was initially focused on ebsuring Britain's survival. Despite the need to arm the growing U.S. Army, the President was determined to arm Britain to the hilt as well. Congress passed the Lend Lease bill (March 11, 1941). Only 3 months later, Hitler launched Barbarossa, the incasion of the Soviet Union. The United States surprised the Axis, and Allied military planners as well, with the volume of industrial output. American industryproved up to the task of arming both America and Britain as well as the Soviet Union and many other allies as well. During the subsequwent 4 years of the War, the United States would send more than $50 billion worth of war matwriel to its Allies.
Nuclear Decision (October 1941)
President Roosevelt in great secrecy made one of the most momentous decisions of the 20th century. Scientist adviser Vannevar Bush and Agriculture Secretary Henry Wallace brought the project to the President's attention. He and Secretary Wallace met with the President (October 9, 1941). Bush expressed concern about German research, but told the President that it was not know what Progress the Germans had made. The project was both speculative and would be extremely expensive. The President acted decisively with little hesitation after receiving the Bush report. He made one of the most significant decisions of the 20th century. With only minimal discussion the President decided to pursue the project with a high priority. [Black, pp. 665-66.] The result was the Manhattan Project.
Sources
Black, Conrad. Franklin Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom (Public Affairs: New York, 2003), 1280p.
Freidel, Frank. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Rendezuous with Destiny (Little Brown: Boston, 1990), 710p.
