| Key to Oklahoma |
|
|
   |
|
The Mid 20th Century: 1941 to 1960
World War II and Its Impact on OklahomaWorld War II was really the merging of two regional wars. In 1937, Japan began what was known as the "Greater East Asian War" by invading China. In 1939, Adolph Hitler started the European war by attacking Poland. By 1940, President Roosevelt knew that, most likely, the United States would be forced to join the war. He believed the United States had a duty to save what was left of the civilized world. Today, many historians call World War II the "Good War." The United States and its allies saved many countries from the control of militarists from Japan, Germany and Italy. But to develop the military power to win, FDR launched a great preparedness campaign in 1940. Military spending reached at least $7 billion for the year. With that much money pumped into the American economy, conditions started to improve immediately and continued doing so throughout the war. By 1945, the Great Depression was only a bad memory. During the war, some of most horrible things in human history happened. The Nazi Germans murdered at least seven million Jews in concentration camps or "death" camps in Germany and Poland. All the millions of deaths are known as the Jewish Holocaust. The United States officially entered World War II on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. We also declared war on Japan’s European allies, Germany and Italy. Billions of dollars were pumped into the domestic economy. Industrialists and farmers now had to produce at 100 percent capacity. Instead of too many unemployed people, now we had a shortage of labor. More than 16 million Americans were in the military service by 1945. The 45th Infantry Division was the most famous Oklahoma unit. That division saw action in the invasion of Italy among other campaigns. Important contributions were also made by Native American Code Talkers, who used their Indian Languages to create unbreakable secret codes used by the Allied forces.
Robert S. Kerr was Oklahoma’s wartime governor. He served from 1943 to 1947. He cooperated fully with the national government. He wanted as many war contracts in Oklahoma as possible. His work paid off. Although Oklahoma had one of the smallest state populations in the nation, Oklahoma ranked eighteenth in all contracts and in wartime production. There were various military bases, fields and forts in Oklahoma. Our land-locked state even had thirteen naval bases. All the government installations contributed dollars for the state’s economy. The most famous military installation was Tinker Air Field in Midwest City. Workers there modified the bombers that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan and thereby ended World War II. In addition to bringing in war contracts, Kerr will also be remembered as the governor who did so much to develop the water resources of the state. First as governor, then as a U.S. senator, he championed the massive Arkansas River Project . Ongoing from 1947 to 1970, the project gave jobs to thousands. It provided flood control and generated so much hydroelectric power that Oklahoma could export it to other states. The project even made inland Tulsa a sea port! The development of lakes and ponds not only provided recreation outlets for the state and boosted tourism, it also revived stock-raising and farming. Now, certain areas of the state have more cattle and pigs than people.
Additional Resources
Study Guide Questions:
|
|
|
