THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II

Depression-era soup line, 1930s. (The American History Slide Collection, © Instructional Resources Corporation )

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs perhaps the most far-reaching legislation of the New Deal: the Social Security Act of 1935. Today, Social Security provides retirement and disability income to millions of Americans. (© AP Images)

In the early 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed a "New Deal" — a plan designed to lift Americans out of the Great Depression as quickly as possible. He noted that democracy had disappeared in other countries at that time — not because the people opposed democracy but because they had grown tired of unemployment and insecurity.

Under his leadership, a federal corporation was established to insure deposits in savings banks. Regulations were imposed on the sale of stocks. Laws were passed to guarantee the right of workers to be represented by unions. Farmers received subsidies for certain crops and assistance in preventing soil erosion. The Civilian Conservation Corps employed young men to plant trees, clean up waterways, and improve facilities in national parks. The Public Works Administration hired skilled laborers for large-scale projects, such as building dams and bridges. The Tennessee Valley Authority provided flood control and electric power for that impoverished area. And the Federal Emergency Relief Administration distributed aid, often in the form of direct payments.

A second round of programs employed workers to build roads, airports, and schools; hired artists, actors, musicians, and writers; and gave part-time employment to young people. It also established the Social Security system to help the poor, disabled, and elderly.

Americans were generally uneasy with the idea of big government, yet they wanted the government to take greater responsibility for the welfare of ordinary people. And while the New Deal provided tangible help for millions of Americans, it never succeeded in restoring prosperity. Better times would come, but not until after another world war had swept the United States into its path.

World War II in the Pacific was characterized by large-scale naval and air battles. Here, a Japanese plane plunges down in flames during an attack on a U.S. carrier fleet in the Mariana Islands, June 1944. (The National Archives)

The United States tried to remain neutral while totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan expanded their control over neighboring countries. Debate intensified after Germany invaded France and began bombing Britain. Despite strong isolationist sentiment, Congress voted to conscript soldiers and strengthen the military.

Most people were focused on what was happening in Europe when Japan threatened to seize sources of raw materials used by Western industries. In response, the United States imposed an embargo on the one commodity Japan needed above all others — oil — and demanded that it withdraw from territories it had conquered. Japan refused, and on December 7, 1941, it carried out a devastating attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States declared war on Japan. Germany and Italy, by then allies of Japan, declared war on the United States.

American industry and agriculture were harnessed for the war effort. Production of military equipment was staggering: 300,000 aircraft, 5,000 cargo ships, 60,000 landing craft, and 86,000 tanks in less than four years. Much of the work was done by women, who went to work in factories while men went to fight.

General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander in Europe, talks with paratroopers shortly before the Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944. (U.S. Army)

Assembly line of P-38 Lightning fighter planes during World War II. (Lockheed)

The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, allied to counter the Nazi threat, decided that their primary military effort was to be concentrated in Europe. They were determined to break the German-Italian grip on the Mediterranean and prevent the fall of Moscow. Then they would liberate Rome and Paris, and finally Berlin.

From Germany's occupation of Poland in 1939 to its surrender in 1945, the war in Europe claimed the lives of millions of people — soldiers and civilians alike. Millions more were exterminated in the Holocaust, Nazi Germany's systematic policy of genocide against the Jews and other groups.

The war in Asia was largely a series of naval battles and amphibious assaults to break the Japanese grip on islands in the Pacific Ocean. Fighting there continued after the fighting in Europe had stopped. The final battles were among the war's bloodiest. Most Americans, including President Harry Truman, believed that an invasion of Japan would be even worse. Truman was willing to use the newly developed atomic bomb to bring the war to an end. When Japan refused to surrender, he ordered bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The plan worked — Japan surrendered — and World War II was finally over in August 1945. Only later would people realize the full implications of the awesome, destructive power of nuclear weapons.