National V-J Day
Contents
The history of V-J Day
Grab yourself a snack and kick back. This could be a lengthy read. I’ve been holding on to my American History book. A copy just like the one I had in high school. We won’t discuss just how long ago that was! National V-J Day holds some great history. I intend to use this book to help me through the timeline.
Let’s get started, shall we? According to history and this hand-dandy American History book, we need to go back to Pearl Harbor. Actually, it goes back even further, but for the sake of time, we’ll skip those details. While Roosevelt and Churchill were negotiating things back in 1940-41, Japan was busy making other plans.
Japan gets out of hand
Japan was increasing its control in east Asia and in September of 1940 Japanese troops conquered part of French Indochina. Later that month Japan, Germany, and Italy signed a mutual defense treaty, The Tripartite Pact. This treaty created what was called the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.
Roosevelt had hoped to stop Japanese aggression with economic weapons. In other words, he began to cut off certain materials we supplied to Japan. These were things like aviation fuel and scrap iron. Eventually, he would also cut off their oil supply as the US supplied 80% of its oil.
The result
Long story short, Japan decided to attack America as opposed to coming to an agreement. Enter Pearl Harbor. At 7:55 a.m., Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked from their carriers positioned about 200 miles north of the Hawaiian Islands. The destruction was unbelievable. And so on December 8th, Roosevelt went before Congress and uttered those still famous words, “a date which will live in infamy” as he declared war on Japan. The result of that wasn’t good either. Holding true to the Tripartite Treaty, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11th. From there things just got worse.
Change of life on the homefront
WW II created a demand for weapons and supplies, hence, ending the Great Depression. Materials like aluminum, rubber, and steel were suddenly in demand. These and other raw materials were needed to make weapons that were in very short supply. While gasoline wasn’t in shortage, it was still rationed just the same. Women were even called upon to take on jobs typically meant for men. This is where the song and poster of “Rosie the Riveter” was born. It aided in persuading women to take the jobs. It kept the women occupied while their loved ones were on the front lines fighting.
This is also when Federal withholding system was put into place. It made paying taxes easier for the Americans while also supplying the government with a steady flow of income. We even started having suspicions of Japanese Americans and began to segregate them by “moving” them to internment camps. To say the least, these were dark times for the people left behind here while loved ones were losing their lives overseas.
Speeding up the timeline
There’s allot of meat to this so let’s trim some fat. I am not in any way claiming one part of history is more important than another. Please don’t think I am. In the meantime there was all of this:
- The invasion of North Africa (the Battle of Kasserine Pass)
- The Italian Campaign
- June 6, 1944 – D-Day (Operation Overlord)
- The allies enter Paris
- The election of 1944
- The Battle of the Bulge in December 1944
- Victory in Europe (V-E Day)
- The War in the Pacific (Battle of the Coral Sea and Battle of Midway)
- The Pacific Campaign
- From Guadalcanal to Leyte
- Iwo Jima & Okinawa
- The Atomic Bomb (Manhattan Project) (August 6, 1945 – Hiroshima, Nagasaki)
The end
Finally, on August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally and World War II was over and that brings us to V-J Day.
Other reasons to Celebrate August 14th:
- National Code Talkers Day
- National Creamsicle Day
- National Spirit of ’45 Day
If you missed yesterday’s National Day then click here.
