Mobilizing United States Industry In World War 2

Contents: Mobilization activities before Pearl Harbor day; education for mobilization; interwar planning for industrial mobilization; mobilizing for war: 1939-1941; the war production board; the controlled materials plan; the office of war mobilization & reconversion; U.S. production in World War II; balancing military & civilian needs; overcoming raw material scarcities; maritime construction; people mobilization: Rosie the RiveterÓ; conclusions. Appendix: production of selected munitions items; the war agencies of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.

McNair Paper No. 50. Explores the mobilization efforts of the United States during World War 2. Claims that the production of munitions could have been much greater if inefficiency and lack of preparation had not hindered the mobilization. Appendixes include tables of munitions production and listing of war agencies.

This book analyzes the United States industry in World War II. It talks about how the industry was mobilized in time of war and to what extent is the history myth or reality. It shows how the industry was transformed into something that couple produce weapons and supplies for war rapidly.

As Hitler prepared for and then carried out his assault on Western Europe in the late 1930s through 1941, the U.S. military was severely undermanned; the army was ranked only 19th worldwide in size. For the most part the American public followed an isolationist line, feeling that Hitler's aggression was a European problem that did not affect the United States. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 abruptly ended America's isolation, and the country rapidly prepared for a world war on two fronts. Industries converted seemingly overnight to the production of war material, while government agencies sprang up to oversee the mobilization effort. For the first time, women entered the work force on a large scale; others joined the military services, primarily as nurses or in support roles. The military quickly regained its strength, rising to 8 million members by 1945. Patriotism on the home front was fueled by enthusiastic news reports of American victories. This is the story of the successes and failures of the United States in mobilizing for and at the same time fighting a world war.

During World War II, the United States helped vanquish the Axis powers by converting its enormous economic capacities into military might. Producing nearly two-thirds of all the munitions used by Allied forces, American industry became what President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "the arsenal of democracy." Crucial in this effort were business leaders. Some of these captains of industry went to Washington to coordinate the mobilization, while others led their companies to churn out weapons. In this way, the private sector won the war—or so the story goes. Based on new research in business and military archives, Destructive Creation shows that the enormous mobilization effort relied not only on the capacities of private companies but also on massive public investment and robust government regulation. This public-private partnership involved plenty of government-business cooperation, but it also generated antagonism in the American business community that had lasting repercussions for American politics. Many business leaders, still engaged in political battles against the New Deal, regarded the wartime government as an overreaching regulator and a threatening rival. In response, they mounted an aggressive campaign that touted the achievements of for-profit firms while dismissing the value of public-sector contributions. This probusiness story about mobilization was a political success, not just during the war, but afterward, as it shaped reconversion policy and the transformation of the American military-industrial complex. Offering a groundbreaking account of the inner workings of the "arsenal of democracy," Destructive Creation also suggests how the struggle to define its heroes and villains has continued to shape economic and political development to the present day.