The Economic Mobilization during the World Wars I and II - Essay Example

? Compare and contrast the economic mobilization during the World Wars I and II (in the United s of America) This paper is focused on the rise of United States of America as a super power during the World Wars I and II. Concentration is given on the economic mobilization of resources during the given time span which led the United States of America to emerge from a staggering economy into a super power in the world. Introduction World War I and USA –War against Germany In World War I the major players or the countries who participated were the Axis and the Allied powers. The Allies side mainly comprised of the United States and Great Britain along with countries like France, China, and Canada with many countries joining later. The Axis powers mainly comprised of the countries like Germany, Italy, and Japan. Other countries were also included in the Axis powers such as Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania and the others. Before 1861, United States of America was recognized as one the most powerful shipbuilding nations in the world. But threats gradually came when the European navy started focusing on the new techniques of shipbuilding by substituting wood with iron, introduction of steam driven sea vessels which substituted the primitive sails and awkward paddle wheel were replaced with screw propeller. In August 1914, the United States was almost fatigued by fighting the guerillas and disease in Cuba and Philippines in the Spanish-American wars and Philippine insurrections. USA after a long driven fighting was ready for peace. The president of the United States Wilson Woodrow also showed disinterest in war. On the other hand the Germans were very much alert about the position of the Americans in the water ways. The Germans believed that they have to curb down the American power through the water way which will provide them easy communication with the allied power countries. On May 7, 1915 the German submarine U-20 sunk down the ocean liner Lusitania where 124 Americans lost their lives. This was a major blow to USA and in 6th April, 1917 war against Germany was declared by a joint resolution by the Congress in USA1 World War II and USA In the history of mankind World War II can be regarded as the largest and the most violent conflicts with the use of modern lethal weapons.2 The World War II was even more dangerous and violent than World War I. In September 1939, Britain declared war against Poland but America did not involve them in this conflict. But when on 7th December Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, America entered into a complete war with the Pacific and Europe. By 1944 US fighter planes carried on severe bombings starting from bombings of Dresden in Germany and then Japan and sixty three other countries and finally the atomic explosion in Hiroshima, Japan on 6th August 1945.3 Having an idea of the backdrop of involvement of USA in both the wars the paper focuses to highlight the economic mobilization of USA in both these wars and how it emerged as a superpower in the world. Economic mobilization of USA in World War I The United States of America declared war against Germany in April 1917. But the main problem which the US army faced was the availability of necessary resources in order to carry on the war. Apart from that US did not also had the plans in mind and was not also acquainted with the character and magnitude of wartime needs as well as specifications for several kinds of equipments.4 Mobilization of the force of army After the declaration of the war with Germany in 1917, there were no immediate reserve force of army in America for the combating the war. However there were high expectation from the Britain and France and they believed that a huge force of army would be infiltrating immediately in France. But their expectations were wrong. Only a small army of soldiers under General Pershing was sent to France.5 The problem of manpower issue was solved in May 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson approved a draft law which was formulated in order to prepare a solid army base for next five decades in the United States.6 Production and supply of arms and ammunitions for the war Apart from the manpower problem another high priority sector for the Americans during the World War I was the production of equipments, arms, and ammunitions for the war and proper supply. At that time in the heart of the supply system there were bureaus which were independent and decentralized. They were mainly concerned with the fulfillment of their individual ends and were reluctant in supplying large army which was absolutely necessary. There were conflicts between the army and navy with respect to the supplies of products, raw materials and other essential supplies. This excess demand led to the sharp increase in the prices, increase in production costs and there were generation of a huge profit among the bureaus. The transportation facilities were also deteriorated by the bureaus cutting down the efforts of war. A War Industries Board was formed in July 1927 by President Wilson which was controlled by M. Baruch where major priorities were given on the purchasing by agencies of the Army and the Navy and also focused on fixed production limits. The administration with effective efforts also neutralized the priorities of the bureaus and things were coming in stabilized form. Due to mobilization procedure the industrial performance also became remarkable. It was found that after the war there were approximately 3.5 million soldiers and there were huge equipment surpluses. The army base became strong enough to fight back severe combat. According to historian James Hutson, ‘the United States had revealed the greatest war-making capacity that the world had ever seen.’7 Conservation of food and other vital materials A great effort was entailed in United States during the World War in order to conserve food as well as other vital materials in order to supply the troops as well as the allied nations. Popular terms like ‘Meatless Mondays’ and ‘Wheat less Wednesdays’ were common among the civilians. This was an urge to unite the general public in the war effort and was an important move to allocate these resources among the allied nations. In order to accelerate this process there was establishment of United States Food Administration and full support was provided by the future president Herbert Hoover. It was found that in New York City people distributed recipes which replaced wheat and sugar with other ingredients. People were influenced in languages such as Hebrew and Italian in order to be a part of this effort. 8 Costs to the American society The First World War reaped a huge cost to the Federal government. The figure was estimated to be around $32 billion which was more or less equivalent to fifty two percent of the total gross national product at that time. A huge portion of GDP, around 20 percent was spent on the process of money creation. Treasury Secretary, William Gibbs McAdoo with the help of Hollywood stars and boy scouts infused patriotic themes among the people and convinced the citizens to purchase war bonds in the name of ‘Liberty Bonds’. But this procedure was unable to bring any positive results. This also altered the market prices of the assets during the war period.9 Employment perspective A huge part of the Federal government’s budget was shifted towards the production of war goods. In the time span of 1914 and 1918 around 3 million people were infused into the military forces and almost half a million people were added into the government. In this period there was a positive effect in the employment scenario. It was found that the percentage of unemployment declined from 7.9 percent to 1.4 percent. This change can be attributed to the fact that a large number of manufacturing jobs were produced where a significant amount of the population found their employment. It can also be said that the military drafts transferred several young men from civilian labor force. 10 Economic consequences of the World War I World War I brought about various positive impacts in the United States of America. At the onset of the war USA was trapped with debt in the international capital markets. But slowly it was found that USA started to invest a huge amount in the financial markets slowly substituting London in the financial market. New York became world’s leading centre of finance. The success of the war brought about the idea that a ‘central planning was necessary was the best way to meet a national crisis, certainly in wartime, and possibly in peacetime as well.’ The positive benefits of successful mobilization were reaped by the United States of America in 1930 during the Great Depression when America’s performance was very much stable in fighting the depression.11 The interwar period The interwar period came up with the efforts which were made in the development of the industrial mobilization and war procurement. There was a high demand in the development of the sophisticated weapons and the ability to move large fronts. Realizing the capacity to make war, Baruch in 1920s directed joint committees with several industrialists and military officers regarding the planning for the procurement of industrial materials. There were two major innovations such as the organization of the joint Army and Navy Munitions Board in June 1922. By 1929 the board executed the inclusion of a permanent executive committee. Among other innovations was the establishment of the Army Industrial College by 1930 which provided the students the opportunity to learn the study of mobilization from a varied range of perspective. Various plans were formulated and successfully implemented by the administration in the sphere of foreign trade, price controls, seizures free flow of facilities and commodities. By 1936, the War Industries Administration took the responsibilities in order to control war finance, trade, labor and price control. 12 Economic mobilization in USA in World War II In World War II Americas success can be attributed to the mobilization on the home front. During this period there was a tremendous boom in the Industrial sector that brought out the nation from the realms of recession and turned America into the World’s wealthiest nation after the end of the war.13 Administration during the war time-Finance and growth American economy was indeed growing and the Federal government developed a systematic arrangement of mobilization agencies and they were monitored time to time for the proper allocation of resources. The focus of the mobilization system was based on less centralized control system. In order to finance the war the government spending rose from an amount of $ 9 billion in 1940 to $ 98 billion in 1944. The Americans invested on the war bonds which were allocated in buying large tanks and planes. The investment in the war bonds helped in the rise of the consumer’s income and personal savings. Production was mainly focused on war production and led to the scarce availability in the essentials such as food, fabrics, and gasoline. Higher rates of taxation were levied upon the wealthy Americans and there was a redistribution of income and led to the minimization of the gap between the higher and lower classes. This strengthened the American economy.14 Employment scenario There was huge availability of heavy industry jobs. The first preference was given to the white American men and women. But there was excess supply of jobs. As a result the minorities also plunged into the main stream and got employment opportunities. Both the private and the public sector encouraged the men and women into job and in this process several black men and women and people from minority groups found jobs. A positive side was that there was a huge participation of the women engaged in various jobs related to the war like making military clothing, parachute fabrics and they worked day and night. This was really an accelerating effect on the American economy.15 Secret services The emergence of the secret services had also an effect on the American society. During the war of America with Japan there was emergence of secret services. In the battle of Midway in 1942 there was a continuous focus of the Allies in the realization of benefits of each other rather than the common enemy. There were emergence of organizations like Special Operations Executive and the Office of Strategic Services in Asia. This can be attributed as a positive effect on the US economy.16 Economy as a whole In World War II the economy of the United States of America changed drastically. The mobilization during the war time helped the Americans to fight recession in a stable way. Also as the allied forces won the war, America emerged as the leading superpower in the world having two third of the total world’s gold reserves. Almost half of the production of the economy of the United States United States came from the manufacturing sector alone. There was a perfect synthesis among government, business, labor, and scientific research which led to the expansion of the economy to a great level.17 Conclusion The brief study of the paper reveals that real expansion of the American economy took place during the war period with the realization of the needs within the society. This was followed accordingly by formulating strategies which were implemented successfully. Being exhausted with the fighting in European war, America was in a debt trap position before the onset of the World War I. America was not practically prepared with their available resources at that time for fighting the war with the right spirit. But priorities changed and the administration realized the need for developing a rock solid defense mechanism and accordingly made the army base of America as the strongest in the world. As industrialization was given heavy stress more people found job and as a result employment scenario changed drastically. Stress was given on the production of war materials and less emphasis was given on essential commodity production. Although this seemed to be irrational but it actually helped out as people in saving the money. They financed a large part of their income in war bonds which led to the huge increase in GDP. Women, Black Americans, minority group people also came in the mainstream and found themselves employed in various industries. Thus it can be said that World War I was the preparation stage and World War II is a launch pad from where the economy of America has taken off in a supersonic speed and emerged as a superpower in the world. References Aldrich, Richard James, Intelligence and the War Against Japan Britain, America and the Politics of Secret Service, Cambridge University Press, 2000 Feuer, A.B. The U.S. Navy in World War I: Combat at Sea and in the Air. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, Print. Mobilisation, The U.S Army in World War II .The 50th Anniversary, April 30, 2012 from: http://www.history.army.mil/documents/mobpam.htm Marks, Robert, The Origins of the Modern World: Fate and Fortune in the Rise of the West. Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 Lozada, Carlos, The Economics of World War I, NBER, April 30, 2012 from: http://www.nber.org/digest/jan05/w10580.html The United States Homefront during World War II, Teach American History, April 30, 2012 from: http://www.teachamericanhistory.org/File/Homefront_WWII.pdf Read More