Effects of Second World War on California

It took a toll over thirty countries affecting more than a hundred million people. Major participants of this war used their all-inclusive industrial, monetary and methodical competences to fuel the warfare exertion which brought about a blur in the distinction between military and civilian resources. In this war there were massacres, strategic bombing, diseases, and annihilation of the Holocaust, famishment and usage of nuclear-powered armaments. The results of the Second World War had allied victory where there was the downfall of the Nazis, plunge of Japan and Italy realms, creation of the United Nations, dissolution of the League of Nations, emergence of USA and Soviets as the global force led to the beginning of the Cold War. California was one of the many states that were involved in the war, experiencing traumatic events that came about with the war.

S naval base. Where we had populations which included the Japanese community were declared terminal islands in Los Angeles Harbor. Training bases where the Soldiers partially trained were erected posts along the coast and barbed wire was strung along California’s beaches which covered miles and miles of it. Citizens on the other hand, sandbagged their businesses and homes and cities were blacked out as deemed necessary by the army commanders. Citizens of enemy countries for example Japanese and Germans, who were considered dangerous by the Federal Bureau of Investigation were taken into custody according to the international laws by Geneva Conventions and then shipped far away to North Dakota. The many war jobs including the military and working in the aircraft base and shipbuilding among others, offered jobs to around seventeen million unemployed people.

This is why many say that the Second World War took part in ending the Great Depression. One of the ways that California’s economy was aided was by mobilizing the unemployed. War gave jobs to many people in California. With many soldiers been needed to defend the state, people were recruited to join the army, navy and air force. At the time of war, the big cities in California became mega-cities and the common means of transportation became the automobile. There was the development of infrastructure and growth of many towns. Roads were used to transport war supplies that had been produced in California to the different parts of the state and also other states. They were also used to bring war supplies from other parts of the United States to California.

Roads were constructed to ease the travelling of soldiers from one part of the state to the other. At the time of the war, two million people were employed and approximately three hundred thousand airplanes produced in the southern California’s factories. Some of the aircrafts that were produced were sold to the ally countries helping California acquire capital that was used in its growth economically. Most of the people who worked in these plants were women. At the height of the cold war, fifteen out of twenty five aerospace companies in the United States had their headquarters in Southern California. In the era before World War II, California was a place that many retirees and tourists were fond of since it was quite a pleasant place.

It started with two row tractors and small tractors. One man and a tractor could do six times as much work what a man and a mule could do. This even made work easier for the few laborers who were still left at the farms. Even though labor force in these farms had drastically reduced, California still kept producing though in less amounts and people had to survive on food rationing. During the Second World War, insecticides used had a lot of side effects and when used on crops they were harmful for human consumption. By the end of the war, it helped people to come together and unite as one state to help in the growth of California. Despite the unity that was brought due to common goals people lived in fear based on the races that they were associated with.

Most of the population that were allied to the other side faced mistrust and segregation. This led to segregation in terms of jobs and information. Information to the non-Americans was sometimes concealed or given the wrong information which led to many deaths. Soldiers who went, experienced everything first hand. Most of the soldiers were the youthful men who had worked for the growth of California. These soldiers usually got injured physically in the war leaving many with amputated limbs rendering one impossible to do manual work or go back to the war. Those who still survived the war experienced mental torture especially those who had not been channeled through proper recruitment due to the need of soldiers. After the war, these people had to first go through therapy which in turn led the slow growth rate of California’s economy since these people were not working to make it better.

The government directed most of its funds in funding the war leaving little money to cater for its agonizing citizens. Despite the employment opportunities that were abundant during the war, many people still lived in a lot of poverty. With the declining New Deal programs, less people had little hope in the government lending a hand to help them. World War II marked the beginning of personal tax for Americans. The government needed money to cater for the war and method of deducting the tax was employed in 1940. According to them, the industry grew rapidly during the World War II. The demand for food during the wartime made the industry grow in a rapid way to meet the high demand. Goodwin, Doris.