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World War IIWorld War II was really the merging of two regional wars. In 1937, Japan began what was known as the "Greater East Asian War" by invading China. In 1939, Adolph Hitler started the European war by attacking Poland. Germany, Japan and Italy eventually joined together to form the Axis powers in a pursuit of world domination. By 1940, President Roosevelt knew that, most likely, the United States would be forced to join the war. During the war, some of most horrible things in human history happened. The Nazi Germans murdered at least seven million Jews in "death" camps (concentration camps) in Germany and Poland. The millions of deaths are known as the Jewish Holocaust. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Americans awoke to discover that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The day following the bombing, the United States entered World War II. Like many Americans, Texans rushed to join the armed services. Approximately 750,000 Texans served in World War II, including 12,000 women. By the end of the war, more than 22,000 Texans had died in the service of their country. The two most decorated servicemen during the war, Audie Murphy and Samuel Dealey, came from the Lone Star State. Another Texan, Chester W. Nimitz, served as commander-in-chief of the Naval forces in the Pacific. Although African Americans served and fought bravely during World War II, they still faced segregation in the armed services and were generally given menial jobs. Their experiences in the war caused many African Americans to return home with a stronger desire for equality and justice in their own country. More than thirty prisoner of war camps were located in Texas during the war. In addition, there were three internment camps established in Texas for Japanese Americans arrested by the FBI, members of Axis nationalities residing in Latin-American countries and Axis sailors arrested in American ports after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The McLean,Texas Prisoner of War Camp More than any of the New Deal programs, World War II helped pull America out of the Depression. Government spending on the war was so massive that the unemployment problems disappeared almost completely. Texas benefited greatly from war-time mobilization. New air force bases were built near major cities such as Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, Lubbock, Wichita Falls and Ft. Worth. Aircraft factories and oil refineries flourished in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Galveston, Houston and Corpus Christi. The war also created more need for fuel and machinery.
African Americans also found new job opportunities in wartime work. In 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which prohibited employment discrimination in war-time industries. It also established the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to enforce the order. However, blacks still faced segregation and were sometimes met with violence. In 1943, the Texas Rangers and the national guard had to be sent to Beaumont to put down a violent white mob who attacked an African American. He had been falsely accused of hurting a white woman. Nevertheless, by the end of the war, more than two million blacks had decent jobs in the war industries. Wartime demand for food also resulted in new prosperity for many Texas farmers and ranchers. Yet, with new industries and job opportunities, rural areas became more isolated as people began migrating to cities. Urban areas grew rapidly both during and after the war. Houston, Dallas and San Antonio became the state�s largest cities. African Americans and Mexican Americans often moved to urban areas in hopes of better opportunity. As a result, family farms began to rapidly decline. One-time small farms began to give way to large scale corporate "agribusiness."
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