Background Information
World War II has its roots in imperialism, alliances, and racism. Imperialism is the desire to gain influence by taking over the land, governments, or economies of other countries. Germany’s Adolf Hitler started a war in Europe in 1939 when Germany invaded and conquered Poland. Great Britain and France then declared war on Germany, which led Germany’s ally, Italy (under Benito Mussolini), to enter the war. Both Fascist dictators, Hitler and Mussolini each wanted more land, natural resources, and power in Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. By 1941, Germany controlled Norway, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece , Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and parts of the Soviet Union. Hitler was also motivated by a hatred of Jewish people, and in addition to his attempts to gain land and power, he implemented the Holocaust, a progressive program of marginalization, enslavement, and murder of Jews in the countries he conquered.
In the meantime, Hideki Tojo, the Prime Minister of imperialist Japan, had already taken Japan to war in order to gain territory in China, Manchuria, and other places in the Pacific. In 1940, Germany and Italy signed an agreement Tojo. The agreement was an alliance, saying that each country would go to war if the other came under attack. Germany, Italy, and Japan were together called the Axis Powers.
The war became one world-wide conflict when, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the unsuspecting American Naval fleet docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day, the U.S. declared war on Japan, and four days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The U.S. joined the Allies, including Great Britain, the French Resistance Government, and the Soviet Union, in a fight against Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The United States government and the media defined World War II as a “good war” where the forces of good and evil were clearly identified. Americans felt they were clearly on the right side of the struggle. During the war, many women took on new roles as wage earners, propelling the factories that produced the weapons of war. The economic growth that occurred as a result of the war and the American part in the victory boosted America to superpower status. Returning soldiers and their families moved firmly into prosperity, as evidenced through increased educational levels, the purchase of luxury and appliance-equipped suburban homes, and the baby boom. The end of World War II also launched the Cold War as countries aligned with the communist block or with the “free world.”
These themes played out on the local level as well, and changed the nature of life in the Fox Valley. For individuals in the Fox Valley, the War was a defining experience that shaped their attitudes and beliefs. One example of how the War served as a personal landmark is found in Roland Vogt. In an inscription in the cover of a best-selling book called The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan (1959), Roland Vogt told his son Jeffery of the trauma of war. He said that the war was so traumatic that he had a difficult time returning to “normal” life after coming back to Appleton. Vogt had taken part in one of the War’s turning points – the Allied invasion of Normandy (called D-Day by many) – which opened a second front in 1944. Vogt landed on Omaha Beach, the most famous of the five landing sites. There, he and other American soldiers encountered heavy German fire. These men passed through minefields in the water and bursts of machine gun fire and mortar explosions. The U.S. suffered high casualties, but overran the beach by nightfall. Vogt was haunted by the deaths of men in his Company and had nightmares for years to come as he relived the battle on Omaha Beach.
Vogt commanded a group of men on one of the landing crafts. When the gates of the craft opened to release the men, all of them were killed by gun fire except for Vogt. He waded in behind their dead bodies. Once on land, he convinced ten soldiers to follow him up a cliff to stop the German fire. The group disabled two machine gun nests and helped save the lives of other soldiers landing on the beach.
Vogt returned to Appleton after the war and married his high school sweetheart. Unable to reconcile his experiences in war with his desire to become a minister, Vogt went to work as a purchasing agent for the Fox River Tractor Company.
On the local home front, World War II also dramatically changed the lives of women and children. War-themed games and toys fostered patriotism among young Fox Valley residents. Manufacturers made these war-time toys out of wood or cardboard so that metal and rubber would be available for war-time materials such as weapons and jeep tires. Appleton boy Don Schwandt played with such toys. He also helped the war effort, as many children did, by purchasing a war bond. Schwandt purchased his bond for $18.75. Over the course of ten years, the bond would mature to $25. In addition, local children like Schwandt aided the war effort by collecting scrap metal, paper, and rubber. These materials were desperately needed in the war effort for production of ammunition, weapons, jeeps, etc.
Women on the home front participated in scrap drives as well. They also supported soldiers by implementing a system of rationing in their households. The U.S. Government rationed gasoline, milk, sugar, meat, butter, and other food items so that soldiers would be well fed and their transportation well fueled. However, most impressively, women entered the workforce by the millions during the war. They replaced men who left their jobs to become soldiers. Many women worked in factories doing “war work” such as assembling airplanes or munitions. Most viewed their new role outside the home as temporary and anticipated returning to homemaking after the war ended.
Throughout the Fox Valley, people came together to support each other and their country during this major conflict. People of the Valley who aided the war effort still have a feeling of having furthered the greater good through their work. Soldiers returned to a booming economy, increased educational opportunities, and an identity we carry with us today as citizens of a world superpower.
