Comparing the American Home Front During World War I and World War II

World War I and World War II greatly impacted the American Home Front and reshaped the political, economic, and socio-cultural status quos. The most pressing concern for the government was gearing domestic industry toward the war effort, which meant that certain groups such as women and African Americans assumed nontraditional social and economic roles. Despite progressed towards social and economic equality, women and minority groups still faced discrimination. Although the wars share similar patterns with regards to economic mobilization, increased technology during World War II resulted in a faster and more intense conversion of the American economy towards the war effort. Moreover, although women and African Americans enjoyed a degree of social change in both wars, victory in World War II depended more fully on their contributions and empowered them; the lack of progress made towards social justice for African Americans.

Participating in wars required the mobilization of the American economy by gearing industries towards the war effort. During World War I, federal government agencies such as the War Industries Board oversaw the purchasing for the United States and Allied powers. Wall Street stockbroker Bernard Baruch directed the War Industries Board, which sought "to operate the whole United States as a single factory" by converting all factories to wartime production. It told manufacturers what to produce, allocated raw materials, and fixed prices. Food and fuel agencies mobilized and controlled the war effort, operating under the slogan that "Food Will Win The War--Don't Waste It." The president had the authorization to fix the price of wheat as well as issue orders to stimulate and conserve the production and distribution of foods necessary to the war effort. Economic mobilization during World War II shared many similarities with the World War I Home Front, although FDR was reluctant to make demands on the public and thus delegated power to various government agencies. Federal agencies such as the War Production Board and National War Labor Board aided in the conversion to war production. The Office of Price Administration set prices for critical wartime goods, and raw resources needed in war became rationed or banned. The American economy quickly converted to war production, and new industries such as synthetic rubber were created. Unlike in World War I, FDR mobilized technology based on scientific principles to contribute to the war effort. Redirecting the American economy towards total war thus became prominent and central features of the American Home Front during both world wars.

The necessity for factory and defense workers thus subverted traditional patterns and spawned a degree of social change, as both World War I and World War II offered women new opportunities in the work force even though the social and economic equality during wartime proved illusory. The media encouraged women to assert their patriotism by taking on factory work and other nontraditional roles. Women initially supported World War I in traditional ways, helping organize drives for wartime "Liberty Bonds," conserving foodstuffs, and supporting the Red Cross. Government and industrial leaders sought to use women workers for service on farms, loading docs, and railroad crews. Women, who were still disenfranchised, believed that their participation in the war effort would translate into political, social, and economic gains. Women's Trade Union League believed that women could get onto equal terms with men as they worked in munitions factories that were vital to the success of the Allied forces. However, progress during the war proved ephemeral, and once the war ended most women returned to their previous jobs. During World War II, six million women entered the civilian workforce, shattering old barriers as women became lumberjacks, toolmakers, machinists, and blacksmiths. They comprised fourteen percent of all workers in shipbuilding and forty percent of the workers in aircraft plants. Rosie the Riveter became a poignant symbol for the recruiting campaign, and new jobs that offered higher income fostered a sense of independence in women that resulted in sexual experimentation. Unfortunately, when America demobilized women got laid off in large numbers, especially those who occupied well-paying and high-status positions. Working in male jobs still empowered women and laid the groundwork for a feminist movement at the war's conclusion. Nonetheless, Americans generally began to accept women in the workplace and embrace social change.

Like women, African Americans also benefited by the job opportunities offered by war, although they still faced discrimination and resentment towards real social change. During World War I, African Americans, who still faced various forms of racism, hoped that their participation in and contributions to the war effort would result in socio-economic and political change. Over four hundred thousand blacks left the South for the North as part of the Great Migration in order to work in the factories. American industry desperately needed workers, and the economic opportunities combined with the brutality of southern life motivated this influx of black migrants into the industrial cities of the North and Midwest. There they found better jobs and paid higher wages. Despite the need for African Americans to work in factories, they continued to face discrimination. Thus, although they faced discrimination and violence, African Americans nonetheless made some significant economic gains during the war.Similar discrimination is evident during World War II, although the lack of progress made towards social justice during and after World War I incited greater African American resistance and agitation during and after World War II because of their adverse treatment. African Americans participated in war industries but faced harsh discrimination in defense work. Black workers arrived in war-boom cities plagued by shortages in social services, housing, social services, and police protection. Racial violence increased as a result of conservative white reaction, leading to fatal race riots throughout the country. In response, African Americans organized the "Double V" campaign, which stood for victory against tyranny and terror abroad as well as victory against racial discrimination at home. It demands that African Americans who risked their lives abroad receive full citizenship rights at home, limning racial discrimination and fascism as two sides of the same coin. Thus, the failure to procure real change after World War I combined with the effects of World War II democratized American society and culture.

The American Home Front during World War I and World War II became characterized by a conversion of the economy towards wartime production. The federal government ramped up its control over the economy and assigned federal agencies to oversee production, price controls, and rationing of raw materials and goods vital to the war. Mobilization during World War II differed from World War I because technology had advanced, and warfare had become more brutal. Thus, FDR applied scientific principles to technological development in order to manufacture the most modernized weaponry and necessary war materials. Because men left home to go fight in the war, women and minority groups enjoyed the opportunity to join the work force and earn higher wages. Although women achieved some political gains during World War I, their economic gains proved transient. Their involvement in World War I had heightened urgency due to the ramped-up mobilization of FDR's wartime machine. African Americans achieved some economic gains during World War I, although they faced explosive racial tensions and achieved no progress despite their invaluable contributions in the work force. As a result, African Americans in World War II agitated against workplace discrimination and formed groups that would lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Movements. American society slowly began to accept and embrace the idea of cultural pluralism emerged as a defining characteristic of American society.

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