After Germany’s rapid conquest of Poland in September 1939, and France, Belgium, and the Netherlands the next summer, Congress appropriated $5 billion for defense, passed legislation to create a military draft, and authorized Roosevelt to call up the Army Reserves and federalize the National Guard. Franklin Delano Roosevelt to urge Congress and the American public to support sharply increased defense spending, expanding the armed forces, and establishing military conscription. In the late 1930s, the aggressive actions taken by the future Axis powers-Germany, Italy, and Japan-led Pres. Boom times followed, with sometimes dubious consequences for many Alabama communities, and the effects of these changes continue to evolve and shape the state and its inhabitants. The state had already begun its recovery after the Great Depression, but the war brought major industrial expansion, dramatic population shifts, and new opportunities in the workforce for African Americans and women. World War II and its aftermath changed the face of American culture, and this was equally true in Alabama.
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