Economy of California During World War II Essay

Economy of California During World War II - Essay Example This paper illustrates that one of the major events for the nation of America during the period of 20th century was the entry to regions of the Pacific Coast as a major area for economic development. During the period of 1900 and 1980 the total percentage of population of the Western States of America increased almost five times from 3.2% of total population to 15.5% of total population. The growth rate of personal income earned by the population of the Far Western regions even tripled from 5.3% to 17.4%. By the period of 1980 the areas located in the urban centers of Pacific Coast gained recognition as being important for technological advancements. Historians believe that the major developments and economic growth achieved by these regions especially by California was due to their experience of the World War II. According to Gerald Nash, a famous historian, the economic development of the Western regions was increasing and the economic development of states located in the Pacific r egions started increasing during the period of war. He further stated that the regions of the Pacific areas that were experiencing stagnant and slow increase in economic development started enjoying increased pace of economic development. There are very few criticizers who claim that West did not experience economic growth and expansion during the era of the ending period of 1940s. Mostly historians support the idea that West developed by a great deal during that era. During this period a large number of people started moving towards west in order to gain employment in the field of aircraft and ship manufacturing. The military institutes located in this region were home to several soldiers and shipmen who were engaged in the war. During a period of only five years from 1940 to 1945 the total population of the area increased by 25%. The main reason due to which the area was gaining tremendous amount of growth was that they were spending very heavily on military purposes. Rhode believ es that the major reason due to which the airplane industry of the region of California flourished was that they were assigned various contracts from the defense sector before the war actually started (Chan and Spencer, 1997, p.308). Nash stated that due to the war major changes were experienced by the West, in the areas of population, relations and economy and this period altered the West from an underdeveloped region to a developed one (Chan and Spencer, 1997, p.308). During the same 5 years period the Far Western regions of America obtained billions of dollars in the shape of funding for war purposes. During 1943 when the expenditure ion military purposes reached its peak, policy makers started fearing that after the war huge number of job; losses will take place in the region of West. According to policy makers of California, a total of 1 million jobs were to be lost out of a total workforce of 4 million within a year after the end of war. Due to this policy makers started to ma ke plans in order to help those who were expected to lose their jobs after the war. Many changes did not take place and expectations made by the policy makers did not come out to be true as heavy amount of job losses did not occur nor did many migrant workers not leave the Western regions. Economic development started taking place as a huge number manufacturing organizations started to operate on national level and operations started to expand. Those who were employed in military related jobs started filling civilian jobs. During the period, fields such as schooling, housing the service sector were not given much importance, but after the war these developments started taking place and this led to increase in number of jobs in the areas of construction and other services. This paper will discuss that West and especially California experienced economic growth during and after the World War II. Body War and Economy Undoubtedly the engagement of US in World War II led to the nation exp eriencing a boom in economy,