speed ahead against the Axis powers. Of the eighteen million U.S. servicemen enlisted at the time, nearly two-thirds were drafted and yanked from their homes to fight in the Pacific and European theaters. World War II saw a profound shift in who worked the farms. With so many young men leaving to serve in the military, women took on a greater role in ensuring food production met the demands of the nation and its allies. Electricity became their partner, powering tools and machinery that lightened their load and made the work more efficient. Tasks that had once required brute strength could now be managed with the push of a button, enabling farms to maintain productivity in the absence of much of their traditional labor force.
These cooperatives became a lifeline. Neighbors worked together to string power lines across fields and through forests, often overcoming treacherous terrain and technical challenges. When the REA started, ten percent of America’s countryside had electricity. By the end of the 1930s, around twenty-five percent of rural households had electricity.
Electrification at war World War II marked a turning point not just for America but for the rural electrification movement. Electrified farms didn’t just feed the nation— they fed the war effort. Beyond agricultural output, electricity- powered equipment that processed and preserved food, allowing supplies to be shipped efficiently to troops overseas. It also bolstered rural factories repurposed for wartime production, contributing to the arsenal of democracy that defined the Allied victory.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
reorganized to meet ambitious wartime food production goals. Electricity was no longer a luxury; it was critical for national security. Wartime propaganda even celebrated the role of electrification with slogans like "Powering victory from coast to coast." Post-war developments After the war, the momentum of rural electrification continued. Advances in technology made electricity more reliable and affordable, enabling the grid to reach the most remote areas. The REA provided ongoing support for grid modernization, ensuring that
War At the beginning of World War II, the United States mainly supplied the Allied nations with food, metals, weapons, and various other goods. The U.S. would not begin its substantial military involvement until after the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, but once that happened, the nation moved full
we get technical
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