World War II Rubber Crisis/ Invention of Synthetic Rubber
World War II was a major event in the history of rubber that
changed the rubber industry forever. When the United States entered in World War II there was an enormous need for rubber. The US government set goals for rubber consumption that were way too ambitious and that exceeded the rate that natural rubber was being produced. Rubber was used to make an incredible amount of things that were made for the war. Rubber was wrapped around every inch of military wiring used in the war. Sherman tanks were made with half a ton of rubber and some battleships contained 20,000 rubber parts. These are just a few examples of how much rubber was needed. Catastrophe hit after Pearl Harbor. Not only the actual event, but after Peal Harbor the Japanese seized most of the rubber plantations in Southeast Asia. This was a huge blow to the allies’ rubber supplies. 90- 95% of the world’s rubber supplies were grown within 15 degrees of Singapore. This was one of the first places that the Japanese conquered. This basically cut the US and allies off from a very important commodity that was a necessity if the allies wanted to win the war. Knowing that this was a gigantic crisis, Franklin Roosevelt put three draconian initiatives into place. These initiatives became really great symbols of the spirit and pride of American Industry. The first thing that was done is considered one of the biggest
recycling campaigns in the history of the world. All American citizens were
asked to collect rubber and other items to be salvaged and used to make things
for the war. This was a great way for citizens of all ages to get involved and
make an effort to help America. The second initiative required the help of
Americans who had any expertise in natural resources. These people were sent to
the every corner of the world to find plants and trees that could be used to
make rubber. Along with that, these explorers also looked for a way to free
themselves from the dependency of the rubber plantations in Southeast Asia. The
third and final initiative was to try and manufacture an artificial rubber.
Requests were sent out to synthetic chemists to try and create a viable
synthetic rubber. They were told that they needed to produce a million metric
tons of this synthetic rubber that hadn’t even entered developmental stages yet,
which put a ton of pressure of these chemists. There was a real push to find
this new material and in the span of two years, hundreds of thousands of a very
usable synthetic rubber was being produced. This was extremely important.
American and German scientists started working of synthetic rubber two decades
ago. They never figured it out, but the work they did were precursors to the
synthetic rubber that was used for military proposes in World War II. This
effort to find, recycle, and create new rubber was huge in the military success
of the United States, and could be a major reason for why the allies won WWII.
Not only that, WWII pushed for the invention of synthetic rubber, which is still
used to today.
changed the rubber industry forever. When the United States entered in World War II there was an enormous need for rubber. The US government set goals for rubber consumption that were way too ambitious and that exceeded the rate that natural rubber was being produced. Rubber was used to make an incredible amount of things that were made for the war. Rubber was wrapped around every inch of military wiring used in the war. Sherman tanks were made with half a ton of rubber and some battleships contained 20,000 rubber parts. These are just a few examples of how much rubber was needed. Catastrophe hit after Pearl Harbor. Not only the actual event, but after Peal Harbor the Japanese seized most of the rubber plantations in Southeast Asia. This was a huge blow to the allies’ rubber supplies. 90- 95% of the world’s rubber supplies were grown within 15 degrees of Singapore. This was one of the first places that the Japanese conquered. This basically cut the US and allies off from a very important commodity that was a necessity if the allies wanted to win the war. Knowing that this was a gigantic crisis, Franklin Roosevelt put three draconian initiatives into place. These initiatives became really great symbols of the spirit and pride of American Industry. The first thing that was done is considered one of the biggest
recycling campaigns in the history of the world. All American citizens were
asked to collect rubber and other items to be salvaged and used to make things
for the war. This was a great way for citizens of all ages to get involved and
make an effort to help America. The second initiative required the help of
Americans who had any expertise in natural resources. These people were sent to
the every corner of the world to find plants and trees that could be used to
make rubber. Along with that, these explorers also looked for a way to free
themselves from the dependency of the rubber plantations in Southeast Asia. The
third and final initiative was to try and manufacture an artificial rubber.
Requests were sent out to synthetic chemists to try and create a viable
synthetic rubber. They were told that they needed to produce a million metric
tons of this synthetic rubber that hadn’t even entered developmental stages yet,
which put a ton of pressure of these chemists. There was a real push to find
this new material and in the span of two years, hundreds of thousands of a very
usable synthetic rubber was being produced. This was extremely important.
American and German scientists started working of synthetic rubber two decades
ago. They never figured it out, but the work they did were precursors to the
synthetic rubber that was used for military proposes in World War II. This
effort to find, recycle, and create new rubber was huge in the military success
of the United States, and could be a major reason for why the allies won WWII.
Not only that, WWII pushed for the invention of synthetic rubber, which is still
used to today.