Date

10-14-2026

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

Chad Shelley

Keywords

Georgia, World War II, economic transformation, federal investment, wartime mobilization, industrialization, military installations, defense industry, Fort Benning, Bell Aircraft, Brunswick shipbuilding, Robins Air Force Base, postwar economic development, Georgia economy, Sunbelt development

Disciplines

Economics | History

Abstract

This dissertation examines how World War II transformed Georgia’s economy from a predominately rural, agricultural economy into a more diversified economy increasingly tied to federal investment, military activity, industrial production, transportation, and commerce. It argues that wartime mobilization accelerated this transformation by directing federal funds into military installations, defense industries, infrastructure, and public services while drawing workers into expanding centers of employment. Using federal records, census data, military publications, corporate reports, newspapers, and oral histories, the study examines Fort Benning, Robins Field, Camp Toccoa, Bell Aircraft, the Brunswick Shipyards, Delta Air Lines, and The Coca-Cola Company. These cases show how wartime investment expanded employment, infrastructure, and local economic activity. Race and gender are addressed where they directly intersect with employment and industrial development, but broader social attitudes and elite reactions fall outside the study’s primary economic focus. Although some wartime facilities and jobs disappeared after 1945, others endured through continued military missions, industrial reuse, and commercial expansion. World War II therefore marked a decisive turning point by reducing Georgia’s dependence on agriculture and redirecting workers, capital, infrastructure, and population toward a broader economic system.

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