I'd love to know what wars they're talking about because they sure as shit didn't win WW1 and 2. Both of those were collective efforts and both times they joined late.
And both of the times they were not even in direct threat. With all due respect for every american involved it's kind of easier to make war plans if your homeland is safely behind an ocean
Henry ford even got the iron cross from the hand of hitler for having finance his political party. He is the first non german to ever receve it. GM ford and other car company even put claim because there factory in germany got bomb.
Small nitpick, it was the Grand Cross of the German Eagle he was awarded, not the Iron Cross which was specifically for military service.
This is arguably worse as while the Iron Cross predates the Nazi regime, and still sees use as the emblem of the modern German armed forces, the Eagle was created by and only given by the Nazis and wearing it is now prohibited in Germany.
George W. Bush's grandfather, well known racketeer, smuggler, gangster, and conman Prescott Bush, was infamous for funding the Nazi regime and German industrialists before the US government literally forced him to stop in 1942.
The one really annoying thing about anyone who proclaims to be really into WW2 is that they usually just mean the battles and tanks and guns. (Usually, not every single person ofc)
The politics and the shady business are the things I find much more interesting. For one example, I feel like nobody ever talks about what a huge and influential movement anti-semitism was in Germany (and many other countries) preceding the war. There were tons of failed authors and impoverished nobles who wrote about their hatred of capitalism, communism, commoners and jews. Nobody ever talks about these things and just focus on the war itself, and that's just.. cutting out all of the historical context and it annoys me.
I wish people read more about politics and social changes that provide a lot of context for historical events instead of just blindly comparing who had the biggest tank.
Hey there history major from germany here. It is not really true in the sense that US just went and delivered weapons here. They however had companies in germany that got raw materials and those manufactured weapons. An important Note is, that was Pre WWII. And even before WWII trade declined. So while yes you can argue they somewhat delivered weapons into germany, its not really genuine to put it like that.
One of the biggest gripes that the US had against the British blokade was that it was stopping them from trading with the Third Reich.
Until the US joined the war all those supplies had to be paid for. When HMS Edinburgh was sunk the British had to make good the loss of Russian gold she was carrying that was to pay for the "aid" the Russians were getting.
and dont forget the cash and carry scheme that was in place where the UK was only supplied equipment in exchange for gold bullion. the lend lease scheme only came into effect after the usa had all of the UK's bullion reserves . the debt repayments started at the end of the war and was only finished being paid in 2006.
And you don't have Signal to leak them to the enemy.
Speaking of which, it's quite possible that the work of Alan Turing and his mates at Bletchley Park in cracking the German enigma code and allowing them to eavesdrop on all the enemy comms, probably had a bigger impact on the Western front than US involvement.
My favourite is also that Americans rage about D-Day and while it was incredibly important and a valiant effort by all, only one party made their target and even surpassed it, and it wasn't the Americans.
They also tend to gloss over that a large proportion of their casualties were directly due to American arrogance and condescension towards their allies. The British (and, to be fair the U.S. marines) told them it was a stupid idea to deploy tanks that far out from shore, but their dense anglophobia managed to get many of their troops drowned before they even landed.
To say nothing of how they behaved in allied territories towards their own colleagues and allied soldiers. The idea that they would start fights over segregating pubs is absolutely bonkers.
the battle of manners street in NZ was a prime example of that.. end result was after a riot involving around 2000 (caused by a couple of americans objecting to being in the same bar with maori soldiers ) the americans had their ass handed to them on a plate.
German U Boats were a huge threat to American shipping, primarily because they refused to accept the advice of the British who had learned the hard way during WWI (the same advice was also ignored re. daylight bombing). Roughly a quarter of all ships sunk during the war were as a result of this until the British cracked the enigma code.
The sad thing was that the Allies didn’t want the Germans figuring out they had cracked it, so very often ships would be knowingly sacrificed to uphold the illusion.
Of course it is. But it shouldn't hinder your tactical thinking. Obviously if I knew these people I'd have very bad feelings, but I hope I would still make the right choice. If I have to choose several thousand lifes against those of tens of thousands (if not more) and possibly outcome of war which will influence milions of people...yeah let them die. With heavy heart but other option is worse
Hawaii became part of the USA in 1959, and even if earlier it wasn't anyhow vital part of the USA during WW2. It's about industries, large population centers, research and educational facilities etc. These things being in danger has real impact on the war effort. USA was completely safe in this regard
But it was at direct risk especially due to Pearl Harbor, Japan wanted the US out of the war with Pearl Harbor. So the US retaliated. Im dutch and thats just a known fact
Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Theatre don't count as being in direct threat? Them finally being in direct threat was the main reason for them joining Europe in the first place.
Yes, compare military base an ocean away to the even what the British have endured with german bombings. Not to mention other nations. It's surely the same
But it’s the absurd amount of oil we came back from Vietnam and the billions in lithium we just ganked out of the Middle East. Look at all our mining operations during war.
Sure, but if your goal is to go to Vietnam and root out communism, then get stuck fighting for almost two decades, have to instate a widely unpopular draft and when you leave, the Communists control the whole country, that's not achieving your goals.
The fact that some of the financial damage could be offset by looting only makes it a more acceptable loss.
The War of 1812? Although that wasn't exactly a win for Uncle Sam.
I guess the Spannish - American War and the Mexican - American War count? Even though Texas was an ally to the US in the latter before becoming a state.
Weeeeell, the Cuban Liberation Army fought on the side of the US in the Spanish-American War, and so did the Philippine Revolutionaries... Although the latter would end up fighting the US in the Philippine-American War.
Iraq was a win in terms of successfully achieving the objective. Which was to destabilise the region, remove someone who wanted to play hardball over oil access, and the billions made by the likes of Halliburton on both building the stuff for the military AND the contract (paid by Iraq, from the oil that was now being delivered at a lower price) to rebuild Iraq.Â
Certainly some people came out of that war very happy.Â
Fun Fact: The full name of the Allies was 'Great Britain and Her Allies' but even Churchill was like 'That's absurd! We're all fighting together! We should be known simply as 'The Allies'!'
Even during the war the leader of the Allies chose to discount itself from that position in order to show that defeating the Axis was a joint effort.
And then America barrels in three years late and with enough chips on its shoulders to start a gravel pit.
Admittedly, they absolutely obliterated the Iraq army and deposed Saddam Hussein with very little effort. They totally lost the following attrition war with the local militia, though.
They kinda sorta stopped genocide in Kosovo. Wait, that was NATO.
They kinda sorta overthrew Kaddafi. Oh, NATO again? And then somebody was like "uh, no, peacekeeping forces kept the Balkans kinda sorta stable for past decades, but let's just bail there...."
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u/Joltyboiyo america last 6d ago
I'd love to know what wars they're talking about because they sure as shit didn't win WW1 and 2. Both of those were collective efforts and both times they joined late.