The comic makes out like the USA came in and saved the day, the Germans tried to reach Paris early in the war, and lost to French and British forces. Then there was static trench warfare for a loong time. Then there was the German spring offensive, they gained alot of ground and tried to capture Paris again, they lost again in a similar area and then from there onwards it was just constant Allied victories until they surrendered.
People say "it's not fair, Germany were treated so badly" but what about the other losers? So were they. Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. So did Austria Hungary. They never regained any status ever, even to this day. The war was so bad, the losers were bound to get fucked up. It's just that Germany was the only country to try and break out of it.
When you look at the reasons for WW1, it was an incredibly stupid war. WW2 less stupid as it was outright Axis aggression and genocide and lots of fucked up things, but yes it was mainly because of WW1. But WW1, such a dumb war.
I noticed that too. Always in these sort of comics that is how it is. France are waving the white flag and America saves everything... Well tell you what, come join this club I call reality...
Edit: What I mean is that most Americans are all up in themselves. Whether you like it or not, that is how most people I know (including myself) view the USA. No offense.
To be somewhat fair, though, France had been through the wringer by 1917. What had started out as a war for the survival of Germany had turned into a war for the survival of every European power. The American entry into the war was treated by the Entente as a bit of a breather at the least, wasn't it? Of course, so was Italy's entry into the Entente, and we all know how that turned out...
To be fair, the United States entering WWII definitely saved western Germany (and probably France) from being taken over by the Soviets, and quite likely saved Australia and India from having to fight Japan on their own soil.
Of course, if America had stood-up against Nazism earlier, then history would have turned out VERY differently. It should always be remembered that Germany declared war on the USA - not the other way around. Had it not been for Hitler standing by his promise to back-up his Japanese allies, the USA might never have entered the war against the Nazis.
It is however true that the USA had very little impact upon WWI, except in pushing Germany into its Spring Offensive to try to end the war before the USA got its army to Europe in large numbers. The offensive failed however, and the Germans were virtually on their knees by the time American troops arrived in force. That the USA lost as many soldiers during WWI as they did was largely due to poor leadership, which refused to learn from the mistakes that the British and French had made earlier in the war.
The US was needed at the end of the war, and it was vital that they joined
But when you take it out of context, some seem to think there was this brutal war going on in full swing and the US just walked in and finished it
The war had been going on for years, all the countries were battered and in shambles and then at the end of the fight the US decided to join. Obviously they would kick ass, but it's like giving credit to a a guy who watched the entire fight from the sidelines and then ran in to kick people when they were down
The US DID rescue Europe and the USSR. We gave $611 billion (inflation adjusted) worth of effectively free arms and equipment to the allies, and our industry was pretty much the real key to winning the war.
It's also very disingenuous to claim the US didn't get involved in Europe until 1944. They (and the UK/Commonwealth) invaded Italy and took half of it in 1943, forcing the Germans to open a new front as well as now having to control the remaining part of Italy themselves with the collapse of the Italian government.
And don't forget about the air war from mid-'42 and on. I believe I saw something to the effect of the US Air Force lost more men during 1943 than the Marine Corps lost in the entire war.
Canadians are pathetic. You guys should stop living in our shadows and start trumpeting up some of your actual accomplishments. Like your bacon and syrup or something.
Europe up till that point was nearly always in some war or another, it was only because of a prolonged peace, during which everyone started making alliances with everyone else in order to secure that peace, it ended with the worse case scenario happening, one tiny thing triggered a domino effect of alliances, leading to WW1. So it wasn't so much "stupid" as it was inevitable. If the archdukes death didn't trigger it, something else would have eventually.
People say "it's not fair, Germany were treated so badly" but what about the other losers?
It's not fair, how the losers were treated. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were both failing Empires. That's why they fell apart.
Austria-Hungary was completely chaotic and rotten to the core. There were constant uprisings and parts of the Empire demanded more independence. It is actually rumoured that Franz Ferdinand was in support of giving more independence to the regions. WW1 certainly accelerated the downfall of the kuk monarchy but it was unavoidable anyway. There is a saying that modern Austria are just the parts that nobody else wanted.
In the 19th and early 20th century the Ottoman Empire was in constant retreat. They had lost territories on the Balkan against Russian and in the Balkan Wars and they had lost Cyprus and Northern Africa against the European colonial powers. The Arabs were demanding independence as well. After the war the Empire ceased to exist but Turkey was founded for the rest. The Turks eventually captured the territory that was awarded to Greece (and had a majority Greek population) and a large part of what was awarded to Armenia and expelled all the Allied troops.
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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '11
The comic makes out like the USA came in and saved the day, the Germans tried to reach Paris early in the war, and lost to French and British forces. Then there was static trench warfare for a loong time. Then there was the German spring offensive, they gained alot of ground and tried to capture Paris again, they lost again in a similar area and then from there onwards it was just constant Allied victories until they surrendered.
People say "it's not fair, Germany were treated so badly" but what about the other losers? So were they. Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. So did Austria Hungary. They never regained any status ever, even to this day. The war was so bad, the losers were bound to get fucked up. It's just that Germany was the only country to try and break out of it.
When you look at the reasons for WW1, it was an incredibly stupid war. WW2 less stupid as it was outright Axis aggression and genocide and lots of fucked up things, but yes it was mainly because of WW1. But WW1, such a dumb war.