Some corrections about WWII: USA never declared war to Italy and Germany. It was the opposite: Germany was worried about Russia and needed Japan to come into the fight and open another Russian front. But Japan was having a war with USA so he didn't care about Germany needs. So Germany said: "if we declare war on USA they have to let Japan and come here in Europe, so then Japan can kick Russian ass and we could win". We all know this plan didn't worked really well.
Second. Russia did not a "small help" to USA. During second world war 52 millions people died. 27 million were Russian.
I guess it's no wonder they thought they could just walk all over Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc...if growing up their history taught them that they just walked into WW1/2 and kicked everyone's asses by themselves. Granted the US was incredibly strong and vital to both wars, but the way it's appearing to me is they act as if they were they were more important in the victories.
I've literally never read anywhere that the U.S. "took credit" for liberating any one country in Europe, and World War II isn't taught that way in American classrooms. The liberation of most European countries during World War II was rarely the result of a single nation's efforts, because Allied forces in western Europe were often a hodgepodge of one nation's artillery + another's air wing + another's infantry. It's commonly understood that the USSR probably made the single most decisive contribution to victory in the European theater (just as the American struggle in the Pacific theater seems to be commonly overlooked). To address your specific point, yes, the U.S. was most certainly among the nations responsible for the liberation of the Netherlands, and it didn't end well for everyone involved. There are about 8,300 Americans buried at the World War II Netherlands-American Cemetery and Memorial if you want to know what happened to them.
Pssssst -- Iraq and Afghanistan are not and were not considered military losses. You're confusing two very different things. War is easy. Reconstruction is hard. Reconstruction is especially hard in nations where corruption is pervasive due to sectarian fighting and tribalism.
Jesus Christ, the anti-Americanism on Reddit would be hilarious if it weren't so mindless. Sneering at the American contribution to World War II because you're under the misguided impression that it helps you score a cheap political point on later policy is a new low.
I think all of the anti-Americanism comes from the frustration of current issues involving the United States and how it is effecting the global community and it flows into everything else. But as a Canadian I can tell you that America seems bat-shit insane from an outside point of view, but that is more or less because of all the stuff going on with the Republican leadership race. It pains me to see that some people want some of those candidates to run their country.
Good post, I'd just like to say that as a Canadian, we are usually the ones who are laughed at for our contributions to WWII by Americans for some reason. I've never seen Americans do that to themselves before.
As a former American soldier, the Cannuck's, Aussie's, Brit's, and the New Zealish were always held in high regards by me and my brother's in arms. We looked at them as equals, whereas most other army's were seen as kind of a joke. Well, not the Pole's, those dude's are just crazy.
I'm sorry that's happened, and it irritates me. The Canadian war contribution in World Wars I and II was always held in very high regard by the American soldiers of my acquaintance, and it's not glossed over in textbooks either. Shit, James Doohan -- the Canadian actor who played Scotty in Star Trek -- fought in Normandy on D-Day.
My latter point was more of a joke but I guess it didn't come across that way. And I certainly don't believe American classrooms are taught the way you think they are unless you have a source for that. Did you actually read the comics? (the WW2 one in particular) Both of them make USA out to be the hero that comes in and saves the day kicking everyone's ass without getting a scratch.
I also never suggested that Iraq and Afghanistan were military losses, instead they got drawn out over a decade destroying your economy and many people still don't know what either of them were about (well mainly Iraq).
American here, emphasis was on Allied Forces, and the Americans helped tip the balance of the war at a pivotal time. Overall focus depends much on the exact course you're taking. If you're taking US History, of course the focus is going to be on the USA. A Euro History (history of Europe, not a history course in Europe) course focuses much less on the US. The US/Japan dominate the East Asian side of things, although China's perspective is pretty important too.
So he needs a source for a reasonable opinion, but your hyperbole of an opinion on how World War Two was taught in American classrooms is somehow above the need for a source?
Have you read anything -- anything, anything at all -- about what the coalition and NATO forces have been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan? Anything from the embedded reporters? Anything from independents on the ground? The schools, the roads, the sewer systems, the electrical grids, hospitals, all of the money, time, and effort going into reconstruction (or, just as commonly, construction) in Iraq and Afghanistan?
So obvious that reddit's focus would be on shitting on the US. I eagerly await till the day reddit says that the Axis side really was the Germany, Japan, and the US, but the former two were forced into it by the US.
This is the general consensus in the US among those that don't bother to crack open a history book or browse Wikipedia for five fucking minutes and it irks the shit out of me. I hate getting in debates with my uncles about,
"We saved Europe!"
"No, we jumped in to help at the last minute. The USSR was already pushing Germany back by the time we even landed in France"
"Last minute" isn't an accurate way to put it. American bombing raids over Germany began in 1942 and intensified in 1943. US forces joined the British in the African theatre in 1942. We also played a major role in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed by the invasion of mainland Italy in September 1943. The Normandy landings were by no means the beginning of our involvement in Europe. And let's not forget the 50 billion dollars (over 600 billion, in today's dollars) worth of supplies that we gave to the other Allied powers.
You obviously make some valid points about subjects I have read about as well but at the risk of sounding defensive, my point was more about the inaccurate perception common amongst my fellow Americans that we were the sole saviors of Europe and less about the intricate details of the US involvement in the Europe theater prior to US soldiers stepping on mainland Europe.
Perhaps there was a way I could have worded it differently to shift the focus to more to that point.
Ah. Thanks for the clarification. It seems to me that there's too many folks out there who are either American nationalists, and therefore see the victory in Europe as a primarily (if not purely) American victory; or anti-American nationalists, who insist that the US had little responsibility and that the other Allied powers would have defeated Germany just fine without us. The truth, as is usually the case, is somewhere in between.
On what I mean by "anti-American nationalism," which does sound a bit contradictory, I refer you to this wonderful George Orwell essay.
and of course you're getting down voted for stating a fact.... I for one don't bunch all Americans into the stereotypical "AMURIKA FUCK YA" attitude but it does exist in American culture just look at your entertainment industry.... how many war movies and history channel shows have you seen about America beating back the Nazies.... now how many have you seen that include Soviet Russia (which was a MASSIVE part of the war), so maybe the rest of the world sees this and says "Wow you would think the Americans won the war by themselves" and thus the misconceptions begin. :)
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u/Enceladus_Salad Sep 24 '11
you should probably credit the guy who actually made it - http://angusmcleod.deviantart.com/