Why Do The Americans Think They Won WW2?

[Krieglord]

Alright so maybe they were the ones to drop the bombs on Japan but when it comes to Germany that was more or less Russia's achievement in the field with the Americans and commonwealth being a distraction more then anything.

Why do Amuricans think they won it all?

Is it just the medias fault

I have met Americans who if you talk to them about ww2 or even ww1 they act as if their president went over their first hand led the troops from the front and one handedly defeated Germany.

[Vanoi]

Americans did win WW2. So did the British, Russians, and all the other allied nations.

Maybe its because where I live, but i have never heard people claim that WW2 was solely won by America.

[Rolling Thunder]

Americans did win WW2. So did the British, Russians, and all the other allied nations.

/thread

[Gnostiko]

Americans did win WW2. So did the British, Russians, and all the other allied nations.

Maybe its because where I live, but i have never heard people claim that WW2 was solely won by America.

This, FTW. I'm an American who has lived in both the US and UK. I've heard more Brits asking the same question as the OP, than I have Americans affirming the same thing.

[Fight!]

Much of it is very much excessive patriotism, but I don't think it's fair to downplay the aid American forces did bring to the European theater. They were certainly of great aid, even if the most aid was in the way of supplies. I think taking either extreme (America as winning the war vs America as insignificant), generally indicates an excess of patriotism.

[Col. Tartleton]

I think nearly everyone is kidding if we infer it that way. Naturally we feel our industriousness and manpower allowed us to wage a two theater world war and that we were the biggest of the 3 allies in contribution (even though it was probably Russia). It's pretty common knowledge among literate Americans that Russia did most of the fighting and dying and Britain (and Canada) were fighting side by side with us.

In fairness a lot of people don't know who the vice president is.

[The Juggernaut]

I doubt that the Russians alone could have stood against Hitler, with the Soviets demanding the Western Allies open other fronts to distract Germany from the Eastern Front. American industrial capacity was essential in keeping the British in the war, and it was American troops that spearheaded much of the action in Italy and France; these additional actions led to the collapse of the Fascist government of Italy, and the movement of supplies and men to the West. That, coupled with Japanese conflict with the US that kept them out of war with the USSR until the later part of the war, means that the Western Allies in general, and the USA in particular, plays a rather large part in the defeat of the Axis powers.

I don't mean to discount the action of the Russians, not at all. But remember that the Russians also received vast amounts of aid from the US during the war, despite ideological conflict. I think that the Russian front is partially marginalized, at least among popular American culture, because of the Cold War. It would be rather hard to explain to schoolchildren how great the sacrifices of the Russian people were, and how heroic many of their soldiers were, and then reconcile that with the attitudes that prevailed.

Just some of my thoughts...

[Krieglord]

I wasnt downplaying their material aid but when it comes to actual warfare... the USSR did the grunt work

Could the Americans and British have stomached a battle for Berlin? I doubt it

[Vanoi]

Could the Americans and British have stomached a battle for Berlin? I doubt it

Considering the Americans stomached Okinawa and Iwo Jima, i think they could have stomached Berlin.

Not to mention many American soldiers were upset when they were told that they would not be entering Berlin.

[Savoyard]

I wasnt downplaying their material aid but when it comes to actual warfare... the USSR did the grunt work

Could the Americans and British have stomached a battle for Berlin? I doubt it

Considering Patton's idea of plowing through the Russians after the Fall, probably.

[Tiberius Tosi]

I wasnt downplaying their material aid but when it comes to actual warfare... the USSR did the grunt work

Could the Americans and British have stomached a battle for Berlin? I doubt it

They were prepared to stomach an invasion of Japan, which would have been even more horrific than a Battle of Berlin.

Anyways, very few people claim that the US solely won WWII and it is usually just people oversimplifying things when they do. It is arguable if Russia could have gone it alone without material aid from the US, but that is all just speculation, and speculation at that.

[Spitfire -WONDERBOLT!]

I wasnt downplaying their material aid but when it comes to actual warfare... the USSR did the grunt work

Could the Americans and British have stomached a battle for Berlin? I doubt it

If it came to all that we would have just flattened it.

[The Juggernaut]

I doubt that an offensive led by America or the British would have resulted in the same casualties that the Russians incurred, simply because of their style of warfare. It's entirely feasible that Patton could have taken Berlin months before the Russians, but instead was told to turn south for political reasons.

Not that the US could have won the war by themselves, or without the Russians soaking up the Nazis on the Eastern front. I would argue that no one of the Allies could have stood alone against the Nazis.

[Nikitn]

I doubt that an offensive led by America or the British would have resulted in the same casualties that the Russians incurred, simply because of their style of warfare. It's entirely feasible that Patton could have taken Berlin months before the Russians, but instead was told to turn south for political reasons.

Not that the US could have won the war by themselves, or without the Russians soaking up the Nazis on the Eastern front. I would argue that no one of the Allies could have stood alone against the Nazis.

By 1945 the Russian army was much better than the Allied or the German one (due to it primarily consisting of raw recruits by this point, with a few elite units). So It's fair to say that the allies would take higher losses than the Soviets would, since the Allies wouldn't be able to use their overwhelming airpower efficiently over Berlin.

[Imperial]

They didn't win?

Now that's the most crazy history revisionism I have ever witnessed on these boards.

[Wulfburk]

USSR did the fighting, and Britain holded the ground.

[Blood Raven]

USSR did the fighting, and Britain holded the ground.

It was Britain who held the line in Burma, as well as in North Africa, who also bore the brunt of the Battle of the Atlantic. There's also the siege of Malta and the Battle of Britain.

[Caelius]

God why are we having another one of these retarded threads again? Why?

Moreover then that....why is it that everytime people bring up the "Who won WW2" question it's always automatically assumed that World War 2 = just the European theater?

What part of World War don't some people get?

If I knew any better i'd say that it's a highly Eurocentric bias that some people have. With a little bit of revisionist history and Russian fanboyism thrown in for good measure.

I've never met any Americans who think that our country won WWII on it's lonesome. In fact, i've met more Europeans who tend to mistakenly ask that stupid question without even checking to see if that was something that Americans actually believed in the first place!

As far as i'm concerned this thread ended on page one. The Allied Powers won WW2. Subtract any one of the Big Three from the equation and the victory as it occurred wouldn't have been possible.

[Imperial]

What ground did Britain hold? They were chased off of mainland Europe like scared rabbits, and then again at Crete.

[Vanoi]

What ground did Britain hold? They were chased off of mainland Europe like scared rabbits, and then again at Crete.

North Africa, India. Parts of Burma.

It is worth to note that when the pacific theatre opened, the Japanese army were already exhausted in the ongoing war in China. Americans just came here and eat what Chinese cook an prepare for them. It was the same with Europe Theatre. Americans an its allies came and eat what Russians cook and prepare for them.

Exhausted? Please. China barley held together on its own. Without American aid i very much doubt the Chinese could have survived the Japanese Army in the first place.