Why do Americans say they've won WWII?

Question

I mean that thay add to war only in 1944/ Before thay had been fighting only against Japan. Don't you think it was USSR who really did it.Anough to say about the nomber of victims: USSR 27,5 mln peole, Britain 650 000, USA 93 000. Don't you agree with me?

Answer 1

Think about it - every country you listed there was part of the Allied Forces.

I don't in any way mean to trivialize war, but a simplistic way to explain this would be like this -

If you were on a sports team and your team won, wouldn't you and your teammate standing there with you say "We won"? Even though there were more than just the two of you on the team, your statement would be true, would it not, since you were part of the winning team?


Oh, and btw - many yrs ago when we were stationed in Newfoundland I met an old Doctor who was a WWII vet (Canadian Forces). I happened to meet him on Pearl Harbor day, and since he was Canadian and I'm American, and he was a LOT older than me (I was in my early 20's), he wanted to see if I knew what day it was. He was both surprised and glad to see I did. (lol - I was in the Navy, and my husband is still in the Navy - of course I know Pearl Harbor day...)

He told me that he and his fellow soldiers cheered when Pearl Harbor was bombed - NOT because they were glad that so many people were killed, but because they knew that now the US would have to enter the war, and they would then be able to win it.

That should tell you something about the contribution America made to that war, and to how her allies - and more importantly, how those that were fighting that war, viewed her contribution.

Answer 2

We do not say we won the war, but we do beleive we were the MVP. Britain had been bombed to oblivian, there was very little resitance to the German forces except in Russia, with fresh German troops on the way up their it would not have been much longer before Moscow fell. When we joined, it forced the Germans to split up their troops, and prevented resupplying their troops in Russia. Once we arrived on the scene it gave new life to the allies, supplies. and more men. France had already fallen, and when we liberated France the war changed.
I have also been informed that numerous troops around the world silently celabrated the day Pearl Harbor was bombed knowing that we would turn the tides of the war.
At the same time I have also heard that the reason Germany did not try to keep the US out of the war by a preambtive strike is because they knew it would bring the supplies and men that were needed to defeat them.
Remember many of the citizens of this country did not want to go to war. We wanted to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. However that war is credited for making America the Superpower we are today.

Answer 3

History infers that the US Military has never won a war fighting on its own? It has however, on many, many occasions, come to the aid of other nations sorely pressed and in so doing averted their defeat. Unfortunately, American historians write up these Acton's as great stand alone wars & victories for the American Nation. This amply demonstrated in the US histories of both world wars. Many have been the wars fought since the end of world war 2 e.g. Korea with 20 + nations involved (reading US history only the US were there). Same in Vietnam, same in Iraq not forgetting other minor conflicts.

Answer 4

You are getting your facts mixed up my old mate.

The Americans joined the war in 1941 and whilst their army didnt fight the germans until 1943 (Tunisia), their airforce was very active in Europe.

Your casualty figures are wrong as well as Britain lost far more than that.

The fact is that the USA, USSR, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand plus all of the other commonwealth countries won the war, and due to the efforts of all of them.

Also don't forget that when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Russia also invaded Poland from the east and helped themselves to a large chunk of territory

Also don't forget the thousands of British merchant seamen who died making sure that U.S and British supplies continued to get to Russia through the Murmansk convoys. Supplies that Russia desparately needed to survive.

Answer 5

Because they did. We beat Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini. Hitler was the main enemy but because he chose to invade Russia in 1941 while he was at war with England, he lost the war right there because he was fighting on 2 fronts. Russia could have minimized its casualties if it would have believed that Hitler was going to attack and if it treated its troops as better than cannon fodder.
We began turnibg the tide against the Japanese at Midway in 1942 and against the Germans in North Africa in 1942. After campaigns in Sicily and Italy in 1943-44 weakened the Germans, the Normandy landings in France on 6-6-44 were the beginning of the end. The rest was mopping up. By the way, our losses in WW II totalled around 250,000.
What won the war for us was brains and brawn (we outproduced the Axis in every production category possible (ships, tanks, trucks, airplanes, etc.)).

Answer 6

The Americans couldn't have won the war all by their selves, but they supplied much of the basic war supplies to other allied countries (to incluse China and Russia) so that they could continue the war on their own. The USA was then responsible for the overall war effort. With out them most of the worlds population would now be speaking German or Japanese

Answer 7

Well, Americans say they won the war because they didn't lose. But to be fair any country fighting against Germany and its allies won the war, as Germany and its allies lost the war. It is just American ego that makes them remind us all that the US "won" the war.
I'm with askios007. There are no winners in war!! It is not a game or sports competition!!
Besides nobody seems to want to remember how fatal Hitler's decision was to try to invade Russia in the middle of a winter. It killed a very large portion of his Army. I guess he didn't learn from Napoleon. He made the same mistake and it cost him a war "victory".

Answer 8

No, It was a SHARED victory in Europe. BUT your numbers are skewed because you mixed in civilian casualties and the fact that Germany attacked Russia and Britainhead on. If it was not for the Allied advance from the west and South, and the russian winter (plus bad axis decisions) The Russians would not had advanced at all. but the Russians did have a determination unmatched by alot of folk! Think, if us did not enter the war.... all of west europe would have been taken, then main focus would have turned to russia and Germany would have one due to the fact More forces would have been dedicated to the eastward effort! But the Pacific was virtually ALL USN!


WHOA WHOA! I would like to correct the answer above me! YES history in EVERY country is Bias BUT Korea... Look at the troop numbers and we SAY UN FORCES! ( I am in korea) Vietnam was WAY more than just us and Vietnam WE ALL KNOW THIS! So correct yourself first bud! thanks!

Answer 9

not only were we in the war since 1941 but read up on Lend-Lease, in which FDR basically gave Britain a brand new Navy to replace the one that had been destroyed by U-boatds. We had the Flying Tigers in China helping them fight off the Japanese.

Russia lost so many out of pure military incompetence. Read history, Stalin refused to believe Hitler would invade Russia, even when Germans massed on the border. When Germany invaded, Stalin curled up in his room for several days, refusing to come out and face reality.

We didn't win WW2 by ourselves but we were the crucial force in bringing about the end of the war.

Answer 10

Seriously, people, learn to spell. It's Pearl HarbOr, not Pearl Harbour. And before any British, Canadian or other Commonwealthers attack me for being a "naive American and not knowing that many OR words are spelled with a U in British nations" know that Pearl Harbor is misspelled with a U because it is a proper noun. It should be spelled the proper way by everyone, even those of Commonwealth origins in the same way that I will refer to the rank of a Royal Navy Lieutenant using the appropriate "left"enant pronunciation.