do you think the USA was late in coming to the aid of Great Britain during WW11?

Question

Britain really needed our help in 1939, but we waited until we were attacked at Pearl Harbor - alittle late - I think.

Answer 1

The USA were in a very difficult position at the beginning of the second World War. A European war far from their shores was the least of the worries of a country still reeling from the after effects of the great depression.
As stated by several people the USA aided the UK and Commonwealth with material supplies well before the USA entered the war fully.
You only have to visit the war cemeteries in Normandy and see the thousands of fallen US troops who gave their lives to feel humbled by the sacrifice that these brave boys made on our behalves. Better late than never in my opinion.

Answer 2

Agreed.

I find it offensive that so many Americans are completely oblivious to the sacrifices made by GB, The Commonwealth and their allies between '39 and '42 - and so many feel the US somehow saved the day...

Truth be told, it could be argued that the US managed to swoop in at the last mniute, after both sides had battled each other senseless and the USA had made $$$billions selling arms.

One can't help but wonder if the US would even be a superpower in later years if it weren't for sitting out the bulk of the battle, only to waltz in at the last minute and claim the lion's share of the spoils of victory.

No offence intended to those brave Americans that risked or lost their lives in WWII.

EDIT:

those who claim the US was on the Allies side : need only look to Prescot Bush (George w.'s grand-daddy) who acted as Germany's US money launderer until the US government seized those assets under the "Trading with the Enemy Act" of 1942!!

Answer 3

No the timing for the United States entering World War 2 was just about spot on. They had to wait for the right political climate to manifest its self. Also both Germany and Japan declared war on the US first not the other way round!
The biggest problem now is the fact that Americans think they won the war all by themselves! They forget it was a World War and other countries made huge sacrifices!
Its time the Hollywood propaganda machine started being a little bit more accurate in its portrayal of events.

Answer 4

1st off, we were helping Britain before Pearl Harbor through such things as the Lend-Lease act. Remember the German U-boats targeting merchant steamers bringing supplies to Britain? Guess where those steamers were coming from?

The reasons we didn't declare war on Germany until they declared war on us were mostly political. You must remember that there was a strong under-current of isolationism. People who went to war during WWI had no desire for a repeat performance. You had national figures such as Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford speaking out against getting involved in another "foreign war". Of course, Pearl Harbor solved the "foreign war" part, and Hitler solved the problem of declaring war on Germany for us.

Running on mt......yeah, and guess who the "antiwar crowd" was....Republicans!

Answer 5

The majority of people in the United States did not want to enter WWII until after Pearl Harbour was attacked. The United States did not care about Aghganistan until Bin Laden attacked the United States. The United States seems to only care if they are attacked or if they think they are going to be attacked. i.e iraq and the War of 1812.

Answer 6

The US entered the war after a German U-Boat torpedo'd and sunk an American passenger ship.
The German shifted their bombing from airfields to cities which was a mistake as they nearly destroyed the airfields, chenging targets allowed Britain to rebuild and win the battle of brittain

As said earlier movies cannot be trusted for any information, according to U-571 the US managed to steal the first enigma machine from a German U-boat. in actual fact the US NEVER got a machime till after the war. A point actually proved in the end credits.

Answer 7

No!! We were aiding Great Britain long before Pearl Harbor!

Answer 8

Yes! America did help - but late into the war & "With Conditions" - the steamers refered to by another person were suppling goods that america decided they would send(And we had to pay for) not the goods we actually needed..

America is like the school bully - just a big coward... look at the power of america compared to iraq - But they still held them off for a while..

If america is so "Good" - why dont they sortout north korea - plenty of humanitarian problems there! Guess they won't though - they might get a bloody nose - better send in the brits!!!

Answer 9

You need every body behind you, just like after 911 when the whole country said go to Afghanistan and root them turds out their holes. And we did!
We were helping the Brits though, with supplies and lots of other things, but to do it right and by god we did, we needed all behind the effort because the price would be bad beyond what anybody could imagine. Pearl Harbor put us in the right mind to do what was needed!

Answer 10

yes you were a little late coming to our aid, however if my memory of g.c.s.e history is anything to go by america was sending aid through to Britain even when you were not at war. Also i think you had this whole 'isolation' thing going on at the time, where you thought that if you were not directly attacked you would not get involved. Just wish that same thing was going on now instead of you invading Iraq for no just reason.