Americans and the Second World War?

Question

When critisised by Yahoo members on this Q&A Messageboard, many Americans like to remind us Brits how they 'saved our sorry arses' during WW2. Whilst I agree American help was necessary to win the war, would America have suffered in anyway if Adolph Hitler had taken over the running of Europe? Was it to the US advantage to help beat Hitler or would it have made no difference to them whatsoever?

I'm not saying the Americans 'saved our arses', some American Q&A contributors have said that when being critisised about Iraq.

I don't think Chamberlain should be accused to appeasement, after the slaughter of WW1 (only 20 odd years earlier) any prime minister would have done his/her utmost to avoid another war.

Answer 1

I don't know who told you that WE saved YOU! You guys handled yourselves with INCREDIBLE valor! The Brits have one of the finest, most flexible militaries in the world and demonstrated that during WWII.

The US would have suffered under German control of Europe because it would not have stopped there. With Japan at our West Coast, it would have only been a matter of time before we had to fight in our back yard.

Hitler had to be destroyed and the US had to play apart. I would like to say it was for our allies, and I do believe that, but it also had to be a matter of self preservation, too.

Answer 2

A europe dominated by Nazi germany would have been VERY bad for not just america but for the whole world.

Germany could been defeated by the British and Sioviets alone I think without American help. It would, however probably have taken 'till 1947 and a LOT more of europe would have been communist in the aftermath and there would probably been more that a few european cities wiped out by Nazi nukes. America getting involved meant that the war ended in '45. Plus we needed them to take care of the Japanese as the British empire was in no position to stop them.

Lets not forget that most western europe nations initially ignored Hitlers rise to power and in fact were happy to have some sort of barrier between tham and the 'evil' communists.

I for one have certain issues with the way American involvement in the war is portrayed in cinema, on TV etc. The reason that most films/TV programs have a heavy american bias is because they are made in america. If Holywood was in Britain that we would have the americans saying "Hey we helped you as well you know".

Answer 3

If Hitler had taken over Europe, he could have been unstoppable, and with the technology he was developing, he could have crossed the Atlantic to hit us. He was already close to developing that technology, if he wasn't already there, by the end of the war. We might have had more industry and resources, but if he controlled Europe, he would have gained quite a bit, too. Most Americans were sick of war after WWI, just like the Europeans, so we figured we could hide and it would all go away. We also have a lot of German-American citizens, some of whom supported Hitler at the time, so until he declared war on us, there wasn't as much outcry as there should have been.

Answer 4

Not quite answering your question (for which I apologise), but there is a point worth making on this subject, namely that when WW2 was over, the American government, which had lent money to Great Britain to help with the cost of war materiel, did something which suppressed Britain's modernisation for many years and which, in the view of many Brits, was a bitter blow to an already devastated country.....

The US administration was fully aware that the UK was on its knees economically, having been at war for 5 years, but it insisted that every cent of the loan should be repaid. Though many leading American politicians (to their credit) argued that Britain, as America's greatest ally (and which had provided enormous facilities for US air, sea and ground forces, including moving people from their homes to make way for air bases, battle practice areas, accommodation camps, etc.), should be let off this awesome burden, the White House insisted that it should be repaid in full. And the reason for this insistence?...well, it was to prevent Britain ever again rising to be a power to rival America. (The reasoning is all in the archives should you care to delve). Thus, after 1945, the UK was saddled with the twin problems of rebuilding the country (literally and in economic trade terms), and paying back this huge debt. This was a particularly crippling imposition in the immediate postwar years. So the ruse worked well.

December 2006 is a landmark month for the UK, because this week sees the last repayment (a cool 43 Million UKP) being made to the US Treasury. Only then will the UK be free of this dark link with the USA. .

Incidentally, was it any wonder that American tourists in the early 60's would go back home and complain about how basic things were in the UK? Not surprising really, was it? After all, we were paying a large proportion of GDP to America instead of investing in our own country!

Answer 5

It's impossible to condense the motivation for America entering WW2 into a few sentences. It was certainly not only the altruistic goal of saving Europe's "sorry ****" and anyone who uses this as a defense during an argument is only showing us that they have nothing more intelligent to contribute to the conversation. On the other hand, don't completely discount altruistic movtives from the equation - yes America wanted to stop Hitler for its own benefit (economic, social, political, etc.) -- but beware of the habit of extreme cynicism when talking about American motives. The war effort in the US would never have worked without the large majority of the population believing that they were doing the right thing, and not just for themselves.

Answer 6

The individuals saved thiss usa fro an invasion via Germany in WW2. while the B.E.F. have been evacuated from Dunkirk, all that stood between Britain and a German invasion grew to become into our RAF. We had a shattered military, no equipment. the folk have been on starvation rations, and suffering the Blitz.Lend hire saved this usa allowing us to rearm nicely adequate to combat decrease back. without American troops D Day have been by no skill have befell.The British on my own have been no longer able to place at the same time adequate guy skill to try this. the yank troops additionally had the toughest landings on D Day and had very intense casualties in the previous they have been in a position to escape. Canadians, and different Commonwealth troops have been battling in Denmark and the Australiand have been battling the jap and the French have been already defeated and lost their military.I remember how the individuals have been very beneficiant to the British human beings in the time of the conflict, and afterwards.

Answer 7

I heard it said that if Hitler had conquered England, America would have had gun to it's head. America was in the process of developing long range bombers such as the B-36 just for that eventually.

America would have suffered. As it was, we still had to deal with the threat of the USSR, the cold war.

We are lucky England stood firm. More so, we are lucky Churchill was the leader he was.

By the way, Europens don't bother me nearly as much as those that are so smug and arrogant. I guess they feel the same about us Americans.

edit: John C, I agree with your two reasons for why the ‘yanks’ joined the war but you left out the fact that Germany declared war on us after we declared war on Japan. The reason that it took the US so long to join the fight was the political situation FDR faced here in the states. Appeasers and isolationists. The peace at any price crowd like Nevelle Chamberlain. Funny how things don’t change. Bush faces the same opposition in the US today to the new fascists, the islamofascists.

Answer 8

I think it would have affected America in a lot of ways. Actually, I think it would have had some effect all over the world. The type of society that he wanted to establish basically goes against everything good and right. If you weren't a "pure" Aryan (sp?) then you should either be killed or basically used as slave labor. Anyone different in any way from what he saw as the "master race" was only fit to serve others or work in some way to provide for everyone else. He had no respect for humanity as a whole and was basically evil.

Politically speaking, I think it would have caused issues all over the globe as he got greedier and greedier. If he had concured Europe like he planned, I don't think he would have stopped there. I believe he would have sought to control as much as possible and with him in control, all areas of life would have changed. If he had gained control over countries that were democracies, democracy would be no more as long as his power and his ways were in effect. The citizens of those countries would no longer have any say in how their country was run, laws that were made and even things as simple as how they lived their own lives within their homes. Had Hitler done what he set out to, I think it would have been a dark, dark time affecting the entire world.

Answer 9

As an American, I can say that without the Russians, our late entry into the war would not have been enough to win the war. I am amazed by the strength and determination of the British people.

It did make a difference to defeat Hitler! If Hitler had been able to control the Middle East and its oil fields, we would all be talking German.

Answer 10

As much as I appreciate what the US did to help Europe during WWII we should remember a couple of things.
1. They joined us reluctantly because they thought that we should NOT be supported for the first couple of years.
2. Since New York finance and the US economy in general has a large Jewish contingent, I just cannot see how the US could have traded in the anti-Semitic world that the Nazi's would have given us.
We all gained and the US more than the rest of us.
Ask any economist.