How big of a super power would America be today if there wasnt a second world war?

Question

would they have nuclear weapons
would they have a great economy
and would they become a technologically advanced nation

because what i have heard that germany were so many months away from the nuclear bomb, half of the foundations of the american economy was from borrowing money out in the war and the foundations of their technology of today was from the war

Answer 1

I think technology would still have happened. MANY projects that happened and occured AFTER WW2 were actually invented before then and just after WW1 but before the depression started.

An example would be hydrolics. This technology exisited before the depression but did not get a kick in the butt for our economy until AFTER WW2.

We also would still have had the Phillipines and China may never had gone Communist.

I think the USA would still have been a super power regardless, just more isolated and less intrusive. We took on a lot of responsibility as a Nation after WW2 that carries over still to this day.

People like Von Braun would have had people on the Moon before JFK but from Germany is another example of one change. Germany migth be the leader in this space race.

Answer 2

Wars can in effect be a huge investment. Better for winners than losers usually (although note that the UK was richer than Germany in the 1940s, and the UK WON and Germany LOST, yet Germany became richer than the UK by the mid-1950s).

During WWII, radar, plastic surgery, atomic energy, etc, were invented.

The US was the world's leading power from around 1918, and would still be so in 2007, without WWII, although perhaps not by as huge a margin. The US, after all, has a great, democratic, meritocratic system which ensures happy, rich citizens and which only a few other countries have had for as long a time.

Answer 3

You're right insofar as you go. In the 1920's, the US had a smaller army than Romania and no great interest in expanding it. Also, the US and Argentina were the only countries with enough money (most had spent themselves into ruin in WW I) to finance Germany's war debt and reparations payments, one of the factors leading to the Great Depression. The US has had an entrepreneurial spirit and lots of natural resources, but the war was at the least a hugely important catalyst. And many inventions, mostly British, of wartime necessity have become daily conveniences now.

Answer 4

After the world war was over, the american economy was the only one left untouched and striving. Every nation's economy was crushed except american economy, because America wasisolated from europe. America supplied major arms to the allied nations during WW2, which brought american economy to new heights. It is there that the American economy started to become the biggest arms manufacturing economy. Which remains the same to this day.

Simplified: America got a huge headstart in the economy race after WW2. Their only decesion was if they wanted to keep their leading by manufacturing nuclear weapons and getting more technologically adept. And this is what they did to keep their lead and this is why America is still the no.1 economy.

Answer 5

The concept didn't exist before World War I. There have been nations which you could call "super powers" before WWI (like the Roman Empire, the British Empire and France) but the term Super Power wasn't used for them. The first Super Powers were the USA and the Soviet Union, and they have been dominating the world politics throughout most of the 20th century. The USA is the only super power in existence today. There are some emerging super powers, like the European Union, China and India, but they do not yet have the political, economical and military ability to be considered super powers.

Answer 6

The american economy as well as most of the worlds was in a rough state and america didnt really come out of the depression until its infrastructure was bolstered by the war effort. We sold food, steel, oil, shells to russia and britain.

Answer 7

Actually the other question would be, where would west be if it hadn't invaded all the developed countries like India and China. Look at the history, These two civilizations were very advanced at that time. They had silk, fine cotton and various spices and metal. West used to go to these countries to get all of that stuff. While they invaded and then leeched off their resources, those countries got poor and we got rich.
Look India has only been independent for 60 years, and we are already talking about them being the superpower in 10 years. Same thing with China.

Answer 8

It is impossible to answer this question.

One would need to know the circumstances that prevented the Second World War from occurring and explain the course of history in Europe from then onwards.

Answer 9

America would inevitably have risen to major power status. However, the decline of the old European powers would not have been as precipitous if war had not disrupted their economies and the US may not have grown to its present position of dominance.

The Communist revolution probably would not have occurred in China. Subject to colonial restraints, the current rise of China may have occurred decades ago.

Answer 10

America all already was a power before world war 2 , and as far as Germans go they should have nuked that place in world war two just remember that Germany have declare war on the world twice like my grand father say never trust a German.