# Ticked off with people bashing the USA's WW2 contributions **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 17, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777 "2014-08-17T21:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/21 "2014-08-18T05:42:37Z")
> [@ILikeForeignLanguages](#): > > 1. “We” is the United States, my country. I am speaking for the entire **patriotic population** , then and now. You still haven’t told us who is saying the things you claim in your OP. Also, there is a large portion of our population who isn’t necessarily patriotic, such as myself. I’m not proud to be an American, I’m lucky to be American. Lucky in that I was born into a first world country. Quite frankly, being born into Germany, Switzerland, England, Holland, France or any number of countries would have probably been just as pleasant, possibly even more so. With that said, do I count as part of the royal “We”? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/22 "2014-08-18T10:47:18Z")
DMC, I agree with everything you wrote. But I do agree with the OP that there has been something of a trend in recent years for many amateur historians (regular folks who are pretty well read and interested in history), and some professional historians, to point out that the US contribution has been overstated, at least on the sense that ordinary folks (mainly, but not just, in the US) tend to assume the full truth value of statements like “the Allies were losing, and then the US entered the war and then the Allies won, so you could say that, basically, the US won WW2.” Mainly, few ordinary Americans are fully aware of the Soviet sacrifice. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/23 "2014-08-18T11:01:45Z")
> [@OurLordPeace](#): > > It’s this kind of attitude that leads to things like the Second World War: > > “I didn’t vote Nazi in 1933, but I have to serve my country…” > > … or perhaps the First World War is an even better example. You get the picture. I don’t know if I do. Could you give me more false dilemmas to help convince me? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/24 "2014-08-18T12:21:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I think a lot may be that during the Cold War, the Soviet contributions to the war in Europe were downplayed quite a bit for political and propaganda reasons. Now, the Soviet contribution is recognized for what it is- the real heavy lifting in the European theater. Of course, this “heavy lifting” was partially made possible by Allied (and especially American) supply efforts. The Soviets put themselves in the position of having to shoulder a large burden by playing footsie with the Nazis for years before they were invaded (including shipping lots of valuable raw materials to Germany). Britain and France, of course, pushed Stalin towards an alliance with Germany by dithering over a mutual defense pact, believing that the Soviet Union wasn’t worth such an agreement. Britain and France deserve criticism for not putting a halt to Hitler’s ambitions years before WWII started, when it would have been relatively easy to do so. America can be criticized for isolationism and complacency. Or we can drop all this retrospective crap, and play what-ifs with WWI - it’s the big anniversary celebration, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/25 "2014-08-18T12:44:20Z")
> [@OurLordPeace](#): > > The US entered the war only after being directly attacked by the Axis at Hawaii, Guam, and Alaska. (Even then, the US notably declared war on the other Axis powers as well, not just Japan, though after all, US ships and German subs had already battled on a few occasions shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor.) This isn’t all that remarkable, as most of the Allies only joined after being attacked by the Axis. And let’s not forget that the USSR didn’t join the war against Germany until six months before the US did, after Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact - which allowed the dividing up of Eastern Europe between the Germans and the Soviets - and invaded. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/26 "2014-08-18T13:16:28Z")
> [@ILikeForeignLanguages](#): > > 1. “We” is the United States, my country. I am speaking for the entire patriotic population, then and now. I don’t recall voting for you. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/27 "2014-08-18T13:29:26Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > “We” is the United States of America, the country which the OP is a citizen of, you goddamned sanctimonious asshole. “Sanctimonious” is a choice word uttered by someone who holds undue reverence for an abstract concept, and refers to those who don’t share the delusion as “evil” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/28 "2014-08-18T13:54:59Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > “Sanctimonious” is a choice word uttered by someone who holds undue reverence for an abstract concept, and refers to those who don’t share the delusion as “evil” Yes, my objection to people who want to break up the country so they and perpetuate a system that lets them own other people makes ME the evil one. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/29 "2014-08-18T14:12:16Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > “We” is the United States of America, the country which the OP is a citizen of, you goddamned sanctimonious asshole. … seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/30 "2014-08-18T14:23:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who is saying this? Why, “they” are, of course. Don’t be ignorant. It’s “people”. Top. . .people. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/31 "2014-08-18T14:25:54Z")
My response to such alleged people: The USSR is so glorious that it doesn’t even exist anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/32 "2014-08-18T14:34:30Z")
I have witnessed what the op is referring to, though not in a long time and yes it was annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/33 "2014-08-18T15:07:34Z")
You know who else invaded Poland? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/34 "2014-08-18T15:17:20Z")
Me. While playing Risk, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/35 "2014-08-18T15:23:12Z")
I don’t know what’s weirder, the OP taking offense over attacks against poor neglected America’s contributions to the war or all the people acting confused about what he’s even talking about. Like the idea that the European war was mostly Germany vs. the USSR and that America’s main contribution was mostly making sure the Soviets didn’t keep marching to the Atlantic is some fresh new zany idea the OP cooked up in a fever dream. Well, I guess the “we” stuff might top it. Good try at the consciousness raising, but it ain’t gonna work. Humans are too tribal, they identify with their masters. You may as well go into a sports forum and try to stop fans from saying “we.” _Do you play for the Bulls, asshole?! They’re millionaires who work for billionaires who don’t give a flying fuck about you._ Yeah, good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/36 "2014-08-18T15:26:57Z")
I guess it’s an interesting change from Hollywood writing the other Allies out of WWII and replacing them with Americans. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/37 "2014-08-18T15:47:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I guess it’s an interesting change from Hollywood writing the other Allies out of WWII and replacing them with Americans. I remember a US TV show called The Rat Patrol when I was a kid. In a nod to the fact the Desert Rats were a commonwealth thing there was one Englishman in the crew. I just hope when Hollywood eventually gets round to doing The Battle of Britain there’ll be the odd Brit featured somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/38 "2014-08-18T15:56:29Z")
_snerk_ ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/39 "2014-08-18T16:03:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > _snerk_ Probably playing the famous German WW 2 fighter ace, Baron Von Richthoven. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777/40 "2014-08-18T16:09:36Z")
> [@](#): > > “History is written by the victors.” ― Winston Churchill [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticked-off-with-people-bashing-the-usas-ww2-contributions/695777.md?page=3)