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Since there are not enough posts on WWII here I thought I would throw another one into the mix.
I have been wondering... Was the U.S. attempting to prolong it's entrance into the war in Europe in order to let Germany weaken the U.S.S.R.?
I believe nearly every war is fought (or not fought) for field advantage in the next conflict. By 1939 I am sure that the powers that be in Washington could see that once the Nazis and Japanese were defeated, and with the British and French diminished in strength, that the U.S. and the Soviet Union, with their oppossing political/economic ideologies and systems, would be left standing as the two dominant powers
If not for Pearl Harbor and the United States getting actively involved Hitler could have pulled more of his resources from the Atlantic wall and used them on the Eastern Front. Britain was in a defensive position and would not have been able to mount a successful invasion of the Continent.
Ultimately the U.S would enter the fray and the Allies would have prevailed but it would be a greatly crippled Soviet Union emerging from the fight. It would take years, maybe decades, for that nation to build back up and regain its strength. Time that the U.S would be the sole super-power. Not to mention we probably would have gained control or influence over more of Europe.
So what do you think? Am I being cynical? Or was the U.S. trying to play their cards so that Germany and the Soviet Union would basically kill each other off?
Germany didn't attack the USSR until June of 1941, until then both sides were adhering to the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. When Barbarossa happened the US extended Lend-Lease to the Soviets almost immediately. Six months later Japan hit Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war on the US. Some historians believe that was a major mistake by Hitler since US sentiment wasn't necessarily desirous of war with Germany, nor with Japan until Pearl Harbor.
I doubt it. It seems to me the American public was unwilling to get involved in Europe. It makes sense, especially with the horrors of WWI still fresh in people's memories and the depression in full swing. Politicians were not willing to make a move without any support from their constituents. The USSR was probably the last thing on their minds at the time.
On a personal level, I think many persons of this generation fail to realize that there was a REAL DANGER of the allies LOSING the war.
The idea that the U.S. would sacrifice the U.S.S.R. for the sake of some future advantage in years yet to come, involving policies YET to be formed is illogical.
Recall if you will that "Fortress Europa", was real! The success of the D-Day invasion was not a certainty. Huge losses were occurring in the North Atlantic, and in the skies over occupied Europe, (there was a point in 1943 that the U.S. nearly abandoned bombing operations over Germany due to losses).
Even giving the point that the U.S. did not "love" the Russians, there was a commonality of interest in the defeat of Germany in particular, and the rest of the Axis in general.
There is an old saying about how "the enemy, of my enemy, is my friend". (At least for a while).
Germany and the USSR were not at war until Jun 1941. Both the USA and the USSR were building up their military as fast as they could as they both knew it would only be a matter of time before they were dragged into the war. The USA and the USSR also were waiting for a clear indication that war could not be avoided. The USSR got the attack by the Germans, the USA got the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. One little know fact, the US Navy was already shooting at German subs in September 1941 and that fact was mentioned in the German Declaration of War on the USA. And think about it, if the USA had wanted to weaken the USSR, it would not have done Lend Lease with them and given them stuff via Alaska.
Now if you had said did the USA delay the D-Day landing so the Germans had more time to get rid of the Jews, that I may have agreed with. It is a know fact that US bombers could have stopped the trains from moving yet the USAAF did not start going after trains until April 1944 and that was in preparation for the D-day landing. Imagine how many Jews could have been saved if the USAAF had taken out the German rail system and prevented them from moving the millions of Jews (and others) to the camps.
Public opinion, oppposed to the war was why we did not enter the war until Dec 1941. Roosevelt wanted very much to get into the war earlier, the public did not. Japan declared war on the US not the other way around. And even then the US did not declare war on Germany only on Japan. It was Hitler who declared war on the US.
In retrospect its obvious that Germany was going to lose. It was not in 1941. So waiting until the Soviets were weaker made no sense at all. And FDR clearly never forwaw the Cold War, indeed there are few signs the US public did. That was not a major issue until 1947. Had FDR seen Russia as a future threat there would have been no Yalta agreement.
Since there are not enough posts on WWII here I thought I would throw another one into the mix.
I have been wondering... Was the U.S. attempting to prolong it's entrance into the war in Europe in order to let Germany weaken the U.S.S.R.?
I believe nearly every war is fought (or not fought) for field advantage in the next conflict. By 1939 I am sure that the powers that be in Washington could see that once the Nazis and Japanese were defeated, and with the British and French diminished in strength, that the U.S. and the Soviet Union, with their oppossing political/economic ideologies and systems, would be left standing as the two dominant powers
If not for Pearl Harbor and the United States getting actively involved Hitler could have pulled more of his resources from the Atlantic wall and used them on the Eastern Front. Britain was in a defensive position and would not have been able to mount a successful invasion of the Continent.
Ultimately the U.S would enter the fray and the Allies would have prevailed but it would be a greatly crippled Soviet Union emerging from the fight. It would take years, maybe decades, for that nation to build back up and regain its strength. Time that the U.S would be the sole super-power. Not to mention we probably would have gained control or influence over more of Europe.
So what do you think? Am I being cynical? Or was the U.S. trying to play their cards so that Germany and the Soviet Union would basically kill each other off?
I don't think the US delayed entry into the war for that reason. We simply didn't want to be involved with the fighting if we didn't have to. The USSR wasn't in the war at the beginning anyway. They made an alliance with Germany and stayed out until Hitler turned on them and attacked them.
In any case, we were woefully unprepared for an early entrance to the war, and as it was, it took until 1944 before we were able to engage the Germans directly in Europe.
If anything, that later entry strengthened the Russians, since they were able to push much further west. Had we invaded mainland Europe sooner, while the Russians were still further east with the western part of their country under German occupation, the Americans and British could have pushed much further east and occupied Eastern Europe.
Our strategy was based more on limiting casualties, IMO. I don't think we were thinking so much about how things would end up after the war until pretty late in the war. Americans are famous for not looking very far down the road. Other peoples have a much longer-term perspective than we do.
I doubt the US was thinking much about the end of the war until shortly before Yalta. In part this was because as late as July 1945 we were projecting millions of casualities in an invasion of Japan and getting hammered at Okinawa. As late as December 1944 we were dealing with a major German offensive.
The assumption in the US was that after the war nations would learn about the horrible cost of war and avoid it. No one saw the Cold War comming.
I doubt the US was thinking much about the end of the war until shortly before Yalta. In part this was because as late as July 1945 we were projecting millions of casualities in an invasion of Japan and getting hammered at Okinawa. As late as December 1944 we were dealing with a major German offensive.
The assumption in the US was that after the war nations would learn about the horrible cost of war and avoid it. No one saw the Cold War comming.
I think some people saw the Cold War coming. Roosevelt hoped he could make a friend of Stalin, but many were concerned about Russian power after the war.
But Russia took the brunt of the land fighting against the Germans, and the British and Americans didn't want to invade until they were fully prepared. Plus, the US was carrying the full weight of the Pacific war against Japan. So the Russians were left to do much of the direct fighting against the Germans for most of the war, and that left them in a powerful postion at the end. Geography damned them to huge losses from the German invasion, but also gave them a commanding presence after the war.
Since there are not enough posts on WWII here I thought I would throw another one into the mix.
I have been wondering... Was the U.S. attempting to prolong it's entrance into the war in Europe in order to let Germany weaken the U.S.S.R.?
I believe nearly every war is fought (or not fought) for field advantage in the next conflict.
Are US governments really that intelligent?
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I thought I would throw another one into the mix.
