The war wasn’t fought to stop genocide of any group, it was because Germany and their allies kept invading and attacking other countries.
This is what I’m complaining about.
People learn a feel good version of why WW2 happened in school and run with it. But it’s not really that accurate, it’s just what we tell kids in school.
Eh, FDR and other US politicians wanted to enter the war for various reasons, including the oppression of Jews, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a convenient spark for them. (Not saying they plotted it or anything, just they desired to join the war before that, and it gave them a reason to convince the more (largely) pacifism minded public
There is no doubt that the US was going to enter the war before Pearl Harbor. Not only was American aid to the Allies massive (and increasing month by month), but the U.S. was already effectively at war with Germany - by mid-1941 American ships were escorting British convoys with orders to shoot German ships/aircraft on sight. There’s a reason Hitler declared war on the US when he had no obligation to. Germany and the US were already in direct conflict.
While it did cross into the majority of Americans (68%) thinking we should join the Allies, it was due to the belief Germany wouldn’t stop with Europe.
Interventionists believed the United States did have good reasons to get involved in World War II, particularly in Europe. The democracies of Western Europe, they argued, were a critical line of defense against Hitler’s fast-growing strength. If no European power remained as a check against Nazi Germany, the United States could become isolated in a world where the seas and a significant amount of territory and resources were controlled by a single powerful dictator. It would be, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it, like “living at the point of a gun,” and the buffer provided by the Pacific and Atlantic would be useless.
Pearl Harbor settled the debate on if America would be left alone.
Probably easier to stick with “at the very least, freed them”.
Pearl Harbor was the rallying cry that brought America together (mostly) to fight the Axis powers. Prior to that, isolationist (and Anti-Semitic) groups such as the America First Committee were growing in popularity. To say America was fighting for the Jews in WW2 may be technically correct based on who was responsible for the Holocaust, but it was more the byproduct of who America’s enemies were at the time, rather than being a primary motivator. Coming in as the savior to a population being persecuted is rarely the real reason wars are fought.
One side fought for them. Or, at the very least, freed them when they won.
What?
The war wasn’t fought to stop genocide of any group, it was because Germany and their allies kept invading and attacking other countries.
This is what I’m complaining about.
People learn a feel good version of why WW2 happened in school and run with it. But it’s not really that accurate, it’s just what we tell kids in school.
So, as I said, at the very least they were freed?
Eh, FDR and other US politicians wanted to enter the war for various reasons, including the oppression of Jews, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a convenient spark for them. (Not saying they plotted it or anything, just they desired to join the war before that, and it gave them a reason to convince the more (largely) pacifism minded public
And some wanted to join the Axis for the same reasons…
Not just their treatment of Jewish people, but all the groups.
The nazis inspiration for their treatment of targeted demographics was literally American treatment of slaves and indigenous peoples after all.
America didn’t join WW2 cause we wanted to wear a cape, the sole reason was Pearl Harbor.
to quote an old reddit comment:
There is no doubt that the US was going to enter the war before Pearl Harbor. Not only was American aid to the Allies massive (and increasing month by month), but the U.S. was already effectively at war with Germany - by mid-1941 American ships were escorting British convoys with orders to shoot German ships/aircraft on sight. There’s a reason Hitler declared war on the US when he had no obligation to. Germany and the US were already in direct conflict.
More to the point, collaborative war planning had been going on long before Pearl Harbor. [The ABC-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.–British_Staff_Conference_(ABC–1\)) Conference for example outlined the broad strokes of Allied strategy for the rest of the war.
There is no reasonable scenario where the US would not have entered the war.
…
Yes, there were plans for if we joined before we joined.
Like, that’s what a functional government does, plan things in case they happen.
Only planning for things you know will happen is absolute insanity.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/great-debate
While it did cross into the majority of Americans (68%) thinking we should join the Allies, it was due to the belief Germany wouldn’t stop with Europe.
Pearl Harbor settled the debate on if America would be left alone.
It wasn’t for “various reasons”.
… Yes for average Americans, yes. Again, I’m talking about FDR and other political leaders
… Yes for average Americans, yes. Again, I’m talking about FDR and other political leaders
I didn’t expect you to read the link, that’s why I quoted part of it…
But I at least hoped you’d read that
If you refuse to read, there’s no point in trying to help you understand anything.
The quoted portion, from my perspective added nothing, but I might of misinterpreted it, so please explain
Probably easier to stick with “at the very least, freed them”.
Pearl Harbor was the rallying cry that brought America together (mostly) to fight the Axis powers. Prior to that, isolationist (and Anti-Semitic) groups such as the America First Committee were growing in popularity. To say America was fighting for the Jews in WW2 may be technically correct based on who was responsible for the Holocaust, but it was more the byproduct of who America’s enemies were at the time, rather than being a primary motivator. Coming in as the savior to a population being persecuted is rarely the real reason wars are fought.