World War I & II

I will make the bold assertion that without American intervention the Allies would not have won World War I or World War II. In both conflicts the Allies minus America could at best match the Germans and force them into a stalemate.

Before entering WWII, the Americans kept both Britain and Russia supplied to prevent their collapse. As Churchill said, "Give us the tools and we will do the job." Unfortunately it was an impossible job without American help. The British could not have pulled off D-Day, even with Commonwealth troops, and if they had would have been summarily dispatched by Rommel's panzers without the sheer strength of numbers America provided.

As for the Eastern Front, it was a numbers game that could have gone either way. The Germans were already on the retreat by June of '44 but could have turned that around quite easily, except that they suddenly had a war in France on their hands again.

Let's try to remember also that well before D-Day the Allies had already retaken North Africa and invaded Italy.

In sum: sans America, the Germans could have simply waited Britain out. Russia is a great what if. We can safely say that the coming of the Americans was what cinched it - hell, even with the Americans the Germans almost rolled the Allies back with the Battle of the Bulge. But they couldn't beat that massive combination of men and materiel.

i think that the American contribution was definately a great help to winning the war faster but i think that it ciould have been done with out them. remember, before d-day the germans were already fighting on two fronts, in the east with Russia and in Italy against the British, Canadians, other Commonwealth troops as well as the Americans. On that alone, I think that without the americans, the rest of us would have slowly, beat the Germans into submission, it simply would not have ended in '45, maybe '47 or '48 but Germany was running out of men, materials and gas in '44 as it was, a fact that few appreciate.

Without the Americans, the outcome would have been quite the opposite: the Germans would have beaten the British into submission by simply outlasting them. Remember that the American contribution was more than just arms and men, but also food, oil and other vital natural resources.

The British factories could - absent American assistance - not have kept up with the Germans in a one-on-one war of attrition. Not counting the Eastern Front, which I've already said is the great "what if?"

To the contraire dgthe3. The Regina Rifles did meet their D-Day objective and held it under German counter attacks. In fact the Regina Rifles C- Company penetrated further inland than any other unit on the Allied invasion beach.

The US entering WWI had little to do with fighting and more to do with adding bodies to one side. The US entered too late to have a fighting impact and only added to the German decision that the war was better stopped.

The US also supplied Germany with war materials at the start of WWII. Aircraft parts and steel were a commonly sold to Germany, while the US decided which side to back in the first few years. It wasn't till the Commonwealth defeated the Germans in the sky over Britain that the US felt Britain could win. Germany could not invade Britain, therefore submission would not be part of the equation. They tried in 1940 and never got a manned boat in the water. By 1944 Russia was rolling up the carpet on Germany's door and the only reason there was a rush to Berlin was to beat them there.
Germany had over a decade to build up their military similar to what Japan did. Since no one else were keeping pace with that, it's not hard to understand the huge gains made in the beginning. WWI had left a bitter taste in Europe so all involved tried appeasement as apposed to conflict, which led Hitler to believe he could do anything......and did for a while.

Without US involvement (declared war) I think it would have been a standoff just like WWI, only with the English Channel between them.

sorry if i came off the wrong way on that one Regina, i did know that some units did meet their objectives as you mentioned, but i said that ALL of our objectives were not met. However, if they weren't met then we came close on most of the rest, with only a couple of exceptions that i cannot specifically remember at this time. I hope that clears up what i said on that post, that part of it at least.

mingless, you keep refering to the eastern front as a big 'what if' and that's fine, i will not question that because that is another topic entirely, but it cannot be ignored as a seperate entity because it undeniably reduces the resources that Germany could use in the west against the rest of the allies.
Unless the Germans could turn the tide and end the war there, which could have taken years, they would not be able to free up those resources to be used in western europe

The Germans might have lost the war if America had not entered, but much more, possably all of Europe would have fallen under Soviet rule. Hitler would have been replaced with Stalin, and that is not a happy thought.

I signed up to be able to say this.

The merchants of war, count on us to take sides and fight among ourselves, by using a trio of methods. Ethnicity (you know, "race"), Religion, and the method you are currently trapped in, Nationality.

You wave the nation flag just as you waved the school flag, as you were taught, all through your school years. Although we all are forced to belong to a nation state, (yes I do love and respect what Canada primarily stands for), we are independent of the leaders of our country, elected or not, just as we are independent of our parents.

So, to the "American" readers I do not hold you responsible for the genocide that your Nations leaders have inflicted on the innocent civilians of countless countries, just as I do not hold the Germans responsible for the actions of the purported leaders of that country. However if we look closely our collective shame should be overwhelming. Yes Canadian bombers dropped thousands of bombs on the innocent peoples of Germany too.

The only cure to the trio "Rock, Paper, Sissors" game that the merchants of war trick you with (read "nation, religion, race") is to employ the trio Love, Respect, and Compassion. You may not love or respect your adversary but you must at least employ compassion. It is your duty as a entity of this human domain. The individuals that employ the fear and hatred cards to effect these catastrophes deserve our pity and compassion. To fall for the anger and hatred is to fall for their game.

Only the merchants of war win at this game. and Yes all of humanity loses, not just a select group. The best example of this game usage is Yugosalvia where all three cards were played, ethnicity, religion and nationhood. All in the same arena at the same time. A brilliant manouver by the merchants of war, played impeccably. The people had no choice.

Love to all, wake up tomorrow and smile at everyone. No Fear.

No offense,but I see you as more hopeful than cynical,CynicalObserver. Well said.

i shall not dare to pick up the gauntlette on tht one, but i will say this, genocide is the complete and systematic annihilation of a racial, or cultural group. to the best of my knowledge, as much as the americans have done in the world, that is not one of them. but, don't get me wrong, i agree with just about everything else that you said.