Guest Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 I think there's responsibility on both sides, to say my country is better than yours etc is utter stupidity. Hugh Hoy, you are obviously very patriotic, but this can blind you it seems, or lead you to make stupid comments. You act as if the english should be grateful we were saved, however, i am very grateful of the US intervention, not because it saved us, but because it was the humane thing to do...what kind of people sit back and watch millions being killed and do nothing? However some caveats....it suited the US to stop Hitler for it's long term gain as well...many reasons....Hitler would've assumed control of all of Europe, Africa, Russia and onwards. America would've been facing the prospect of annihilation or having to deal with a vastly more powerful bloc both economically and politically. Secondly, the war destroyed Britain and it lost the empire soon after...India 1947 for example...this also suited the US. I'm sure you can work out why. So sure the USA helped the UK but it crippled it also...for gain. Germanys economy was rebuilt and it passed the UKs less than 10 years after the war. Alot of which was from American aid. Imagine that, you win a war but are crippled for decades, you lose a war but bounce back economically and become the dominant economy in Europe...i know there are other factors, but the US would've been happy this was the outcome. Let us also not forget the UK fought all over the world including in the far east against the Japanese, in Africa where we won an outright victory and in Italy etc etc. Many troops from the British empire were involved. Both countries did well by working together to achieve something amazing. It's a shame it hasn't happened since. Whether you or any other American likes it or not, since WW2, American foreign policy has been a disaster. So, sure be patriotic , but if something sux, have the good grace to admit it. I'm certainly not proud of what the UK has done since WW2...much of the middle eastern problems today are due to how the British relinquished its empire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Phils World War 2 Pages World War II Fatalities Country Military Civilian Total Soviet Union* 8,668,000 16,900,000 25,568,000 China 1,324,000 10,000,000 11,324,000 Germany 3,250,000 3,810,000 7,060,000 Poland 850,000 6,000,000 6,850,000 Japan 1,506,000 300,000 1,806,000 Yugoslavia 300,000 1,400,000 1,700,000 Rumania* 520,000 465,000 985,000 France* 340,000 470,000 810,000 Hungary* 750,000 Austria 380,000 145,000 525,000 Greece* 520,000 Italy 330,000 80,000 410,000 Czechoslovakia 400,000 Great Britain 326,000 62,000 388,000 USA 295,000 295,000 Holland 14,000 236,000 250,000 Belgium 10,000 75,000 85,000 Finland 79,000 79,000 Canada 42,000 42,000 India 36,000 *** 36,000 Australia 39,000 39,000 Spain** 12,000 10,000 22,000 Bulgaria 19,000 2,000 21,000 New Zealand 12,000 12,000 South Africa 9,000 9,000 Norway 5,000 5,000 Denmark 4,000 4,000 Total circa 61 Million Notes: 1. The above table shows only deaths not wounded. 2. Figures are rounded to nearest 1000 3. The table above has been compiled from three main sources:- (1). Alan Bullock - Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives pp987 (2). The Times Atlas of the Second World War pp204,205 (3). Richard Overy - Russia's War pp288 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Sigh... No ones denies the American input in WW2, or sneers at their losses. Both times they came in late and a true cynic could say they were waiting to see which way to jump. I prefer to believe that they saw that if both Hitler and the Japs were allowed to win that eventually they would have come and got the US as well. Their input in rebuilding Europe and Japan after the war was invaluable, I suspect the Poms sometimes wish they'd been on the other side.Enough of that already. You guys have to stop being so thin skinned. You belong to the most powerful nation in the history of mankind. The US makes the Roman, British and Greek Empires look small potatoes. Sure they ruled with the sword and you rule with the dollar, hey I've got nothing against dollars, I'd love some more. But do you think that the Brits, Romans or Greeks gave a rat's arse what the rest of the world thought of them? When the redcoats were blowing Indian mutineers from the mouths of cannons and the Romans were feeding barbarians to the lions do you think they got all defensive when some one said it wasn't right? They never gave a shit. Enjoy the spotlight Yanks, if one thing that histories never wrong about, it won't last, it never does and the collapse is always from within, then the number two power picks up the slack. Make sure your grandies are learning Chinese. Nice post J2, fully agree...i think the predictions vary a lot, but the US should be number 2 around 2020/30 (?) and India should pass them a decade or 3 later...again i know no one is sure of this, but at the rates the economies are growing...it wont be long! I often wonder why the US doesn't start making plans now, otherwise demise is inevitable, but they seem so preoccupied with oil, which really isn't the future! The US needs to move from a short term gain society to longer term planning, soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 I'm surprised that Japan got off as comparatively lightly as it did. And of course most of the Soviet deaths are attributed to Stalin's incompetence (and lack of caring). Civilians starved or froze because Stalin didn't get them food or clothing. Odd that they list no US civlian deaths. 68 were killed in the Pearl attack and a family was killed by a firebomb balloon in Washington state. Apparently the many American merchant seaman deaths don't count? But the big problem is the Philippines, which were an American "commonwealth" and plenty of civilians died in the Philipinnes! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_massacre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALHOLK Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 What I heard was from Vietnamese people, not from fellow travelers. What you heard was obviously from people that betrayed their own people and helped foreign invaders rape their daughters and kill their families. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Hmmm ... the Wikipedia gives significantly different WWII casualty figure, including lower ones for the Soviets and Poles: USSR = 23,200,000 Poland = 5,600,000 (including the 3 million Jews) USA = 407,300 military and 11,200 civilian Philippines ... total 147,000 (No civilian deaths listed for Thailand, though there were some -- both from fighting the Japanese and from Allied bombings after the Pibun govmt changed sides. I knew a man whose wife had been killed in an Allied bombing attack on Bangkok.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Hey, it's true! I recall very clearly landing on the beaches as a foreign invader, fighting my way through to the nearest village ... where the locals helped me rape their daughters and kill their families. Sigh .. ah, for the good old days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 I really didn't think too much about the VN War at the time; in retrospect, I think it was a good thing, but unfortunately our troops were undermined by a weak, corrupt, and uncommitted SVN administration and a Congress that undermined the efforts of the military and a President (Johnson) who didn't know whether to shit or go blind. I questioned the wisdom of invading Iraq from the get-go...especially in light of little evidence of WMD's. Never thought of SH being a threat to the U.S. and certainly no connection to large-scale or wide-spread terrorism. If we'd poured the same money and resources against OBL and the Taliban, it would've been money and resources better spent. People like winners...especially those who knock out their opponents in the first round. IF everything had gone perfectly in the first 6 months or year in Iraq, nobody would say jack shit about this stuff. If nothing else, it shows that SH knew what he was doing...you have to be unmercifully brutal in that part of the world to keep control of the inmates. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 So it was true? The Marine recruiter wasn't bullshittin' me? I remember going down the line of storefronts at home: Army, Navy, Air Force, etc. The Marine Sgt. promised I'd get plenty of chances to rape the local VN women if I signed up. Since that was in '66, I imagine a lot of "cherries" were still available. Once of a lifetime opportunity missed. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.