"What We Think of America."

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Frogger
Nope. Your forces were decisively defeated while attempting to further one of their war aims; the invasion of Canada (1775).

We accomplished the subjugation of Canada later through a more subtle means.

[Dan Severn]

Originally posted by paiktis22
in WWI and WWII I think your contibution was only a fraction of the total contribution of Europe and the Allies in general.

Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever to the hundreds of thousands of Britons, Poles, canadians, australians, or other nationalities who sacrificed their lives for freedom in the second world war, but if it weren't for US intervention, the war would have been lost.

That's it. Period. The Brittish put up a fierce defense, and should be applauded for their victory in the battle of britain, but they could not hold out alone. The russians put up a poor showing at first, but, thanks in large part to US training and technology (Such as their high-quality steel) they slowly turned the tide and stopped the german onslaught at the eleventh hour.

Wihout the US strategic bombers, supplies, men, and munitions, the war would have been lost. Also, don't forget, we more or less had to fight the japanese by ourselves after 1941.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by kcsaff
Frog: Does this Canadian qualify?
http://www.granta.com/extracts/1643

Thanks. Missed that...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Great post, Che; a neighbor leant me that issue when it first appeared in print. My favorite passage is from Ramachandra Guha's essay on questioning his own anti-American feelings:

I became a member of the local British Council, but would not enter the library of the United States Information Service. Then my wife got a scholarship to Yale, and I reluctantly followed. I reached New Haven on a Friday, and was introduced to the Dean of the School where I was to teach. On Sunday I was taking a walk through the campus when I saw the Dean park his car, take a large carton out of the boot, and carry it across the road to the School and up three flights to his office.

That sight of the boss as his own coolie was a body blow to my anti-Americanism. My father and grandfather had both been heads of Indian research laboratories; any material they took to work or back—even a slim file with a single piece of paper in it—would be placed in the car by one flunkey and carried inside by another. (Doubtless the Warden of an Oxford College can likewise call upon a willing porter.) Over the years, I have often been struck by the dignity of labour in America, by the ease with which high-ranking Americans carry their own loads, fix their own fences, and mow their own lawns. This, it seems to me, is part of a wider absence of caste or class distinctions. Indian intellectuals have tended to downplay these American achievements: the respect for the individual, the remarkable social mobility, the searching scrutiny to which public officials and state agencies are subjected.

Every time I deal with my students, who have never done a day's work in their lives, I think about Turkey's minimum wage (approx. $100/month), then think about that passage and smile wryly.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Dan Severn


Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever to the hundreds of thousands of Britons, Poles, canadians, australians, or other nationalities who sacrificed their lives for freedom in the second world war, but if it weren't for US intervention, the war would have been lost.

That's it. Period. The Brittish put up a fierce defense, and should be applauded for their victory in the battle of britain, but they could not hold out alone. The russians put up a poor showing at first, but, thanks in large part to US training and technology (Such as their high-quality steel) they slowly turned the tide and stopped the german onslaught at the eleventh hour.

Wihout the US strategic bombers, supplies, men, and munitions, the war would have been lost. Also, don't forget, we more or less had to fight the japanese by ourselves after 1941.

I think that Stalin and Churchill could have taken Hitler

Jon Miller

[Dominikos]

I say, by living in Canada, I can now feel superior to all Americans.

Americans tend to think Canada is an igloo paradise.

But to balance things out, alot of Canadians are equally ignorant of everything that goes on in the States. The media here is partially responsible for that.

You know, I'm starting to think there are more Canadians in Florida than there are Americans. Quite a few of the seniors have summer homes in Florida, not to mention the crowds of Canadians who go for short vacations.

What is it about Florida (and Cuba) that attracts Canadians so much? I've been to neither.

------------------
~Dominik - Lord of the Putumayo~

[Dan Severn]

The whole point of my post was that they could not have.

The Russians were on their last legs when we entered they war fully, and the Brits certainly weren't going to invade Hitler's europe. And if one cannot take the offense, the war is lost. The Russians were helped quite a bit by the fact that the german regenerative capabilities were so hampered by Strategic bombing, which was effective due to the thousands of American bombers- the Britons simply did not have the resources to cause major damage to the German Empire.

Also, remember that hitler and stalin had signed a non-aggression pact. The Russians were in no way friends of the Brittish, they simply had a common enemy. Even the US entrance did not ensure victory. Had the Normandy landings failed, had we lost at midway, we could very well have lost the big one.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Dan Severn
Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever to the hundreds of thousands of Britons, Poles, canadians, australians, or other nationalities who sacrificed their lives for freedom in the second world war, but if it weren't for US intervention, the war would have been lost.

That's it. Period. The Brittish put up a fierce defense, and should be applauded for their victory in the battle of britain, but they could not hold out alone. The russians put up a poor showing at first, but, thanks in large part to US training and technology (Such as their high-quality steel) they slowly turned the tide and stopped the german onslaught at the eleventh hour.

Wihout the US strategic bombers, supplies, men, and munitions, the war would have been lost.

You are quite a dreamer. It was very funy, thank you.

[Dan Severn]

Yes, serbia made such a difference in the war.

Ignorance of history does not become you.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Serb
You are quite a dreamer. It was very funy, thank you.

How many American aircraft? How many American tanks? How many American trucks? How much American Steel did Russian industry use in defeating the Nazis? These supplies came during the crucial hours of 1942 and 43.

Not to mention the American destroyers that probably kept Britain in the war in 1941.

Yes. I laugh. I laugh so that I should not cry at the ignorance just 60 years after the fact.

How many million people died to defeat that evil? Many times more died than were American.

Why do people feel it necessary to squabble over who deserves the biggest bit of praise? Were it not for Russian determination and American industry, as well as British cussedness the only thing safe to say is that the world would be different today. Count your blessings.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Dan Severn
The whole point of my post was that they could not have.

The Russians were on their last legs when we entered they war fully, and the Brits certainly weren't going to invade Hitler's europe. And if one cannot take the offense, the war is lost. The Russians were helped quite a bit by the fact that the german regenerative capabilities were so hampered by Strategic bombing, which was effective due to the thousands of American bombers- the Britons simply did not have the resources to cause major damage to the German Empire.

When you entered the war Germans were on their legs, not Russians. Germany was already doomed. The end of nazism was just a question of time, several months actully. The biggest and most imortant battles of WW2 was already over.

Also, remember that hitler and stalin had signed a non-aggression pact. The Russians were in no way friends of the Brittish, they simply had a common enemy. Even the US entrance did not ensure victory. Had the Normandy landings failed, had we lost at midway, we could very well have lost the big one.

If Normandy landings failed it changes nothing. Actully Germans made a successfull counter attack once and your president asked Stalin to begin Russian major offence operation a weak earlier to help your forces. Stalin gave that order and it cost additional lives of Russian soldiers.
Germany was doomed after 1943, so Normandy didn't changed much. It's just bring an end of nazism a bit sooner.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Serb

When you entered the war Germans were on their legs, not Russians. Germany was already doomed. The end of nazism was just a question of time, several months actully. The biggest and most imortant battles of WW2 was already over.

You are sorely deluded.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Dan Severn
Yes, serbia made such a difference in the war.

Ignorance of history does not become you.

Yes, Serbia made a contribution in the war. And very important. They hold several German divisions which should be used in Barborossa operation. If those devisions were used in Russia in 1941... No one could tell now what could happen then.
But I'm not from Serbia. I'm from Siberia. Do you know the difference?

[Dan Severn]

Notyoueither, I was not tryiong to claim "a piece of the pie." I was merely saying that the United states was hardly of Minor importance to the war, as paiktis had implied. The war could not have been won without the USSR or the Brittish, either. But it was too important to be dismissed.

[Dan Severn]

Originally posted by Serb
But I'm not from Serbia. I'm from Syberia. Do you know the difference?

Serbia is a small slavic country in the balkans.

Siberia is spelt with an "I," and refers broadly to the wide, cold expanses west of the ural mountains and north of Turkistan, Russia, and Mongolia. Owned by the russians.

How's the frostbite?