Maurice, "your" referred to Britain's enormous loss of it's American colony on July 4, 1776. I've learned since then that you're actually a New Zealander--same church..different pew.
Agreed the USSR made a huge contribution to the defeat of Hitler; you overstate it however when you say the war was won "not quite single-handedly" by the Soviets, for you are detracting from not only US efforts but that of the other Allies and Commonwealth nations. There is no doubt the Russians suffered the most. They of course were an ally of Hitler's for a time. And, by the way, after the war, when the Soviets became a threat to all of Europe, to whom did they turn for protection during the Cold War?
Prior to our entry into the war, FDR took steps (contrary to American public sentiment, thereby demonstrating why we elect leaders to make timely but difficult decisions) to help with the lend-lease program--providing war material and supplies to England. In the 1940s there was no other nation besides the USA which could have tooled up so quickly to manufacture so many tanks, planes, weapons, ships, trucks, etc.
You must admit the US did the heavy lifting in the Pacific; although all the Allies played a role EXCEPT the Russians who only declared war on Japan a few days before the Japanese surrendered.
Finally, it has been over two hundred years since the USA became independent; if you're contending that it would have been better had we stayed with England, why confine the argument to the WWII time frame? Consider, could the US have developed the economy, aid programs, social programs, free enterprise system, and the world's strongest military if we stayed as part of the Commonwealth? Remember, our ability to spend huge sums on the military caused the Soviet Union to try to match us, which in turn resulted in their downfall. History would surely be different if the USA did not gain independence from the British Commonwealth, and arguably it would have been to the disadvantage of the entire world.
Cheers, Ann |
