" If the US had entered WWII earlier, Hitler would have been squashed earlier, and millions of lives would have been saved. Something I wish most profoundly had happened. "
I think an argument can be made that if the US had entered the war at the onset it might have gone worse, not better.
One of the facts about WW11 that the victors don't often articulate is the absolute superiority of the German war machine in the early years of the war. They were remarkably efficient, remarkably dedicated and remarkably deadly. In almost every instance when the Germans faced forces that were, on paper, evenly matched, the Germans prevailed easily. Later in the war there were many instances when they were out-manned and out-equipped and the Germans fought the Allies to a standstill or made them pay horrible prices for battle victories.
Faced with the enemies it was fighting, however, Hitler made the huge mistake of attacking their then "ally" Russia, opening up an eastern front that drained Germany's manpower and machinery and allowed England to survive the initial years of war. Like a bad chess player he'd risked everything on offense and left his queen unprotected. And like a good chess player the US war machine took advantage of its ability to move pawns (produce weapons of war, especially tanks and aircraft, and to supply soldiers) and with our Allies we eventually overwhelmed the rashly overextended German attack.
During the time period when Hitler made those choices a peacetime America was able to tool up to build ships, aircraft, tanks and to prepare to supply soldiers. Our entry into the war at the time when German manufacturing and manpower resources were becoming exhausted was critical. Had we entered the war much earlier I wonder if Hitler might have been more cautious, might have eaten the industrialized world in smaller, more efficient bites and might have fought America to a standstill and conquered Europe. Ed |
