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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2017 20:12:35 GMT
I am a WWII history freak and a recent discussion with Gibby at her board got me to thinking it might a fun discussion here.
To begin, how did it start?
Some say it was simply a continuation of the First World War that had theoretically ended in 1918. Others point to 1931, when Japan seized Manchuria from China. Others to Italy’s invasion and defeat of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, Adolf Hitler’s re-militarization of Germany’s Rhineland in 1936, the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and Germany’s occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 are sometimes cited. The two dates most often mentioned as “the beginning of World War II” are July 7, 1937, when the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident” led to a prolonged war between Japan and China, and September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, which led Britain and France to declare war on Hitler’s Nazi state in retaliation.
The odd thing to me is Britain declared war on German in retaliation yet did absolutely nothing for 8 months. If you are going to declare war on a country one would think you would act a bit more quickly.
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Joey
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Post by Joey on Aug 9, 2017 21:18:53 GMT
Who in Britain declared war? Did it have to go through their government system first?
Here in the US it's Congress that declares war.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2017 21:56:17 GMT
Who in Britain declared war? Did it have to go through their government system first? Here in the US it's Congress that declares war. Their Parliament or governing body did, similar to how we do. By not acting quickly they not only did not back up Poland who was an ally, but they missed an opportunity to put Hitler in a 2 front war which at the time he could not fight. |
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Joey
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Post by Joey on Aug 9, 2017 22:06:17 GMT
Well the US didn't enter till 1941 and only after Pearl Harbor was attacked. What took us so long?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2017 22:24:40 GMT
We did not want to get involved in a war in Europe. I don't see what that has to do with this but to put it simply after the attack at Pearl, Germany declared war on the U.S. first. Many have wondered why but the most popular theory is that Germany did it to preserve access to Japanese rubber. Germany was desperately short of rubber throughout the war, and relied on synthetics. But even synthetic rubber required some latex, and Germany could only obtain it by shipping it from Japanese holdings in the Pacific via submarine to Germany.
Back to the question at hand, most experts say Britain's delay in attacking was one of the biggest mistakes in the War. They missed an opportunity to do serious damage to Hitler's army. This is not meant to be a post bashing Britain because if this discussion continues you will see they were not alone in making mistakes. However at this point in the war they and France were really the only ones fighting. Russia didn't enter the war until 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
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Joey
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Post by Joey on Aug 9, 2017 22:55:19 GMT
If we (US) would have got in earlier it might have ended a lot sooner. France, England, Poland were our allies. And if we would have gotten in earlier Pearl Harbor may never have happened.
Because England didn't do anything sooner my guess is they had their reasons. Maybe they needed more troops, supplies and equipment before getting started. Only they know their reasons.
Over 22,000 Supermarine Spitfires were built and they played a crucial role in defending Britain in World War II. The Spitfire is one of the most famous aircraft ever built. And possibly they didn't have enough at the start of the war. Other countries were using them too but they were all built in England.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2017 23:09:36 GMT
There were many reasons the U.S. didn't join the war sooner.
Declaring war on Germany in 1939 could well have cost Roosevelt the election in 1940.
The American army at the time was small and ill-equipped.
The US had no treaty obligations to enter the war as Britain and France did.
The French army and the British expeditionary force should have been able to contain the Germans. Had they attacked the German army in Poland, instead of sitting out the six month "phony war," they might well have ended Hitler's aggression at the start. Instead, the French, poorly led and fighting the previous war, waited for the German army to attack them, and were unprepared for the German strategy.
The US clandestinely entered the war on the side of the British by providing convoy escorts to help get goods to England, selling Britain 50 destroyers on credit under "lend-lease," and actively conducting anti-submarine operations in the western Atlantic, all prior to Hitler declaring war on the US in December 1941.
The US needed time to build up its army and to produce planes, tanks, ships and guns in large quantities.
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