Who Won WWII?

In my recent post about Queen Elizabeth’s visit to America, I inadvertently sparked a mini-debate about WWII. I call that fun.

Winning WWII was the ultimate joint effort. But if you go to school in America, you graduate with the impression that the United States was 90% of that victory.

Our version paints Great Britain as a plucky and resourceful holdout against Hitler, on the verge of falling. Russia is portrayed as a bunch of hobos with flintlock rifles who got lucky because the Nazis didn’t have warm coats. The French are presented as beret-wearing cheese-eaters taking German lessons.

For you non-Americans, how does your version of history compare?

Comments

[Alexander]

Clearly it was a joint effort. At the same time one shouldn't forget that more than 75% of German military might was ground on the Eastern Front (that includes personnel, planes, tanks etc.)
Also, though D-Day was important, it wasn't the turning point in WWII. Stalingrad was.
On D-Day, when 120 thousand Americans, English an Canadians were landing on Normandy beaches (protected by second-grade mixed troops) more than 3,000,000 elite German troops were fighting on the East against Russians. Now please imagine what would happen with those who landed on that beaches if they had to encounter aforementioned german elite forces.

[Paul]

It's all very sad that so many people from all over the planet were involved in some way, lossed loved ones or themselves, lost their lives. This we can agree on but to say in this short an effort what perspective one should assess the war is futile. In the U.S., it was Roosevelt's war until Dec. 7, 1941 and with all the communications among the allies, one's focus is wrongly only on the "Big Three" of Churchill, Stallin and Roosevelt. Thousands and thousands of secret communications occurred and we only see these three leaders. How would one now assess the causes?; who's perspective would you use? Take your pick, from Asia to Edmonston, going east of course, you'd pass over a couple of billion people, with a multiple of that over again depending on their gender, family etc. I'm no scholar but I know enough about each of the World Wars to conclude that it brews from greed, hate, ignorance and indifferance and those have been reflected in this forum, not to any great degree. But, given enough time and given some of the ill-informed reasons or justifications, WWIII is not an idea that I would like my daughter to see. It's time that we move our efforts to the present and focus in on timely events and leave our study of the past to our own private time. Sorry for the diatribe, I'm just a bit long-winded.

[Canadian Bread]

I really do think it is sad that the Canadians were forgotten completely in this post... the canadians played a major role in 95% of the war (technically declaring war 8 hours before the UK because of the time difference)

Do not forget the role Canada played, d-day is a sad day for all Canadians

[zren]

Who won?Nobody actually,the 'Allies' if you wish,but the loosers are clear:Germany:utterly humiliated and brainwashed,Poles,Czech-Slovaks,Hungarians,Romanians,Bulgarians,
Austrians,Japanese,Chinese(yes they did)and just about everyone who was not american,or west european.It was all a game of chess played with human beings,many died,more died afterwards and it finally lead to the EU.Hitler's dream and many others before and after.I'm Romanian and I can definately say we lost,just like the rest of Eastern Europe.

[danielle]

the british defeted hitler and that is that yes we had a little help of the americans but who likes to brag not me

[carter]

O.K. I have gone through this hole weblog and, I will give credit to everyones appinion.but... to say that one singuler country won the war would be stupid. It was a joint effert. My opinion though is that durring the war Germany and the axis powers were dominating, sure the soviets pushed Germany back "during the winter months, due to the fact that German troops were not used to such conditions, machinery broke down and their tanks practiclly frooze." so Germany pulls back to wait it out and hold the line until they were able to attack again during the summer months. and they would have succeded if Japan would not have attacked perl harber, thus giving America the push we needed to get in the war.
After this Germany was forced to divert their troops to two fronts trying to beat two superpowers. yes the soviet union put up a good fight taking everything the Germans tossed at em. so the fresh and ready to go Americans get involed and that marked the begining of the end for Germany. I am a proud American and I realize that if japan did not attack when they did America would have joind later or not at all allowing Germany and the axis powers to concer europ and then, they would attack The U.S. not ready for war we would most likely have lost and the world would be much worse off. so I say thank god for unity and the strength of allies.

Allies victory 100%

I am a proud American.

[pgf]

I think, that, in the /very/ long run, it was the German and Japanese People who won. Oh, sure, they took one hell of a beating, but in the end, they are far free-er than they were in 1939; so are the former Soviet peoples, by and large, because they won the Cold War. Not the governments, mind, just the people. I know that the same cannot be said for the populations of most of the 'winners', excepting possibly Nationalist China.....

pgf

[Sean Bongiovanni]

and to touch on WWI which some of you mentioned, that war was more of a disfunctional family dispute than what became a war. basically all of the leaders were related to each other. but Serbia got mad at Austria, then Austria asked Germany for help, then Serbia asked Russia for help, then this whole alliance system got started and all of a sudden all of Europe is at war, with the ending being Germany getting once again stomped into the ground, thus, along with the stupid art university not taking him, Hitler has a reason to take power, caused by the Versailles treaty and various other factors. not to mention the entire war could've ended very soon if SOMEONE HAD JUST READ MEIN KAMPT! :)

Cheers.

[Sean Bongiovanni]

The Russians won WWII for all of us. Sure the US and the UK helped out a lot, but you have to remember, the Germans sent all of their best German troops over to the Eastern Front. That is 1.5 million of the best Wermacht, Panzer divisions, and SS that Germany could find. He even sent the Totenkopf division over there to kill as many Russian and Jewish stragglers left behind. The Germans pierced straight into the heart of Russia, then got stopped at three cities and their defense lines. Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad. Now here is the interesting part. Did the allies ever force an entire army to surrender? In Operation Uranus, the Russians sorrounded the German 6th Army and stomped them to the ground, then from there the Germans were spread too thin to actually mount and keep up their assaults, forcing them to pull their troops out. Then you also have to factor in that Russia fought Finland also, and was unsuccesful, but nevertheless took Finland out of the Axis powers. Then Russia fought the bloodiest battle in history in Berlin, and for 25 days the Americans and the British tropps stayed at Elbe and watched. And D-Day? The Western armies weren't even prepared for an attack on the Atlantic Wall, they saw the attack as a bluff to divert troops. And the plan went horribly as our paratroopers were misdropped to hell, the only reason it was succesful was because of their training, but then the Fallschirmjagers had the same training plus an extra jump and even tougher training. But they arrived too late to do anything. The UK was too focused on the middle east to do anything about normandy, and they still lost Tobruk. The Russians were the reason for the victory, and Hitler caused this victory by attacking them, and the US and the UK had doubts about them making it through a month and they didn't send them enough supplies, so Russia was in a stand-alone fight far worse than the UK's. Case closed.

[Jarmin]

I just thought I might add something about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

They were quite rational military decisions. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were large producers in the Japanese military economy. In addition to being huge blows to moral, they also helped by eliminating some of the Japanese war production efforts. And the second bomb was used because after the first, Japan still was not willing to give in. I think 2 or 3 days after having a city largely annihilated would be enough time to announce a surrender.

I don;t blame the USA for not wanting to prolong a largely pointless war that did have an arguably inevitable outcome. The USA simply minimized their loses while, rationally furthering their own national interests in several spheres.

Was it moral? Ambiguous at worst, or clearcut answer at best.

Oh, and it did help that wartime industries in places not directly in conflict on their home fronts managed to outproduce the "axis" in terms of goods produced.

Who won WWII? I would say the clearest winners would have been the USSR and USA, in terms of power in the sense of political realism.

The two emerged huge superpowers, which ridiculous amounts of power (however you define it). It was a win for the other countries to be sure, in the sense of no direct combat, but one must be able to admit that they emerged with no practical power in comparison to these two super powers which would dominate the international stage for the duration of the so-called Cold War.

And it was pretty nice that there has been a (substantial) quantifiable decrease in combat related deaths since nineteen forty six. (see the Human Security Report, as I believe it is called; basically it argues that humanity is on an upswing)

[Alex of Michigan]

Its unbelievable how little credit Americans get during WWII espcially outside of North America.

WWII was a fight of many heroic nations and i don't want to discredit those who fought bravely beside one another...

BUT, if it wasn't for the U.S and their pre and post war actions the world would be much differenet.

Its easy to say the U.S should have joined the war sooner so Hitler could not have had the opportunity to conquer Europe. (Sorry France, I am one of few Americans who love your country but i think you did one helluva job putting up a fight... ; )... )

But what a lot of people (even Americans) don't know is the internal struggle we faced before our entry into WWII. At the time Americans were still feeling the effects of the Great Depression and wanted no part in another since it left many crippled. In fact, many Americans saw Hitler had no aggression towards and favored his presense in Europe.

Sorry many Europeans, but Americans at the tme had no problems with the travesty going on over seas.

FDR was a very wise man. He saw things many could not. He knew American involvement in WWII was inevitable. For political reasons (relection, PR, etc..) he lied to the American people int he sense that he himself wanted to keep America free from war. But behind closed doors, FDR kept a close touch with Churchill. FDR assured help was on the way but was concurrently bound by congress.

FDR betrayed the American people and lied to the government.

FDR built arms in preparation for war but still intended on staying peaceful. Americans obliged and built many war ships. What to do with such a stockpile of weapons?

FDR sold the warships to an independant company who "loaned" the ships to Great Britain. It was a loophole that the rest of the American government couldn't touch. In fact, they had no idea such transactions were occuring.

But on that fateful day in december, our world was turned upside down. The impact of Pearl Harbor was unimaginable. Every American 16-45 signed up for war.

Our whole image of WWII was flipped-flopped. One day we did not want war, then the next was payback.

Nothing gets an American more upset than a personal attack of their culture. (Look at 9/11) Sometimes it serves us well and other times we are shunned by it.

Truth be told, WWII could not have been won with each other as a united force. Great Britain needed the U.S and the U.S needed Great Britain.

In reality is goes as such:
30% North America - Includes Canada, american science and itelligence, industry, and man power. Brutes we might NOT have been, American men fought beyond GB and France in effort to regain back once was a beautiful europe.
20% Great Britain and France - Though contrabutions to the war effort were undying, GB's size was sorely retarded and France couldn't objectively fight in uniform.
10% USSR - Their easten pressence was a distraction away from England, though it was ultimately up to Hitler to attack them.
40% the bravery, honor and courage set forth by the allies

[Andrew_Klimanov]

30% SOVIET "Cannonfodder"
20% SOVIET SOLDIERS Bravery,Honor n Courage
10% SOVIET wonderfull technical solutions like T34, DT, PPSh and other
20% ENGLISH North African War
10% AMERICAN Pacific War and The West Front
5% Rebells
5% NAZIST antihumanistik National Politic

[Eli D.]

Come on, stop being rediculous. We ALL know that it was the Canadians who won WW2.

[Jamie Thompson]

This answer is far too involved to give a detailed answer, but I'd say the allies victory in Europe was due to the following:

1) USSR Manpower - Although poorly equipped and trained, the Russians threw everything at the Germans. Small countries would have been annihilated, the Russians endured thanks to those huge reserves.

2) US Industry - The American Industry was their major contribution, they didn't need to risk lives in Europe whatsoever, though in truth I am glad they did as a Russian Europe would have been frightening.

3) Commonwealth Courage - All members of the commonwealth were courageus in their contributions to war. Only the Canadians made a significant contribution in Europe, but the Aussies, Indians and New Zealanders (among others) were there all the way in North Africa and Pacific.

4) British Navy, RAF, Defiance and Intelligence - The British contribution was critical in many areas. The fact they held out in the Battle of Britain (RAF) enabled the Yanks to continue to supply Russia (Royal Navy). Their general defiance kept the Allies together and made sure the Yanks got involved. And finally the British Intelligence Service made fools of the Germans in many critical areas of the war - not least breaking their cipher.

The Pacific heroe? The Chinese. Their ability to absorb 517 MILLION Japanese bullets surey saved the Americans!

[Will]

From New Zealand
USA: Way behind everyone else. Only joined war when directly attacked. Selfish bastards who just used brute strength.

Britain: Plucky, stiff upper lip. Main winners of the war.

Russians: Originally bad guys, but u-turned when back stabbed. Not actually part of the "true" allies.

France: Cheese-eating little surrender-monkey frogs. As usual.

New Zealand: Did all they could. Not much, but what they could.

Australia: Who knows? People think they were there..so they probably were.

Germany: Nasty goose-stepping Hitler-loving Jew-hating Aryans who were all perverted weirdos. They're ok now that they abase themselves in front of everyone and have a "National Council of Jews".

Italy: Stick to the spaghetti and meatballs. Fascists got their arses beaten then surrendered. No respect.

Japan: Savage monkeys. Now they're "practically white" and American, but back then they were just animals.

China: Like the Japanese, but weak monkeys.

Belgium, Poland, Switerland, Spain etc: Not important. Some got their arses kicked by various sides, but essentially no-one cares.

N.B. I don't actually agree with all of this. It's just our educational system. The only ones I agree with are the USA and the French definitions. Message to Germany: Man up. The past is past. Get rid of the ridiculous council and use the vacant space to get some spine!

[eagleking18]

no china didnt do anything they werent even considerd part of the allies the were 70% percent taken over by japan so they didnt help the allies they just did wut the french did and surrenderd so they didnt get killed

[C. Peter Chen]

Victors write the history, and each victorious country writes their own version of the victory. Pretty standard stuff...

Growing up in Taiwan, I was taught that a major reason for the Allies' eventual victory in Asia was China. The successful defense of the China tied down many Japanese troops, and that in turn opened up the possibility for the US advance across the Pacific.

[eagleking18]

I HATE HOW EVERYBODY THINKS THAT AMERICA CAME IN THE LAST SECOND BCUZ THEY WERE COWARDS THEY WERE THE REASON THE UK HELD OUT FOR SO LONG THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER-RUN IN A WEEK IF WE DIDNT SEND IN WEAPONS AND TACTICAL DEVICES TO THEM EVERYDAY OR THEY WOULD HAVE EVENTUALLY WOULD HAVE STARTED THROWING ROCKS AND STONES LIKE THE RUSSIANS WE CAME IN SO LATE BECAUSE WE HAD JUST ENDED WW1 AND EVERYBODY WAS IN DEPRESSION AND WE WERE FREE AND NOBODY WANTED TO FIGHT ANYMORE BUT THEN DECEMBER 7 1941 WAS THE 2ND BIGGEST MISTAKE HITLER MADE NO ONE SEEMS TO THINK WE WERE COWARDS THE NEXT DAY WHEN WE DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY ITALY AND JAPAN...AND THE DAY AFTER THAT WE WERE ALREADY IN NAZAIRE AND THE PHILLIPINES FIGHTING EVRYBODY BECUZ WE COULD THE WORST THING THAT HITLER COULD HAVE DONE HE DID ON APRIL 19 1944 GENERAL RAHMEL (THE DESERT FOX) TRIED TO WARN HITLER THEY DID NOT HAVE THE SUPPLIES OR WILL TO TAKE THE SOVIETS,,, BECAUSE LIKE THE SS OF GERMANY RUSSIANS WONT LAY OVER AND DIE LIKE FRENCH AND WHEN HE DID HE HAD HIS MOST LOYAL MEN TRY TO STRANGLE HIM IN HIS SLEEP BUT MEN LOYAL TO HITLER STOPPED THEM AND HAD THEM TRIED AND KILLED BUT THEN HITLER KILLED RHAMEL AND ONCE RAHMEL WAS GONE HITLER TRIED TO LEAD ALL THE NAZIS IN WAR BUT HE WAS NOT A WAR TACTICS GENIUS LIKE RHAMEL AND COULD NOT PUSH THE FRONTS OF RUSSIA WITHOUT THE RIGHT SUPPLIES...NO ONE COULD... IF YOU HAD TO BREAK THE WHOLE WAR DOWN THIS IS HOW IT WOULD SOUND

60% AMERICAS MILLITARY AND BRAVERY
25% RUSSIANS COLD WINTERS AND BRUTAL STRENTGH
10% BRITTISH HOLDOUT AGAINST BLITZKRIEG UNTILL VICTORY
5% HITLERS OWN MISTAKES MAINLY THE DEATH OF GENERAL RHAMEL

[randomness]

Hmm...It seems a lot of people are biased for their home country. On one hand, the americans arrived and saved everybody in the nick of time. On the other, they arrived late in the war for personal gain only and are cowards.

If I were to say the person that set the events to win WW2 in motion, that would be hitler. He started it, and eventually it ended because he started it. Therefore, germany won the war. (please don't take this seriously)

[eagleking18]

we bombed japan civillians because they supported wut the army was doing and becuase they killed innocent people at pearl harbor so we killed innocent people at hiroshima and nagasaki the japanese people are idiots did they really think that they could bomb america and we not do anything about it there fuckin retarted//without the U.S the allied powers would not have been as strong and would have lost because the french would have surrenderd as usual and hitler wouldnt have needed to go to russia then the russians would have helped take over UK and then europe would be germany

[n. v. f.]

Look what is happening now in Irak and Afganistan.. Yes, Americans did help towards the end, but that's about it! They can never finish what ever they started.. and as always take the credit for others!
Soviet Union won the WW2!!
I can tell you as a granddaughter of the Hero of WW2.

[Tararin Lamba]

Us is terrorist in WW11, they bombed civilian people in Japan. They are not fighting with soldier but innocent civilian people. What a coward....

[eagleking18]

soviets didnt win the war ass the us and uk did do u know wut d-day is yea russia wasnt there russia helped germany so the only way they helped was there winter

[rofl]

Soviet Union won the war....dumbasses

[eagleking18]

i think us was the biggest help to the war yes the russian winter did really beat the germans but eventually the germans would have taken uk if usa didnt help and it would have taken 15 more years if america didnt stop japan, no other country was going to go near them and maybe canada did help a little but the americans and the uk took sicilly not canadians, and the french didnt do shit to help at all they were just really good at surrendering. lol its true. and russia didnt exactly help alot they supported the germans untill they invaded russia thats y we never shared any info wit them during the war that and usa wanted to be "heros"/////// thats my take on ww2