wow, there are some very interesting ideas here. i only wish this forum was a real time conversation and not a posting. hehe i had lots to say but then either someone said it or i have forgotten. I totally agree with Esme on the problems that Germany faced on invading Britain. Vorticon said that the luftwaffe should level London and then the war would be over. Firstly I dont think we should make fun of Vorticon for his "uninformed" oppinions. The fact is that we all have them, especially with history. Unless you have read from many different sources will you get a complete and correct oppinion. No one is an idiot because history is often based on scattered facts, rarely is all the info completely known. And we definatly shouldnt generalize about the historical knowledge of someone just because of their age. back to what i was saying. Attacking london was one of the reasons why the Germans were unable to defeat the British. They deverted bomber attacks from strategic British defences (fighter bases, radar posts etc.) and tried to defeat the british by destroying their moral-a tactic that worked well on Madrid durring the spanish civil war. Esme's right on about the many setbacks that the Germans would have faced.
Hangtime
"its pitiful. we get no respect at all for what we did during and after.. our motives are smeared, our efforts after the war ignored. truly pitiful. no wonder lil kids grow up over there thinking we're all toejamheads."
in response to Hangtimes, "uninformed" comment i am wondering what you are looking for in terms of respect? as if the US doesnt get enough respect as it is. people talk of getting their historica knowledge from movies..what about in pearl harbor when that american guy goes to england, shoots down a bunch of Germans and the british...commander (i dont actually know his rank) says something along the lines of "if all americans are like you i pitty anyone who goes to war with them" DO NOT quote me on that cuz i havnt seen if since it was in theatres but it was stupid. that opitimizes that american pride. like one american pilot turns the tide of the war. 1 question though, if we are trying to be logical, why would the british commander be impressed with this american guy, even if he did shoot down a bunch of planes? its not like there werent british aces, and for that matter combat vets who actually have experience, instead of a guy who has never even flown a spitfire. maybe he could play chicken and scare the pants off some German's though!
the second part of your statement says that your "motives are smeared." now you are american right? i am wondering how much you actually know about the US entering the war. there were many more factors than just pearl harbor. did you know that the US had isolationist laws. they prevented the US from entering the war despite Roosevelts desires to do so. the main reason that your reputaion was smeared was because America became the world power it is today by prifiting or WW1 and mainly WW2. anyone is going to be mad when they are fighting their tulips off and the US is sitting back raking in the money. The US profited greatly from the war.
also, no one ignores the american effort after the war. at the end of the war there were no other countries capable of lending aid to the war torn nations. many of the former world powers were bankrupt and undoubtedly it would have taken many more years for the recovery process to begin. on the other hand, greed was the force behind the aid. giving money to countries if they spent it on american goods...
you say that little kids think americans are toejam heads. the fact is that people hate americans for many reasons. it is definatly biased and unacceptable for us to have them but nevertheless we do.
SLASH27, you said that you would like to talk more about this topic..i would also, i like to hear both sides of the topic, despite the fact that americans are trying to screw us canadians economically, and many other countries for that matter. its practically neo-imperialism.
AKSWulfe
"So based on the ignorant jibberish you're posting, I could say "all canadians don't know a lick of history?
Who were the red tails? "
who was the commanding officer of fliegercorps X, who frickin cares. just because you know who the red tails are doesnt mean you know anything about history. in the whole scheme of things how important is knowing who the red tails are. I AM CANADIAN and no i dont know who the red tails are.
ahh, well i didnt expect to write that much, i guess i got caught up. if anyone has anything to say about this, and i bet they do, i bet i would if i read it again,-frankly i cant remember what i was talking about at the beginning- you can e-mail me if you have something inteligent to say, otherwise dont. i would be happy to discus it with someone/ppl