Biased Views?

ast3r3xast3r3x
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I'm trying to get a feel of how biased movies and history that we learn here in the US. In europe, russia, germany, when you see movies of WWII, do you hear about how the united states military power is what changed the war and how strong a military force we are?



Just wondering, cuz I never really thought of thi and one of my teachers said that russia says they are the reason WWII was won.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    Well, Stalingrad was quite significant... Battle of Britain too...Obviously WWII history in Europe is mostly about Europe... Like WWII history in Asia is mostly about Asia. What can be a bit bothersome is Hollywood rewriting pieces of european history...
  • Reply 2 of 6
    doctorgonzodoctorgonzo Posts: 529member
    [quote]Just wondering, cuz I never really thought of thi and one of my teachers said that russia says they are the reason WWII was won.<hr></blockquote>



    The Russians lost over 25 million men, women and children in WWII. They were beaten back to Moscow and then fought all the way back to Berlin.



    I'm actually glad they were the ones who got to take Berlin (but not glad about what they did with it afterwords).



    The effort they put into it was immense.



    And the U.S likes to think they single-handedly won the war themselves while a few dozen foreigners shot at the Germans alongside them.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    I remember most of my history teachers, especially my last, mustachioed one, put a lot of stress on the fact that the US came in when the war was just about over. They waited till the last possible moment (after Stalingrad, which is, I guess, widely accepted to be the turning point in the war). And this to walk away with the honor.

    That's one point. Of course there is a bit of responsibility for ending the war, but not too much. Around these here parts, a few hundred kilometres up from Omaha beach, it appears mainly Canadians 'saved' us, judging from the manifold Canadian museums and flags around 6th of june.



    But true, my grandfather as well (who is usually quite americanophile), always affirms that it was the battle of Stalingrad that meant the end of the nazi's.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    As WWII by it's very nature was fought over the globe, I think it's difficult to say any one particular country won the war. America had a huge impact in the Pacific, starting when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and ending when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Russia had a huge impact in Europe, with the battle of Stalingrad being the turning point on the eastern front. If Hitler hadn't also been fighting the British/Canadians/Americans on the western front, he might have beaten the Russians, so Britain had some impact as well. If the Battle of Britain hadn't been won by the British airforce, there wouldn't have been anywhere from which to launch the Normandy invasion.



    [ 09-30-2002: Message edited by: RodUK ]</p>
  • Reply 5 of 6
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    I think the war would have been lost without the US effort, yes. But it may have been lost without the Russians or Brits as well.



    Needless to say, if you look at some charts of weapons production, it's hard to say that America didn't have a chief role (perhaps the chief role) in WWII. Granted our tanks sucked for most of the war, our aircraft were excellent. Who else had the gall to lead daylight raids against a ridiculously fortified germany? It's also interesting to note that America's involvement in the war started and ended with bombers.



    Even so, I'd say that most WWII movies are based on combat with Japan. Since it was only us vs. them, there's not exactly a cooperative undertone in such films and books.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    I understand that it was a world war and probably without russia fighting then we couldn't have won, but what I am wondering is if movies in other countries show off themselves as seeming like THE MOST IMPORTANT role of the war. It at least seems to me that almost all US films seem to do this about us...the US
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