Why do people say that the British didn't do a thing in WW2?

UberNoodle

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I think that even a basic knowledge of history would show you that the British DID do a lot. I never really understand how some people try to give so much credit to the USA for that war. Of course, they were coming in towards the end, when the allies were already brutally torn by a prolonged devastating war effort. From this comes to the misconception that the USA 'won' the war, but it is only so if one sees history in a very skewed way.
 

jamesworkshop

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As far as I can tell most nations/people considered Britian to the be spear head of the Allied forces in WW2.
 

Davrel

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Totenkopf said:
I usually summarize the whole American, British and free French forces as "western allies", so no one gets left out.
This is fair enough but I would exclude the French apart from the resistance forces. Capitulating in six weeks and then handing over the Jews of Vichy France to the Germans renders the French state's contribution to the war obsolete imo.

OT - Hollywood is your answer. Hollywood's biggest market is in the US; so films are made which appeal to US audiences and (understandably) American audiences want to hear about what their nation did. The desire to get into this lucrative market leads to fabrications and exaggerations and so on.

Blame the media - everybody offering you information has an agenda.
 

corporate_gamer

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Epictank of Wintown said:
MelasZepheos said:
No, we didn't do anything apart from pretty much holding back everyone in North Africa, being the only nation in Europe who remained standing and fighting while the Americans remained isolationist and we had to withstand the might of the Nazi war machine alone, cracking the ENIGMA code, contributing heavily to D-Day, Overlord, and in fact every operation apart from the Americans offensive on Japan.

Nope, Britain was useless in World War II
To be fair, the British only had to deal with the Luftwaffe- had the Third Reich actually invaded Britain like they had the rest of mainland Europe, I think you guys would have been in some serious trouble. You probably also wouldn't have done too well if the Americans hadn't been sending you weapons, ammo and equipment secretly.

But to say the British were a 'non-factor' in World War II is just silly. Field Marshal Montgomery pushed Rommel and the Wermacht out of North Africa almost single-handedly. They were also major factors in Operation Overlord, battling up through Sicily and Italy, the (failed) invasion of Holland and, as someone said, cracking the ENIGMA code.
But Britain wasn't invaded because the Luftwaffe didn't achieve air superiority, so they couldn't attack the royal navy, so they couldn't invade because the troop ships would've been blown out of the water. So its not a case of didn't invade more couldn't invade because e halted their first stage of attack.

Having said all of that; i don't think the absences of Britain or the US would of changed the outcome in Europe, we (and by that i mean America as well) saved some countries from the USSR not the nazi's.
 

Ninjamedic

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dmase said:
Ninjamedic said:
dmase said:
....You mean the French right?
Your forgetting the french resistance.
It was a joke, but when civilians contribute more to a war effort then the French armed forces its sad. Of course its because Germany was occupying them but didn't they also surrender when there was a power struggle? Not that they stood a real chance against the Nazi war machine.
The leaders of the vichy government were right wing and slightly pro nazi.
 

tweedpol

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Totenkopf said:
I usually summarize the whole American, British and free French forces as "western allies", so no one gets left out.
Norwegians, Danish, Dutch, Belgians, Canadians... Still nothing like a complete list. I'm reading an excellent book at the moment about a British cryptographer, there's lots of stories of the efforts made by agents of all nationalities in occupied Europe, all based and briefed in London, such as the sabotage of heavy water plants and so on by Norwegian agents, I think if the Axis powers developed nuclear weapons things might have turned out differently...
 

02y211

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I find it more odd that the Soviet Union don't get the majority of the 'praise' for defeating the Germans. Afterall they were the major factor. And no I am not counting war crimes and such, because they certainly did a lot of that, much more than the British/Americans did.
 

GreatVladmir

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Akira Fumi said:
GreatVladmir said:
Akira Fumi said:
xbeaker said:
I've never heard anyone say that. Maybe your teacher is a little prejudice? Anyone who has read anything about WWII knows the Brits were a major factor in that war.
Yeah, they did quite a lot in World War II. They held off the German Advance/bombings in 41-42, but the bit about the soviets is true. They lost the most people in the war according to most sources, both military/civilian wise.
The Soviets bore the brunt of the Wermacht, if the western Allies had faced that many troops, we would have fallen, easily. We have to really thank the Soviet Union/Russia really for doing the most agaisnt the 3rd Reich, not to say us Western Allies were not important, the Germans could have eventually defeated the USSR if the west did'nt declare war on Germany, so it was a team effort, shame about the Cold War afterwards.
Not to discredit Russia, but wasn't it also a combination of a early Russian Winter combined with fierce Russian Resistance at the heavily sieged cities like Stalingrad that eventually halted the Nazi advance into the country? I might have read some incorrect info, but that's what I remember reading. Once the German Army was starting to tire itself, the Red Army began pushing them farther & farther away from Moscow.
Yes, that is true, but it was more the arrogance of the Werhmacht commanders, thinking they could capture Moscow before the winter, thus not giving the troops Winterised equipment or atleast being prepared, they expected another Poland or France, for the Soviets to be crushed easily, quickly & cleanly, but we all know how it ended. Even though all the countries played an important role, the Russians played probably the most important and there winter.
 

McNinja

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dmase said:
....You mean the French right?

Of course Britain helped a huge deal in WW2 and no not every American history teacher treats it they way the OP's teacher did.

Edit: wait he is from Iceland so why is everyone blaming American teachers? America however is always the first to get blamed.
He is not blaming the teachers, he's blaming the fact that America's role in the war is more hyped up than the other allies, apparently to the point that even teachers are starting to get stupid.


OP: Your teacher has a severe lack of any historical knowledge. The British got bombed nearly every day after Neville Chamberlain declared was on Germany. The British also developed radar, contributed greatly to D-Day, and cracked the Enigma code.

And Russia basically wiped out the German army that invaded Russia (a couple million troops).
 

Funkysandwich

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Jan 15, 2010
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I know I'm sick and tired about every film or tv show about the war in the Pacific focusing on how great America is.

Sure, they did contribute towards the war, but it's not like they single-handedly won it.

Ever heard of the kokoda trail? No Americans there...
 

gardemayster

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Feb 20, 2010
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McNinja, the Enigma was not cracked by the british, but by the polish. Mr. Marian Rejewski in
fact.
Edit: added a comma.
 

WolfThomas

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Dec 21, 2007
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RyQ_TMC said:
PIt was only the Americans and the Brits left on the field, and guess who came out of the war with a massive industrial production surplus, no damage to the country itself and an already established massive entertainment industry?
Yet the British managed to create a universal health care system 60 years before it would be attempted in the US and this was in the cold war, where threats of being a socialist were serious.
 

Macgyvercas

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Feb 19, 2009
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Of course Britain did something in WWII. Who do you think stopped Hitler on the Western Front until us Americans decided to join the fun? Who do you think was about the only non neutral country in Europe NOT to be overrun by Nazis?

Britain did one HELL of a lot!
 

IntangibleMango

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It's perfectly fine to be proud and patriotic about your countries achievements in the war, but it's a shame some people can't do that without feeling they are better than others.

Instead of just looking at the countries as a whole, remember to respect and be proud of every single person who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can live as we do today. Not just the people who gave their lives, but the ones who lost a part of themselves and still had the might and willpower to carry on, pushing forward no matter what.

No-one should ever forget these peoples' bravery, what ever nationality they were.
 

xXCagallixX

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Nov 12, 2009
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Fact Being Im British and its a fact that america didnt even join the war intill russia had to pull out since they where being invaded and america only joined because peral harbour was boomed by The Japanese and if the japanese had not boomed it then america probley wouldnt have joined but the british and Russians did alot of the work but if france had not surrended then they might have been destoryed in full the british did many many things in the war