My understanding is that WW2 was three wars in one, not two. First there was the war in Europe, North Africa and the Atlantic, between the Axis and Allies. Then you have the Russian front, between the Germans and Soviets. Finally, the Pacific War was fought between the Japanese and Allies. Currently I am covering the third conflict in my podcast on Southeast Asian history.
I’m halfway through the new Benn Steil book on the Marshall Plan.
It was America’s war against Soviet communism and it’s plan to swallow Western Europe. At the same time, we were rebuilding Japan and within five years, used our footprint in Japan to rebuild South Korea.
When Hitler attacked the USSR, it was easy to suppose that he would defeat Russia as quickly as he had thrashed France. Harry Hopkins, FDRs right hand man, was in Britain at the time, and -tho he was death warmed over himself - he got FDRs agreement that he should go to Moscow. Hopkins found Stalin in a fighting mood, able to convince him that, unaided, the USSR would fight for a year. And with aid, would not be defeated.Hopkins got the US on board with saving Russia. Hopkins was a pinko, but if Hitler had gotten his hands on the USSRs oilfields, he would have been even more powerful than he already was. So it was Hobsons choice to leave Stalin to his own devices in any event. But the upshot was that the US sent tremendous aid to Stalin. A prime example: Studebaker trucks. They started out shipping assembled trucks, but that was inefficient use of shipping. So the US set up a truck assembly plant in Iran, and shipped the parts to it. Red Army drivers would arrive at the factory, be given keys to their trucks, and would drive the trucks to Russia loaded with other war materiel. But the trucks were a big deal because they gave mobility to the Red Army, which was crucial.
- Freedom's Forge:
- How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
Arthur HermanA fascinating bit of Pacific War history is found in
It turns out that the Navy suffered even more casualties in the Guadalcanal campaign than the Marines did.
- Neptune's Inferno:
- The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
And the story of code breaking was applicable to the PTO as well:
- Code Girls:
- The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
America used women code breakers in a big way; for one thing because they were not considered for fighting positions, for another, they didnt traditionally command high pay, and - very important as well - the very fact that they were not considered important meant that they could work under the radar, not attracting prying eyes of spies because it would be assumed that there was nothing to see in the work of a bunch of women.
In the future, say in about 1000 years, the period between WW1 and the end of our current "conflict" between Capitalism and "Collectivism" and the Islamic Reformation will be lumped together.
Thanks to the Germans encouraging Lenin by giving him transport back to Russia and helping the communist to overthrow Russia, we are left with this communist/collectivist virus that has infected our world.
The Islamic "problem" is due to the break up of the colonial system and the mess that the Balfour Declaration created in what is now Israel. This was done in order to facilitate the Jewish exodus from Europe and to help fight the Germans in the mideast. We are fighting one long world war that has it's roots in the first world war.