8 European Leaders Call for Unity with US Over Iraq

"Bailing them out" would imply saving them from defeat, when that is not in fact what we did. They were in no imminent danger of being defeated when we entered the war. Did our entry enhance their position at the bargaining table? Of course. But did we save them from defeat? No.

As I stated earlier, though, we did save them from a likely Soviet takeover, which I think is far more significant. So we did "bail them out" twice, but WWI wasn't one of those times.

 

Wow, treeman, thanks for jumping in.

DaDa,

tree was basically making my point - Germany thought they would roll through France in about 6 weeks (they were overconfident since they had had a recent history of kicking their asses - see things such as the Franco-Prussian war) and they sent the vast majority of their troops west into France so they could do it quickly.

A while after, they had no choice but to basically abandon the Western front and concentrate on the Eastern. Without question, France and England would have been able to handle Germany and were on their way.

Now, the US invovlement in WWI was huge and it was the biggest point in the war...but it mostly acted to end it much more quickly and to reduce allied casualities (the Western front had been some of the bloodiest, harshest fighting in world history). And, yes, the US involvement saved greater financial devastation in Europe (although it still was amess after).

Also, technically, the US intervened to help out England...it was with them that we had the main agreement. They acted as reinforcements in both supplies and personnel. And don't forget that France was the biggest army at this time and that a French general was leading the allied troops - including the Americans - in all aspects. So, again, the US's role in WWI was more supportive than one of rescue.

This is not to downplay the involvement at all. The US declared war on Germany in April of 1917 and the war ended in November of 1918 - that is amazing considering it would have taken awhile to get organized and fully over to Europe.

treeman,

That is an interesting point about the Cold War. I think it would be interesting if there could be a kind of alternate universe system where we could see what would have happened had the US not been actively involved in the opposition of the USSR. I am not so sure they would have really taken over all of Western Europe...but you still bring up a good point.

 

So...in this alternative universe, I guess we could also see if the allies would have beaten Germany on their own in WW1, but since it doesn't exist, I guess my point is valid.



DD

 

Let's say it ended in a stalemate and Germany doesn't go into the economic collapse that it endured after the treaty of versailles. Even though the whole world faced the Great Depression, Germany would be much better off if it wouldn't have been "beaten" in WWI. does WWII even happen? Is there a Hitler? Without WWII does the US become the Superpower it is now? Interesting....