Would the Allies have won World War II if the USA did not take part?

[Fargus]

This thread is inspired by those "Two World Wars, One World Cup" shirts/banners you periodically see scummy English soccer supporters wearing/displaying.

I'm no big city expert when it comes to World War II. But if I recall correctly the Allies largely won because of the USA (and the USSR)?

It's a hypothetical question but if the USA had not joined the war do you think the Allies would have won?

[Deleted]

Yes. Germany tried to invade Britain in 1940, before the US joined the war. This was the Battle of Britain. Over the course of the summer/autumn Britain repelled the invasion (Operation Sealion) and Hitler finally cancelled his invasion plans. All before the US joined. If Britain was going to lose the war, it would have done then. Once the German invasion was beaten Germany was unable to win the war. Hitler would have eventually been defeated by the Soviets, or by a British atomic bomb.

[noteworthynerd]

It's highly unlikely... The US not only kept the Japanese busy, but we were also a big player on the European side of the conflict, especially at Normandy. While Britain was able to repel the invasion of the UK, they didn't do much in the way of pushing the Axis back.

That being said, a big reason that the Axis ultimately failed was because he tried to push too far into Russia (the Soviet Union at the time) too quickly, and exhausted his men and their resources.

I guess it depends, if the Japanese hadn't been occupied fighting the US, they may have been able to prop up the failing German military enough to conquer Moscow.

If neither the USSR nor the US had been forced into the conflict, the Allies would have most certainly lost. Strategically speaking, the Axis made some very obvious errors, but I suppose that's what happens when you get so bold.

[Thorim]

Without the aid sent via the Atlantic, no, without their military? probably, eventually, but at a cost of a lot more lives and many more years. Germany was never going to win once they were repelled by the Soviets. You forget just exactly how many men the Red Army poured into the war, how many casualties they took, yet still how many men they had in reserve.

[HollowBlue]

Hitler had an advantage over the allies in the beginning of the war. The Wehrmacht cornered the allies and Hitler refused to act on the opportunity, and gave Britain the chance to evacuate and aid/supply. Should he have given the command to conquer them at this point, Britain's forces would have been demolished and the course of the war may have changed.
There were many situations where the Nazi army's blitzkrieg tactics were halted. If they were truly relentless, the outcome of the war could have been horrendous.

Let's just be thankful that the allies all came together and stopped the German campaign!

-My ancestors were Deutsche and most of them were killed off during this campaign. Survivors fled to America. Love this country!

[Trigg]

I'm also pretty sure Germany back then was banking on the Fued between Britain and France and that they wouldn't co-operate as much as they did to fight the Nazi's back. That being said, the aid sent over from the US was a massive help and likely would of cost far more lives than we could of put into the effort possibly resulting in a completely different outcome of the war if we hadn't got it. All thanks to the japanese ey?

Oh and also, even though by "scummy English soccer supporters" you meant just the people who wore those stupid shirts, i still feel slightly offended.

[coldfiredragon]

No, with out the US the allies would have lost. If Germany had extra time they would have had the first Atomic Weapon, they were closer then we were when Germany finally fell.

[Monoxyde]

i'm fairly certain that hitler being batshit insane had as much to do with his failure as any outside sources. invading russia was brilliant..
one way or another he was just too crazy to win. more people might have died but i think he was doomed from the start.

[Deleted]

Yes; it would have cost us a lot more in lives and ground our economy further into the dust; but Germany would have fallen. All the US did was speed things up by providing fresh troops and resources; Hitler had already made the mistake of invading Russia mid-winter by then.

[Kasierith]

I doubt it... Japan was physically so far dislocated that the Russians could have held them off for years. You have to remember that one of the reasons Japan attacked China and other nearby countries before attacking the larger nations was because they were lacking natural resources... it was the most critical failing that eventually led to them losing the war. Japan would have had to burn through massive amount of resources in order to bring armies against the bulk of the Russians, and they would have had to do it without their navy, which was a significant part of their power at the beginning of the war. Most likely Japan would have pushed deeper into China or into India, and faced heavier and heavier resistance as they pushed the nations to the brink.

As for Germany, the Russians would have pushed back the German forces back regardless of the presence of reinforcements. The Germans feared an invasion from the UK.. so they had to keep a force present throughout Europe to repel an invasion, so they could not have pushed everything against the Russians. As soon as the Russian army started gaining ground, the Germans crumbled. Either the Russians would have taken Berlin, or they would have forced another standoff; and the longer a standoff happens, the larger the chance for other nations that had remained neutral to mobilize.

Now, if the US had not given any support at all to the UK, including pilots and supplies, than yes, Germany would have overrun Britain and been able to focus all of their attention on the Russians

[Deleted]

Without the US financial support the WWII would not have happened in the first place. The US gov't and banks wanted that war to happen, and profited greatly from it, there is no way they wouldn't participate in this.

[Bolson13]

Depends on who would have had nukes first probably.

Also if Japan would have completely conquered China and could advance into Russia themselves. Same goes for Australia. If the Australians would have made it bloody, they might be stretched too thin.

Regards if Europe would be "liberated" without America, it would probably mean most in Europe would be speaking Russian by now. So kind of a pick your poison kind of deal.

[Benathor]

Another of these threads, where the British say they would have won, the Americans say they wouldn't, the smart Americans know they would have and the rest don't have a clue. I bet 90% of the people who answer don't have a clue about history.

[Bolson13]

Depends on who would have had nukes first probably.

Also if Japan would have completely conquered China and could advance into Russia themselves. Same goes for Australia. If the Australians would have made it bloody, they might be stretched too thin.

Regards if Europe would be "liberated" without America, it would probably mean most in Europe would be speaking Russian by now. So kind of a pick your poison kind of deal.

Edit: Another follow up, if Hitler would have finished development of the first atomic bomb by 1941, would the whole world be conquered by the axis?

[Jeina]

What America did:

Trained and sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers overseas, some 40% whom never returned, to free Europe from Facist Nazism.
Freed France from Nazi Occupation
Freed Italy from Nazi Occupation
Freed Poland from Nazi Occupation
Freed Belgium from Nazi Occupation
Freed Scandinavia fro Nazi Occupation
Freed Netherlands, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Germany- yes Germany
Liberated the countries that now compose Indonesia from Japanese Occupation
Drove Japanese back from Iwo Jima and several outposts in Pacific to ensure safety of Australia, New Zealand, Oceania and Southeast Asia, etc

The addition of the American troops allowed the Allies to push back through Europe, something that would have taken years (if at all). America turned the tide of the War. I'm not going to say "We won" because there are no victories in War, but without American intervention, the war would have lasted a lot longer than it did.

Would the Allies have won without the US? Possibly, but the point is moot.

[smelltheglove]

kind of hard to see how we would have stayed out of it, what with pearl harbor and all

[Deleted]

One other point to make; is that the RAF almost made the Germans surrender, after the Fire-bombing of Hamburg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gomorrah

No subsequent city raid shook Germany as did that on Hamburg; documents show that German officials were thoroughly alarmed, and there is some indication from later Allied interrogations of Nazi officials that Hitler stated that further raids of similar weight would force Germany out of the war.

[Moonhyde]

We helped open up a second front but Russian dead, over 20mil, that is a pretty big contribution.

[Jager]

A better question would be, would the allies have won if Hitler didn't have a brain fart and attacked the soviets? I strongly doubt it.

[Benathor]

kind of hard to see how we would have stayed out of it, what with pearl harbor and all

And the fact that Americans like to be involved in any and every kind of conflict.