WWII Question

[Injured Soldier]

One thing that I especially learned that I didn't know from many other WWII books is how the Germans held a secret deal with the Russians to help them invade Poland and share the "spoils".

You mean the secret section of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

-Relations between Japan and America were bad in the 1930's and they were worsened when the Japanese sank an American warship, the "Panay", on the Yangtze River in 1937. This was clear violation of treaties and an outright act of war.

It wasn't an outright act of war. The Japanese claimed they didn't see the American flags (whether they could or not is another story, the US Navy court found a number of flags were diplayed), but they apologised and paid an indemnity. Even though they stuck to their claim the attack was unintentional, they claimed full responsibility. Besides the official apology, there were the unofficial correspondence from ordinary Japanese citizens to the American Embassy in Tokyo. Ambassador Joseph Grew said "never before has the fact that there are 'two Japans' been more clearly emphasized. Ever since the first news of the Panay disaster came, we have been deluged by delegations, visitors, letters, and contributions of money— people from all walks of life, from high officials, doctors, professors, businessmen down to school children, trying to express their shame, apologies, and regrets for the action of their own Navy."

In 1945, Churchill gave his speech telling the world "An Iron Curtain has descended across the continent, allowing 'police governments' to rule Eastern Europe. One war over and the next--The Cold War--was under way.

It was 1946. March 5th, 1946.

Certainly when Hitler turned on Russia, it gave Roosevelt the war he wanted. I still don't know why my relatives that fought on the European front said they would prefer to surrender to the Germans over the Russians if they had a choice. I just remember one uncle talking about the horrors of the Russian gulags.

Which camp in the GULAG system did your uncle spend time in? I recommend anyone who is interested in the Russian camp system to read GULAG: A History by Anne Applebaum.

I often wonder if the USA had taken action against the Japanese after their attack in 1937. If we had been prepared and struck back at that early time, it may have scared the Germans and Italians enough to give them serious doubts about messing around enough to rattle the USA. Tens of millions of lives could have been saved.

The US couldn't have become involved in a war with Japan in 1937 without looking like a warmonger for the reasons listed above. A big no-no for isolationist America.

I've read some about the millions that lost their lives in the Ukraine, but I don't remember the details. I do recall reading articles that the USA media's foreign reporters were negligent to report it when it was happening.

That has nothing to do with WWII though. That was the Ukranian famine in the 1930s, it also happened in the Volga region.

 

[MaryS]

It was 1946. March 5th, 1946.

Yes, I think you are correct about the date, according to Kenneth C. Davis account of history: 3 months into the new year, former Prime Minister Churchill, turned out of office in the 1945 elections, addressed a college audience at Fulton, Missouri. This is when he told the gathering and the world about the Iron Curtain.
(Sorry for my confusion!--- 3 months into the new year after a defeat in 1945 elections would most certainly agree with the March, 1946 date)

Which camp in the GULAG system did your uncle spend time in? I recommend anyone who is interested in the Russian camp system to read GULAG: A History by Anne Applebaum.

I don't know which gulag my deceased uncle was referring to. From what I recall of the conversations with my uncle, some soldiers were comparing their prison experiences. I guess that could depend on who captured them, but the soldiers he knew that survived the German prison camps were treated better. On the other front, the Japanese prisoners probably had some of the most horrific treatment of all. My father survived the starvation of the Japanese captors, but he also saw some less fortunate soldiers get their heads chopped off with a sword.

The US couldn't have become involved in a war with Japan in 1937 without looking like a warmonger for the reasons listed above. A big no-no for isolationist America.

That's true. I think the film footage 'The Perilous Fight' covered that quite well. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the extreme isolationists included 'the America First Party', the American Communist Party, the German-American Bund Group, many Republicans, and much of the media.

That has nothing to do with WWII though. That was the Ukranian famine in the 1930s, it also happened in the Volga region.

I wasn't aware of the Volga region, but I had read that it was the leaders of Russia who starved the Ukranians.