Krugman: Recession ‘gratuitous’ because if Congress created jobs program it ‘would all be over’

[amandabeech]

28. Yes, most of the fighting in WWII happened in Europe and Asia.

Most people put the beginning of WWII at Sept. 1939 when the Germans, under Hitler, invaded Poland under completely false pretenses. Japan actually started fighting in 1931, when they invaded the northwest Chinese province of Manchuria. In 1937, the Japanese attacked many places along China's coast, most particularly Nanjing, where the Japanese committed some of the worst military atrocities of the war.

The US had begun selling arms to Britain and France before the European war started, and that increased when the shooting started. Our factories ramped up considerably, and our Navy did what it could to help the British and the Canadians (who fought with their mother country). When the British ran out of money, the U.S. government financed their purchases through FDR's lend-lease program.

We joined the war days after Dec. 7, 1941, the day that the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor.

While little fighting happened on U.S. territory (the Japanese attacked and occupied a few of the western most Aleutian Islands of Alaska), U.S. men, weapons and material fought in Asia, Northern Africa and Europe. We had an enormous Army, Army-Air force and Navy. A huge percentage of U.S. men between 18 and 45 were in the service. Those that weren't, together older men and many women (like my Mom and one of her sisters) went to work in defense plants that sprung up everywhere. We look many, many, many casualties. Iraq and Afghanistan are small skirmishes in comparison, and we barely feel the military production in our economy.

The War was the only thing going on in the country between 1941 and 1945. There was nothing else. We defeated the horrid racist militarists in Japan nearly single-handedly, and were very important in defeating Germany in the West. It is an incredibly important part of OUR history. Wiki has excellent articles covering every aspect of our men fighting overseas and the incredible industrial production here. I cannot urge you strongly enough to read up on it if you actually think that WWII was no big deal here.