I must say that I am a bit surprised that no one has pointed directly to Dec. 7, 1941, as the turning point. There are many references to Churchill's desire to see the U.S. get in. Surely he and those in Government would have realized that with the alliances between Japan and Germany/Italy that Germany would have no choice but to declare, as would Italy, once Roosevelt called for the declaration of war. Thus, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it must have been obvious that U.S. entry would turn the tide.
Bob Allen ________________________________ From: Quinn Bastian <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, August 3, 2010 8:07:31 PM Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] Re: When did the tide turn? Evan, Absolutely! The role one plays gives you a totally different perspective. Regarding the speculation on how the outcome of the war could have been different: We can speculate on that question for years (indeed historians and military students have and continue to do so). To add my two cents, I do believe that had Hitler and Goering really used their air power strategically, that is, continued to bomb Britain's airfields and radar stations rather than stop that part of their campaign to begin the terror bombings of Britain's cities and towns thereby allowing the RAF to replenish their capability to defend and attack the incoming waves of German bombers and fighters. They might have gained air superiority and that would have changed everything. With air superiority, Germany could have eliminated or, at the very least, neutralized Britain's great navy and then isolated the island and planned an actual invasion (not the joke that was called Operation sea lion).This, coupled with Hitler's decision to turn from Britain and invade Russia, was most certainly among the major errors which started Germany on the road to losing the war. Even if all he accomplished was isolating Britain, he would have been in a much better position to attack Russia without a two front war to contend with. However, once he attacked Russia, all bets are off as to the outcome unless he was able to convince Japan to come in on his side by attacking Russia from Manchuria. But then, we can speculate on the outcome of different scenarios all we want and that I suppose is one of the enjoyments of studying history and great personalities like WSC who really did make the great decisions we read about. QB ----- Original Message ----- >From: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 4:32 PM >Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] Re: When did the tide turn? > >Many thanks for all the answers. > >Quinn, you did answer the question I had asked. But on further reflection, I >guess when one saw the turn in the war would depend on how involved one was. >Certainly those prosecuting the war would have had an earlier feeling about >the >ultimate outcome. Hitler's declaration of war on the US may not have meant to >the British public what it meant to Churchill. > >Evan > >-- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"ChurchillChat" group. >To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >[email protected]. >For more options, visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en. >-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en.
