Sunday, October 14, 2007

Call the printing presses???

It seems that my history books were wrong.....or at least someone told me that! I was informed today that Americans were the cause of every major war in history. Imagine that! And this, might I add, by a German.

Lets see here.....

WWI - Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (28 June 1914) followed by Austrian declaration of war on Serbia (28 July) and Russian mobilisation against Austria-Hungary (29 July). The US entered when Congress declared war on 6 April 1917

WWII - was a worldwide military conflict; the amalgamation of two separate conflicts, one beginning in Asia, 1937, as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the other beginning in Europe, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. The US did not enter the conflicts until bombed by the Japanese in December 1941 and four days later, Germany declared war on the United States.

Vietnam War - War between North Vietnam and US backed South Vietnam. Various factors led up to the war and the fighting, including the US refusal to acknowledge the North's government, the US belief in the Domino Theory causing their support of the SOuth's "Republic" government.

Korean War - The Korean War was a conflict precipitated when the Soviet supported North Korean Army invaded neighboring South Korea (supported by the United States) on June 25, 1950. The main hostilities were during the period from June 25, 1950 until the armistice (ceasefire agreement) was signed on July 27, 1953.

Gulf War I - A conflict between Iraq and a coalition force from 35 nations authorized by the United Nations (UN) and led primarily by the United States in order to liberate Kuwait. The war developed out of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

Note: Details on the wars come from Wikipedia.org

And those are just the major conflicts in the 1900s...I guess you can say we started Vietnam....or at least played a role in starting it. The current War in Iraq....we all know how that one started! And the War in Afghanistan. Other smaller conflicts. But the war that killed the most people? Started by the Germans. Who needs to go back and have a history lesson? I do not think that it is me!

And, I must say that this is not the first time that I have been told that it was the Americans who started WWII.....also by Germans. Did they miss something here? Invading the surrounding countries, bombing the UK, marching on Moscow, submarine warfare.....

5 comments:

Anita said...

(insert shacking head emoticon here) Duh? Huh? I don't understand people and a "German" well that is just funny! In a non-funny way, of course.

Anita said...

LOL, "skaking" sorry...

Anonymous said...

I lived in Germany for a few years, and while for the most part they were very nice people, every once in a while I would run into someone who blamed Americans for everything. It was really frustrating. I usually left the conversation wanting to punch something.

One of the last conversations I had was with a German co-worker who compared Hitler to Lincoln. HELLO!?!

Linda said...

Gee! My mouth dropped open when I read your post. It makes me wonder if the Germans teach such an altered version of history in their schools.

Anonymous said...

oh dear. I guess maybe because they blame the U.S. for the reparations placed on them after the first world war?