WWII thread

[PaulOakenfold]

I'm a big WWII buff, but I'm American, so us Allied states pretty much wrote the history books I understand that. I'm kind of interested in what other countries learned about World War II in their schooling. I grew up learning about our pre-war efforts at stabilizing the allied front (lend-lease), the japanese internment camps, the western front, D-Day, the African assault and finally the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I admire all the fronts' strategies and often play an armchair general when it comes to WWII. What did you learn growing up? What has changed since then?

[PaulOakenfold]

Oh I guess what I've learned since my schooling was learning about the about the British front's challenge to simply stay alive during the German bombings. The Polish resistance before they were annexed. Canada's efforts during the annexing of Europe (comprising 1 of 4 of the fronts pushing towards Berlin). The rise of the Nazi party.

Because I came from a family that lived in Lithuania during the 'red scare', I grew up learning of the atrocities of the Soviet Union. Soon after I was born we moved to West Germany and finally to Britain (before moving to the United States). I don't remember much from my early childhood, but I remember the shock of my parents learning a different side of the war and how it influenced them. They were not proud of their country and their side of the war, but to know that they were once allied with a country they grew to love, troubled them in a large way, especially since they were theoretically now at war with them.

[Jones]

finland is the best country ever

[PaulOakenfold]

Yeah? What did you learn about the state of Finland during WWII?

[brookus]

What won the war? Industrial manufacturing plain and simple. The US and Soviet Union had a huge manufacturing edge on everyone else. All that was needed was time. England provided some, the Soviet Union gave up people and land to buy theirs, and the US could crank out everything the Allies needed in relative safety.

The military side of things is interesting to read up on though. Countless mistakes on both sides and countless examples of heroes.

llater,
Tony

[soup]

I love WWII too.


I learned that the AMERICANAS raped our women. I'll get my payback.

[PaulOakenfold]

In that regard, the French taught American soldiers the importance of condoms. They brought them home and started to manufacture them in the states.

[PaulOakenfold]

the Americans taught the French the importance of female shaving, not in WWII, but by Ben Franklin

[D1st0rt]

Yeah? What did you learn about the state of Finland during WWII?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War

[PaulOakenfold]

I know about the Finnish war you dumby, I want a perspective from people growing up in Finnish schools.

[Squeezer]

France liberates herself! France liberates herself!

[Epinephrine]

In Canada our history textbooks basically only talk about the European war, as we were only really involved in that (a few units in Asia notwithstanding). Growing up in a predominantly Jewish community, I felt that we received a very, very, very healthy dose of holocaust education as well. My brother's grade 9 history teacher talked for weeks about the Holocaust and had no diea there was a war with Japan as well.

There was next to nothing in our textbooks about the war was actually a WORLD WAR in the first place (aka everything that happened in Asia) aside from a brief mention of Japanese internment camps. So generally I think aside from vaguely knowing that there was a Pacific war and nukes were dropped (mostly cause we get American TV and media here not that we learned it in class), people here really don't know anything about the war in Asia aside from immigrants of course.

As for the war in Europe, we're really only concerned with the war in continental Europe and Britain. No mention of anything north of the North Sea, or anything south or east of the Mediterranean.

[PaulOakenfold]

What did you learn about the Northern Canadian unit? I don't know much about it myself, so I'm curious if you got a healthy dose of that as well.

[Jeenyuss]

epinephrine in my highschool we learned a fair amount about the japanese and east-asian side of the war. it could be that i'm younger than you and just experienced a different lesson plan but i remember doing an entire project on hiroshima/nagasaki in grade 10 english. it was pretty gay we had to play different roles and i was roosevelt but i didn't study i just wanted to go to the front of the class in a wheelchair and answer questions.

looks about right for the european side of things though epi

[PaulOakenfold]

it was pretty gay we had to play different roles and i was roosevelt but i didn't study i just wanted to go to the front of the class in a wheelchair and answer questions.

hahaha