Was entering WWII a mistake?

[Rockefeller GOP]

After the Soviet Union was attacked we could've got away with only fighting Japan, as Stalin had far more reserves, far more front-line troops etc. He still would've gotten to Berlin, and quite possibly on the same time frame if we keep supplying him with tanks, planes etc. (And keep in mind Operation Barbarossa was about 5 and a half months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor).

That said it was politically expedient to declare war against Hitler as well (Britain was an ally, and they couldn't liberate the Western Front-which Stalin wanted, alone.)

Hitler declared war on us first.

It's also worth noting we could declare War on Hitler, and still let Stalin do all the work (which is pretty much what happened anyway)

Uh, hardly...

[Cory]

After the Soviet Union was attacked we could've got away with only fighting Japan, as Stalin had far more reserves, far more front-line troops etc. He still would've gotten to Berlin, and quite possibly on the same time frame if we keep supplying him with tanks, planes etc. (And keep in mind Operation Barbarossa was about 5 and a half months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor).

I highly, highly doubt that. Without American entry there would be almost zero threat of a second front on mainland Europe and thusly Germany could free up more men and material to go to the East. Not to mention that German morale would be higher, there would no major strategic bombing campaign, and lend-lease to the USSR will be a tough sell to Congress without America at war with Germany.

The Soviets may well still win the war, but the idea that it would be on the same time-frame and everything will be fine is nonsense. Also consider that without any serious invasion of Western/Southern Europe the Soviets will gain much more of Europe then in actual history. The British won't be able to invade until after basically the entire German military has already been decimated by the Soviets.

A yeah, not going to war with Germany would've basically been a major strategic miscalculation at best.

[RINO Tom]

Obviously not for a plethora of strategic and moral reasons.

[Simfan34]

What is the question here? Whether or not we should have stayed neutral after Pearl Harbor?

[Antonio the Sixth]

we should have entered earlier.

^^^^

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I'm under no illusions that the Western Allies went to war with fascism with noble intentions--an autarkic Germany dominating Europe would be very much contrary to Britain's foreign policy goals for the past 400 or so years, and France was obviously concerned with self-preservation first and foremost--remember that both countries saw Germany and Italy as minor threats compared to the USSR until the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. While Japan did indeed strike the US and its Pacific colonies first, the tensions leading to the Pacific front came from conflict for markets in Asia, with Japanese militarism posing a major threat to both the European colonial powers and American interests in China and its own colonies.

Despite this, the utterly abhorrent nature of the fascist states and the carnage they brought upon the people of Europe and Asia mean that despite my disagreement with the unspoken motives of the western democracies, to go to war against fascism was ultimately for the best.

[Simfan34]

As a revolutionary socialist, surely the obvious answer would be "yes we should have smashed the fascists", no?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

As a revolutionary socialist, surely the obvious answer would be "yes we should have smashed the fascists", no?

That is indeed my final answer (as I stated in the post). Consider my opinion concurrent rather than majority.

[Murica!]

No, destroying the fascists was the correct thing to do.

[The Mikado]

Has the OP never heard of Pearl Harbor or something? It might be the most clear-cut casus belli in American history.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

War is hell and I always hate it but this was one of the few times where there was a truly existential threat to humanity that needed to be defeated.

I'm kind of curious what prompted the exact wording of this response. Have you been in war? How many wars have you observed to decide that you always hate it? Very intrigued.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Saving the world from the Nazis was a mistake?  Since when?