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[–]Jacinda 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

Or both world wars — probably almost all of them tbh.

[–]Nombre27 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

Great examples as well.

https://news.gallup.com/vault/265865/gallup-vault-opinion-start-world-war.aspx

Americans' Support for Assisting England, France and Poland

How far should we go in helping England, France and Poland ...

Yes No
% %
Should we sell them food supplies? 74 27
Should we sell airplanes and other war materials to England and France? 58 42
Should we send our Army and Navy abroad to fight against Germany? 16 84
GALLUP, SEPT. 1-6, 1939

Bunch more here. From the dates you can likely see when propaganda started being used.

https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/americans-and-the-holocaust/us-public-opinion-world-war-II-1939-1941

If it appears that Germany is defeating England and France, should the United States declare war on Germany and send our army and navy to Europe to fight?

Gallup, Oct. 5-10, 1939

Yes 29%

No 71%

Do you think the United States should declare war on Germany and send our army and navy abroad to fight?

Gallup, May 18-23, 1940

Yes 7%

No 93%

Which of these two things do you think is the more important for the United States to try to do–to keep out of war ourselves or to help England win, even at the risk of getting into the war?

Gallup, June 27-July 3, 1940

Help 35%

Keep out 61%

No opinion 4%

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

The one I like to cite is the 1943 Army poll that found that 90% of American servicemen said they would rather lose the war than end segregation.

[–]Nombre27 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, that's rather revealing.

[–]Jacinda 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I still get depressed when I think about it. I sometimes wonder if our culture isn't suffering some sort of post traumatic shock as a result.

[–]Nombre27 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah it's quite saddening. Western leaders made the wrong choice and the world has been headed downhill ever since. Really does seems that exclusive communities that are autonomous and self-sufficient as possible are the only way forward.

[–]Nasser 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Germany declared war on the US.

[–]Jacinda 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

And Britain declared war on Germany. The German people were also unenthusiastic about WWII.

Also the U.S. was de facto in the war already thanks to its supply arrangements with both Britain and Russia. If they had wanted to stay out of the war they probably could have.

You are correct though. Hitler's declaration of war on the U.S. always seemed incredibly reckless to me. I am not a historian but a recent book suggested that he was more concerned with American money power (which he saw as Jewish) than conventional historians had thought previously.

DW:

Brendan Simms summarizes his main thesis: Hitler's driving force in domestic and foreign policy was born out of a love-hate relationship with "Anglo-America." It was not the fear of communism and the Soviet Union that led him to war and destruction, but rather the struggle with Great Britain and the United States and the fear of international capitalism.

[Snip...]

According to Simms, even Hitler's anti-Semitism did not arise primarily from a deep hatred of Jews, but secondarily, from a competition with "world capitalism" based in the US, where Jews were sitting in positions of power. [Cont...]

The book is controversial amongst court historians — Evans politely says it is dishonest rubbish— possibly because it accords with some of the views of the alt-right. It also, given the social turmoil in Germany during the 1920s, seems ridiculous Hitler wasn't concerned with Soviet power.

My own view is that history is open to so many interpretations, especially when it comes to matters of emphasis and nuance that it becomes a form of myth making — a means by which we interpret our current circumstances despite it being rooted in objective fact.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]Nasser 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Doesn't matter.