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What caused u.s opinion to be against Germany

User Xenoclast
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2 Answers

5 votes

Answer:

It really wasn't until quite late into the war that American opinion turned strongly against Germany. Remember that Germany didn't attack us, Japan did, although Germany did declare war, if they hadn't its highly debated whether FDR could have gotten Congress to declare war on Germany. That was a real fear Churchill had in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, and he understood American politics well enough to get that fear had merit, fortunately Hitler solved that problem for him.

But, even while we were bombing Germany, fighting them in North Africa, Italy, and all the way to Normandy, there was no great hatred towards Germany like there was towards Japan. Many soldiers looked at fighting Germany as a regrettable job that had to be done, whereas fighting Japan was something many looked forward too. This attitude started to shift in late 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, in particular in the aftermath of the Malmady massacre of American soldiers who had surrendered to the SS. Afterwards, things became significantly more nasty, American troops stopped accepting surrender and fewer German prisoners made it to POW camps. The situation deteriorated even more as troops entered Germany and saw first hand the Final Solution and concentration camps.

In the wake of the Bulge and discovery of the camps, opinion of Germany became extremely negative, mirroring that of Japan, but up to that point the opinion of Germany wasn't hatred.

Step-by-step explanation:

User Matt Davies
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11 votes

Answer: It really wasn't until quite late into the war that American opinion turned strongly against Germany. Remember that Germany didn't attack us, Japan did, although Germany did declare war, if they hadn't its highly debated whether FDR could have gotten Congress to declare war on Germany. That was a real fear Churchill had in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, and he understood American politics well enough to get that fear had merit, fortunately Hitler solved that problem for him. But, even while we were bombing Germany, fighting them in North Africa, Italy, and all the way to Normandy, there was no great hatred towards Germany like there was towards Japan. Many soldiers looked at fighting Germany as a regrettable job that had to be done, whereas fighting Japan was something many looked forward too. This attitude started to shift in late 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, in particular in the aftermath of the Malmady massacre of American soldiers who had surrendered to the SS. Afterwards, things became significantly more nasty, American troops stopped accepting surrender and fewer German prisoners made it to POW camps. The situation deteriorated even more as troops entered Germany and saw first hand the Final Solution and concentration camps. In the wake of the Bulge and discovery of the camps, opinion of Germany became extremely negative, mirroring that of Japan, but up to that point the opinion of Germany wasn't hatred.

User RAMAN RANA
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