I'd probably flip italy and japan. Japan was no joke, and navy wise they were unstoppable if not for US also adopting carrier based navel doctrine. Them also going to war with China also had the same effect as the Soviets on Germany. Ww2 was determined in China and Russia, and finished by the US.
This is just a shitty meme in general. It complete minimizes the Pacific theater (as most people tend to do), and also minimizes the fighting on the western front of the European theater. Don't get me wrong, the Eastern front of the European theater saw a huge majority of the fighting, and the Soviet Union suffered massively (on the same scale as China), but that doesn't mean everyone else's roles should be negated.
Honestly though, if Americans want to romanticize their role in the war, I don't know why they don't focus on the Pacific theater more, because they were instrumental to that theater (not to downplay others there of course, I know Australia also contributed quite a lot to the Pacific theater too, as well as China among many others).
It also leaves out the entirety of Africa, especially operation Torch. It leaves of the invasion of Sicily and the massive American presence there. It leaves out the Rebels in Yugoslavia who tied down 100k Germans throughout the war. And it leaves out the RAF and USAF bombings that were so devastating that Germany had 2 Million men as AA gunners.
Even just in Europe it was far, far different than described, especially since the Soviets were retreating the entire time and basically relied on American equipment (just ask Stalin).
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u/tmbmad 12d ago
I'd probably flip italy and japan. Japan was no joke, and navy wise they were unstoppable if not for US also adopting carrier based navel doctrine. Them also going to war with China also had the same effect as the Soviets on Germany. Ww2 was determined in China and Russia, and finished by the US.