andycapp
Grumpy Old Griper
Your use of the word "Allies" implied a number of nations when in fact it was the Americans, Australia turned to for help in it's darkest hour rather than Britain it's traditional ally.
Perhaps sumo wrestling.
Who was the most useless nation during WWII?
- Thread starter MrPresident
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Your use of the word "Allies" implied a number of nations when in fact it was the Americans, Australia turned to for help in it's darkest hour rather than Britain it's traditional ally.
Perhaps sumo wrestling.
Kennelly
Starfleet Admiral
I?d say Italy,because:-they had problems invading ALBANIA!
-if Mussolini hadn?t asked Hitler to invade Yugoslavia and Greece,Barbarossa could have started earlier
-after Mussolini was taken out of office,and Italy joined the Allies it was no problem for Germany to take control of the country.
There were many countries declaring war on Germany 1945 only for confiscating German goods.
-if Mussolini hadn?t asked Hitler to invade Yugoslavia and Greece,Barbarossa could have started earlier
-after Mussolini was taken out of office,and Italy joined the Allies it was no problem for Germany to take control of the country.
There were many countries declaring war on Germany 1945 only for confiscating German goods.
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
I am not sure your darkest hour would even be on the same clock as ours. We were the only thing standing in the way of Hitler and a German ruled Europe. We were preparing to fight them on the beaches etc. This is not to say that Australia wasn't in a bit of a pickle but to expect the help of Britain is slighty pushing it. Anyway America had a lot more interest in the Pacific war.
Italy had problems invading Abyssinia (modern-day Ethopia). Not to take any thing from the Abyssinians.
Civilizator
Chieftain
This is the classical view on the subject, but many modern
historians completely disagree. The fascists won the civil war in Spain with the help of the germans. After the war Spain was
in a pitiful situation, fighting starvation and with industry and
communications in a pathetic situation. In case Spain had entered the war as a german allied, it would have been
a huge blunder, not a help. Just to protect Spanish territory
from an easy allied invasion, the germans would have had
to deploy a huge army in Spain. For this reason, the best
Spain could do to help Germany was to keep out of war,
and this is probably what Germany asked Franco to do.
Of course the deal was sold by Franco´s propaganda as a
victory of his regime against Hitler´s demands...
andycapp
Grumpy Old Griper
I drew no comparison between the severity of the threat facing Britain and Australia. You're creating straw men to knock down.
And I DID acknowledge Britain's plight and inability to assist Australia which was a tad more gracious than your inability to acknowledge Australia's (and other Commonwealth countries) contribution to the defence of Britain.
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
I humbly apologise if you feel that I did not fully acknowlegde the part the commonwealth played the defence of Britain during WWII. I think the final words on this subject should be left to Mr Churchill.
"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour."
Well you have to do something in your spare time.
andycapp
Grumpy Old Griper
Apology accepted. 
And a very fine hour it was too!
And a very fine hour it was too!
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
What is the record for most posts on one thread because might have a chance of breaking it (unless it is really high). I would just like to congratulate myself for creating a thread that made people argue some much.
Jimcat
Culture Vulture
I came to this thread late, but I voted for "other" because I nominate Turkey as the most useless.
I've done a fair amount of reading about WWII history, and in all of it I haven't found one thing about what Turkey did. Did they favor the Allies? The Axis? Did they even consider getting into the war? I've never even heard about any espionage taking place in Turkey, even though given its geography it would seem to be ideal for some intrigues.
Maybe I'm just not reading the right books, but I have yet to learn _anything_ about what happened in Turkey during WWII.
Of course, from the Turkish point of view, this was probably the smartest move they could have made. Stay invisible until the end of the war, then ally with the victor.
I've done a fair amount of reading about WWII history, and in all of it I haven't found one thing about what Turkey did. Did they favor the Allies? The Axis? Did they even consider getting into the war? I've never even heard about any espionage taking place in Turkey, even though given its geography it would seem to be ideal for some intrigues.
Maybe I'm just not reading the right books, but I have yet to learn _anything_ about what happened in Turkey during WWII.
Of course, from the Turkish point of view, this was probably the smartest move they could have made. Stay invisible until the end of the war, then ally with the victor.
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
My favourite book has to be the A to Z of WWII. WWII in 26 easys steps.
I think the Italians have an unjust reputation regarding WWII. Any country that is losing a war and manages to end on the winning side deserves some credit. Think about it, they didn't get any of the blame of the war placed on them. If anyone said anything bad about Italy and the war they could blame it on Mussolini. Although the way France went from being happily under German rule to claiming they had liberated themselves from German oppression is quite impressive.
Blackadder
Rooted to the spot
Well I guess your right Mr.Prez, all Italy really lost was Fiume and Trieste to Yugoslavia and her African colonies. Still, considering Germany and Austria were partitioned into four controlled areas, they probably got off rather light.
andystreet
Chieftain
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Got to be the French, without a shadow of a doubt - De Gaulle and the Free French were a complete waste of space too - talking Churchill into a number of ill advised and futile attacks on occupied French colonies in Africa. He then behaved like a complete spoiled brat when Churchill finally decided he'd had enough.
Maybe if our cricketers were more 'Teutonic' they might win something once in a while too
The mighty Darren Lehman would walk into the English team but he doesent get a sniff.
Maybe if our cricketers were more 'Teutonic' they might win something once in a while too
The mighty Darren Lehman would walk into the English team but he doesent get a sniff.Adamski
Football Legend
Well the consensus seems to be that Italy and France both sucked. Sure they were devious bastards, switching sides when it suited them, but basically they were USELESS.
And as for the cricket, when I diverted the thread to that summer pasttime a while back, when I said I was enjoying it - I meant because New Zealand had beaten Australia!
Now I'm even happier as we've beaten the Aussies 3 times in a row in this comp.
[dance]
And as for the cricket, when I diverted the thread to that summer pasttime a while back, when I said I was enjoying it - I meant because New Zealand had beaten Australia!
Now I'm even happier as we've beaten the Aussies 3 times in a row in this comp. [dance]
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
Not that I am attacking cricket but it has to be one of the stupidest moments in history when the English created it. I mean this is a game where rain stops play. I don't though if the people reading this know about English weather but it doesn't change much, rain, rain, cloud, rain, summer, rain, rain etc. It is like Superman inventing kryonite (spelling is probably wrong) pie. This post may sound like a bitter englishman complaining about a sport that everyone else in the world plays better than us, it probably is, but there is something wrong with the thought process of the inventor of cricket.
By the way congulations to the Indians for their fine rout of us in the one-day series.
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
Enough about Cricket and the woes of the English game and back to the thread.
Italy didn't have these after WWI so really they only lost what they took back. Anyway they are ports (onto the Mediterranean) so it is not like they are sought-after property.
andycapp
Grumpy Old Griper
We agree on something MrPresident!
But you are being to harsh on your fellow Brits, after all the British kindly invented tennis, lawn bowls, soccer, rugby, golf and darts for the rest of the world to beat them at as well - that's what I call generous!
The German's biggest mistake was never to play cricket! If they had the British and Commonwealth nations would never have declared war on them - it would simply not have been 'cricket'!
I therefore nominate Germany as the most "useless nation" in WW2!
Bill_in_PDX
Grumpy Submariner
That and the terrain that would make tanks worthless probably ended those thoughts.
Besides, the Swiss supplied the iron that would have been a target anyway, so there was no need to battle for it.
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
No German's biggest mistake was thinking 6 months was enough to conquer Britain. Also wearing all that leather.
I think we British invented a sport called football someone else invented soccer.
Hamlet
Manic Depressive
This is a rather short sigted comment, considering Germany never really fully commited itself to a full focus upon Britain. Hitler caused significant damage to the British mainland as a mere afterthought to another campaign, with his bombing. (Which, incidentally, if it had been correctly targeted at RAF bases, etc instead of cities, as Hitler chose, would have been even more devestating.)
If Hitler had focused the full might of The Third Reich upon it, rather than the USSR, Britain would have been snuffed out in no time.
Errrrrmmm, I don't believe it's ever been proven that we British actually invented Football.
MrPresident
Anglo-Saxon Liberal
Actually this is completely wrong. There was period in the war were Britain was the only nation fighting the axis. The Soviet Union had made peace with Hitler and the US had not yet been attacked. I admit that Germany was preparing for the Russian invasion but 6 months was more than enough to conquer most of Europe.
It has been proven that there was a game resembling football played in England in the 14th century. Admittely it doesn't have any of the modern rules but it was football.
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