"Behind much of the current fascination with World War II lies the feeling, certainly on the Allied side, that it was the last morally unambiguous good war. German Nazis, Italian Fascists, and Japanese militarists were so clearly bad people who had to be defeated. (The fact that we were allied with one of the greatest tyrants of the twentieth century in Joseph Stalin is something to be overlooked.) The wars since have not been as clear-cut. The Korean War, true, was necessary to defeat Soviet expansionism, but General MacArthur’s attempt to turn it into a crusade against Chinese Communism divided Americans among themselves and against their allies. Vietnam was a catastrophe for the United States, and now the occupation of Iraq is looking like another."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Margaret MacMillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (2008)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/World_War_II
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
World War II
World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1941 to 1967 It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. In a state of total war, directly involving more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries, the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the dist
210 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by World War II →
Related Quotes
"We have long memories. We have developed a relative immunity to the endless barrage of propaganda, slander and outrig…"
"I was there."
"Nova Lee Holbrook, on how her experience in war work was invaluable."
"On the eve of World War II, Japan was a thriving industrialized power of about seventy million people. The nation had…"
"To a striking degree, the way the United States conducted World War II was a consequence of Roosevelt’s own experienc…"
"It might have been the greatest lost weapon of World War II. Major-General JFC Fuller, the man credited with developi…"
"The sirens blow, and death is in the air Still at her post the trusty Captain stands, And counts her change, and scam…"
"It gave me a good start in life. I decided that if I could learn to weld like a man, I could do anything it took to m…"
"Those Americans who went to Spain to fight Franco and stave off World War II have never minded being called "prematur…"
"World War II, at least in Europe, may have had some moral justification, though there can be some legitimate debate a…"