History Main / AmericaWinsTheWar

The D-Day landings are another good example. Many American-made productions will focus solely on Omaha Beach, the most heavily fortified of the four landing sites as well as the best-defended--both facts which Allied intelligence failed to realize prior to the operation. The carnage that ensued is a favourite among producers, since it emphasizes the sacrifice Americans made during the war--but doing so gives the impression that Omaha Beach was ''the'' decisive turning point that led to the Allied victory in Europe. (The focus on Omaha Beach is also partially because ''SavingPrivateRyan'' did it, [[FollowTheLeader other games/movies/TV shows want to replicate its success]], and because it's more exciting to show a strongly opposed landing than an unopposed one -- not that the other landings were exactly 'unopposed' (For instance, Canadian troops landing at Juno Beach on that day faced opposition almost as formidable and made better progress towards their objectives in spite of it[[note]]Due to better small-unit communication and leadership, something the military training of smaller nation-states tends to emphasize given their lesser material resources. Not to mention that the Canadians accepted the Hobart Funnies such as the amphibious tanks to give the landing troops armor support.[[/note]]), but still.

America Wins The War is a form of HollywoodHistory in which a story implies or outright states that the United States single-handedly won UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.[[note]]To be fair, the USA 'did' provide the USSR with 9/10 of all lend-lease material send to the USSR, which in turn accounted for some 4-5% of the USSR's total wartime production. That percentage is a little deceptive, however, as that figure was more like 10-15% of the USSR's production during the first year of the war (when Soviet industry was still relocating to the Urals). The lend-lease was also concentrated on several very specific items to free up Soviet industry to focus on other things; as much as 80% of the Red Army's trucks and a similar proportion of their radios and leather boots (as well as ''all'' the coffee, chocolate, tinned beef, and tobacco) came from overseas. All that said, there was a certain imbalance of 'blood' versus 'iron' spent to achieve victory, one very much in the USSR's 'favour' with 9-14 million Soviet Military and 15-20 million Soviet Civilian dead versus 2 million suffered by The Allies (minus India and China). This is where the saying 'The Allies bought victory with Soviet blood and paid in Spam' comes from. German dead and crippled stood at 5+ million, for comparison.[[/note]] Sometimes, it's [[UnfortunateImplications unintentional]]; the viewpoint or focus is simply too narrow for the audience to be reminded of the bigger picture. Other times, though, it's a blatant example of HollywoodHistory.

America Wins The War is a form of HollywoodHistory in which a story implies or outright states that the United States single-handedly won UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.[[note]]To be fair, the USA 'did' provide the USSR with 9/10 of all lend-lease material send to the USSR, which in turn accounted for some 4-5% of the USSR's total wartime production. That said, lend-lease made a critical contribution to the Soviet war effort in the first year of the war when their industry was still relocating to the Urals, and as much as 80% of the Red Army's trucks and a similar proportion of their radios and leather boots (as well as ''all'' the coffee, chocolate, tinned beef, and tobacco) came from overseas. Still, there was a certain imbalance of 'blood' versus 'iron' spent to achieve victory, one very much in the USSR's 'favour' with 9-14 million Soviet Military and 15-20 million Soviet Civilian dead versus 2 million suffered by The Allies (minus India and China). German dead stood at 5+ million, for comparison.[[/note]] Sometimes, it's [[UnfortunateImplications unintentional]]; the viewpoint or focus is simply too narrow for the audience to be reminded of the bigger picture. Other times, though, it's a blatant example of HollywoodHistory.

Cases of this trope are not limited to the European Theater. Most films featuring the Pacific theatre only focus on the naval and air battles fought by the U.S., appearing as though they were the sole force fighting in the Pacific. In reality, UK and Australian forces played significant roles against overwhelming forces in atrocious conditions, and many other nations contributed as well. Not to mention the [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar ''brutally'' violent war in China]], probably the most ignored battlefront of the war. This neglect is strange given that it was the longest conflict (starting in 1937) and believed to be the the second-bloodiest theatre of war in human history after the Russian front.

** Actually zig-zaged as in the book Mallory was from New Zeeland ( and based on the real world Mallory that died in 1924 while trying to conquer the Everest) and Miller was the American. The Film kind of falls in this trope as it has the higher ranking character switched to American.

* Averted in ''EnemyAtTheGates'', an American film about a Soviet sniper in the battle of Stalingrad... in which Americans played no part. Granted, director/producer/writer Jean-Jacques Annaud is French, but Mandalay Pictures produced the movie, and Paramount Pictures distributed it.

** Several other spoofs appear also, one set in the 'Camelot' era where everyone has American accents, and then 'They all come home' which is a parody of ''BlackHawkDown'' lampooning various American military cliches.

In particularly nasty cases, films based on actual WWII events will be warped to make the most prominent characters into US soldiers--see Steve [=McQueen=] in ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' and, perhaps most infamously, the film ''Film/{{U-571}}''. It will occasionally even be said that WWII only began on December 7, 1941, when the United States entered the war, although that's usually poor phrasing or mixing up the dates, rather than a belief that the war did not begin until the US entry.

* ''Film/{{U-571}}'', which Americanized the story of the British capture of ''U-110'' and her all-important Enigma machine. In real life, most of the captured machines were acquired by the British and the original breaking of the code was done by the Polish (the first captured Enigma being literally found at the Warsaw Post Office in a parcel addressed to the German Embassy). ''U-571'' herself was never captured. When the film was released in the UK it had to have a disclaimer added at the start stating that it was in no way based on real events. Ironically, the filmmakers could have avoided all this by basing the movie on U.S. Navy's even more dramatic capture of ''U-505'', making this film a trifecta of America Wins The War, ArtisticLicenseHistory and ArtisticLicenseShips.

Some see this general 'limited scope' thing as extending to the "official" date of the war's beginning, September 1st, 1939, the date of Germany's invasion of Poland. Most, however, accept that the moniker of 'World War' denotes merely the geography of a war (the British Empire alone spanned three continents at the time), rather than [[UnfortunateImplications implying the conflict wasn't 'serious' or something]] ([[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan the Japan of the time]], and many Japanese ultranationalists since, call it [[InsistentTerminology 'The China Incident']]). Though bloody and horrific in its own right[[note]]With war-dead to the tune of at least 10 and as many as 20 million (the Chinese Civil War that followed has to account for another 10 million or so, but Communist China likes to pretend that no-one died in it), as well as an impressive gamut of war-crimes like mass-rape (e.g. Nanjing) and live-human-experimentation[[/note]], [[SecondSinoJapaneseWar the war]] that [[ChiangKaiShek Chiang Kai-Shek's]] [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Guomindang]] waged against UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan wasn't part of the 'World War' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo until The Imperial Navy lashed out to take Malaya and the Philippines]].

** How about ''Videogame/{{WolfensteinTheNewOrder}}'', where the Nazis won over the Americans? Makes for a pretty nice subversion, if not, an outright inversion, right?

The D-Day landings are another good example. Many American-made productions will focus solely on Omaha Beach, the most heavily fortified of the four landing sites as well as the best-defended--both facts which Allied intelligence failed to realize prior to the operation. The carnage that ensued is a favourite among producers, since it emphasizes the sacrifice Americans made during the war--but doing so gives the impression that Omaha Beach was ''the'' decisive turning point that led to the Allied victory in Europe. (The focus on Omaha Beach is also partially because ''SavingPrivateRyan'' did it, [[FollowTheLeader other games/movies/TV shows want to replicate its success]], and because it's more exciting to show a strongly opposed landing than an unopposed one -- not that the other landings were exactly 'unopposed' (For instance, Canadian troops landing at Juno Beach on that day faced opposition almost as formidable and made better progress towards their objectives in spite of it[[note]]Due to better small-unit communication and leadership, something the military training of smaller nation-states tends to emphasize given their lesser material resources. Not to mention that the Canadians accepted the AwesomeYetPractical Hobart Funnies such as the amphibious tanks to give the landing troops armor support.[[/note]]), but still.

Lastly, winning a war means nothing unless one also [[StrategyVersusTactics "wins the peace"]], as was the case [[NapoleonicWars in Vienna in 1815]] and infamously not [[WorldWarOne at Versailles in 1918]]. In the aftermath of World War II, the USA and Britain and the USSR all deserve recognition for demarking and respecting crystal-clear 'spheres of influence' that kept the peace despite the outbreak of the Yugoslavian, Greek, and [[NoMoreEmperors Chinese]] civil wars. When the CCP gained the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War, and the USA began to [[RedScare see the USSR as a threat]], the USA also began to funnel a great deal of money into reconstructing the British and other Western European economies so that they [[ColdWar could sustain larger militaries and thus avoid the need for committing US troops to Western Europe in its defense]]. The membership of the USSR and USA in the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations also gave it a lot more clout than its predecessor the League of Nations.

* Given a head nod in ''ThePunisher: Comicbook/CivilWar'', when Frank is having a tense disagreement over tactics with CaptainAmerica.

-->'''Cap''': My ways stopped [[AdolfHitler Hitler]], boy.

Lastly, winning a war means nothing unless one also [[StrategyVersusTactics "wins the peace"]], as was the case [[NapoleonicWars in Vienna in 1815]] and infamously not [[WorldWarOne at Versailles in 1918]]. In the aftermath of World War II, the USA and Britain and the USSR all deserve recognition for demarking and respecting crystal-clear 'spheres of influence' that kept the peace despite the outbreak of the Yugoslavian, Greek, and [[NoMoreEmperors Chinese]] civil wars. When the CCP gained the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War, and the USA began to [[RedScare see the USSR as a threat]], the USA also began to funnel a great deal of money into reconstruction the British and other Western European economies so that they [[ColdWar could sustain larger militaries and thus avoid the need for committing US troops to Western Europe in its defense]]. The membership of the USSR and USA in the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations also gave it a lot more clout than its predecessor the League of Nations.

Lastly, winning a war means nothing unless one also [[StrategyVersusTactics "wins the peace"]], as was the case [[NapoleonicWars in Vienna in 1815]] and infamously not [[WorldWarOne at Versailles in 1918]]. In the aftermath of World War II, the USA and Britain and the USSR all deserve recognition for demarking and respecting crystal-clear 'spheres of influence' that kept the peace there. A few years after the war, when they began to [[RedScare see the USSR as a threat]], the USA also began to funnel a great deal of money into reconstruction the British and other Western European economies so that they [[ColdWar could sustain larger militaries and thus avoid the need for committing US troops to Western Europe in its defense]]. The membership of the USSR and USA in the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations also gave it a lot more clout than its predecessor the League of Nations.

Lastly, winning a war can often be futile unless one also "wins the peace", as for instance the victors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne found out two decades later. In the aftermath of World War II, the USA and Britain and the USSR all deserve recognition for demarking and respecting crystal-clear 'spheres of influence' that kept the peace there. A few years after the war, when they began to [[RedScare see the USSR as a threat]], the USA also began to funnel a great deal of money into reconstruction the British and other Western European economies so that they [[ColdWar could sustain larger militaries and thus avoid the need for committing US troops to Western Europe in its defense]]. The membership of the USSR and USA in the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations also gave it a lot more clout than its predecessor the League of Nations.

Lastly, winning a war can often be futile unless one also "wins the peace", as for instance the victors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne found out two decades later. In the aftermath of World War II, America deserves recognition for assisting the creation of a less balkanized Europe through the Marshall Plan, helping give the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations more clout than its predecessor the League of Nations, and for curbing Soviet aspirations for hegemony in (at least) Europe. USA couldn't (or wouldn't) prevent the Cold War from starting, though (but if there's ever any truth to the saying that it takes two to fight...).

None of this is meant to diminish the contribution the United States, or any other single country, made to winning World War II, of course. The United States was very important, since not only was it the main presence on the Western and Pacific Fronts, but by virtue of heavy European investment over the last century or so they had developed the world's no.1 economy, accounting for perhaps a third of the entire world's GDP and maybe as much as 'half' of its industry (though not all of the latter was useful, of course). The United States also had more than twice the population of the Commonwealth, India aside. From the point of American entry, the Allies could have just broken even in the death count and material-destruction figures and still have won (Guomindang China aside, of course). Josef Stalin is on record acknowledging that without American loans and industry backing them up the Soviets would lost 'far' more dead and crippled, and there would basically have been no chance of the Allies 'winning' any part of Europe in the peace to follow (when the USSR won in 1946/7, or 1948 at the latest). None of the anti-Axis powers won the war all by their lonesome; everyone had their part, and the USA's was certainly in the top three.

None of this is meant to diminish the contribution the United States, or any other single country, made to winning World War II, of course. The United States was very important, since not only was it the main presence on the Western and Pacific Fronts, but by virtue of heavy European investment over the last century or so they had developed the world's no.1 economy, accounting for perhaps a third of the entire world's GDP and maybe as much as 'half' of its industry (though not all of the latter was useful, of course). The United States also had more than twice the population of the Commonwealth, India aside. From the point of American entry, the Allies could have just broken even in the death count and material-destruction figures and still have won (Guomindang China aside, of course). Josef Stalin is on record acknowledging that without American loans and industry backing them up the Soviets would taken 'far' greater casualties, and there would basically have been no chance of the Allies 'winning' any part of Europe in the peace to follow. None of the anti-Axis powers won the war all by their lonesome; everyone had their part, and the USA's was certainly in the top three.

Some see this general 'limited scope' thing as extending to the "official" date of the war's beginning, September 1st, 1939, the date of Germany's invasion of Poland. Most, however, accept that the moniker of 'World War' denotes merely the geography of a war (the British Empire alone spanned three continents at the time), rather than [[UnfortunateImplications implying the conflict wasn't 'serious' or something]] ([[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan the Japan of the time]], and many Japanese ultranationalists since, call it [[InsistentTerminology 'The China Incident']]). Though bloody and horrific in its own right[[note]]With casualties to the tune of at least 10 and as many as 20 million (the Chinese Civil War that followed has to account for another 10 million or so, but Communist China likes to pretend that no-one died in it), as well as an impressive gamut of war-crimes like mass-rape (e.g. Nanjing) and live-human-experimentation[[/note]], [[SecondSinoJapaneseWar the war]] that [[ChiangKaiShek Chiang Kai-Shek's]] [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Guomindang]] waged against UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan wasn't part of the 'World War' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo until The Imperial Navy lashed out to take Malaya and the Philippines]].

Some see this general 'limited scope' thing as extending to the "official" date of the war's beginning, September 1st, 1939, the date of Germany's invasion of Poland. Most, however, accept that the moniker of 'World War' denotes merely the geography of a war (the British Empire alone spanned three continents at the time), rather than [[UnfortunateImplications implying the conflict wasn't 'serious' or something]] ([[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan the Japan of the time]], and many Japanese ultranationalists since, call it [[InsistentTerminology 'The China Incident']]). Though bloody and horrific in its own right[[note]]With casualties to the tune of at least 15 and as many as 30 million, as well as an impressive gamut of war-crimes like mass-rape (e.g. Nanjing) and live-human-experimentation[[/note]], [[SecondSinoJapaneseWar the war]] that [[ChiangKaiShek Chiang Kai-Shek's]] [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Guomindang]] waged against UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan wasn't part of the 'World War' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo until The Imperial Navy lashed out to take Malaya and the Philippines]].

When this trope is in play, the efforts and contributions of the other "Western" Allies are downplayed, and the Eastern Front (where more than ''80%'' of the Wehrmacht was engaged at any one time after June 22 1941, and where the Germans suffered approximately ''77%'' of their casualties) is considered a ''sideshow'', if it's even mentioned at all. Often it seems like the only other Allied nation-state that actually did anything to fight Germany was the UK, which ([[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys after the Poles and French got their asses handed to them]]) kept the hopeless fight alive until the USA joined in and saved the day. This is likely a result of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar making American educators and filmmakers unwilling to glorify [[DirtyCommunists the Soviet Union]] or [[NoMoreEmperors China]]/[[RedChina Maoist]] [[DirtyCommunists China]].

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the KenBurns documentary, ''TheWar'', as its format was specifically created to show, compare, and contrast WWII's impacts on 4 American towns and people from them. Since obviously few if any people from those towns would have been with the British, Russian or any other military, by default it focuses on the American parts of the war (although the British and Russians do get the occasional narrator-said nod).