The Myth of the Good War

by Pauwels, Jacques R.

• ISBN13: 9781550287714
• ISBN10: 1550287710
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-01
• Publisher: James Lorimer & Co

Summary

Was the role of the United States in the Second World War an essentially idealistic one, a crusading struggle to conquer the dark forces of German fascism and Japanese militarism? Was it an unequivocally "good" war? Historian Jacques Pauwels questions this orthodox view of America's participation in World War Two. In his view, the United States was not the disinterested champion of democracy in the face of dictatorship: its role in the war was determined, rather, by the interests of its corporations and of its social, economic and political elites. His analysis explicitly addresses many of the myths that have since been fostered about the U.S. decision to enter the war alongside the Soviet Union, the U.K. and Canada, and against Nazi Germany. The Myth of the Good War offers a fresh and provocative look at the role of the USA in World War Two. It spent four months on the nonfiction bestseller lists in Europe in 2000, and has since been translated into German, Spanish and French.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	4	(3)
Foreword: Objectives and Methodology	7	(8)
Introduction: America and the Myth of the ``Great Crusade''	15	(10)
The American Power Elite and Fascism	25	(14)
America and the Red Peril	39	(11)
The War in Europe and America's Economic Interests	50	(11)
The United States at War with Japan and Germany	61	(9)
Class Warfare on the American Home Front	70	(10)
A Second Front for Stalin, or a Third Front in the Air?	80	(9)
Stalin's Soviet Union: An Unloved but Useful Partner	89	(9)
The Liberation of Italy: A Fateful Fait Accompli	98	(7)
The Long Summer of 1944	105	(10)
The Successes of the Red Army and the Yalta Agreements	115	(11)
Dresden: A Signal for Uncle Joe	126	(7)
Roosevelt and the ``Soft Line'' toward Stalin	133	(7)
An Anti-Soviet Crusade together with the Germans?	140	(12)
The Winding Road to the German Surrender(s)	152	(6)
America Between Confidence and Concern	158	(9)
Nuclear Diplomacy and the Onset of the Cold War	167	(13)
A Useful New Enemy	180	(9)
Corporate Collaboration and the So-called ``De-Nazification'' of Germany (1)	189	(17)
Corporate Collaboration and the So-called ``De-Nazification'' of Germany (2)	206	(11)
The United States, the Soviets, and the Post-war Fate of Germany	217	(20)
After 1945: From the Good War to Permanent War	237	(16)
Endnotes	253	(14)
Bibliography	267	(16)
Index	283