Thread: How large was America's role in WW1 and WW2?

Originally Posted by Stapo

By the way do you call the soldiers of your country's South "slave owners troops" as well?

If you willfuly ignore why the vast majority of the Confederate troops fought, then yes.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

Just curious, but have you ever been a soldier?

nope.



going to use the "you weren't there" defense?
its a simple matter of identifying the leadership and national allegiance, as well as the personal oath of loyalty taken by each soldier to the leader of the reich, hitler, not to the nation itself. Nazi troops.

Originally Posted by reality

going to use the "you weren't there" defense?

Not at all. Just trying to better understand where you are coming from on the question of German vs Nazi troops. Honestly, given your stance, I figured you were never a soldier. Just wanted to confirm it before we go on.

Anyways, 'nazi troops' implies that the troops were, individually, Nazis. At least if English is your first language.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

Not at all. Just trying to better understand where you are coming from on the question of German vs Nazi troops. Honestly, given your stance, I figured you were never a soldier. Just wanted to confirm it before we go on.

Anyways, 'nazi troops' implies that the troops were, individually, Nazis. At least if English is your first language.

not necessarily. for instance, the short hand vernacular for soldiers of the army of the confederate states of america, would be confederate soldiers. that doesn't mean the soldiers themselves are a confederation of states.

similarly, the shorthand vernacular for Nazi Germany, would simply be Nazis, or Nazi. Therefore, as ive explained, when i say Nazi troops i don't mean troops who are by necessity, in point of fact, members of the Nazi party.
I mean troops, under the command of the government of Nazi germany.
Its a possessive not a descriptive. THE NAZI"S troops. Not troops who are nazis.


and again, this isn't a dig at them, its merely a statement of fact. Just because they worked under the nazi regime doesn't make them somehow automatically theiving, conniving, baby eating psychopaths. even if they were SS i'd hesitate to say that without evidence (though not much if they were SS).
I mean, look at Rommel. I can say he was a superb commander, with an excellent grasp of armor tactics and overall war strategy, who fought bravely and cared for the welfare of his troops. But he was also a Nazi. See how those things aren't mutually exclusive? And i don't even like the guy much. but i can respect the skill and behavior he exhibited.
yall are blowing it way way out of proportion because its a sore spot, and thats understandable, but seriously just take a step back and chill. its not a big deal.

Originally Posted by reality

not necessarily. for instance, the short hand vernacular for soldiers of the army of the confederate states of america, would be confederate soldiers. that doesn't mean the soldiers themselves are a confederation of states.

similarly, the shorthand vernacular for Nazi Germany, would simply be Nazis, or Nazi. Therefore, as ive explained, when i say Nazi troops i don't mean troops who are by necessity, in point of fact, members of the Nazi party.
I mean troops, under the command of the government of Nazi germany.
Its a possessive not a descriptive. THE NAZI"S troops. Not troops who are nazis.

The examples you gave (CSA and Nazi Germany) are not comparable. One (The Confederate States of America) was the official name of a country so it would make sense to call soldiers of that nation Confederate soldiers.

On the other hand, Nazi Germany was never the name of a nation or a government. Germany, during the 3. Reich, was named the Deutsches Reich (German Reich). So, according to the example and logic you are using, 'nazi troops' simply doesn't work.

Furthermore, Rommel was never a member of the NSDAP.

I am not blowing anything out or proportion. I am simply correcting factual mistakes on your part.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

The examples you gave (CSA and Nazi Germany) are not comparable. One (The Confederate States of America) was the official name of a country so it would make sense to call soldiers of that nation Confederate soldiers.

On the other hand, Nazi Germany was never the name of a nation or a government. Germany, during the 3. Reich, was named the Deutsches Reich (German Reich). So, according to the example and logic you are using, 'nazi troops' simply doesn't work.

Furthermore, Rommel was never a member of the NSDAP.

I am not blowing anything out or proportion. I am simply correcting factual mistakes on your part.

and who called them the german reich? they called them the nazis, the nazi reich, or nazi germany. nazi troops.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

The examples you gave (CSA and Nazi Germany) are not comparable. One (The Confederate States of America) was the official name of a country so it would make sense to call soldiers of that nation Confederate soldiers.

On the other hand, Nazi Germany was never the name of a nation or a government. Germany, during the 3. Reich, was named the Deutsches Reich (German Reich). So, according to the example and logic you are using, 'nazi troops' simply doesn't work.

Furthermore, Rommel was never a member of the NSDAP.

I am not blowing anything out or proportion. I am simply correcting factual mistakes on your part.

rommel was just an off the top example. i picked a high ranking, high profile, commander of the Wehrmacht and stated why i respected him, even when i thought he was a Nazi. Its an even better example now that i know he just worked for the nazis and wasn't an actual party member. he was part of the nazi army (what with the personal oath to the fuhrer, like the rest of the wehrmacht), but i can still respect him. see how that works?

Originally Posted by reality

and who called them the german reich? they called them the nazis, the nazi reich, or nazi germany. nazi troops.

The Germans themselves. Even the Nazi leadership. If not Deutsches Reich then simply Deutschland. You use the official name for one (CSA) but slang for another (Nazi Germany). Slang not even used by the Germans.

Originally Posted by reality

rommel was just an off the top example. i picked a high ranking, high profile, commander of the Wehrmacht and stated why i respected him, even when i thought he was a Nazi. Its an even better example now that i know he just worked for the nazis and wasn't an actual party member. he was part of the nazi army (what with the personal oath to the fuhrer, like the rest of the wehrmacht), but i can still respect him. see how that works?

and yet the fact remains that he was never a memeber of the NSDAP.

I could give a shit less if you respect him or not.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

The Germans themselves. Even the Nazi leadership. If not Deutsches Reich then simply Deutschland. You use the official name for one (CSA) but slang for another (Nazi Germany). Slang not even used by the Germans.

why would they use it? of course theyre going to call it what THEY want to.

i'm talking about what WE called them. how the Allies referred to them. Nazi troops.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

and yet the fact remains that he was never a memeber of the NSDAP.

I could give a shit less if you respect him or not.

like i said dude, my bad he wasn't a member of the nazi party. still a member of the nazi army though. what with him and the rest of the wehrmacht taking a personal oath of loyalty to the nazi party leader (HITLER).
doesn't make him a nazi party member. it DOES make him a member of the nazi army.


well thats cool. i do. he knew tanks, and had a damn good mind for exploiting geography to a tactical advantage.

Originally Posted by reality

why would they use it? of course theyre going to call it what THEY want to.

i'm talking about what WE called them. how the Allies referred to them. Nazi troops.

Talked to many American vets? I have yet to hear one call them nazi troops. Either way, it is a misnomer.

Originally Posted by ThorHammer

Talked to many American vets? I have yet to hear one call them nazi troops. Either way, it is a misnomer.

yep know quite a few! my granddad was in the navy in the pacific, even got in on some atomic tests (which is another story), and my great uncle flew fighters in europe. they both call em nazis, or nazi troops, or the nazi army. at least when theyre talking about during the war. after the war they call them german soldiers.
but we aint talking about after the war. we're talking about during. hence: nazi troops.