Question:
Who believes that if the US hadn't entered a war in the past century that we'd no longer "be speakin English"
2006-03-05 17:14:10 UTC
What other language would we be speakin? Why?
Seven answers:
2006-03-05 17:30:08 UTC
I once had a 6th grade teacher that said that nobody could rule the world because it would spread them to thin. I subscribe to that theory because it sounds reasonable to me. Just because Germany or Japan took over France there was still a resistance that contributed to the victory by the allies. If it was here there would also have been an underground that would have made it tough to keep us in line. So the answer to this is no I think that English will always be the language of the land regardless if we pass on a war or not.
Russia
2006-03-05 19:47:36 UTC
Dear questioner,

I do not personaly agree that if we had not entered a war in the past century, we would not be currently speaking English.

Starting with World War I, if the Allied powers had lost, the United States would have been the least affected. Unlike many of our European allies during the war, we did not have a large collection of over seas territories. The Central Powers would most likely have asked for possesion of most or all of the Allies colonies. Being that we did not have as many as say the UK or France, this would not have affected us a great deal. Also, the United States, Japan, China, and some Latin America and Carribean countries were the only non-European countries of the Allied powers, so it would have been hard for the Central Powers to conquer and control us without raising large armies, which would eventually have led to the conscripting of people from the mother country and new and old colonies. The conscripting of people might work for a short period of time, but depending on the length of the invasion, the resources would eventually exhaust or the people could revolt.

A very funny thing, if you look at it, is that if we had lost WWI Japan and Italy, countries of the Axis Powers during WWII would have also lost to Germany, and if WWII would have happened when it did these two countries would be enemies of Germany not allies.

Moving on to the Korean War and the Vietnam War, these were conflicts under the larger caption of the Cold War. The Cold War was just a big misunderstanding. The Russian's history has been full of invaasions from foreign powers. This has created in them a inherited fear of foreigners who are powerful. With the United States becoming as powerful as it is, their natural assumptions were that we were preparing to invade. To the United States, the USSR was stockpiling nuclear weapons and spreading it's influences throughout the world in an attempt to "control" the world. in reaction, the United States formed alliances with countries situated around the USSR (Japan, Pakistan, NATO, ect.) in an attempt at containment. To the USSR, this look like a noose that could tighten any minute.

The firsr Persian Gulf War, was an attempt by Saddam Hussein to control the oil fields of Kuwait. We and a coalition of nations repelled his attacked. Mow if Saddam had been smart, he would have struck a deal with North Korea and launched simultaneaus attacks and thus spliting the US forces. Victory for Saddam and North Korea would have resulted in dominance of oil production in the Middle East by Saddam and a united Korea under Kim Jong II. Neither Saddam or North Korea would have been capable of invading the United States.

Finally, the United States is a country of many languages, and usually a conquered people do not give up their native language as an act of defiance.

Sorry about the lengthy answer. It was a good question and I enjoyed answering it.
cgalloway1973
2006-03-05 17:20:58 UTC
We would be speaking Japanese and/or German. Unfortunatly, the central US would turn into a war zone as the former Axis powers would have thrown nukes at each other fighting over the US heartland.



Both Germany and Japan had nuclear weapon programs which were destroyed by the Allies in WWII. Without the US involvement, Japan would have spread accross the Pacific enslaving all the peoples there. Germany could have held off the British and concentrated on the Russians with Japan attacking Russia from Manchuria. Italy would have been used to shore-up the Mediterrainian and North Africa. Hitler's Islamic allies would have secured the oil in the Mid East and ensured a free flow to Germany, along with thousands of soldiers.
wuzzie
2006-03-05 17:29:08 UTC
the third reich only started the war because it couldnt handle its internal problems any longer. It needed money and needed it fast. I doubt they would have been able to push through Russia in the end. The soviet union might have been an economic disaster at that time but it was huge.



English would most likely still play a major role since the US would be very strong even if it hadnt gotten involved in the war.



The only valid "what if" question to be asked in my opinion is what would have happened if there had been fighting on american soil (lets not even talk about major fighting).



Because lets be honest all american casulties were in a way selfinflicted. The only "attack" that the US recieved was Pearl Harbor and it has been proven that the NSA had information about the attack before it happened.



Who cares what happened in Europe, if they hadn't gotten involved, the US would still be free of the scars of the major carpet bombing that devastated Germany and the UK. Ergo still have the strongest economy.



(I'm half german half greek just for the record)
2006-03-05 22:22:48 UTC
I am thinking the Spanish American War. What other language? Esprantu.
You may be right
2006-03-05 17:19:00 UTC
I suppose Hitler would have taken over the world and we would be speaking German.



America makes the world a better place. Even if it doesn't seem that way to some people.
2006-03-05 18:49:52 UTC
We aren't speaking English as it it. Dang immigrants.


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