<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1917, during World War 1, the Entente was struggling to fight against the might of the Central Powers. On the Western Front, casualties were higher than ever, and it was impossible to push the enemy back. In Italy, hundreds of thousands of troops were captured, and Venice was under threat. In Russia, the government was collapsing, and the Bolsheviks were gaining power. It seemed like the Allies were going to finally be defeated by the autocratic German and Austrian regimes. However, something happened in the west, on the other side of the Atlantic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the German Government sent a telegram to Mexico, egging them to invade America, the United States joined the war, and with much success. In 1918, the Germans launched the biggest offensive of the war on the Western Front yet, and were within reach of finally taking Paris. However, with quick reaction by the Americans, who were beginning to arrive in France in huge numbers, the Germans were pushed back, and to such an extent that the Hundred Days offensive began, resulting in the end of World War 1. This would be the first major time that the United States saved Europe from a dictatorial threat. This also showed that, because the colonial powers of Britain and France could not hold against the Germans, the United States would be the main global power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would happen again in World War 2. When the United States joined, Europe was in huge trouble. One by one, from Poland, to Norway, to France, to Greece, the nations of Europe fell to the might of the German Army. The people under Nazi occupation suffered immensely, as Jews, Slavs, and other peoples were massacred ruthlessly. Now, all of Europe, except for Britain, was under their control, and, now, they were invading the Soviet Union, and were at the gates of Moscow and Leningrad. If the United States had not joined the war at that moment, Europe would be forever doomed to the Nazis. Yet, when the United States joined the war, the allies realized that they might have a chance at winning. Now, I will say that the British and Soviet Union also contributed massively to victory in World War 2, the Americans also played a massive role, especially in Operation Torch, which led to the Liberation of North Africa, the Italian Campaign, and D-Day, which liberated France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1945, the Nazi\u2019s surrended. To make sure that a threat does not come out of Germany again, the Americans, British, French and Soviets occupied the country. However, while the Soviets forcibly removed or killed all Germans in Eastern Europe in revenge, the Americans, although admitting that Germany was at fault, sought to rebuild Germany, and treated the people with respect. Also in the Marshall Plan, the United States oversaw the massive project of rebuilding European infrastructure. Over the coming decades, the United States helped guard Europe from the imminent threat of the Soviets, who were just as bad as the Germans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, in Europe, because multiple times the United States saved Europe from several autocratic threats, it should be expected that mostly everyone loves the United States. However, it is actually the opposite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All across Western Europe, people always associate Americans with being Fat, Dumb, Gun Loving, Burger Eating, imbeciles, while they always think of themselves as the peak of civilization. In cities across Europe, there are signs demanding that proclaim \u201cYankees go home!\u201d When the US government does an unfavorable action, protests erupt across the continent, demanding an end to \u201cAmerican Imperialism\u201d. During the Vietnam war, although not nearly as large as in the United States, protests began in cities. Even when the United States needed help from its allies most, during 9\/11 and the War on Terror, the US government was ridiculed for seeking out oil, and led to the largest protest in history, where 2 million protesters gathered in Rome to protest the Iraq War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oddly enough, this trend does not show in Eastern Europe, which is strange, seeing that, for most adults, they were educated by communist governments that America and Americans are Evil Fascists, and the Soviet Union is good. As a matter of fact, this has had the opposite effect, as, in Eastern Europe, America is loved and admired. In 2022, Poland became one of the few countries in the world where the general population liked America more than Americans did, with 91% of the population having a favorable view on America, according to Pew Research. In Kosovo, there are songs about how great America and Bill Clinton are. This is probably because, while constantly being told by the Soviet Union that the US is Evil, because they still suffered, and barely had anything to eat or live on, they did not really believe it. So, when the Revolutions of 1989 happened, they thanked the US, because, in part, they got rid of the oppressive communist regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, why do Western Europeans, despite being saved by the United States repeatedly, in World War 1, World War 2, and the Cold War, not appreciate this. There are several reasons why this could be, but it most likely could be because the Europeans are too comfortable. When the United States intervened in World War 1, and won easily when the British and French couldn\u2019t, they realized that, if another war this big happened in Europe, they would need the backing of America, while holding out until America joined. This philosophy was proven in World War 2, where Britian refused to surrender to the Nazi\u2019s, first to make sure that Europe does not fall, and also, so they can hold out until America comes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A turning point in this was when, in 1949, NATO was founded, which was meant to be a security organization to combat the looming threat of the Soviet Union. One important part of this organization is NATO Article 5, which in recent years has been heavily memed, which states that an attack on one is an attack on all, so all other nations have to join in the conflict. Most nations in Western Europe then realized that this would mean that an attack from the Soviets would, according to Article 5, the United States be required to join in the conflict. This also meant hundreds of military bases would be stationed across the continent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 90\u2019s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, several nations in Eastern Europe joined NATO to avoid being subjugated by the Russians again. However, minus the bombing of Yugoslavia(Serves them right), NATO did not do much in this decade, so the nations of Western Europe, not having to prepare for imminent world war for the first time since the 1920\u2019s, decided to relax for a little while, while Russia slowly got angrier about the continued existence of NATO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 2000\u2019s, after the 9\/11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror, the people of Western Europe realized that Article 5 has its limits, especially when they don\u2019t activate it, as they have to now join a war they don\u2019t care about in Afghanistan and Iraq. They then realized that the US, because of this NATO policy, had a lot of power to influence European politics. Thus, the US began to be more hated in Europe until it eventually evolved into the current stereotype of Americans being fat, dumb, gun loving, burger eating imbeciles, despite the US constantly defending Euroupe from tyrannical threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This got even worse in 2014, when all members of NATO agreed that, by 2024, all nations would reach at least 2% of their budget on defense. However, by 2017, when President Trump visited NATO and threatened to leave, most countries had not bothered trying, especially in Western Europe. Even after the invasion of Ukraine, in 2022, although most nations tried to increase their budget, by the deadline, 9 countries had not met that goal, with one, Italy, decreasing the defense budget. One probable cause of this is that most nations in Western Europe don\u2019t see any danger, as Ukraine is over a thousand miles away, so they don\u2019t feel obliged to prepare for something that will never happen. On the other hand, in Eastern Europe, the threat of the Russians invading is clear for all to see, so they got over 2% very quickly. In the case of Poland, their military spending is at 4%, even higher than the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On one hand, the nations in Western Europe have a point, as, after the Cold War, NATO evolved from a defensive organization to the most war-mongering group in the history of the world. However, they also agreed to do this, and also, because of how comfortable they are, will just always expect that the US will defend them. But, this has the side effect of the Europeans slowly forgetting about how to defend themselves on their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the main reason that Europeans make fun of America, is because they are so used to the United States defending them, that they feel like they can slander Americans because they won\u2019t get any consequences from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, I will also give a warning to all Europeans. Because the US would never dare to leave NATO, the European countries felt like they could keep this system going forever. However, during the First Trump administration, President Trump warned that, if the 2% budget was not met, he would try to leave NATO. Nobody paid attention until 2024, when he actually started getting serious about attempting to leave, to the point that, in a February rally, he encouraged Putin to attack NATO countries who had not paid the 2% budget, because they were not contributing. Now that he has won the election, and is on the verge of becoming president, the Western European nations that spent the past few decades slandering Americans instead of listening to them need to get their grip together, and learn to defend themselves again, because, one day they will expect America to save them, and they, remembering all the insults and protests they got after defending them from autocratic threats, won\u2019t come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Update from March 2025: I told you Europe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In 1917, during World War 1, the Entente was struggling to fight against the might of the Central Powers. On the Western Front, casualties were higher than ever, and it was impossible to push the enemy back. In Italy, hundreds of thousands of troops were captured, and Venice was under threat. In Russia, the government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35,9,8,15],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","category-geopolitics","category-history","category-politics"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/qatipi.com\/andyscorner\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/qatipi.com\/andyscorner\/feed\/podcast\/the-corner-podcast","embedCode":"
Stop Dunking on us, Europeans!-An Essay<\/a><\/blockquote>