World War II: Difference between revisions
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* [[Heroic Neutral]]: For a given value of both 'heroic' and 'neutral', until the Japanese Cabinet [[Awakening the Sleeping Giant|ordered an attack]] [[What an Idiot!|on the US Fleet.]]
** Sums up the attitude of most US citizens, at any rate. The US government was just itching for a war with the Axis. The Japanese saw that and the Germans did as well - especially given the undeclared naval war between US naval forces in the Atlantic and the U-boats, not to mention Lend-Lease.
* [[Impossibly Cool Weapon]]s : Many a [[Cool Ship]], [[Cool Plane]], [[Cool Tank]], and [[Cool Gun]]. World War II buffs constantly argue over which was the coolest and consider this to be [[Serious Business]].▼
* [[Home Guard]]: Seen on all sides during the war, from the British [[Trope Namer|Home Guard]] to the American Civil Air Patrol to the German Volkssturm and the Japanese 'Volunteer' Defence Corps.
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: [[Winston Churchill|...We Shall Never Surrender!]]
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* [[Idiot Ball]]: Franklin Roosevelt did all he could to support the British and later the Soviets against Hitler, going so far as to issue shoot-to-kill orders against German U-boats stalking Atlantic convoys, [[Heroic Neutral|but there simply wasn't very much support in America for an active intervention in the war]]. [[Awakening the Sleeping Giant|Even after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor]] and FDR got a declaration of war the next day, there was little pressure for a formal declaration against Germany and Roosevelt didn't even ask for one. Then, three days later, [[Stupid Evil|Hitler declared war on the United States.]] Whoops.
* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: Towards the end of the war, a few groups of Japanese soldiers sometimes roasted and cannibalized their captives. Other Asians were referred to as "black pigs" and American soldiers were "white pigs".
▲* [[Impossibly Cool Weapon]]s : Many a [[Cool Ship]], [[Cool Plane]], [[Cool Tank]], and [[Cool Gun]]. World War II buffs constantly argue over which was the coolest and consider this to be [[Serious Business]].
* [[Ironic Echo]]: Enforced. Hitler signed the peace with France in the same rail carriage where the Germans had signed the 1918 armistice.
* [[I Shall Return]]: [[Trope Maker]], from Gen. MacArthur after he left the Philippines to avoid capture by the Japanese.
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* [[Mad Scientist]]: Josef Mengele and the scientists of the Japanese Unit 731.
* [[Magnetic Hero]]: Churchill, indirectly. Not the most charismatic man in person - he once ran through several secretaries in the space of a month when he was being particularly insufferable - but his effect on the people of the British Empire was electrifying. Contrast Hitler, a very charismatic man of more down-to-earth roots.
* [[Media Research Failure]]: Aryan was originally a linguistic category, now called Indo-European due to the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of Aryan. Hitler never assumed all Aryans were blue-eyed blonds; in fact, Persia was renamed Iran, from ''Aryan'', in 1935. The Japanese were (of course) considered Aryans as well, and Tibet was the homeland of the Aryan race. So there's [[Media Research Failure]] all around.
* [[Memetic Mutation]]: Tons of books, movies, TV shows and odd references.
** From the time period itself was [[wikipedia:Kilroy was here|Kilroy was here]], a graffito that ''may'' have originated among American servicemen - like many Memes, it's hard to pin down a source. First appearances were in 1936-1938. The "Kilroy" had several phrases (sort of like some of the memes on the Internet today) which were used with the graffito "Kilroy was here", and "Wot, no X?":
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