Why were there so many "Germans" in the US military during World War II?

Three presidents of the United States are all Germans, and one president’s mother is of German descent. Current US President Donald Trump is also of German descent.

Germans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. Can there be too few Germans in the US military?

Anyone with a little knowledge of history knows that the United States was the main participant in the two world wars. It was precisely because of the intervention of the United States that the balance of victory and defeat changed.

Especially in the Second World War, Germany, Japan and Italy would not have been defeated so quickly, and the people of all countries would have to pay a heavier price.

World War II was a life-and-death contest between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The Asian battlefield was a contest between the Allies led by the United States and Japan. The European battlefield was a contest between the Allies led by the United States and Germany. In other words, the United States was the end of German fascism. who.

Interestingly, on the European battlefield, the bravest soldiers in the US military were German-Americans, and the best were also German-Americans.

Some people even joked that the European battlefield was Germans fighting Germans.

General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and later the 34th President of the United States, was a German-American.

The protagonist of the Normandy landings, General Patton, who commanded the armored forces across Europe, was a German-American. General Nimitz was one of the top ten five-star admirals in the U.S. Navy. He was also a German-American when he served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Why were there so many Germans in the US military during World War II?

To be precise, the earliest settlers in the United States were German immigrants. Before the founding of the United States, the Germans set foot on America in the early 17th century.

The earliest inhabitants of America were Indians, and the Germans were the first Europeans to arrive there.

Twenty years later, a British ship named the Mayflower arrived in the United States. They were the first official European immigrants and a group of English Puritans.

After that, colonists from Britain, France, the Netherlands and other countries began to pour into the United States, and immigrants from European countries also arrived one after another.

In the mid-17th century, the British defeated the Dutch and established thirteen colonies on the boundless east coast of the United States, known as the British North American Colonies.

At that time, the American continent was vast and sparsely populated, with more ferocious beasts than people. It was far away from the European continent, so it became a place that the British Puritans yearned for, and it also became a place where poor British farmers and bankrupt craftsmen changed their destiny.

So before the independence of the United States, Britain was the protagonist, and more than three-quarters of the local population were British.

But despite this, the population is still too small and the labor gap is too large to develop this land in the United States.

Therefore, the British have welcomed people from all over the world, especially people from European countries, to settle down and start businesses from the beginning.

Among them, adventurous German immigrants began to immigrate to the United States. Because Germany is industrious and intelligent, and has advanced industrial and agricultural technology, it will soon become the main force in building the United States and get along well here.

The success of German immigrants has virtually set an example, attracting more Germans to come here to hunt for gold.

In 1828, about 1,000 German immigrants arrived in the United States every year; in 1832, this number increased tenfold to more than 10,000, and in 1836 it reached more than 20,000, showing a spurt of growth. .

In 1854, this number increased tenfold to 200,000.

In the mid-19th century, the number of German immigrants to the United States reached its peak, and some places even called on friends and groups to settle in the United States.

According to statistics, in the 19th century alone, 5 million Germans came to settle in the United States.

According to the latest census data, the number of Germans in the United States has reached 60 million, accounting for approximately one-sixth of the total population of the United States, making them the largest ethnic group in the United States.

In second place, the Irish account for about one-eighth of the total population of the United States;

The British can only rank third.

Germans account for such a high proportion of the American population, so naturally many people sign up to join the army, and it is reasonable to have more Germans in the US military.

The United States is a melting pot and an open country for immigrants. No matter which country you come from, as long as you set foot on American soil, you will recognize American values ??and regard the United States as your motherland.

Therefore, Germans in the United States have long considered themselves Americans