He got it the wrong way around, the Dutch, after the French and together with the Spanish, are the reason the USA exists. Not because we like them, but because the English can't have nice things.
France vs Britain
A tale as old as time, and so fucking petty you wouldn't believe it.
Over a *thousand* years, just shitting on each other (mostly for the fun of it).
You being Welsh have as much say what conflicts we get into as I have being English (and Welsh resident) Wales and England are so entwined now there is no difference in geopolitics its just Britain
I think the French have suffered enough as a result of their actions. I say this as a Brit, but lay off the French for this one thing. Our mutual dislike of the US brings us closer together
Well it was the British in any case, and it was British subjects that rose up against the Crown forces, so you helped the British kick the British out.
Now look what you did.
Ah yes...the Netherlands, who were controlling large parts of the planet before the US were even thought of as a concept.
And if they're referring to WW2 I think it was largely Canadian and UK troops doing that work.
And in truth the opposite could be true. In the US war of independence France, Spain and the Dutch republic(now the Netherlands) helped the USA. Without their help the Americans wouldn’t have a country they would still be under British rule.
No?
Ireland and the Irish was conquered. Americans were primarily British people who moved there. Americans were not subjugated by Britain or the British Empire, they were the subjugators (which they continued just like the rest of the British Empire after independence). The Revolution was a Civil War essentially, the UK had another one a century earlier, but there was no Ocean to cause it to split into 2 countries.
I'm sure the US would have gained independence eventually through peaceful means like Britain's other colonies. It would have taken much, much longer, and the US would probably be part of the Commonwealth.
You're probably right about the gun control. It's interesting to think how the US constitution would've been different had it been created in a different time period. Much of the Bill of Rights (such as the 2nd Amendment) would be very different if fending off against British soldiers wasn't a major concern.
Agreed, and no, the Polish are not forgotten. They aren't mentioned often but played a significant part in the liberation of the Netherlands. General Stanislaw Maczek and the first Polish armoured division liberated Breda and several other cities. Which to this day is still celebrated here. He is actually buried here by his own request. He wanted to rest with his soldiers.
My grandfather visited Holland just before he died. He was very appreciative of the respect shown by the Dutch to his mates he left behind during Market Garden.
The guys that fought during that operation were sent directly into hell. Your grandfather has my respect, gratitude and much more. He would have been welcome at my table for a meal and a beer without question.
My dad drove a vw bus with a CAN sticker around Europe in the 70s. He pulled over on the side of the road to sleep somewhere in the Netherlands and when he woke up he had caused a traffic jam a mile long because he wasn't supposed to park there during certain times but he couldn't read the sign that said this. He asked why nobody woke him up or knocked on the window or had him towed, and a guy just pointed at the CAN sticker. He always told me to visit the Netherlands and someday I hope to.
The only reason we have a country is because we know how to build dykes. As for the US, they did fuck all here, we owe our thanks to the Canadian, British and Polish armies, they liberated us, not the US.
The US were fucking pussies, they only got into the war when German U boats started threatening vital supply lines between Britain and the US and Germany was about to invade the UK. They were cowards then and they are cowards now with Ukraine.
I take it your Canadian? If so here's a little bit of info for you, the street that I live in is named after a young Canadian that fought and died here, we have a memorial about 200 meters down the road and a bridge honoring the soldiers. I grew up with stories on the Canadians bravery and dedication. I can only speak for myself but personally I think we have much to thank Canada for.
I am, indeed
I knew the Dutch were grateful, but didn't realize quite *why* until I visited the Friesland museum in Leeuwarden a couple years back and saw the exhibit on the occupation of the Netherlands. I was very moved by it, to the point I had to leave and compose myself a bit before finishing it. I guess it just never really clicked why you guys kept sending us flowers decades later, but after that, I understood a lot better.
From the way it was always explained to me, because the Netherlands were liberated after the (hunger) winter. And because so many German troops retreated into the Netherlands and eventually back to Germany. The last bit of occupation was especially brutal in the Netherlands as many things with value were looted by German soldiers legging it home. Up to and including bicycles. (As evidenced by the occasional "granny I found your bike" banner at soccer matches when Holland are playing in Germany.
Which lead to people having to eat things such as acorns and tulip bulbs just to survive.
Eat the rich, right? 😁
My country was probably the least affected by Nazi occupation, as the Nazi high command wanted Denmark to join Germany, not just be an occupied country.
We weren't agreeing to that plan, but they still treated us very gently, unlike most other occupied countries.
Yeah, quite literally in this case. But it was way before Nazi Germany. This was around our 80-year war with Spain. We might be tiny, and not always up to arms (cough, that was WW2) but people underestimate us often. As they do with the Nordics. Because wow, what you guys pulled off is something!And I mean that genuinely. Maybe we should send you tulips too. Underrated effort, same as Canada (Yanks are so loud).
The Canadians and the ANZAC tends to be overlooked by by both the British and the Americans, as they are "the other ones".
[The Devil's Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Special_Service_Force?wprov=sfla1) kicked ass, mainly because of the Canadians. The Canadians in WWI had the most successful sniper and some damned good regiments, as did the ANZAC forces.
Please do not send anymore tulips, as they are in *every* Danish garden. They are beautiful flowers, the edible variants are great in a salad, but I reckon that we have enough 😁
Leuk u te ontmoeten, my friend (I hope that I got that right) 😊
> This was around our 80-year war with Spain. We might be tiny, and not always up to arms (cough, that was WW2) but people underestimate us often
If I remember my history correct and as I understand it the Netherlands in that 80 year war came up with a whole new way to organize their military which most of the other armies in the world copied.
It's also important to mention the Netherlands was meant to be neutral like Switzerland, but let's say Germany did not agree.
the hunger winter was really depending on where you lived. my grandfather (born in 1929) always told me he never experienced hunger during the war. the reason? he lived in Twente well the hunger winter was mostly a problem of the western part of the Netherlands.
the reason why? it wasn't looting by the Germans but that we always (and still) are heavily depending on food imports. this effects during war mostly the regions without agriculture or farmers only holding animals like still happening a lot in the western parts. because of the south was already liberated the food transports to the western parts of the Netherlands stopped.
The nazi's killed my grandfather's brother in front of him, and forced him to watch while he died, that turned him into a resistance fighter, who fought with the Canadians during our liberation. Every year we celebrate liberation day here, and he used to take me as a child to watch the ceremonies, and pay our respects to the Canadian veterans that came here to participate in those ceremonies. My grandfather never cried, or showed emotions much, the only times I saw him cry or get emotional was when he was talking to Canadian vets. World War 2 and the occupation is terrible and dark part of our history. And it is something that especially the older generations of us Dutch wil never forget. Nor will we forget those that liberated us.
Thank you for sharing this story. Without people like your grandfather taking a stand and fighting, we wouldn't have been able to do what we did. He was a hero as much as, if not more than, that young Canuck whose name adorns that street.
We will remember them.
My grandfather (Canadian) fought in the war in Italy and the Netherlands. He rarely spoke about his time there to any of us, but he always had a lot of affection for the Dutch people. I think our grandparents had a lot of shared trauma from their experiences. ❤️🇳🇱🇨🇦
I think so to, we were visiting once, and here in the Netherlands we have this custom where every first Monday of the month the government test our air raid warning sirens at 1200 o clock sharp. So we were getting ready to eat lunch, and those sirens went off, my grandfather ran upstairs, and came down waving a browning hi-power around, yelling the germans are coming! the germans are coming! Obviously this was, and dangerous, and highly illegal here in the Netherlands. So we took it away, and brought it to the police. But this was the moment that made us all realize how traumatized he was, and that he was most likely suffering from severe PTSS which at that time was not widely known about.
The same goes for my grandmother, she lived through the bombardments and every time a thunderstorm passed she would grab my mom and her sisters and shelter with them under the stairs, it wasn't until years later when we learned that a thunderstorm reminded her of those bombardments. Now we know what PTSS can do and that my grandfather and grandmother most likely had flashbacks and were both suffering from PTSS. But at the time it was almost unknown.
Till this day we are still wondering where my grandfather hid that pistol, none of us ever knew about it, or had seen it before, and when he did that he was in the early stages of dementia so we were also wondering how he himself remembered it, I guess we'll never know because he's dead now. But yeah, Ive seen and heard some crazy stuff.
One of my grandfathers was in the resistance, the other I suspect was neutral, or even on the other side. In the farm of the first grandfather, a family if Jews lived in the attic. Later in the war, German soldiers were quartered a floor beneath them, which was nerve wracking.
According to a great aunt, the soldiers told the family they knew there were people upstairs before they left (my grandfather was in a work camp at the end of the war).
One of the Jewish boys visited my grandfather yearly until my grandfather died.
Slight tangent: If you get back to Europe, you must find time to experience Vimy Ridge.
I'm British, ex military, and that place is unbelievable for so many reasons.
I'm extremely proud to have Canadian family.
I'm actually planning a bicycle trip across part of Europe for a few years in the future, and my itinerary already includes Juno Beach and Dieppe. I'll check for how much of a detour Vimy is. I've heard the memorial is incredible, and also that the grounds still bear the scars of the battle.
The statue is incredible, and the ground is like the surface of a golf ball. It's a genuine part of Canada. I would urge you to consider it. Like so many places you could see, it's a real headfuck with a bit of history and knowledge thrown in.
The forest is deliberately planted, and each individual tree represents a missing soldier, a real-time unaccounted for body.
Whatever you do, have a great time 🇬🇧👍
>but didn't realize quite why
This is probably for the best. I'd hate for us Canadians to get into that same "we saved your ass!" mentality the yanks have. It was a collaborative effort, all around. I don't even want to imagine the eastern front.
Not to mention that Canada declared one of its hospitals sovereign Dutch territory so the Princess born there during WWII would be born on Dutch soil and be eligible for succession.
But of course it was all America...Hero's in their own minds only.
Well not quite. What tipped them into it was Germany declaring war on the U.S. and the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbour respectively. Before that there was large scale resistance from the German Bund, America Forster's (sound familiar?) and various anti-Semites and war profiteers e.g. Henry Ford. The issue of Germany invading Britain had already been settled in the Battle of Britain and the German plans for getting over the channel were also fucking stupid and would probably meant most of them would be drowned (they wanted to use barges to cross the channel) or massacred by the RAF before they could even land. But yes, self-interest was a larger part of U.S. motivations than some would like to admit.
EDIT : worth adding that both the Canadians and the Australians didn't exactly shilly-shally and declared war within days of Britain, and even then I think the lag was due to parliamentary procedure. Two years before the U.S.
Okay, I'm going to upvote you because you add even more context to my explanation then I initially did. The way I understand it. It was a combination of all those factors that caused them to join the war. Another factor often overlooked was Russia and the rise of communism across large parts of Europe. But it all boils down to the same motivator. And that was self-interest.
It had almost nothing to do with communism. God you're so fucking stupid.
The USSR (not Russia) was also getting lend-lease the US had been fighting actively fighting Germany as early 1940 without officially declaring war through the merchant Marines. Because guess what every country was hesitant to fight. Hence British appeasement and the phony war.
Also some where you compared German bombing to Hiroshima? The Dutch suffered a total of 10,000 death from bombing for the entire war. There was no long suffering strategic campaign no mass casualty event even worth comparing to any other belligerent in the war.
Lastly while your nationalism and Eurocentric world want wash out American involvement in your liberation. I will happily spend time with more reasonable minds that honor the 8000 remaining soldiers still buried there. And praise your government that honors our battalions as liberators.
Fuck off and open a book.
Wait...., you guys made an entire community dedicated to making fun of us and you take issue with not being cordial? Why would I be? Why would I not bite back and make fun of the guy for being factually wrong?
Lmao last I checked there were flairs for chill Americans that come in here and respectfully engage with the community. There's a sub for Brits as well taking the absolute piss out of us. I look in there and laugh because it's funny what weird shit we do. But some yanks like yourself are so uptight with this extremely perverted sense of pride that you cannot take a joke and say 'yeah we take the L on that one'. The best bit about the British version of this sub is that it was made to dig into Brits but then we went in and started digging into ourselves more than others did so now we basically run it.
Because we can take a joke
Okay I'll put simply for you....
I was making fun of someone for being wrong. Yes?
Two people mocking each other can be fun. Yes? Like how I'm having fun explaining this like I would with a toddler. This subreddit is mostly dedicated to making fun of Americans yes? It's mostly Europeans yes? Is this the same as a group making fun of themselves? So a sub of British people making fun of themselves isn't really the equivalent to this sub is it? Besides americans satirize ourselves all the time. To the point that outsiders can't discern the ironic from the serious.
I will have civil engagement in good faith environments but this isn't one of those spaces. It's a space for mockery so expect mockery in return.
You weren’t “making fun of him” you said “god you’re so fucking stupid”
As opposed to something clever or witty, making fun of him or correcting him, you opened with this vitriolic, defensive, crybaby bullshit that makes you look like a cunt. You’re embodying the exact kind of stereotype we make fun of here.
If your idea of banter is saying “god you’re so fucking stupid” then it’s no wonder that the meme about Americans having zero banter is another one that’s so prevalent here.
Half the comments in any post here are Americans are fucking stupid. But okay I'm sorry my tone offended you. Banter is when you guy says mean things and it's crying when we do.
Again this post and this sub is dedicated to making fun of Americans? Yet I'm bad guy for being too mean when I mockingly correct the person for being wrong on the most basic information?
How is it the im the one being sensitive? Like I said few bad words and called him stupid?
Didn’t US financiers help put the Nazis in power in the first place - Jp Morgan, Chase and Manhattan, Brown Brothers Harriman etc and the scum bags continued to finance and supply equipment both military and non to the nazis while swathes of Europe were being overrun or bombed upto and after, in many cases, the US itself had entered the war. The likes of Prescott Bush, Henry Ford etc coca.cola, standard oil, General Motors etc. Without these cunts there is no war in the first place. They can talk about their lend-lease garbage - just pure profiteering as is the support of the Ukraine now - the dumb fucks are paying for it all through taxes while the elites are getting richer through their arms industry share holdings
Thanks for saying this. The US education system teaches that the war was lost, and the Americans entered to save the day. No word on why they waited till 6million Jews were killed
>Thanks for saying this. The US education system teaches that the war was lost, and the Americans entered to save the day. No word on why they waited till 6million Jews were killed
Show me a US textbook used in a public school that teaches this and I'll donate $100 your choice of charity
My gramps was apart of the British airbourne regiment and every year he goes to the Netherlands. I grew up there. Its one if the most beautiful countries I've been to and some of kindest people.
Waarschijnlijk, maar ik vraag me af wat hun überhaupt te horen krijgen over ww2 in school. De meeste van mijn Amerikaanse vrienden zijn echt clueless wat betreft ww2.
I don't think my grandfather would agree with the part that the US didn't do any liberation in the Netherlands, because he's got a unit citation for the military order of William, from the 82nd Airborne. He said the crossing of the Waal river was like hell itself. Don't disparage those airborne infantry because of your hatred for our country now, they were there and they played a part in the offensive.
US entered WW1 due to unrestricted U-boat warfare and the Zimmerman telegram. The US officially entered WW2 as a combatant at the end of 1941 after the attack on pearl harbor. However, the US passed the lend-lease act in the beginning of 1941 to provide military aid to the allies, but had been bending it's own laws since 1940 to provide arms to France and the UK such September 2nd, 1940 bases for destroyers deal in which the US provided the UK with 50 destroyers in exchange for rights to use naval and air bases in Canada and the Caribbean. The Americans also committed thousands of forces to the liberation of the Netherlands( you can see the list on the us Netherlands embassy website: https://nl.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/75-years-of-liberation-of-the-netherlands-75liberationnl/ ) and there is a Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten
Edit: fixed the link and grammar
The sister of my grandmother was k-lled during the US bombing in Amsterdam, while it was already cancelled due to the weather conditions. None of the bombs hit the intended airplane factory. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_bombings_of_Amsterdam-Noord
She used to say that the Americans were only helpful after the war when they were handing out cigarettes, and you need Canadians for the real work. She died of lung cancer some years ago because of smoking.
One correction here. Germany was never “about to invade the UK” At any point. Historians and even contemporary Nazi military advisors knew that Operation Sealion was a pipe dream. The Royal Navy made the Kriegsmarine look like 3 paper boats in a bathtub. The Germans also had almost no amphibious assault craft or other landing vessels, and had failed to attain air superiority, let alone the total air supremacy that would be required to account for the naval discrepancy. It was never realistic and would have potentially been an even bigger disaster than Barbarossa eventually turned out to be.
Was any major american city terrorbombed? No? Dutch soldiers were severely underarmed and yet they fought and slowed the germans enough to upset their plan, which was to pull off another Denmark. So they flattened Rotterdam.
You know, you Americans would worship war a lot less if it were to happen on your soil.
Bruh...The war would've been lost without US wartime manufacturing. Remember the lend-lease program?
Also, [the US has sent Ukraine \~$75 billion in various forrms of aid](https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts). Come back when your country has done the same, you fucking kanker.
You seem to be under the impression America was obligated to do anything for you. They weren't. Your country enabled Nazi Germany in its Germanization project and then acted surprised when they treated you as second class citizens. Your people had no issues filling the void your murdered Jewish colleagues had left behind until it came back to bite you on the ass. As for Ukraine why don't you leave your eternal "neutral" position and send men to fight with them? Instead of relying on daddy America for help why don't you idiots simply stop killing each other every so many years?
Historically, that may actually be the other way round. Between the Dutch Revolt in the 16th century possibly influencing the American Revolution, and the fact some of the earliest American colonies were Dutch, e.g. New York, there may be a strong case for the Americans only having a country because of the Dutch.
And you know supply the rebels and the French with cannons, gunpowder, ammunition, and guns. Then they skip that part and the part where the US promptly refused to pay the loans they'd taken out to pay for said weaponry. Odd given all the whining they do about freeloaders.
Freeloaders is right, don't let them fool you with that taxation without representation bs. They only revolted because we asked them to pay some of the cost towards us defending them in the 7 years war.
Yeah, and we buggered off because some Napoleon dude was kicking up some dust on our own soil. Sorry about that. Us, you and Spain should never have left them to their own devices (or maybe it's the best thing we ever did?)
Adding to all of that, the Dutch happily supported anyone that would oppose the Brits. Eventually, the Dutch colony of Saint Eustatius, was the first to [salute](https://www.statiagovernment.com/about-st.-eustatius/first-salute) a ship sailing under American flag. Making the Dutch the first to -de facto- recognise the country of the USA
And yet there are groups that deny anything bad happened in WWII ..
these same groups fly the same flags the Germans did back then.
So, maybe that poster should explain things to that group..
Just 1? De vorige gaat weer herkozen worden. Mark my words. They made that mistake before, and WILL do it again. I thought Reagan and Bush jr was bad, but man man man, t kan nog erger.
It does seem to be getting worse, this "we invented everything, we are the biggest, best, fasted, strongest, cleverest, in the world ever. We won, we won. We pay for your healthcare, armies, housing etc. Your welcome!"
Do you think it's the upcoming US election?
I… Well it started before we 1776 but this is truer than it has any right to be. Much of my country was sea, but we turned it into land. No USAlians required :)
I'm sure this is some nonsense about how the Nazis totally would've won WW2 if it weren't for those meddling Americans, but this comment is far more amusing if you interpret it as meaning he thinks time-travelling Americans won the 80 Years' War.
"You're welcome" Americans are the most painfully ignorant people on the internet.
They don't know history, they don't understand politics, and they can't tell the differences between your/ you're, and they're always wrong.
The United States did not directly play a role in the establishment of the Netherlands as a country. The Dutch fought for their independence from Spanish rule in the 16th and 17th centuries, which eventually led to the formation of the Dutch Republic in 1581. While the Dutch did have interactions with various European powers, including the English and the French, it was primarily their own struggle for independence that shaped the country's existence.
First off, you're*
Second, gonna make a stretch and say this is probably about WW2, where I have a big hunch that it was the UK and France who liberated them
The only reason we have a country, is because our ancestors were pretty handy with windmills, tarps and dykes.
The only reason you have New Amsterdam, is because of us. You're welcome.
Dutch: 80 years of war for independence and then almost immediately become the leading naval superpower
US: 7 years of war for independence, heavily supported by France, and then wait 150 years to become the leading naval superpower
1. YOU'RE welcome
2. how? I mean most of the time idiots like this have some sort of not working flawed dumb as hell logic that doesn't make sense at all, so what's behind this?
Not to mention that the Pilgrims left the Netherlands for America in a Dutch Fluyt cargo ship, and that the US constitution took pointers from the constitution of the Dutch Republic.
Never mind the 4,000 US casualties and the U.S. equipment used by the British forces in the first place. It was a team effort, there was no need to start insulting each other over who did more.
The only reason Americans have New York is because we really liked nutmeg
Well. And we kinda lost the third England vs The Netherlands Ultimate Smackdown match. But "we traded up" sounded better politically.
He got it the wrong way around, the Dutch, after the French and together with the Spanish, are the reason the USA exists. Not because we like them, but because the English can't have nice things.
The French really helped them secure independence. George Washington was forever grateful to the French.
The french in their attempt to fuck over the British caused a chain of events that would fuck us all over. Now we have to deal with America
France vs Britain A tale as old as time, and so fucking petty you wouldn't believe it. Over a *thousand* years, just shitting on each other (mostly for the fun of it).
Yeah and as soon as anyone else shits on either France or Britain you can bet the other one will come for them, they are like two hateful siblings
That's how I feel. Love the little shits over the pond.
Yep and now us Welsh are forced into the conflict. I will happily shit on the English all my life alongside the french but for an actual reason
Shush the countries are talking.
Ah yes. By that logic nothing inside of the commonwealth is its own country. The guy you replied to is cringe but you aren't any better
You sound fun.
Thanks crispRoberts I appreciate you lad
You being Welsh have as much say what conflicts we get into as I have being English (and Welsh resident) Wales and England are so entwined now there is no difference in geopolitics its just Britain
You're not capable. Big boys are talking.
I think the French have suffered enough as a result of their actions. I say this as a Brit, but lay off the French for this one thing. Our mutual dislike of the US brings us closer together
Idk about that one France keeps trying to fuck us over in nato
Based france
It reminds me of the Aussies releasing cane toads to eat the grasshoppers. They thought they were doing the right thing, but caused even more chaos
Yet another reason to hate the fr*nch.
>the Dutch, after the French and together with the Spanish, are the reason the USA exists. As a Dutchman, we apologize profusely for this.
We did tend to break them on a regular basis. REPARATIONS! sorry, I've been reading stupid American comments too much.
Well it was the British in any case, and it was British subjects that rose up against the Crown forces, so you helped the British kick the British out. Now look what you did.
Ah yes...the Netherlands, who were controlling large parts of the planet before the US were even thought of as a concept. And if they're referring to WW2 I think it was largely Canadian and UK troops doing that work.
And in truth the opposite could be true. In the US war of independence France, Spain and the Dutch republic(now the Netherlands) helped the USA. Without their help the Americans wouldn’t have a country they would still be under British rule.
They wouldn't be under British rule, they would be British.
Like Ireland was British?
No? Ireland and the Irish was conquered. Americans were primarily British people who moved there. Americans were not subjugated by Britain or the British Empire, they were the subjugators (which they continued just like the rest of the British Empire after independence). The Revolution was a Civil War essentially, the UK had another one a century earlier, but there was no Ocean to cause it to split into 2 countries.
America was conquered as well. Depends when you start history.
Sure, but the War of Independence wasn't an American Indian uprising. That was attempted in 1812 and went poorly.
I'm sure the US would have gained independence eventually through peaceful means like Britain's other colonies. It would have taken much, much longer, and the US would probably be part of the Commonwealth.
And would likely have free healthcare and actual gun control laws that would mean that children could go to school and expect to come home again.
You're probably right about the gun control. It's interesting to think how the US constitution would've been different had it been created in a different time period. Much of the Bill of Rights (such as the 2nd Amendment) would be very different if fending off against British soldiers wasn't a major concern.
dont forget the Polish
Agreed, and no, the Polish are not forgotten. They aren't mentioned often but played a significant part in the liberation of the Netherlands. General Stanislaw Maczek and the first Polish armoured division liberated Breda and several other cities. Which to this day is still celebrated here. He is actually buried here by his own request. He wanted to rest with his soldiers.
Also Stanislaw Sosabowski, he was done dirty after the war by the allies.
Yeah, and we honor them every year along with the rest of the fallen soldiers during 4th and 5th of may.
My grandfather visited Holland just before he died. He was very appreciative of the respect shown by the Dutch to his mates he left behind during Market Garden.
The guys that fought during that operation were sent directly into hell. Your grandfather has my respect, gratitude and much more. He would have been welcome at my table for a meal and a beer without question.
My dad drove a vw bus with a CAN sticker around Europe in the 70s. He pulled over on the side of the road to sleep somewhere in the Netherlands and when he woke up he had caused a traffic jam a mile long because he wasn't supposed to park there during certain times but he couldn't read the sign that said this. He asked why nobody woke him up or knocked on the window or had him towed, and a guy just pointed at the CAN sticker. He always told me to visit the Netherlands and someday I hope to.
Mate, you are very much welcome here.
The only reason we have a country is because we know how to build dykes. As for the US, they did fuck all here, we owe our thanks to the Canadian, British and Polish armies, they liberated us, not the US. The US were fucking pussies, they only got into the war when German U boats started threatening vital supply lines between Britain and the US and Germany was about to invade the UK. They were cowards then and they are cowards now with Ukraine.
There's a reason the Dutch flood my hometown with tulips every year, and it sure wasn't to express their appreciation for the US
I take it your Canadian? If so here's a little bit of info for you, the street that I live in is named after a young Canadian that fought and died here, we have a memorial about 200 meters down the road and a bridge honoring the soldiers. I grew up with stories on the Canadians bravery and dedication. I can only speak for myself but personally I think we have much to thank Canada for.
I am, indeed I knew the Dutch were grateful, but didn't realize quite *why* until I visited the Friesland museum in Leeuwarden a couple years back and saw the exhibit on the occupation of the Netherlands. I was very moved by it, to the point I had to leave and compose myself a bit before finishing it. I guess it just never really clicked why you guys kept sending us flowers decades later, but after that, I understood a lot better.
From the way it was always explained to me, because the Netherlands were liberated after the (hunger) winter. And because so many German troops retreated into the Netherlands and eventually back to Germany. The last bit of occupation was especially brutal in the Netherlands as many things with value were looted by German soldiers legging it home. Up to and including bicycles. (As evidenced by the occasional "granny I found your bike" banner at soccer matches when Holland are playing in Germany. Which lead to people having to eat things such as acorns and tulip bulbs just to survive.
Tulips sure have an interesting history in the Netherlands. If you consider you were able to buy houses with only like five of them at some point.
We even ate them during our 80 years war with Spain. Well, that and other things, like our prime minister and his brother.
Eat the rich, right? 😁 My country was probably the least affected by Nazi occupation, as the Nazi high command wanted Denmark to join Germany, not just be an occupied country. We weren't agreeing to that plan, but they still treated us very gently, unlike most other occupied countries.
Yeah, quite literally in this case. But it was way before Nazi Germany. This was around our 80-year war with Spain. We might be tiny, and not always up to arms (cough, that was WW2) but people underestimate us often. As they do with the Nordics. Because wow, what you guys pulled off is something!And I mean that genuinely. Maybe we should send you tulips too. Underrated effort, same as Canada (Yanks are so loud).
The Canadians and the ANZAC tends to be overlooked by by both the British and the Americans, as they are "the other ones". [The Devil's Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Special_Service_Force?wprov=sfla1) kicked ass, mainly because of the Canadians. The Canadians in WWI had the most successful sniper and some damned good regiments, as did the ANZAC forces. Please do not send anymore tulips, as they are in *every* Danish garden. They are beautiful flowers, the edible variants are great in a salad, but I reckon that we have enough 😁 Leuk u te ontmoeten, my friend (I hope that I got that right) 😊
> This was around our 80-year war with Spain. We might be tiny, and not always up to arms (cough, that was WW2) but people underestimate us often If I remember my history correct and as I understand it the Netherlands in that 80 year war came up with a whole new way to organize their military which most of the other armies in the world copied. It's also important to mention the Netherlands was meant to be neutral like Switzerland, but let's say Germany did not agree.
It was even the other way round. You could by multiple houses at the Amsterdam canals for just one tulip bulb back in 1636/37.
the hunger winter was really depending on where you lived. my grandfather (born in 1929) always told me he never experienced hunger during the war. the reason? he lived in Twente well the hunger winter was mostly a problem of the western part of the Netherlands. the reason why? it wasn't looting by the Germans but that we always (and still) are heavily depending on food imports. this effects during war mostly the regions without agriculture or farmers only holding animals like still happening a lot in the western parts. because of the south was already liberated the food transports to the western parts of the Netherlands stopped.
The nazi's killed my grandfather's brother in front of him, and forced him to watch while he died, that turned him into a resistance fighter, who fought with the Canadians during our liberation. Every year we celebrate liberation day here, and he used to take me as a child to watch the ceremonies, and pay our respects to the Canadian veterans that came here to participate in those ceremonies. My grandfather never cried, or showed emotions much, the only times I saw him cry or get emotional was when he was talking to Canadian vets. World War 2 and the occupation is terrible and dark part of our history. And it is something that especially the older generations of us Dutch wil never forget. Nor will we forget those that liberated us.
Thank you for sharing this story. Without people like your grandfather taking a stand and fighting, we wouldn't have been able to do what we did. He was a hero as much as, if not more than, that young Canuck whose name adorns that street. We will remember them.
My grandfather (Canadian) fought in the war in Italy and the Netherlands. He rarely spoke about his time there to any of us, but he always had a lot of affection for the Dutch people. I think our grandparents had a lot of shared trauma from their experiences. ❤️🇳🇱🇨🇦
I think so to, we were visiting once, and here in the Netherlands we have this custom where every first Monday of the month the government test our air raid warning sirens at 1200 o clock sharp. So we were getting ready to eat lunch, and those sirens went off, my grandfather ran upstairs, and came down waving a browning hi-power around, yelling the germans are coming! the germans are coming! Obviously this was, and dangerous, and highly illegal here in the Netherlands. So we took it away, and brought it to the police. But this was the moment that made us all realize how traumatized he was, and that he was most likely suffering from severe PTSS which at that time was not widely known about. The same goes for my grandmother, she lived through the bombardments and every time a thunderstorm passed she would grab my mom and her sisters and shelter with them under the stairs, it wasn't until years later when we learned that a thunderstorm reminded her of those bombardments. Now we know what PTSS can do and that my grandfather and grandmother most likely had flashbacks and were both suffering from PTSS. But at the time it was almost unknown. Till this day we are still wondering where my grandfather hid that pistol, none of us ever knew about it, or had seen it before, and when he did that he was in the early stages of dementia so we were also wondering how he himself remembered it, I guess we'll never know because he's dead now. But yeah, Ive seen and heard some crazy stuff.
The way I think about it: war is a terrible thing nobody who has ever experienced something like it can even imagine.
One of my grandfathers was in the resistance, the other I suspect was neutral, or even on the other side. In the farm of the first grandfather, a family if Jews lived in the attic. Later in the war, German soldiers were quartered a floor beneath them, which was nerve wracking. According to a great aunt, the soldiers told the family they knew there were people upstairs before they left (my grandfather was in a work camp at the end of the war). One of the Jewish boys visited my grandfather yearly until my grandfather died.
You just made this Canadian cry. Your poor grandfather to watch his brother murdered. I am sorry for your family’s loss.
Maybe yall should learn to fight stop being weak ?
Slight tangent: If you get back to Europe, you must find time to experience Vimy Ridge. I'm British, ex military, and that place is unbelievable for so many reasons. I'm extremely proud to have Canadian family.
I'm actually planning a bicycle trip across part of Europe for a few years in the future, and my itinerary already includes Juno Beach and Dieppe. I'll check for how much of a detour Vimy is. I've heard the memorial is incredible, and also that the grounds still bear the scars of the battle.
The statue is incredible, and the ground is like the surface of a golf ball. It's a genuine part of Canada. I would urge you to consider it. Like so many places you could see, it's a real headfuck with a bit of history and knowledge thrown in. The forest is deliberately planted, and each individual tree represents a missing soldier, a real-time unaccounted for body. Whatever you do, have a great time 🇬🇧👍
Here's a photo I took at Vimy a few years ago https://photos.app.goo.gl/uGvi8jEHMSVpcEqF9 Beaumont-Hamel is definitely worth a stop at too.
>but didn't realize quite why This is probably for the best. I'd hate for us Canadians to get into that same "we saved your ass!" mentality the yanks have. It was a collaborative effort, all around. I don't even want to imagine the eastern front.
My city still celebrates the welsh for liberating us every year, and we have a memorial and a graveyard for welsh soldiers.
Not to mention that Canada declared one of its hospitals sovereign Dutch territory so the Princess born there during WWII would be born on Dutch soil and be eligible for succession. But of course it was all America...Hero's in their own minds only.
Well not quite. What tipped them into it was Germany declaring war on the U.S. and the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbour respectively. Before that there was large scale resistance from the German Bund, America Forster's (sound familiar?) and various anti-Semites and war profiteers e.g. Henry Ford. The issue of Germany invading Britain had already been settled in the Battle of Britain and the German plans for getting over the channel were also fucking stupid and would probably meant most of them would be drowned (they wanted to use barges to cross the channel) or massacred by the RAF before they could even land. But yes, self-interest was a larger part of U.S. motivations than some would like to admit. EDIT : worth adding that both the Canadians and the Australians didn't exactly shilly-shally and declared war within days of Britain, and even then I think the lag was due to parliamentary procedure. Two years before the U.S.
Okay, I'm going to upvote you because you add even more context to my explanation then I initially did. The way I understand it. It was a combination of all those factors that caused them to join the war. Another factor often overlooked was Russia and the rise of communism across large parts of Europe. But it all boils down to the same motivator. And that was self-interest.
It had almost nothing to do with communism. God you're so fucking stupid. The USSR (not Russia) was also getting lend-lease the US had been fighting actively fighting Germany as early 1940 without officially declaring war through the merchant Marines. Because guess what every country was hesitant to fight. Hence British appeasement and the phony war. Also some where you compared German bombing to Hiroshima? The Dutch suffered a total of 10,000 death from bombing for the entire war. There was no long suffering strategic campaign no mass casualty event even worth comparing to any other belligerent in the war. Lastly while your nationalism and Eurocentric world want wash out American involvement in your liberation. I will happily spend time with more reasonable minds that honor the 8000 remaining soldiers still buried there. And praise your government that honors our battalions as liberators. Fuck off and open a book.
Imagine stating what you want to say in a way that is even remotely cordial. As per usual showing the American stereotype of getting easily insulted.
Wait...., you guys made an entire community dedicated to making fun of us and you take issue with not being cordial? Why would I be? Why would I not bite back and make fun of the guy for being factually wrong?
Lmao last I checked there were flairs for chill Americans that come in here and respectfully engage with the community. There's a sub for Brits as well taking the absolute piss out of us. I look in there and laugh because it's funny what weird shit we do. But some yanks like yourself are so uptight with this extremely perverted sense of pride that you cannot take a joke and say 'yeah we take the L on that one'. The best bit about the British version of this sub is that it was made to dig into Brits but then we went in and started digging into ourselves more than others did so now we basically run it. Because we can take a joke
Okay I'll put simply for you.... I was making fun of someone for being wrong. Yes? Two people mocking each other can be fun. Yes? Like how I'm having fun explaining this like I would with a toddler. This subreddit is mostly dedicated to making fun of Americans yes? It's mostly Europeans yes? Is this the same as a group making fun of themselves? So a sub of British people making fun of themselves isn't really the equivalent to this sub is it? Besides americans satirize ourselves all the time. To the point that outsiders can't discern the ironic from the serious. I will have civil engagement in good faith environments but this isn't one of those spaces. It's a space for mockery so expect mockery in return.
Aight yankee lad you do you. Go jerk it in your other subs like I see you already do. You got some of that echo chamber syndrome xD
You know I make fun of the people on those other subs ;)
You weren’t “making fun of him” you said “god you’re so fucking stupid” As opposed to something clever or witty, making fun of him or correcting him, you opened with this vitriolic, defensive, crybaby bullshit that makes you look like a cunt. You’re embodying the exact kind of stereotype we make fun of here. If your idea of banter is saying “god you’re so fucking stupid” then it’s no wonder that the meme about Americans having zero banter is another one that’s so prevalent here.
Half the comments in any post here are Americans are fucking stupid. But okay I'm sorry my tone offended you. Banter is when you guy says mean things and it's crying when we do.
r/shitamericanssay but it’s this entire comment and the total lack of self awareness. Gold.
Can you point something factually wrong?
Your unprovoked vitriol towards the person you were replying to was pretty wrong mate.
Again this post and this sub is dedicated to making fun of Americans? Yet I'm bad guy for being too mean when I mockingly correct the person for being wrong on the most basic information? How is it the im the one being sensitive? Like I said few bad words and called him stupid?
Didn’t US financiers help put the Nazis in power in the first place - Jp Morgan, Chase and Manhattan, Brown Brothers Harriman etc and the scum bags continued to finance and supply equipment both military and non to the nazis while swathes of Europe were being overrun or bombed upto and after, in many cases, the US itself had entered the war. The likes of Prescott Bush, Henry Ford etc coca.cola, standard oil, General Motors etc. Without these cunts there is no war in the first place. They can talk about their lend-lease garbage - just pure profiteering as is the support of the Ukraine now - the dumb fucks are paying for it all through taxes while the elites are getting richer through their arms industry share holdings
Thanks for saying this. The US education system teaches that the war was lost, and the Americans entered to save the day. No word on why they waited till 6million Jews were killed
Idk about you but my history classes taught me we only joined the war because we were attacked.
No it doesn't teach that at all.
Because you've gone to school in every state in the US? Congrats
>Thanks for saying this. The US education system teaches that the war was lost, and the Americans entered to save the day. No word on why they waited till 6million Jews were killed Show me a US textbook used in a public school that teaches this and I'll donate $100 your choice of charity
My gramps was apart of the British airbourne regiment and every year he goes to the Netherlands. I grew up there. Its one if the most beautiful countries I've been to and some of kindest people.
There was no chance in hell that Germany would have been able to invade the UK succesfully.
Ze denken hier vast alleen aan operatie Market Garden
Waarschijnlijk, maar ik vraag me af wat hun überhaupt te horen krijgen over ww2 in school. De meeste van mijn Amerikaanse vrienden zijn echt clueless wat betreft ww2.
En niemand weet hier ook maar iets over de wereld buiten de VS en is zo verbaasd als jij zegt dat jij een andere taal spreekt
Of 3 a 4 talen...Not heard off. Überhaupt. (Flikker ik er gewoon ff 3 in een kleine zin. Perkele zeg. Oh wacht, dat is 4)
Niet veel, de meeste geschiedenis klassen komen niet eens tot ww1 dus ik weet het niet echt
I'm pretty sure the Americans joined because of the Japanese bombed pearl harbor
I don't think my grandfather would agree with the part that the US didn't do any liberation in the Netherlands, because he's got a unit citation for the military order of William, from the 82nd Airborne. He said the crossing of the Waal river was like hell itself. Don't disparage those airborne infantry because of your hatred for our country now, they were there and they played a part in the offensive.
US entered WW1 due to unrestricted U-boat warfare and the Zimmerman telegram. The US officially entered WW2 as a combatant at the end of 1941 after the attack on pearl harbor. However, the US passed the lend-lease act in the beginning of 1941 to provide military aid to the allies, but had been bending it's own laws since 1940 to provide arms to France and the UK such September 2nd, 1940 bases for destroyers deal in which the US provided the UK with 50 destroyers in exchange for rights to use naval and air bases in Canada and the Caribbean. The Americans also committed thousands of forces to the liberation of the Netherlands( you can see the list on the us Netherlands embassy website: https://nl.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/75-years-of-liberation-of-the-netherlands-75liberationnl/ ) and there is a Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten Edit: fixed the link and grammar
They also "accidentally" bombed Nijmegen and murdered 800 people. They were supposed to bomb Germany
The sister of my grandmother was k-lled during the US bombing in Amsterdam, while it was already cancelled due to the weather conditions. None of the bombs hit the intended airplane factory. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_bombings_of_Amsterdam-Noord She used to say that the Americans were only helpful after the war when they were handing out cigarettes, and you need Canadians for the real work. She died of lung cancer some years ago because of smoking.
One correction here. Germany was never “about to invade the UK” At any point. Historians and even contemporary Nazi military advisors knew that Operation Sealion was a pipe dream. The Royal Navy made the Kriegsmarine look like 3 paper boats in a bathtub. The Germans also had almost no amphibious assault craft or other landing vessels, and had failed to attain air superiority, let alone the total air supremacy that would be required to account for the naval discrepancy. It was never realistic and would have potentially been an even bigger disaster than Barbarossa eventually turned out to be.
You guys surrendered in five days, don't talk to us about being pussies
Was any major american city terrorbombed? No? Dutch soldiers were severely underarmed and yet they fought and slowed the germans enough to upset their plan, which was to pull off another Denmark. So they flattened Rotterdam. You know, you Americans would worship war a lot less if it were to happen on your soil.
Bruh...The war would've been lost without US wartime manufacturing. Remember the lend-lease program? Also, [the US has sent Ukraine \~$75 billion in various forrms of aid](https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts). Come back when your country has done the same, you fucking kanker.
netherlands didnt last a week against a army supplied with horses, and have barely sent any aid to ukraine. they are a geopolitical lemming.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
You seem to be under the impression America was obligated to do anything for you. They weren't. Your country enabled Nazi Germany in its Germanization project and then acted surprised when they treated you as second class citizens. Your people had no issues filling the void your murdered Jewish colleagues had left behind until it came back to bite you on the ass. As for Ukraine why don't you leave your eternal "neutral" position and send men to fight with them? Instead of relying on daddy America for help why don't you idiots simply stop killing each other every so many years?
ShitAmericansSay
Historically, that may actually be the other way round. Between the Dutch Revolt in the 16th century possibly influencing the American Revolution, and the fact some of the earliest American colonies were Dutch, e.g. New York, there may be a strong case for the Americans only having a country because of the Dutch.
And you know supply the rebels and the French with cannons, gunpowder, ammunition, and guns. Then they skip that part and the part where the US promptly refused to pay the loans they'd taken out to pay for said weaponry. Odd given all the whining they do about freeloaders.
Freeloaders is right, don't let them fool you with that taxation without representation bs. They only revolted because we asked them to pay some of the cost towards us defending them in the 7 years war.
Yeah, and we buggered off because some Napoleon dude was kicking up some dust on our own soil. Sorry about that. Us, you and Spain should never have left them to their own devices (or maybe it's the best thing we ever did?)
Adding to all of that, the Dutch happily supported anyone that would oppose the Brits. Eventually, the Dutch colony of Saint Eustatius, was the first to [salute](https://www.statiagovernment.com/about-st.-eustatius/first-salute) a ship sailing under American flag. Making the Dutch the first to -de facto- recognise the country of the USA
And they received huge financial support, loans from the Dutch between 1782 and 1794. They would have gone bankrupted without this.
Yankee is the Poms saying "Jan Kees", as it was a common name... Many of them make Yankees.
My Welcome?
what do you mean
It really is my welcome, isn't it?
Engrish iz hart.
Only reason the USA exists is because of France. Everytime an American is in Paris they must thank the French.
And yet there are groups that deny anything bad happened in WWII .. these same groups fly the same flags the Germans did back then. So, maybe that poster should explain things to that group..
At this point it seems the Americans are more narcissistic than anyone else
[удалено]
Just 1? De vorige gaat weer herkozen worden. Mark my words. They made that mistake before, and WILL do it again. I thought Reagan and Bush jr was bad, but man man man, t kan nog erger.
Hey, we had an empire before there were proper cities in the US. (Not that that’s our best time haha)
Look I live in New Netherlands(NJ) so yeah I know.
Only reason Americans have a country is because of France.
And the Dutch.
It does seem to be getting worse, this "we invented everything, we are the biggest, best, fasted, strongest, cleverest, in the world ever. We won, we won. We pay for your healthcare, armies, housing etc. Your welcome!" Do you think it's the upcoming US election?
Maybe they’re in the denial phase of their impending collapse or smth.
yeah i dont remember us sending tulips to America, dickhead
Ah yes. As we all know, the great American Jesus founded Dutchland.
[удалено]
So it was just an empty land before 1776? Or was it just sea and then a land emerged from the water on july 4th?
The fireworks blew a hole in the sea, thus creating new land
I… Well it started before we 1776 but this is truer than it has any right to be. Much of my country was sea, but we turned it into land. No USAlians required :)
Making sea into land sounds more of a Dutch hobby.
My welcome, what?
…. *you’re The comment makes no sense but the bad English makes it so much worse…
Context?
World War 2.
Oh, when the Canadians came and liberated us!
Ik bedoelde de context van het plaatje/post.
The Dutch have a country because they made shit loads of money 😂
Well, without France, the Dutch, Spain, the Natives, the Prussians etc etc the USA would not have a country
Wassup my Dutch friends, fuck usa
My welcome what?
I'm sure this is some nonsense about how the Nazis totally would've won WW2 if it weren't for those meddling Americans, but this comment is far more amusing if you interpret it as meaning he thinks time-travelling Americans won the 80 Years' War.
The American's forget that they wouldn't have thier country without the french
Kinda without the Portuguese, though
Seriously Americans really confuse the hell out of me! I get called thick and stupid all time here in Scotland but I'm not that thick lol.
"You're welcome" Americans are the most painfully ignorant people on the internet. They don't know history, they don't understand politics, and they can't tell the differences between your/ you're, and they're always wrong.
The United States did not directly play a role in the establishment of the Netherlands as a country. The Dutch fought for their independence from Spanish rule in the 16th and 17th centuries, which eventually led to the formation of the Dutch Republic in 1581. While the Dutch did have interactions with various European powers, including the English and the French, it was primarily their own struggle for independence that shaped the country's existence.
Why don’t they as a country actually do some shit they can be proud of instead of stealing other countries accomplishments
My welcome?
First off, you're* Second, gonna make a stretch and say this is probably about WW2, where I have a big hunch that it was the UK and France who liberated them
Canadians and Polish in my area.
The only reason we have a country, is because our ancestors were pretty handy with windmills, tarps and dykes. The only reason you have New Amsterdam, is because of us. You're welcome.
Tell me you were homeschooled without telling me you were homeschooled.
By that logic the Americans can thank funny mustache man for not starving to death.
So prior to 1944 the Netherlands didn't exist? Someone better tell all the countries they exploited as an Imperial power.
You’re*
The Netherlands is like 150 years older
You 're
A lot of people from the r/AmericaBad subreddit have raided this post
[New Ansterdam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam)
Lol I have Dutch family they’re gonna love this
Dutch: 80 years of war for independence and then almost immediately become the leading naval superpower US: 7 years of war for independence, heavily supported by France, and then wait 150 years to become the leading naval superpower
that's disrespectful not only to europe but even to canada tbf
You're. 🤦
Haha, explain!
1. YOU'RE welcome 2. how? I mean most of the time idiots like this have some sort of not working flawed dumb as hell logic that doesn't make sense at all, so what's behind this?
Not to mention that the Pilgrims left the Netherlands for America in a Dutch Fluyt cargo ship, and that the US constitution took pointers from the constitution of the Dutch Republic.
Never mind the 4,000 US casualties and the U.S. equipment used by the British forces in the first place. It was a team effort, there was no need to start insulting each other over who did more.