In Post 411
Iron Duck correctly traced the development of aircraft building as related to commercial aviation in the aftermath of WW2. But I cannot let the bolded quote below stand unchallenged! The poster strays from aviation into global politics and the prejudices become apparent.
And was there ever going to be a 1000+ market for it in the post-war Marshall Plan world, in which the USA was making quite sure that Britain took its post-imperial "rightful place" in the global power structure? The USA's entry into WW2 was its bid for global domination. The Marshall Plan was the outcome. The USA always plays to win.
I was a teenager and keen student of current events when WW2 broke out in Europe. Being from an extremely anglophile family, we followed the radio broadcasts from London during the Blitz as if it were happening in New York. There is no question that Roosevelt wanted to do more than Lend-Lease to assist Britain, but we were in no way prepared to go to war, either mentally nor materially. The ‘isolationists’ were in the majority and believed the two oceans, and Naval forces to match, was our security. It was only 22 years since we had ‘voluntarily’ joined the “war to end all wars”.
Had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Harbor and Hitler not declared war on us, I honestly believe all Europeans would have been learning Deutsch. Churchill was right in his acknowledged relief that he was then sure Britain would survive.
The statement,
“The USA's entry into WW2 was its bid for global domination” is ludicrous. I’m not sure what the poster meant by the word “bid”, which is a voluntary act or an “attempt”. We entered WW2 involuntarily and the fact that we came out of it ‘globally dominant’ was due to the USA not being the scene of the battle. We were a country that had taxed and given of ourselves for what was required to win against two enemies across two oceans. But we were spared the destruction.
Again we asked nothing but the European land to bury our dead. But we stayed in Europe as part of the occupying forces and even to help rebuild the defeated enemy under the Marshall Plan.
Yes, the USA always “plays to win”. So tell me, what country doesn’t?