Before the landing of U.S. troops on European soil, most European's views on Americans were solely based off of movies, or international news. Many simply did not know what to expect of the Americans. Kenneth Pullen, who was 14-years-old when the U.S. troops entered London was surprised, as nobody had known "what an American looked like face to face." To put it simply, he thought that Americans were tall, immaculately dressed, like mobsters, or cowboys shooting Indians. Take Britain, for example, where American troops first arrived on British shores in 1942. In general, the British reported the G.I.s being very generous, and as when compared to their British counterparts, they earned just over five times more money. They were seen to possess a "proneness to spoil a girl." This also factored into their allure towards British women, as by the end of the war, roughly 70,000 British women became the brides of G.I.s.
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| G.I.s playing with children |
Even from the viewpoint of civilians within the Axis powers, many respectful gestures, and statements about the American way were made. I have a personal anecdote, from my grandfather who was around 5 at the time, when American forces passed through his town, in Germany. His mother had told him to stay away from the windows, as they did not know what to expect with the G.I.s. Despite this, however, he did end up meeting them. Upon first interaction, face-to-face, he said that the Americans were very generous and friendly, he even received an orange, which was the first time he ever tried one, as well as some chocolate. This goes to show how the American way of flaunting off resources and demonstrating generosity truly shaped their image for Europeans.
This also had an influential effect on shaping how the younger emerging generations would learn to view Americans in the future. British children, at the time, just like my grandpa, would gather around the G.I.s, hoping to receive goodies, like gum or Coca-Cola. This planted a seed, so to speak, of how the Europeans would view Americans as a whole for the coming future. Among many other things brought over to Europe, such as culture and music, the influx of G.I.s injected more money into the economies, such as Britain, which brought forth a sense of relief at the time. As a result, this, alongside their war efforts in helping the Allies to secure victory, forever altered the European view on Americans.
Sources:
"Anecdote from my Grandpa"
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20160819
https://www.quora.com/What-did-Germans-think-of-US-soldiers-in-WW2
I thought this was a really interesting post and I really liked how you incorporated details from your own life. However, the term "G.I." was often used sarcastically among American soldiers because many saw themselves as mere mass produced products of the government. I think it is interesting to see how this title was often interpreted differently between Europe and America, even though it is now used approvingly.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/news/why-are-american-soldiers-called-gis
I really enjoyed how you connected your article to your grandpa's experience. One thing commonly forgotten with the British and American GI relations are the mixed race children that came from this. While white Americans were having children with British women, African American soldier were also ding the same. Due to the restrictions of marriage for Black GI's , they weren't able to marry their British, and often pregnant, girlfriends. Because of this, some of the children were put up for adoption and never were able to meet their real parents.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2019/06/05/europe/gi-babies-britain-dday-gbr-intl/index.html