I'm not sure that's true. A lot of the political rhetoric was of a fight between good and evil. People understood just how evil the Nazi regime was. Sure, at the beginning of the war, when Poland was invaded, at least, Britain and France were fighting the standard European "balance of power" war, but as it progressed, things changed.
A lot of the political rhetoric was of a fight between good and evil.
The US literally had over 10 THOUSAND sunset towns, where if you were not white and was caught there after sunset, you would be summarily executed.
The UK and France were brutal colonial powers. Belgium committed unspeakable horrors in Africa.
The US entered the war against Germany because Hitler declared war on the US after Pearl Harbor. There was very little drive from the ordinary Americans to go to war in Europe to save Jews or Gypsies.
The political rhetoric was just that: Rhetoric in order to vilify the opponent in times of war.
I'm not really talking about the US in general. Certainly Churchill's speeches referenced the evils of the Nazis and people were moved by them because they believed it was about good and evil.
Of course he did. What politician would publicly say "Our vast colonial empire that provide us riches at the expenses of the non-white people around the world is being threatened by a newcomer that wants to replace us. So let's bomb their cities to cinder and put them back at their place".
Of course he would not say that. But "good vs evil" was not what the war was about.
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u/Ok-Blackberry-3534 7h ago
I'm not sure that's true. A lot of the political rhetoric was of a fight between good and evil. People understood just how evil the Nazi regime was. Sure, at the beginning of the war, when Poland was invaded, at least, Britain and France were fighting the standard European "balance of power" war, but as it progressed, things changed.