Comments by "Regis" (@Timbo5000) on "Did the Soviet Union EVER Recover from WW2?" video.

So with half the population they tried to equal the US defence spending. Noice.
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@WilliamJones-Halibut-vq1fs The US wouldn't even be the main superpower today if WW2 hadn't happened. I don't think you understand the ridiculous amount of wealth and power that the US accumulated during WW2 and to what degree Europe was destroyed. In 1939 Western Europe was twice as rich as the US, all of Europe almost 4 times. After the world wars destroyed us, with the EU we tried to regain some of that vigour. In the early 2000's we were finally richer than the US again, then with the 2008 crisis which hit us harder we are now a bit poorer but overall about as rich as the US. So we went from twice as rich as the US and the main global superpowers down to about as rich as the US and an ally of your superpower status. In 1939 we were twice as rich (just Western Europe). By 1960 the current EU countries (Western Europe + some Eastern European countries) had a GDP of 359 billion and the US 543 billion. The second world war absolutely destroyed European supremacy and significantly boosted the US. Without WW2 we'd probably still be twice as rich as you, if not more because of added benefits of being the most powerful region in the world.
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@dennisweidner288 The EU spent considerably more on Eastern Europe alone than the entire Marshall plan. Adjusted for inflation. The Marshall plan was important, but don't overstate its importance either. And from what I recall, proportionally by far the most went to the UK as well.
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