Few felt intimidated by them or even that they were morally bad in the West, though, which is what “convenient bully” conveys. Their military (mis)adventures targeted small, distant countries and usually came with a nice story that made it seem acceptable. They didn’t go comletely alone into any of them, but then again lots of nations sat out Vietnam and Iraq II without consequence.
They only joined WW2 when the Nazis where pretty much defeated by the rest of the allies and success was guaranteed. Only to invent themselves as the sole winner of the war.
Well, actually they started by flooding the USSR with free lend-lease stuff. The Soviet frontline that actually did the heavy lifting was quite typically supplied with Ford trucks.
Few felt intimidated by them or even that they were morally bad in the West, though, which is what “convenient bully” conveys. Their military (mis)adventures targeted small, distant countries and usually came with a nice story that made it seem acceptable. They didn’t go comletely alone into any of them, but then again lots of nations sat out Vietnam and Iraq II without consequence.
Well, actually they started by flooding the USSR with free lend-lease stuff. The Soviet frontline that actually did the heavy lifting was quite typically supplied with Ford trucks.