People in Britain, America and Russia all greatly overestimate their country’s contribution to defeating Adolf Hitler, according to new research.
A survey found people from each country think it was responsible for contributing more than half to the victory – the UK (51%), the US (54%) and Russia (75%).
Experts say that this is vastly more than the proportion of credit afforded to them by the rest of the world in a phenomenon dubbed ‘national narcissism.’
For the UK, the average plunges to 19 per cent in the eyes of those from seven other Allied countries – and Germany, Italy and Japan who fought against them.
For Russia it crashes to 20 per cent while America enjoys a 27 per cent share of the credit US – still way below the country’s own self-belief in victory.
Popular culture may go some way to explaining this disparity in the West, experts suggest, by skewing the view of each nation’s role.
People in Britain, America and Russia all greatly overestimate their country’s contribution to defeating Adolf Hitler, according to new research. Pictured: US troops unload vehicles and supplies at the Allied beachhead the wake of the D-Day invasion in 1944
The estimated number of military deaths suffered by Russia was 9,750,000 – compared to 383,600 and 416,800 for the UK and US respectively. Pictured: Red Army troops storming an apartment block amidst the ruins of war-torn Stalingrad in 1941
The findings are based on responses from 1,338 people aged 18 or over from the 11 countries.
Over 100 participants from each were questioned by experts from Washington University in St. Louis.
The estimated number of military deaths suffered by Russia was 9,750,000 – compared to 383,600 and 416,800 for the UK and US respectively.
‘If deaths in the war are considered a proxy of a nation’s contributions, the Soviet Union did carry much of the burden,’ said lead author Professor Henry Roediger III, a psychologist at the university.
‘Of course, there can be no fully accurate, objective estimate as to percentage of responsibility of national efforts in WWII, but a proxy measure that can inform the discussion is the number of military casualties.
‘However, people in the other 10 countries seemed to minimise Soviet contributions relative to American contributions.’
American movies, TV shows and novels place much less emphasis on the Eastern front in Europe than on the Western front and the war in the Pacific, researchers noted.
Most Americans would probably be surprised the Soviet Union had almost two-and-a-half times the number of soldiers killed in the Battle of Stalingrad – around 1,100,000 – than the US did in the entire war.
However, this does not explain Russia’s high rate of self-belief, which may simply be due to how history is taught in the country.
Popular culture may go some way to explaining this disparity in the West, experts suggest, by skewing the view of each nation’s role. Pictured: Tom Hanks and troops in Saving Private Ryan, set during the invasion of Normandy
American movies, TV shows and novels place much less emphasis on the Eastern front in Europe than on the Western front and the war in the Pacific, researchers noted. Pictured: Allied troops land in Normandy in Saving Private Ryan
However, this does not explain Russia’s high rate of self-belief, which may simply be due to how history is taught in the country. Pictured: Troops take cover in Saving Private Ryan
The research team, which included colleagues in Germany, Italy and Japan, said national narcissism was identified in a previous study asking people to estimate their countries contribution to world history.
This national narcissism means ethnic groups view themselves in a superior light to others, researchers say,
As in the estimates of responsibility of World War II, there was ‘great over-claiming’ with the highest again from the Russians (61 per cent) – followed by the UK (55 percent).
It was noteable the figures from Russia and the UK were ‘particularly high,’ said Prof Roediger.
The survey found people from each country think it was responsible for contributing more than half to the victory – the UK (51%), the US (54%) and Russia (75%). Pictured: Build-up of Allied forces landing at Omaha Beach, Normandy, in 1944
For the UK, the average plunges to 19 per cent in the eyes of those from seven other Allied countries – and Germany, Italy and Japan who fought against them. Pictured: German tanks and infantry attack Soviet positions on the Eastern Front, circa 1941.
For Russia it crashes to 20 per cent while America enjoys a 27 per cent share of the credit US – still way below the country’s own self-belief in victory. Pictured: American servicemen drive in jeeps through an unidentified and nearly completely destroyed town, Italy, May 1944
Professor Roediger added: ‘The perception of people in other countries tends to match that of people in the US in assigning somewhat greater responsibility for victory in WWII to the United States.
‘We have referred to the overestimation of the contribution of one’s nation to the war effort as “national narcissism”.
‘Narcissism is a term used to describe a personality disorder in individual psychology and attributing labels used for individuals to groups can be a fraught enterprise.
‘Nonetheless, we feel the term is warranted. Narcissism carries both the positive aspects of glorifying one’s self or one’s group and also the dark overtones of one’s group or nation imposing its values and traditions on others, often through conquest and force.
‘Certainly, that was the case for both Germany and Japan in World War II and it is a common theme in history.’
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.