If Americans spoke German instead of English, would the UK have still been the USA's poodle historically?

[Hannah Graham]

'poodle'/ 'special relationship' - call it what you will.
thanks x
im referring to post WWII history

[my lil collie]

america wouldnt have joined the war even if they allied with germany, they might have done a lend/lease with the axis instead.
but once america seen what the germans were doing in the camps they would have joined the war on the allies side.
either way russia would still have been invaded and germany would still fall.
my opinion.

[robert x]

No

[sgatlantisrose]

assuming the form of governments were the same, I don't think the language switch would have significantly changed the situation. It's not just our historical ties to England, but the fact we share both major political traditions and a symbiotic economic relationship that keep our countries tied together. Besides, English is much more of a Germanic language than a Romance one, despite the heavy borrowing from ancient Greek and Latin words and bases.

[Patrick]

I think it's less of a question of special relationship, more a question of political ideology, the axis and soviet russia had extreme politics, whereas America and the British had liberal ideologies, i think thats why the relationship developed, not similar cultures, but similar political and economic ideologies enshrined in capitalism, liberalism and democracy and a laissez faire market, America in the early 30s up to the 40's could of very easily swung to the left or the right, Hence Herbert Hoovers fears over Franklin delano roosevelts social policies, whereas with Herbert Hoover there was fears over police repression of protest but both managed to stick to the core principles of democracy, just like Britain did, the languages did help with communication, specially after WW2 with Raegan and Thatcher apparently having direct phone links to each other to discuss policy. But during WW2 not so much, vested interests were in place and US hegemony was not yet in place

[Will Nickel]

Did you realize that English is actually a Germanic and not a Romance tongue?

[mushroom_mutt]

If only the language was different, then yes.
The whole world is our "poodle", and it has nothing to do with our language.

We have the guns, we have the money, and we have the driving arrogance to use them.
And you love it. You need it. You couldn't survive without it.

[Sarah]

Both are Germanic languages. The US is a consequence of the UK, therefore not its 'poodle'. The 'special relationship' were 80s buzz words and did not exist before or after this decade.