War! Huh! What is it good for

Remember how I said the Korean war really only took 6 months.   Well it was 6 months of action then it settled into a stalemate for years.

WWII also only took about 6 months.  Well, for us.  It was a much longer thing from when they got involved before Britain turned the corner.  But for us, we got bombed in December, bombed Tokyo, lost the Philippines,  but then crippled the Japanese Navy by June.   The war was all over but the shouting by then.

Sure it was years of slog, but it was a fait accompli after Midway.  The decision was made and it was only going to go one way six months in for us.   At 10:24 on the 3rd of June 1942 the Japanese were winning the war.  Six minutes later they were on their back foot and losing with 3 carriers burning.

May-ish 1942 the Battle of the Atlantic turned and Stalingrad started happening soon after.  And that was that.  Half a year.  The enemy would never really regain the initiative.

WWI was different.  There was action for a just month, then an absolutely monstrous stalemate for years, but no real decision to be such.  In Korea it felt like the stalemate was the preference, "let's just stand pat and eventually end this damn thing."  In the Great War all sides were for a long time looking for some way to change the momentum and get something dynamic going to end the horror, but no one really knew how.  Attrition strategies are less than ideal even for the winning side.