Well that's a disturbing notion.
There are theories out there that we lost the revolutionary war. After all we did have to pay restitution to the king of England.
Unrelated, but your post reminded me of the "Japan Divine Victory" theory. That Japan surrendered and did "lose" the war per se, but actually won because we completely rebuilt it into a first world nation that has enjoyed success on a scale that almost no other nation ever has in such a short amount of time.
(post is archived)