Axis Powers Dbq

The Axis Powers; Rise and Consequences

The Axis Powers, initially consisting of Germany and Italy, were the major aggressors in World War II. This pact later included Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Finland, Yugoslavia, Independent State of Croatia and Croatia, with Japan emerging as another major aggressor (Source 1). The alliance between Japan, Germany and Italy was known as the Tripartite Pact, also known as “the Axis alliance” (Source 1). In all, the Axis Powers killed millions and committed countless atrocities. What was their motivation? What did they desire? The answer is intriguing, and surprisingly subtle. All three countries had different motives, but it was their underlying distaste for current social order that brought

The irony is that Italy and Japan both won WWI (Source 5). The way the countries were treated after the War is another major reason why World War II (WWII) started. In Germany, life was much worse before WWII than before the first World War. Germany had to pay $800 billion in war reparations, (which it didn’t have) their military had to be reduced to just 100,000 men, they had to give up territory, and couldn’t have an air force. According to Source 7, ”Germany had been on the losers’ side, and they got absolutely wrecked by The Treaty of Versailles. They lost territory, had to demilitarise the Rhineland, had to reduce their army to just 100,000 men, couldn’t have an airforce, had to pay the Allies a huge amount of money that it didn’t have, [...] On top of that, a bad economy and weak governments meant that when a small, angry man with a silly moustache came along and said that he could fix everything, the German people loved it. (3:21-3:52) What crippled Germany the most was its economic debt and weak government. To pay for the debt, the government printed more money, which didn’t help pay off the debt. What it did was cause prices to skyrocket, due to more German currency being worth less. In 1919, 1 United States Dollar (USD) was worth 48 German notes. By 1923, 1 USD was worth 4,210,500,000,000 German notes. Just like Italy, it wasn’t very hard for

Holocaust Memorial Museum is because of how easily democracy can fail and its seemingly endless consequences. Seen before with the rise of the Soviet Union near the end of the first World War, Germany and Italy had democratically elected leaders, Hitler and Mussolini, turn on their countries and start to wipe out any “inferior races” in their increasingly imperialist homelands. This included, but was not limited to, Jewish people, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ members. In WWII, despite in previous wars the line between “Good Guy” and “Bad Guy” were reasonably blurred, the Axis Power’s ethnic cleansing and other clear war crimes allowed them to be easily distinguishable as the “Bad Guys.” There are no justifications for the war crimes Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperialist Japan have committed. Historians debate time and time again how preventable the Second World War really was, but no matter the debate, the end result is always the same; 50 to 80 million victims no longer walk the Earth. What could have been the next Nobel Prize winner or the discoverer of the cure for cancer, none mattered. As seen prior, the atrocities committed by Germany, Italy, and Japan were due to the state of Europe. Thus theorizing what would be if Hitler would be put down as a child is ineffective; someone rising up to establish order in Germany, Italy, and failing states in Europe was