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The first world war
Hitler’s aims and actions in Europe
World War 1 and 2
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The end of World War I left significant aftermath which resulted in the horrific events that lead up to World War II. (Fischer). In particular, the Treaty of Versailles which was signed at the end of World War I and outliend the rules that Germany must follow due to their defeat by France and Britain. (Thurston). The results of this treaty angered many Germans because of the unfair guidelines, and this ultimately lead to the rise of Adolf Hiter (BBC). Hitler famously remarked, “"...the existence and increase of our race and nation, the sustenance of its children and the purity of its blood, the freedom and independence of the Fatherland, and the nation's ability to fulfill the mission appointed to it by the Creator of the universe."A clear emphasis on this mans cruelty and inhumane nature in which he was able to plan and carry out the murder of millions of people. What Hitler did not anticipate however, was the aftermath his innvasion would leave on the people of Soviet union. In particular, the occupation of the Nazis in the Soviet Union greatly impacted society in various ways; class structure, education, culture, environmental change, and the role of women in European society.
The Soviet Union resisted to the best of it's ability but on June 22, 1941 began the turning point in the Nazis’ plan to “solve the Jewish problem” on this date the invasion known as, Operation Barbarossa, the massive military invasion of the Soviet Union, intended to wind up the war by the winter. (Yad Vashem). It became evident that Hitler only used the invasion of the USSR as part of his plan to provide the German nation with “living space” (Lebensraum) as well as a way to eliminate communism, which he loathed. (Yad Vashem).
At first, the Germans ...
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...cupied by German troops, who had managed to conquer large stretches of the Soviet Union by the 1941-42 winter. So the inhabitants, who were willfully targeted for extermination, were in a fight for their very survival, as bloody massacres and wholesale starvation took place as a matter of course. While the Soviet state, society and people were in an a state of utter desperation and confusion, the Eastern Front was also the site of some of the worst and most widespread atrocities committed against European Jews during the Holocaust. On the brink of annihilation, the citizens of the USSR were never safe. In my opinion, we can learn from our mistakes in history in order to never repeat the same mistakes again, as well as realize just how much impact history as left on our society to this day. Which means that in order to create a better future we must build upon today.
At the end of the 18th century, an undeclared war was going on between the United States and France because of the recent XYZ affair; triggering a positive reaction by Federalists like Fisher Ames to convince the authorities to make the war official. Not knowing what to do, President John Adams appointed former-President George Washington as commander of the army to hopefully resolve the issue with France through diplomacy (as was Washington's stance).
Hitler authorized Operation Barbarossa on December 18, 1940; the invasion started on May 15, 1941. However, the invasion did not actually begin until the 22 of June, 1941. The main reason Hitler wanted to invade the U.S.S.R. was because the Soviets had large amounts of land and resources that would help them in the war and he believed belonged to his country. At the moment, the Nazis were tight on resources and the offensive on Soviet land would drastically reduce their economic stress. There was a catch though. Germany and the U.S.S.R. were allies due to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which was formed right before a joint invasion of Poland. Germany attacked from the West, and the Soviets assaulted from the East. This invasion triggered WWII, but the Nazis and Germans did not fight each other at first. This was due to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; the secret pact also meant that in the event of war, the two countries would not attack each other. Later into WWII, Hitler realized that the Soviet...
In the words of John Green, “The truth resists simplicity”. Assigning the blame of WWII to the Treaty of Versailles is far too simple of an explanation. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI while sanctioning and punishing Germany, forced Germany to pay reparations. These reparations are said to have caused economic challenges in Germany, which allowed Hitler to take control on nationalist fervor. Thus, the story goes, that the Treaty of Versailles made Hitler’s rise to power, and his starting of WWII, inevitable. However, this mode of explanation is a deeply flawed oversimplification. The Treaty of Versailles did not make WWII inevitable because the independent forces of the Great Depression and Japanese expansion also played key roles, and because nationalism was most likely to arise in Germany even if there were less harsh terms to the treaty.
World War Two was the most devastating conflict in the history of humanity. It crippled many nations and caused millions of people to die. One of the major causes of this disastrous war was the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War. This treaty was destructive towards the Germans. Germany had to pay large amounts of reparations to the Allied nations at the end of World War One resulting in a Great Depression in Germany. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles’ war guilt clause forced Germans to admit full responsibility for starting the war. Furthermore, to gain the support of the German populace, Adolf Hitler adopted an effective propaganda campaign. Adolf Hitler employed a successful propaganda campaign to gain the support of the German people combined with the Treaty of Versailles harsh economic and political sanctions ignited World War Two.
In September of 1942, the German commander of the Sixth Army, advanced his troops to the city of Stalingrad where Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to secure the oil fields and take Stalingrad. Stalingrad was a target location due to its manufacturing and center of communications for parts of Russia. Hitler had extra motivation to take Stalingrad because the significance of the name, it was named after the Soviet Russian leader Stalin. Russia had been war torn and devastated from previous attacks and battles from the Germans, they knew they had to persevere and hang on along enough to defeat the German Army. The Soviets did have somewhat of a warning of the German attack, they shipped out cattle, grain, and other main supplies, but most of the civilians stayed. Hitler was very confident he could take this city down without losing major causalities. While Hitler was planning the attack the Soviet Marshall Zhukov was planning a major counterattack. Marshall Zhukov had 6 armies of 1 million men ready to attack the Germans. Both the Germans and Soviets had flaws in their attacks but, t...
the result of both Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations, as a result Hitler wanted to be
During the late summer of 1942, Germany’s position in the Soviet Union appeared to be dominant. The Russian winter offensive in front of Moscow had succeeded in relieving the pressure on the capital but had failed to make any substantial gains beyond a few miles of breathing space. The Germans had managed to stabilize the situation, inflicting severe casualties on the Russians before opening their own offensive in southern Russia in the spring and summer of 1942. This offensive, like the initial attack on the Soviet Union, caught the Russians (who expected a second assault on Moscow) completely off guard. Germany’s success was immense, and by the end of July the Wehrmacht had reached the Caucasus Mountains and the Volga River, with the oil-rich cities of Astrakhan, Grozny, and Baku in its sights.
After the Treaty of Versailles was forced upon the Germans, there were several challenges the Germans had to deal with. Some examples of the cost of the war to Germany was the forfeiting or giving back of land, its coal mines productions were given to France for a 15 year span, and Germany had to limit its army to 100,000 men with its forces not allowed around the French border. In addition to all of this, Germany was forced to accept war guilt as having been solely responsible for World War I. This had a crippling effect on Germany as they did not believe they had really caused or had lost the war. The bitterness from humiliation as well as the poverty this treaty bestowed upon the people was too much for Germany. This would lead to World War II in later years. Adolf Hitler had a plan to handle these problems that the Germans faced as a result of the war. It is probably best described as National Socialism.
middle of paper ... ... The Treaty of Versailles, initially created to keep peace in Europe and ensure that another war like World War I wouldn’t happen again, had in fact, backfired and spiraled the world down into a deeper, bloodier battle. The treaty discriminated strongly against Germany, with the loss of territories, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the War Guilt Clause. It caused humiliation and anger within Germany, and led to Hitler and the Nazi Party coming to power.
...eaknesses to win their loyalty. Finally, the written agreement of Versailles was purported to represent the peaceful ending to warfare I, however, it became the prelude to a different war. it had been originally an attempt to revive order and supply a peaceful conclusion to warfare I. The sick feelings and economic upheaval that resulted provided the proper climate for Hitler's dominance, in post-war FRG. The contributor’s participants of Versailles had alternative motives behind the peace agreement apart from a peace settlement. Their stingy actions resulted in not solely the economic hardship of FRG, however inflation and state altogether of Europe. The severity of the reparations contained during this document set the stage for history to repeat itself. Therefore the terribly method within which the written agreement of Versailles was forced on the German people.
Nazi belief, and murder of the Jews a key policy. 2 German laws made by Hitler soon required everyone who had one or more Jewish grandparent to register. Those with one grandparent may have escaped but if you had two grandparents you were sent to a concentration camp and classifed as a Jew. One night symbolizing the begining of mass persecution was Kristallnacht, November 10th, 1938, "the night of broken glass". Jewish stores and houses were attacked, synagogues burned, and many Jews were sent to concentration camps. During this time, there were a few countries that would accept Jews. Hitler launched World War 2 by marching into Poland in 1939. Most of Western Europe then fell into the Führer (Hitler), who had personal command of the troops. Germany invaded the soviet Union in 1941, but Hitler, Crazed with power, had lost his military judgement. His failure to Capture Stalingrad, 1942 - 1943, was the turning point; unable to cope with defeat, he refused to recognize it or negotiate for peace. As the tide of war turned against him, his mass annhiliation of Jews, socialists, gypsies, and others was excelerated. After the Second World War had began in 1939, the Nazi's dropped all restrictions they had previously made towards the systematic murder of all Jews. In countries such as Europe, steps were made for Jews to follow in order to be seperated from the rest of the population. First Jews were required to register, then they were known to the Gestapo. Some families sent their children to live with christian families and live under an assumed identity. Hitler sent The Jews of Poland to live in poverty stricken ghettos where they were exposed to disease and malnutrition. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Nazi policy of murder began to operate with no restrictions. The armies in Russia were followed by an "extermination squad" who shot hundreds of thousands of people, the majority being Jewish. The Nazis had already setup thousands of concentration camps to imprison anyone who imposed them. These now began to operate as factories of death. Auschwitz was the biggest of these death camps, a city of barricks where hundreds of thousands of people starved to death amid indescribable brutality. At it's center stood gas chambers and creamatoria design to take train loads of human beings, gas them and burn them.
The Versailles treaty had an amazing affect on the future of all the countries in Europe that were a part of World War One. However, the treaty had the most devastating affect on the future of Germany. The treaty of Versailles essentially made the German people entirely responsible for the First World War. This blame that was put on Germany was one of the main factors responsible for Germany's economic and political future, leading up to World War Two.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, marks the day that WWI descended into armistice. However, the involved countries reached an agreement as to the events following the war on the 28th of June, 1919. The famous Treaty of Versailles was known for its role in ending war. But it was not known for being a double-edged sword, as the ending of war came with the consequence of causing future war. The Treaty consisted of uncontested biases due to Germany's unconditional surrender. The Allies held a gun to Germany's head, with their trigger finger tense. Each article of the Versailles Treaty only made Germany more restless, until 1933 when Hitler produced his own gun and pointed it at the Allies. The Treaty had a series of unproportional effects upon Germany and its people. It caused a rift between the two sides because of the alliances that it formed, brewing tension. The punishments enforced upon Germany were unrealistically huge and it increased the wish among the Germans for the nullification of the Treaty. Finally, the accumulated hatred amongst the people gave birth to potential for a revolution. The Treaty of Versailles is, therefore, an indirect cause to World War II, because of the alliances it caused, the punishments it enforced, and the hatred it developed.
Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles reads: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."(1) These words fueled the Nazi Party's rise to power and ignition of a Second World War. After World War I, the Allies dissected, punished, and disarmed Germany to prevent the outbreak of another brutal war. Consequently, German lands, acquired by Nazi force, were given back to their original countries, and Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men. In addition, Germany was responsible for paying immense retribution to all of the Allied Forces, causing German money to lose its value. The result of the Treaty of Versailles was a weakened Germany, both martially and economically. The Weimar Republic, a liberal government set up after Germany's defeat, was inefficient in handling Germany's massive problems. Germany's ill state was the curtain call for a change in the Weimar administration, and Adolf Hitler led the push for a transformation. Once in power, Hitler designed laws that redefined the responsibilities of the citizen. The citizens' duties would allow the Germany to regain her autonomy in the eyes of the world. Although the citizens worked to increase Germany's overrall welfare, the State did not attempt to improve individual well-being. The State held one responsibility. It must protect the lives of its people, so that the people can, in turn, carry out their duties for the S...
During the Second World War an engagement between the Soviet and German forces took place near the town of Kursk. The German offensive, named “Operation Citadel”, was countered by two Soviet counteroffensives. The Soviet’s counteroffensives stopped the German advance. The extensive amount of German equipment lost and casualties guaranteed the Soviet’s victory. The Russians were able to defeat the German attack with intelligence gained on the battlefield through prisoner and through intercepted communications. The German military was never able to recover from this loss and this initiated the demise of the Nazi regime during World War II.