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World War II (1939-1945) was a war where men killed others based on hatred for the other’s race. It was a war fought where men shot, beat, stabbed, and tortured people in gas chambers. The hatred for a specific race has escalated to something unimaginable. Many Jewish people during World War II lost their lives, through terrible excruciating deaths. In the “The Last full Measure How Soldiers Die In Battle”, the author Michael Stephenson proves that the root for World War II was simply racism. “One of the major factors that connected the eastern and Pacific fronts was the role racism played in driving up the numbers of killed.” (Stephenson, 254) Racism indeed drove up the number of men killed, because Hitler’s animosity towards the Jewish was the main driver for their death. Hitler almost killed a whole race and for what? There are many untold things about Hitler and really knowing why he hated Jewish people will always remain a secret. Many may believe that racism is not a main major factor in why the Eastern Front and Pacific Theater were so terrible. It is the main factor, because if it were not for the hatred towards a specific race than World War II would not have been fought. Many know World War II to begin, because of the assassination of the prime Minister in Austria. Deep down into War World II, the war extended so long, due to racism. “The Germans in Russia and the Americans (including their allies) and the Japanese in the Pacific saw their enemies in racial terms that enable and endorse killing an opponent who had been stripped of any claim to humanity or nobility. Germans viewed the Russians as “Asiatic” Untermenschen: a reincarnation of those barbaric hordes that had swept out of the steppes to fall on medieval Chr... ... middle of paper ... ...towards the Japanese. Even Dr. Seuss a children’s author participated in this hate crime. Japanese weren’t treated the same way as the Jewish people in Germany but they did face a lot of hate from the public. The feeling of hate towards a specific group was the fuel for World War II; this war was just bound to happen. Many may disagree on Stephenson’s point of view on World War II, however he displayed many examples that support his argument on the war and racism. Others who oppose Stephenson’s argument believe that Stephenson ignores the major factors, such as weather, the landscapes, and resources. All those factors are inevitable in war and Stephenson recognized the root of World War II and the fuel that started and ended this war. Works Cited Stephenson, Michael. The Last Full Measure: How Soldiers Die in Battle. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2012. Print.

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