Germany During the Second World War - Essay Example

Second Draft World War 2 ID: # June 11, The Weimar Republic The World War 2 is the most callousand brutal war fought in the history of mankind. The war resulted in great destruction and even today the aftermath of this war is felt. The failure of Weimar Republic and the dictatorship of Hitler did a lot of damage that resulted in the revolt and war. With the formation of Weimar Republic in 1919 the oppressed and hopeless humans found the last hope of becoming peaceful and civilized. The Weimar Republic flourished during its early years. With the setback in economy and obstacles faced by the newly born republic, Weimar managed to survive. Mortazavidan (2015) states that the major reasons for the failure of the republic were the demand of reparations by the Treaty of Versailles and the government could not gain support as nationalism and Fascism was increasing in Germany. This resulted in chaos. In these crucial and horrendous circumstances Adolf Hitler came in power. He emerged as a dictator in Germany and people looked up to him as the only solution to the status quo. The world was oblivious of the fact that his tenure would trigger the most humiliating and brutal events in the history that would leave the humans devoid of any emotions and in a state of complete loss of faith in God. The causes that triggered the World War 2 are manifold; among which Hitler is considered the key figure in provoking the masses. Treaty of Versailles based its stance on the 14 points in which Germany was considered the reason for initiating the World War 1. Under this blame Germany was expected to pay for the reparations that the war had caused. So in 1919 a meeting was arranged between Lloyd George, Orlando, Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson to make Germany pay for the damage done in war (Chuwa, 2014, p4). “Guilt of war” was included that laid all the blame of the war on Germany and as a result Germany was deprived of its natural resources and was refrained from keeping an army in order to avoid any catastrophe (Holborn, 1982, p562). Hitler in Power As soon as Hitler got the chance to come in to power, he violated the treaty. This was the first step towards the brutal and callous war. Historylearningsite (2015) explains that Hitler’s major transgression was his revolt against the Treaty of Versailles where he decided to build the army in Germany which was against the treaty. So in this context his step was considered the main reason for initiating a second war. He violated the conditions laid by the treaty. In a concealed manner he formed his own army. In 1936 he ordered his army to enter Rhineland. At this point his army was not strong enough and could easily be defeated. In the same year he made the two important pacts. To destabilize the European order, Germany and Italy found their common interest and signed the pact called the Rome-Berlin Axis pact and the very next month Germany signed another contact with Japan called the Anti-Comitern pact directed at the Soviet Union (“Axis Alliance in World War II,” 2014). Forming good terms with Japan and Italy his next step was to take back the lands that were taken away from the Germany under the conditions of Treaty of Versailles. In short every step marked his great violation against the treaty that forbade Germany from certain things. He openly violated the terms and in a determined way stood against the forces and superior powers. Wilde (2015) says that the Treaty of Versailles contributed a lot in the rise of Hitler’s power. In 1938 he intruded in Austria. The German troops marched in to the premises of Austria. With the imminent threat the Austrian leader was obliged to carry out an election. It asked people whether they wanted the hold of Germany over Austria or not. The result of the election perturbed the Austrian leader as the people showed a positive response towards the hold of Germany. He asked help from other countries but Hitler assured him that he will not expand further in order to avoid war. This looked like a safe move and the other countries remained silent as Hitler’s words assured them that this will not endanger the survival of men in the world. Another reason of the least involvement of France and Britain were the bad consequences of the World War 1 that left them shattered. To avoid any sort of turbulence they were forced to believe every word of Hitler. This gave him the chance to do whatever he wanted and it was too late to stop anything. Hitler and Lebensraum Hitler laid stress on the need of racial purity and needed to expand his territory. This came to known as Lebensraum (Rogers & Thomas, 2010, p112). In 1939 he invaded Poland. He entered Poland along with his army and tried to have control over the country. German Soviet pact of nonaggression led him to enter Poland. With this step Britain and France revolted. Mirza (2007, p352) states that France and Britain declared war on September 3 as a revolt against Germany. Poland was defeated and was divided among Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. With this Hitler began to expand his rule and control. He began to move forward capturing other regions and provoking masses against him. In 1940 he invaded Norway and Denmark and with this the defeat of Poland ended. His next target was the weak countries of Western Europe. France sensed the threat and being on the list of the next target, it signed armistice with Germany. It allowed Germany to have control over the northern area of the country. All the countries who occupied the position of a neutral member in the first war were the target of Hitler. The Baltic States were occupied in 1940 and Italy joined Germany on June, 10 1940. The declaration of war resulted in brutal massacre. Innocent people became the victim of the callous inhumane acts. As the situation grew worse British came forward to mark the end to the expansion of Hitler’s regime and this triggered the World War II. This proved to be the greatest tragedy in human history. The use of advanced weapons and machinery left humanity in a state of shock. They were unable to find peace and the bloody war took their beliefs and faith in God. Japan who showed great support in the events and formed true alliance with Hitler became the victim of brutality. Hiroshima attack was the greatest loss of Japan that took many lives and caused complete destruction of the resources. Cook (2011, p1) explains that Japan never would have given in if it had not been attacked by atomic bomb. Hiroshima became the reason of retreat for Japan. The use of atomic bombs and other heavy machinery caused the spill of blood from the bodies like water. To compete with the tools men were forced to get themselves enlisted and to face the savage and vicious acts. With the surrender of Japan the war was brought to an abrupt end on 2nd September, 1945 (“Allies Defeat Axis Powers,” 2012). Aftermath and Consequences After spreading the torture and trauma throughout the world Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the day war ended, it became the reason to celebrate in Europe. 8th May, 1945 became the VE day Victory in Europe. The aftermath and the consequences of this war had a far reaching impact. It completely changed the mode of thinking. Karakose (2015) explained the influence of war on young generation; they began to express their ideas in an intriguing manner and began to think the impossibility of having peace in the future. This generation was devoid of any kind of emotion or reason and was considered to be shell shocked. As a result it completely changed the mode of thinking. According to Kesternich et al (2014, p103) the war caused a great destruction resulting in 39 million deaths in Europe. It was the most tragic event of 20th century that destroyed the countries. Many people had to abandon their property and had to move to a new place to make a fresh start. They were not given any compensation. Western Europe experienced hunger on a great scale. The people experienced hunger and other obstacles. All the post war problems made the survival difficult. Men tried hard to find meaning in the meaningless world but to their utter disappointment all their efforts proved futile. History.com Staff (2009) explains the loss that among the total deaths that were 45 to 60 million, 6 million Jews were murdered. This was called the “final solution” of Hitler, the main aim of this brutality was to increase the Aryan race. The anti- Semitism inculcated the sense of hatred towards Hitler and even now he is despised by the Jewish population and a good part of the world. He said that if he were given 10 years he would be able to change Germany that will not be (Topas, 2014 , p282). These words uttered in a different context completely changed the fate of Germany. The country no longer remained the superior power. A conference for the purpose of signing treaties was held in Potsdam, Germany during the period following the war. The countries that had aligned themselves with Germany during the war period were forced to pay for damages and a lot of their territory was lost (Yoshida & Nara, 2007, p297). The war destroyed the beauty of the countries that were involved in the war. They had to go through an excruciating pain that forced them to live with the fact that their acts had taken away the beauty of their land. Taylor (2011) explains that the end of war marked a great destruction in Europe and Asia. These countries were reduced to ruins. Soldiers were returning to their homelands and with this efforts were made to rebuild. The aftermath of the war are still alive and are experienced even today. Worldwar-2.net (2006) says that even today the world is suffering the consequences of World War 2. So it can be concluded that the damage done years ago are still faced today. The traces of the lost generation and the trauma of the war can be found even today. Bibliography Allies defeat Axis powers. (2012). Retrieved June 14, 2015. Axis Alliance in World War II. (2014, June 20). Retrieved June 14, 2015. Chuwa, L. T. 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