World War 2
Hamish Patel
Cultural II
Browning
The Greatest War The twentieth century is full of historically significant events ranging from the invention of penicillin to the first man landing on the moon. Yet, when people think of the twentieth century, these great accomplishments are shadowed by what seems to be an endless war. Of these many wars that occurred in the twentieth century, the one that holds the most historical significance is World War II. World War II was a war even unlike the First World War having an estimated death toll of sixty million and forty five million being the deaths of civilians (National World War II Museum). Never before has the world seen such a gruesome war that destroyed the lives of even those who survived. Lasting from 1939 to 1945, this war came with everlasting World War II was caused by a variety of reasons. On the most basic level, the beginning of World War II can be blamed on Adolf Hitler and his totalitarian government led by the Nazi Party. His decision to attack Poland on September 1, 1939 led to the declaration of war by France and the United Kingdom two days after (Jackson). Although this can be seen as the “cause” of the war, many underlying reasons existed for the Nazi party to even come into place. The main reasons came from the problem with the Treaty of Versailles. After the ending of the First World War, Germany was given the full blame of the war and was given a great amount of punishment. One of the most crippling of the punishment was the harsh monetary payment. These payments were so great that the last of these payments was paid in 2010. From these crippling payments the economy of Germany became worthless. No post-war German government believed future generation would be able to bear the burden of such a debt. This economic downfall of Germany came with much dissatisfaction of the German government before the Nazi party came into power. With the platform of hatred and blame of the allied powers such as
Cultural II
Browning
The Greatest War The twentieth century is full of historically significant events ranging from the invention of penicillin to the first man landing on the moon. Yet, when people think of the twentieth century, these great accomplishments are shadowed by what seems to be an endless war. Of these many wars that occurred in the twentieth century, the one that holds the most historical significance is World War II. World War II was a war even unlike the First World War having an estimated death toll of sixty million and forty five million being the deaths of civilians (National World War II Museum). Never before has the world seen such a gruesome war that destroyed the lives of even those who survived. Lasting from 1939 to 1945, this war came with everlasting World War II was caused by a variety of reasons. On the most basic level, the beginning of World War II can be blamed on Adolf Hitler and his totalitarian government led by the Nazi Party. His decision to attack Poland on September 1, 1939 led to the declaration of war by France and the United Kingdom two days after (Jackson). Although this can be seen as the “cause” of the war, many underlying reasons existed for the Nazi party to even come into place. The main reasons came from the problem with the Treaty of Versailles. After the ending of the First World War, Germany was given the full blame of the war and was given a great amount of punishment. One of the most crippling of the punishment was the harsh monetary payment. These payments were so great that the last of these payments was paid in 2010. From these crippling payments the economy of Germany became worthless. No post-war German government believed future generation would be able to bear the burden of such a debt. This economic downfall of Germany came with much dissatisfaction of the German government before the Nazi party came into power. With the platform of hatred and blame of the allied powers such as