The Origins of World War II

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the popular beliefs regarding the origins of World War II with scholarly books and journal articles on the subject. The paper reveals that public interpretations of the causes of the war tend to be based upon an inadequate awareness of the complex factors which combined to produce a second world war only twenty-one years after the first one ended. The paper demonstrates that the public often misunderstands why a historical event occurred and tends to form beliefs that are only partially accurate. The paper includes the full text of some of the sources at the end.

From the Paper:

"In conclusion, it is the consensus of scholars and historians that the origins of World War II can be traced to the disastrous Treaty of Versailles. This Treaty incited bitter resentment throughout Germany and enabled Hitler to rise to power because it placed sole blame for World War I on Germany, imposed draconian war reparations payments, and turned the German military into a feeble militia. In contrast, popular belief regarding the origins of World War II is based upon vague notions that Hitler and the Nazis wanted to conquer the world because Germans considered themselves to be the master race."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Barnett, Victoria J. "The Role of the Churches: Compliance and Confrontation."
• Dimensions: A Journal of Holocaust Studies. Vol 12, No 2, 1998.
• Crew, David. "Neighbors and Enemies: The Culture of Radicalism in Berlin, 1929-1933." Journal of Social History. Volume 40, No, 1. Fall 2006. Friedman, Karen. "Big Business and the Holocaust." Dimensions: A Journal of Holocaust Studies. Vol. 13, No. 2.
• Goebbels, Joseph. "The Eternal Jew." German Propaganda Archive. Online. Available: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb3.htm. 2 April 2007.
• Ries, John M. "German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler." The Journal of Historical Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 369-372.

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