WW1 and WW2: Germany, Adolf Hitler, Nazi Archduke Franz Ferdinand

As for the Origin of this article, it doesn't state who created it, when was it created, or where did it come from but the Purpose of this article was to inform people who were curious as to how Adolf Hitler and the rise of his nazi party caused World War 2. This article describes how Hitler grew to be one of the most powerful and infamous dictators of the 20th century. Students would be the intended audience because it's a simple article that doesn't use strong vocabulary and it gives you more than enough facts to understand how Hitler was one of the root causes to World War 2. The Content of this article establishes how Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany's nazi party capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent, and political infighting to take full power in Germany in 1933 which helped Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 and led to the outbreak of World War 2. It also establishes that by 1941 nazi forces took over most of Europe. The Value of this origin is that this article wasn't written during Hitler and his nazi party were taking over, this was written after. If this article was written during the time Hitler and his nazi party were taking over, it would be more convenient because there would be information from somebody who went through and experienced the rise of Hitler and his nazi party first hand. A positive value about this article is that whoever wrote it provided more information than needed. They talked about the actual rise of Adolf Hitler. The author talked about the day he was born, his service in World War 1 and how he later rose to be involved in World War 2. The Limitations of this article is that there's no author. The article didn't provide a date on when it was created, who created it, and where did the source come from. Also, another limitation is that the article wasn't written from first hand experience meaning that the author didn't get to experience first hand what was actually happening when Hitler and his nazi party rose to cause WW2.

Causes of WW2

This article also doesn't provide any Origin. It doesn't say who created it, when was it created or where did the source come from. The Purpose of this article is to inform readers of the many causes of World War 2 and how Hitler and his nazi party were one of the main ones. This article contains how Hitler offered Germany hope thus becoming the leader and dictator of Germany. Adolf Hitler then allied Germany with Mussolini and Italy then he looked to restore Germany to power by increasing his domain by taking over Australia in 1938. The intended audience of this article would be anyone who's interested in the causes of WW2 because the article talks about many or all causes of WW2 in great detail that's not hard to understand. The Content of this article establishes how Adolf Hitler, Germany, and his Nazi party were in many of the causes to WW2. When Hitler took over Australia in 1938, the League of Nations did nothing to stop him therefore Hitler grew bolder and took over Czechoslovakia in 1939. This article also establishes appeasement. After WW1 the European nations didn't want another war while other countries such as Italy and Germany became hostile and started to take over many other countries and worked to build up their army, Britain and France hoped to keep peace through appeasement. Basically, they tried to make Hitler and Germany happy instead of trying to stop him. They hoped that he would be happy and that there wouldn't be a war but appeasement failed and it only made Hitler bolder. The Value of this article illustrates that this article wasn't written when any of the causes were taking place, if this article was written by someone who went through some of the causes, there would be more accurate information because it would be first hand by someone who actually went through it. A positive value is that the article has almost every single cause of WW2. Most of the causes have to deal with Hitler, Germany, and Hitler's nazi party. Which gives a better variety of reasons as to why Hitler was one of the main causes for WW2. The Limitations of this article is also that it doesn't provide the reader with a author, a date on when it was created, or where the source came from. Also, it could have also been written or influenced by someone who went through the experiences first hand.

Investigation

To ask why Hitler and the Nazi party came in to power, one must first look back to the Great War or as we now know as the first world war. On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was assassinated while visiting the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The first assassination attempt on his life had come hours earlier when the group of assassins missed Ferdinand 's convoy but the explosive that went off injured many. When Ferdinand visited those injured in the hospital later that day, the motorcade took a wrong turn and Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Ferdinand. As Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire throne, there was a lot of violence following his murder. Most violence was Anti-Serb. In late June 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Germany then occupied Luxembourg ,declared war on France and Invaded a neutral Belgium. This outraged Britain which then declared war on the aggressive Germans on August 4th, 1914. This pitted 6 of the world's powers against each other as the allied powers were spearheaded by the British Empire, Russia, and France while the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the German Empire were their counterparts.

As the war raged in Europe, many people lost their lives ranging anywhere from those in the trenches to innocent civilians. Once all was said and done, more than nine million people lost their lives. Countries were given reparations for their part in the war. Germany was instructed to pay $33 billion dollars. This led to much outrage from the public. In order to pay off the reparation cost, Germany had to receive loans from other countries. This buried the country under more debt. People felt as if they needed a voice and the man to provide it was no other than Adolf Hitler.

By 1930, Adolf Hitler was a politician who was trying to have a bigger role in Germany. Once the Great Depression was in full swing, Hitler took advantage of the appalling situation and used it as a political opportunity to gain political power. He ran for president in 1932 but lost to Paul Von Hindenburg. Hitler did gather a large amount of votes but not to the level as Hindenburg. Franz Von Papen, Alfred Hugenberg and several more wealthy businessmen signed off their support of Hitler through letters to the president. They wanted Hitler to be appointed chancellor. Hindenburg later, reluctantly appointed him as chancellor of Germany. Hitler worked to subdue any leftist movement and sought a nationalist and fascist government. Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations. Along with this, Hitler's actions would break several treaties signed at the end of World War 1. Hitler then executed a foreign policy act that prepared the country for war. By this time Germany had signed an axis with Italy and a pact with Japan. These 3 would form what we now call the Axis Powers during the second world war. Afterwards, he would unite Austria and Germany. Then on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Western Poland to kick start the war.

The second world war is a direct consequence of the first world war due to unsettled tensions and anger from that dispute. Adolf Hitler rose to power during World War 1. On June 28th, 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed at the end of World War 1 which ended the war between Germany and the allied powers. The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to admit all the guilt for the war and also required Germany to pay for the damage the war had cost to the allies. Germany had to accept the fact that they had to take full responsibility that they started World War 1. When Hitler's Nazi Party got into power, he believed that Germany should've won the first world war. He also believed that Germany gave in too easily, this caused his desire for revenge on the allied powers. World War 2 started September 1, 1937 and ended September 2, 1945. Hitler and his nazi party played a major role into beginning the war. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and began to challenge the Treaty of Versailles. Which he adapted an aggressive foreign policy that later led to the war. Germany's invasion of Poland also led to the outbreak of World War 2. Hitler believed the German race needed more room to live because of their growing population. Because Hitler believed the Germans as the superior race, Hitler claimed that they were eligible to take the land of Eastern Europe. The Treaty of Versailles prohibited rearmament. When Hitler came to power in 1933 he began rearming between 1932 and 1939 which increased his army. Hitler's move was to put his German troops back Western Germany which broke the Treaty of Versailles and might have provoked war with Britain and France. Hitler knew his army wasn't strong enough but he also knew Britain and France were preoccupied with another crucial issue. Mussolini had invaded Abyssinia and the British and French were busy trying to avoid war. On March 7, 1936 a weak German army marched into Western Germany (the Rhineland) to see if the French and British would do anything but they didn't. In March 1939 Germany invaded the Czechoslovakia and took over the capital Prague. Britain saw this as an act of aggression and decided that Hitler's expansion had to stop. On September 1st 1939, Germany invaded Poland which began the war between Germany and Poland. Between 1933 and 1945 Nazi Germany began the persecution and obliteration of Jews in in Europe also known as the Holocaust. Germans saw Jews as a threat to their own. Nazi Germany murdered 6 million Jews and over 1 million homosexuals, jehovah witness, and anyone below the German race. This also sparked a war between Germany and Europe.

In conclusion, to talk about the causes that Hitler and his Nazi Party did to lead up to World War 2 couldn't of have been brought up or talked about without bringing up World War 1 and Hitler's taste for revenge. Out of anger caused by the allied powers, he retaliated causing the second World War. This investigation talks about in detail, Hitler and Hitler's Nazi Party's involvement and cause of World War

This investigation has allowed me to learn some of the methods used by historians, as well as the challenges they face. A historians job is to study and interpret the past. They use tools that could be primary or secondary. Historians use evidence from primary and secondary sources to answer their questions and they have to choose which information is more trustworthy and important as evidence.The methods used by historians that I used in my investigation was using primary and secondary sources to find out which information was important and trustworthy. I had to find information that went specifically with my investigation so I could persuade and inform the reader and also stick to my topic.

A challenge that historians face are the sources. Historians have to determine the credibility of sources and the information they give. Historians also deal with the problem of finding enough information in a source to use for their investigation. The challenges for a historian differs from a scientist or a mathematician because if a scientist or a mathematician messes up somewhere along the problem, that simple mistake could destroy the whole problem itself. So a challenge scientist and mathematicians have to face a lot is doubt while historians face determining whether or not the source is reliable so they won't put out false information.

My investigation highlighted out many limitations to these methods. A limitation to one of these methods is the difficulty in being unbiased when providing information in choosing different historical events and in determining their importance. History itself is 100% accurate, the historical source has a limitation on its ability to convey accurate knowledge and an understanding of history. A historical source only provides a very small portion of what actually occurred in history so my knowledge and understanding of history would be limited. Another limitation is the bias of the historian. If a historian isn't bias when writing about a subject, he is still prone to accidental errors and it doesn't mean that his sources were wrote unbiased. This is a limitation my investigation highlighted out of me because even though I might've rose above my biases while writing about my investigation, that doesn't mean the sources I chose were unbiased. Also, if my sources happened to be unbiased, they could still be open to accidental errors.

Cite this page