World War 2 - Research Paper Example

?World War 2 Order No: 761942 History Introduction The Second World War was such a popular and a spontaneous global upheaval which began in 1939 and ended in 1945, remarkably dramatized as “the theatre of war drums.”1 It is believed to have been the most deadly war in world history, sparked by Germany’s invasion of Poland under the command of her chancellor, Adolf Hitler. Whereas this is wide topic, the author’s initial thoughts were based upon the developments and problems that were going on in Germany during this six years period of war. The researcher assesses the development of the two opposing military groups, that is, the Axis and the Alliance. In this paper, the writer also underscores the unity between these two opposing military camps along side their military science. Furthermore, the writer examines the economic status of Germany at the commencement of the war and how it declined as the war intensified, an idea that has parallel significance to United States economy before Invasion of Iraq and the way it has declined as the Iraq war progressed. The fact that Germany was the precursor of the war upon her invasion of Poland made the author to develop interest in this country and how Hitler dealt with the scientific military developments and problems associated with this war in Germany.2 Developments and problems in Germany during World War II The formation of military camps was one of the initial developments in Germany. It involved two opposing military groups, namely, the Axis and the Alliance.3 The military Axis was formed between Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union who then conquered much of Europe through scramble and partition of the entire continent. Notably, the Soviet Union joined the Axis upon the historic and dramatic invasion of the Union by Germany and Italy. The military alliances was Brain child by United Kingdom, France plus all the British colonies which for long time were at war against the Axis as was seen in North Africa as well as the Atlantic. It involved what was and has been referred to as “the British and Common Wealth Empire.” This alliance was also joined by America in the heat of war passion. As time passed by, the Soviet Union broke away from the Axis and joined the military alliance.4 With these two military opposing camps, coupled with the arms race, the entire world was littered with bayonets with a catastrophic death toll of the known-unknown over 50 million people. The last nail in the coffin of this war was the defeat and surrender of the Axis especially the Germany and Japan in 1945 by the Allies. The researcher was interested in this area because Germany was a major power in the Axis and sparked off the military campaign during World War II.5 The advancement of military technology was another development in Germany ignited by the arms race. This development facilitated military logistics and transportations. Under the Chancellorship of Adolf Hitler, Germany Manufactured weapons such as “military tanks, air craft, assault rifle, Gewehr 43 rifle, Sturmgewehr 44 rifle, MP40 rifle, submachine guns, military tanks like Tiger II” which were major modern means of weaponry . Among the numerous aircraft developed included the “Junkers Ju 87 planes used for psychological war fare” and the “Messerschmitt Me 262” jets. They also manufactured missiles like “cruise missiles (V-1), rocket- ballistic missiles (V-2)”, war ships, trucks and so many other military vehicles. During this period, Germany had the best “world rocket scientists” such as von Braun.6 This triggered off an arms race between the Axis and the Alliance. At the onset of the war, these military weapons were more powerful than those of the alliance. As this technological armament continued unabated, the global war drums were consequently inevitable. The purpose of this authorization by Hitler to manufacture weapons was to produce an equal measure weapon that Germany and her allies would use against the military alliance. Due to the early defeats by the axis, the alliance had joined the arms race and manufactured weapons which made Germany lose battles in Atlantic and North Africa. This consequently led to the growth of military factories in several Germany Cities. After the manufacture, Germany made several military operations and launched the missiles. The most affected cities in the alliance were “London, Paris, Antwerp, Lille, Norwich, and Liege.” It should be noted that every after a successful military operation, the alliance would also in equal measure develop strategies of producing similar or better weapons and the cycle of the arms race continued unabated.7 However, these developments were preceded with forced labour as Germany rounded people from all conquered places to provide free labour forcefully thus claiming thousand of laborers lives over a period of time as prisoners of war.8 There was wide spread arbitrary imprisonment, mistreatment and commission of crimes against humanity. There was high population growth in Germany through the abductions these people.9 This is commensurate with the high death rate because majorities were forced into military operation, factories and redevelopment of infrastructure.10As pressure mounted, intensity of the war and military temperature rose to the extent that some of these Germany Abductees’ were also abducted by the alliance. This led to the exchange of military knowledge at the detriment of Germany. This kind of military strategy opened gaps in the military axis and some of their scientist lost trust in them and were thereafter abducted. The brake away of the Soviet Union was big blow to the loss of the major scientists in manufacture of these weapons. Consequently, nearing the end of the conflict, von Braun together with Dornberger surrendered, the rocket scientist and manufacturers forcefully joined the military alliance. These two, helped the alliance in developing new missiles that weakened and defeated the Axis. The famous and most memorable up to date in Japan history is the atomic bomb, which ram shackled the entire Japan and all its inhabitants.11 At the onset of the war, Germany economy was one of the best economies because all conquered states were forced into arbitrary low foreign currency exchanges. This made Germany nationals to buy them out cheaply. However, in later stages of the fighting, as the axis continued to lose battles, the reverse was true. Germany lost a lot of currency and the economy was revamped. In order to remain in the military campaign through the arms race, Germany resorted to borrowing through the unprecedented “versatile treaty” and continued to manufacture tons of weapons. As the war intensified, the debts increased which caused a lot of hardships on the Germany economy. The alliance raided used this gap to attack Germany larger cities and there was shortage of the basic necessities such as food, water and electricity. The fall in the economy also marked the decadence of Nazism. This affected Germany, weakened her institutions, and her foreign policy took a new shape.12 Besides, the formation of United Nations Organization resulted into propounding consequences for Germany. As her economy was shrinking, Germany was forced to pay for the reparations of the surviving forced laborers to their respective countries. This further pitched the Germany tax payer who had to suffer consequences of Hitler’s making. Besides, since her military might had been weakened, the new created Poland attacked Germany. Along sides these attacks, were the successfully military campaign against Germany by the Soviet Union. In other words, Germany was solely held responsible for the outbreak of the war at the end13. Conclusion Therefore, having assessed the developments and problems that Germany faced during the Second World War, the initial thoughts of the author have been answered. It is clear from the fore going that Germany was at the fore front of this notorious world war. Her invasion of Poland initially sparked off a military campaign that has left many wondering Hitler’s merciless. He ignited the arms race that went on unabated and the competition for the best weapons resulted into over 50 million people dead across the world. However, as the initiator of the war, Germany was also faced with a number of alarming consequences such as the economy dwindling, they had to pay for the reparation of the forced laborers, they were militarily defeated and, lost vital allies and their world superiority was taken away. Let all world countries learn from Germany Situation and maintain peace. Bibliography Alfred, Price. The last year of the Luftwaffe , May 1944-1945. London: Arms and Armour, 1991. Chickering, Roger. A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937– 1945. Cambridge University press, 2006. L, Kay Anthony. Germany Jet Engine and Gas Turbine Development, 1930-1935. Shrewsbury: Airlife, 2002. Panayi, Panikos. "Exploitation, criminality, Resistence The Every day life of foreign workers and prisoners of war in the German Town of Osnsbruck, 1939-1949." Journal of Contemporary History, July 2005: 483-502. Sommerville, Donald. The Complete Illustrated History of World War Two: An Authoritative Account of the Deadliest Conflict in Human History with Analysis of Decisive Encounters and Landmark Engagements. New York: Lorenz Books, 2008. Ulrich, Herbert. Hitler's Foreign Workers; Forced Foreign Labour in German under Under the Third Reich. London: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Read More