Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War - Term Paper Example

CHURCHILL, HITLER AND THE UNNECESSARY WAR World War II was started in September 1939. The War was dreadful and cost millions of lives. However, the end of the war brought nothing to Germany. However, the Britain Empire was completely shook and was restricted to Europe only. After World War I, a number of restrictions were imposed on Germany after her defeat through a treaty known as ‘Treaty of Versailles’. It was blamed on Germany that it initiated the war. Germany was also forced to pay for the damages caused by the War. Germany was also barred from building up large army. Tanks, aircrafts and submarines were also not allowed to be held by Germany. All these steps were deemed to be taken to prevent Germany from initiating any other war. Germany abided by the restrictions imposed by this treaty only by the end of second decade of the 20th century. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was powered up by the disgruntled and poor people of Germany to take over the throne. The basis of their belief in Hitler was that they wanted a person who might empower Germany again and pull to pieces the unjust and unfair treaty. As a result, Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany. Soon after he became the Chancellor, he started the building up of German forces. He also empowered the German army by equipping it with modern weapons. Initially, all this was done secretly but soon it came to light. However, the Great Britain and France took it lightly. They were of the view that these actions will strengthen and will be helpful in stopping the flourish of Communism in Europe. After having built up the German forces for 2 years, Hitler gave them order to enter into Rhineland in 1936. The reason provided by Germany for this invasion is the threat that Germany was facing as a result of treaty with Russia. So, it became very important for Germany to post its troops in Rhineland. It is also considered by many historians reasonable that as Rhineland was a part of Germany, so, there is no bar if German troops are posted there. However, Germany was very weak at this point and little intervention by Britain or France could have defeated them. However, neither of these two intervened as they did not want to start another war with Germany. Meanwhile, Hitler also stepped forward to make allies with two important countries of Japan and Italy. Later on, Hitler advanced to take back the land of Austria. In March 1938, Hitler ordered German army to march in Austria to occupy the land. Austrian leader was then forced to conduct a poll to decide whether the people of Austria wanted union with Germany. The results showed the favor of 99% of the citizens of Austria to live with Germany. The Austrian leader asked for help but, on been satisfied from Hitler side, none of Britain and France came to help Austria. Adolf Hitler promised that the union of Austria with Germany will end the aims of expansion of Hitler and he will not move further on. However, breaching his own words, Hitler insisted that the region of Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia should be handed over to Germany. Neville Chamberlain, the then British Prime Minister, met Hitler thrice in September, 1938. Chamberlain was himself of the view that Treaty of Versailles was not just and equitable for Germany. So, he took a soft corner for Germany. Finally, it was decided in Munich Agreement that the region of Sudetenland would be handed over to Germany on the provision of Hitler’s assurance that he would not make claims for any further territories. The agreement was mutually decided and signed by German, British, French and Italian leaders. However, Czech government was not involved in the agreement upon which they recorded their protest. However, Hitler occupied whole of the Czechoslovakia in 1939 March. Czechoslovak government asked for help but none of Britain and France intervened in the invasion. However, both of these countries promised that they would take military action against Hitler if the German forces advanced towards Poland. On September 1 1939, German forces occupied Poland which broke out the World War II. Soon after the outbreak of war, Winston Churchill was appointed as the lord of Admiralty. He then became Prime Minister in May, 1940. He strengthened the determination of the whole nation to win the war. He also strengthened the relations with the then President of United States of America Franklin Roosevelt. When Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940, German troops had occupied most of the territories of Europe. Britain was the only power remained in Europe by which the Germans were facing great resistance in Europe as well as in North Africa. In 1941, the Germans attacked Soviet Union for invasion. However, this brought a great set back to Germany. In the meantime, Japan attacked European and United States possessions of Pacific Ocean. They quickly conquered a vast area of this region. However, the advancement which was being achieved by Germany and Japan stopped in 1942. The major reasons were the defeat of Japan in naval battles. On the other hand, Germans also faced successive defeats in North Africa. In the following year, the defeats continued and Germany lost most of the occupied territory of Eastern Europe. Italy was also invaded by the Allies. On the other hand, Americans continued its victories in Pacific Ocean. This caused the German and its allies to withdraw. On the other hand, Churchill was persistent to put the war to the end. Finally, in 1944, the Allies occupied France while Soviet troops entered in Germany successfully. However, the war was finally ended in Europe on May 8, 1945 with the unconditional surrender of Germany and its allies. Berlin was captured by Polish and Soviet troops. Japan continued fighting till August 15, 1945 when Japan surrendered unconditionally after the bombings of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August consecutively. This Great War resulted in the greatest amount of human casualties ever in the history. Over 20 million soldiers were killed in the War. The casualties of civilians were much higher which exceeded 45 million. The result was nothing. No success, no defeat. The result was only bloodshed; an unnecessary bloodshed. Though the war was unnecessary, though the casualties caused were unnecessary but it is quite necessary to understand the reasons and causes of this Great War. Critics say that the intervention of Britain in German-Poland war made it a World War as it resulted in the bringing of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Canada and United States in war. Otherwise, this war would have ended within months with clear victory of Germany. They also argue that Hitler did not intend to invade Britain. Rather he admired Britain as a great state in Europe. However, it is very clear from the ambitions of Hitler that after gaining strength in Europe, Hitler might advance to invade Britain as well. He wanted empire-building in Europe. The whole scenario clearly showed that this great was just a war of choice. It was completely unnecessary. The invasion of Germans from land to land was just the desire of empire-building in Europe. The war would not be spread to such a great extent had Germany was alone. But the involvement of Italy, Poland and Japan in the war made the scenario more crucial. The war which might be ended within a year extended to six years with the drastic results of the largest loss of lives in the history of world. If we looked the scenario, it seems clear that the self-constructed need of Empire-building of Germany in Europe and Japan in Asia initiated this great dreadful event. But, it is required to look deeply what caused them to take such a step even when they were going through the most turbulent financial situation of the country. What caused Germans to build-up army and modern weapons? The answer is only one. It was hunger that caused the German people to invade war in different territories. Passing through a long period of poverty built up a desire in them for empire-building. They wanted to have a state in which their basic necessities of life were provided to them easily. These desires caused them to elect a person who might take a step in this regard. As a result, they elected Adolf Hitler to lead them to the success. A number of restrictions were imposed on Germany after World War I through ‘Treaty of Versailles’. The basic purpose of this treaty was to stop Germany from initiating any other big war. But this treaty just handicapped the German people and German territory as a whole. They deprived the Germans of their basic necessities of life. It did nothing good to the German people and brought only poverty and hunger for Germans. As a result, the treaty just proved to be immaterial when only after 20 years of the Treaty, another World War was broke out by Germany again. And this time, the results were much more terrified than the World War I. so, it became clear then that such restrictions never stop a country from war. Rather, it brings a desire of war for them and brings them to a point where they just think “DO OR DIE”. References: 1. Patrick J. B. Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War. New York, USA: Three Rivers Press. Read More