Germany, Hitler, and World War II
Essays in Modern German and World History

This series of studies illuminates the nature of the Nazi system and its impact on Germany and the world.

Gerhard L. Weinberg (Author)

9780521566261, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 April 1996

360 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.6 kg

"Weinberg's essays would be of significant use in an educational environment....the essays can be very helpful and interesting to students....skillfully argued and written they would serve as an excellent tool to illustrate to students how the historical discipline works....Weinberg is a scholar of high order abd his essays reflect this....Weinberg's book is an invaluable resource." Michael Marino, Teaching History

Reflecting on the greatest war in human history, one cannot help but think about the terrible conflict as a whole, its leaders, its peoples, and the puzzles still open about its conduct. Leaders on both sides realised that at stake from the very beginning was a complete restructuring of the world order. More than a conflict of imperial aggression, World War II was about who would live and command the globe's resources and which peoples would disappear entirely because they were believed to be inferior or undesirable by the victor. This collection of special studies in twentieth-century German and world history illuminates the nature of the Nazi system and its impact on Germany and the world. Bringing together essays now widely scattered and several never previously published in English, this volume examines the Holocaust, the connections between the European and Pacific theatres of war, as well as the effects, leaders, and research problems of World War II. By examining the effects of World War II, its leaders, its problems, and the Holocaust, this volume provides an illuminating study of the nature of the Nazi system and its impact on Germany and the world.

Preface
Part I. Background: 1. The defeat of Germany in 1918 and the European balance of power
2. National Socialist organisation and aims in 1927
3. The world through Hitler's eyes
Part II. The Nazi System: 4. The Nazi revolution: a war against human rights
5. Propaganda for peace and preparation for war
Part III. Background for War: 6. Hitler and England, 1933–1945: pretence and reality
7. German foreign policy and Austria
8. Germany, Munich, and appeasement
9. A proposed compromise over Danzig in 1939? 10. The German generals and the outbreak of war, 1938–1939
11. Hitler's decision for war
Part IV. World War II: 12. German diplomacy toward the Soviet Union
13. The Nazi-Soviet pacts: a half-century later
14. Germany and the United States, 1917–1949
15. Germany and Pearl Harbour
16. Global conflict: relations between the European and Pacific theatres in World War II
17. The Holocaust and the war in 1943
18. The German resistance to Hitler
19. D-Day after 50 years
20. German plans for victory
21. Reflections on running a war: Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Tojo
22. Some thoughts on World War II
23. At the end: a new Germany in a new world Appendix: The end of Ranke's history: reflections on the fate of history in the twentieth century.

Subject Areas: Second World War [HBWQ], European history [HBJD]