Second World War essay

How did the Second World War affected life in wartime? World war two began in 1939 as a European conflict between Germany and Anglo-French-Polish coalition but eventually widened to include most of the nations of the World. World war T85wo ended in 1945, leaving a new world order of the superpowers, which are United States and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR). World War Two was known as the most devastating war in the human history. There were two in the war. each other, the first side were the allies. They were Britain France USSR and USA joined the war in 1941 because of the isolationist policy in the First World War also because of the attack on pearl Harbour. In my essay I will focus on how the Second World War affected life in wartime Britain. I will study the four main areas the Blitz, Evacuation, the home front for the changing role of women. A1/ (i) The picture in source A1 shows a number of houses bombed in Stepney on 9th September 1940. This source is quite useful because we can see the effects of the bombings. We can assume a number of civilians were killed and a lot of homelessness. This source was censored photograph; the governments did not want the public to know about this because it did not want to weaken the morale. A2/ (ii) People have taken a number of steps to protect their lives. In source A2 (i) The painting shows an Andersons shelter.

  • Word count: 1172
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

The Second World War as a Total War

The Second World War as a Total War Second World War was a horrifying event, which left an even deeper scarf in people's lives than the First World War. It brought far more damage and deaths than the previous war. However in order to answer whether the Second World War was a Total War, we first have to define what is Total War. Total War is the war that affects all of society- not just the armed forces, and that uses all the resources available to be able to win it. It's "the mobilization of the entire society and its resources for the war effort". In this essay several aspects will be investigated, which would help us answer the question. The first thing that comes to mind is the scale of war. It was tremendous. Almost every country participated in the Second World War. There were Europe, USA, USSR, Scandinavia, North Africa, Japan, China and Australia involved. And definitely there wasn't even one country in the whole world that didn't suffer from its effects. The war was fought on several fronts simultaneously, and thus the armies needed as many soldiers as possible. Volunteering was cancelled and conscription was introduced. From the start of the war, all men aged 18-41 had to register for war work- either to fight or to work. However, even despite the big number of people in the army, it wasn't the soldiers who suffered the most. It

  • Word count: 2243
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Causes of the second world war.

CAUSES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR When Hitler came to power in 1933 he made several of actions that some years later lead to war. These actions were re-armament, leaving the league of nations, re-militarism of the Rhineland, the spanish civil war, the lightning war and the alliances with Italy and Japan. Hitler's aims were clear, he wanted lebensraum (living space) in order to gain self-sufficiency, wanted to abolish the treaty of Versailles and revenge for those who signed it. And some years after he seized power it was clear he wanted to dominate the whole of Europe and the rest of the world. The Second World War was caused by Fascist aggression and the failure of democratic powers to stop this aggression. The rearmament of Germany was a cause for war because it broke the Treaty of Versailles (28th June, 1919) The remilitarization of the Rhineland (7th march, 1936) was a cause of war because it broke the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pacts (1925) The Rome-Berlin Axis (October 1936) was a cause of war because it united the aggressive fascist powers and divided Europe into hostile camps. Chamberlain's appeasement policy (after may 1937 - March 1939) was a cause of war because it broke the Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of St. Germain (10th September, 1919). The Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland after the Munich conference (29th September 1938) was a cause of war,

  • Word count: 1128
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Causes Of The Second World War

Causes Of The Second World War 24/6/01 There are many reasons for The Second World War, many people think it is due to Hitler, his beliefs and his obsession with a greater Germany. Hitler was elected to power from a public of desperate Germans, they were still angry with the Western world for forcing them to sign the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler promised to avenge the 'November Criminals' and restore Germany to its former glory. He did indeed want to improve Germany state of affairs although his policies where different from what many expected. Hitler wanted to unite all 'pure' German-speaking people, he also wanted lebensraum (living space) in order to gain self-sufficiency (autarky) as well as total domination of Europe and The World. The western world was terrified of Communism, Britain and France aloud Hitler to build up his army because they hoped The Nazis would keep Communism at bay. Hitler used conscription (forced the public to join his army) to get a huge force. Hitler had stated, at the Geneva Disarmament Conference, that if the rest of the world was not willing to bring their armies size down then he would have to bring up Germanys to their level. By 1935 rearmament was well underway, this involved conscription and munitions factories. Germanys rearmament alarmed the French who, were still weary of the Germans, reinforced the

  • Word count: 935
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

What caused the Second World War.

What caused the Second World War The Second World War began twenty years after the treaty of Versailles was signed. This essay will discuss the reasons why this was the case and why the treaty of Versailles did not bring lasting peace. Hitler's actions between 1933-1939 were one of the major causes world war two. Firstly Hitler started to rearm Germanys Army in secret as the treaty of Versailles said that he was not allowed to do that. Hitler trained ordinary people for a year and then released them and another group of people were brought in to take their place. Hitler thought that if there was going to be a war that every one in Germany could help because they had been trained and would be ready to fight. Secondly in 1934 Hitler tried to take control of Austria because that was Hitler's birthplace. Hitler got some of his Austrian Nazis to go to the chancellor of Austria and kill him. The chancellor killed himself he jumped out of a window from a third story building and landed on his head. But as Hitler tried to take over Austria over Italian leader Mussolini said no he thought that once Hitler had taken over Austria his next target would be Italy. So Mussolini said that if Hitler tried to take control of Austria he would march his soldiers and weapons to fight Hitler. Hitler did not want to fight the Italians because he was not strong enough yet. In 1936 Hitler got

  • Word count: 1467
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Hitler and the Second World War

World History Hitler and the Second World War Achievements War Achievements Hitler's attitude to war Hitler believed four things: . That struggle is natural to human life. 2. That the highest form of struggle is war. 3. That a master race like the Germans would want more land. 4. That the obvious lands for the Germans to occupy were Poland and the Soviet Union to the east. Hitler's ideas . "War is the contribution of policy [getting what you want] by other means."-From 2. "All of nature is one struggle between strength and weakness, an eternal victory of the strong over the weak."-From a speech by Hitler in 1923 3. "War is the most natural, the most ordinary thing...War is life. All struggle is war."-From Mein Kampf 4. "We turn our eyes to the land in the East."-From Mein Kampf 5. "According to an eternal law of Nature, the right to land belongs to the one who conquers the land because there was not enough space for the growth of the population."-Adapted from Hitler's Second Book, 1928 Germany at war The Second World war fell into two parts for the Germans. During the first part Germany did well and the civilian life was not affected. During the second part Germany did badly and people at home suffered. The First Part In 1933 Germany crushed Poland in a few weeks. The Polish campaign was followed by a six-month period in which little fighting took place.

  • Word count: 1028
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Women During the Second World War.

Women During the Second World War . Describe the ways in which women's work in the home contributed to the war effort 'You women at home are winning the war as much as your menfolk in the services,' reads Source D from the 1941 Ministry of Food. The theme of the importance of women on the home and 'Kitchen Front' is continued by the 1970s school text book in Source K, "It was the ordinary housewife who was in fact decisive...if she had once revolted the whole system would have become unworkable." 'Food is a weapon of war,' states the Ministry of Food. As the German U-boat campaign strengthened, not only valuable military equipment, ammunition and fuel were lost, but food imports were jeopardised and rationing was necessitated. Britain had to become more dependent on its own resources and it became clear that women at home had, 'The job of using...foods to the greatest advantage.' The Ministry of food advertisement, Source E, shows how women were encouraged to help in the making of, 'A second front - the Kitchen Front - against Hitler.' Here, they are encouraged to increase their use of home-grown vegetables, to try new things and experiment on cooking recipes and hints from Kitchen Front Wireless Talks (and the like), to save and re-use all bread crusts and crumbs, not to accept unfair ration hand-outs, not to buy over-priced scarce food and to serve larger portions of

  • Word count: 2998
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Evacuation in the Second world War.

Britain started preparing for the Second World War very early by building air - raid shelters and beginning to think about evacuation. The country was afraid of loosing more people than to loose in War. The aim was to save as many lives as possible especially, the children in order to save a generation. This provided more space too. The government took precautions as they were expecting 10, 000 casualties per air - raid. Evacuation was not compulsory and many families didn't want to part with their children, whilst others felt more relaxed knowing their children were safe. The government produced propaganda posters to persuade parents to evacuate their children. The nation already witnessed what the German bombers did to Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Everyone was given a gas mask to carry around with them at all times - including school. In 1937 air - raid precautions were introduced involving blackouts and evacuation of the vulnerable. Its aim was to save as many lives as possible. Britain were criticised for not doing enough during the First World War and had to act in WW2. Evacuation occurred in the bigger cities such as Liverpool and London. This was mainly down to the huge ports in Liverpool used for exchanging goods, and the fact that London is the capital city. There were doubts whether the money was being spent in the best way, the fact that

  • Word count: 1730
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Total War, Britain during the Second World War

Total War, Britain during the Second World War Part 1: The outbreak of war When war broke out on 3 September 1939, the mood in Britain was very serious. Nobody expected that the war was going to be 'Over by Christmas'. The British government reacted quickly. There had been a war scare in September 1938 at the time of the Munich Crisis and this provided valuable practice for the real thing. In the meantime, gas-masks had been produced for everybody in the population and air-raid shelters had been constructed. The Emergency Powers Act, which allowed the government to control public life throughout the war was passed in August 1939. On aspect of it was the introduction of Identity Cards, which had to be carried at all times. These were also used for National Registration which allowed people to be called up for the armed forces or for war work. Fears of bombing It was widely believed that British towns and cities would be bombed immediately after war was declared and that hundreds of thousands of people would be killed or wounded. In 1937 the Air Ministry had estimated that on the first day of a war with Germany, 3,500 tonnes of bombs would be dropped on Britain and that a further 700 tonnes would be dropped on every day after that. Deaths were estimated at fifty people for every tonne of bombs. 1,250,000 cardboard coffins were produced and plans were made for mass burials.

  • Word count: 9346
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Women During The Second World War.

Anna Galloway Women During The Second World War Question 1 The thrust of source A, the message to women was that the war was being waged to protect all the things that they held dear. It makes the point that traditionally women were at the heart of the home and family. However in order to protect this ethos it is inferred that, every woman in the country must be prepared to make sacrifices in order to keep them. The source says "all those little things that are so important in every woman's life" which at that times implied home and family; the broadcast far from denigrating these values said "treasure them and cling to them" the broadcast went on to say that the war was being waged to protect these values, our freedom and future. The broadcast indicates that whilst the men of the country were at the front prosecuting the war in order to support them every woman must sacrifice their comfortable existence to have the home and take over jobs which had been vacated by the men at the front; the broadcast emphasised that "we are all in it together" and in order to succeed and protect all, that both men and women held dear they must be prepared to "fight for them" men by taking up arms and women by changing roles and keeping, agriculture, transport and industry going; providing support morally, through men knowing the home front was being kept going and materially i.e. munitions

  • Word count: 2210
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
Access this essay