World War Two Sources Questions

History Source Question Coursework Lee Male 5UU ) Source A is a primary source. It's a message sent by Commander Paulus (of Sixth Army) to the Germany Army High Command, on 24th January 1943. We expect to find that the source is genuine and unbiased, considering the message has been sent from one German to another. The message was also not an attempt of propaganda as it was kept top secret between army generals. The information is regarding the surrender of the Sixth Army in Stalingrad in 1943. The German Army was losing considerably and couldn't keep up the strong fighting, as known in 1939 onwards. The source tells us that supplies were gravely low, and command was no longer possible. It is a very adequate explanation of why the German Army had to surrender. One main reason for the defeat of Russia was to do with the strategic positioning of the army. Almost half of the original army going to Stalingrad was redirected to the Caucacus. This caused problems later on. We also know that the Luftwaffe wasn't delivering the required amount of supplies, although Goering had promised. Not nearly half of the ammunition, food and medical supplies were being flown in. The source tells us that the front lines were crumbling. We understand that the German Army had conquered approximately nine tenths of Stalingrad, but still couldn't manage to hold the most important area, the banks

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Hitler And Stalin During the period leading up to World War II

Hitler And Stalin During the period leading up to ... Hitler And Stalin During the period leading up to World War II, there were two famous dictators who were on opposing sides, yet had similar records. These men were Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. They were each triumphant in their rise to power in their countries and they were very comparable in the ways that they succeeded. Their success was mostly attributed to their new ideas and their politics. Although Hitler and Stalin hated each other, the two leaders were similar in many ways. Hitler and Stalin each rose to the highest position attainable in their respective countries, and there were three main reasons that they were able to do this. Both men were skilled users of propaganda, each was amoral, and they both had the ambition to make their countries powerful in the world. Since each was a skilled user of propaganda, they could use their words to twist and manipulate the minds of people into believing that what they were saying was the absolute truth. Using this power, they would get people to do anything for them, which proves their amorality. Since their countries were still trying to recover from World War I, they desired to restore the power back in to their countries. These three reasons will prove that Hitler and Stalin were similar in many ways. The names Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are synonymous

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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causes of world war two

Causes of WW2 Many historians have traced the causes of World War II to problems left unsolved by World War I (1914-1918). World War I and the treaties that ended it also created new political and economic problems. Forceful leaders in several countries took advantage of these problems to seize power. The desire of dictators in Germany, Italy, and Japan to conquer additional territory brought them into conflict with the democratic nations. After World War I ended, representatives of the victorious nations met in Paris in 1919 to draw up peace treaties for the defeated countries. These treaties, known as the Peace of Paris, followed a long and bitter war. They were worked out in haste by these countries with opposing goals; and failed to satisfy even the victors. Of all the countries on the winning side, Italy and Japan left the peace conference most dissatisfied. Italy gained less territory than it felt it deserved and vowed to take action on its own. Japan gained control of German territories in the Pacific and thereby launched a program of expansion. But Japan was angered by the peacemakers' failure to endorse the principle of the equality of all races. The countries that lost World War I--Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey--were especially dissatisfied with the Peace of Paris. They were stripped of territory, arms and were required to make reparations

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Why was Stalin suspicious of his allies at the end of World War II?

History essay Why was Stalin suspicious of his allies at the end of World War II? Ever since Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet pact with Hitler, his relationship with other Western leaders was to deteriorate dramatically, especially with France, America and Britain. Though they felt surprised by this move on the Russian part, they also felt deeply resentful and very concerned that he should join the side of the obvious aggressor. Hitler's anti-communist views were well known making the relationship even more surreal. However, they appeared to fail to recall that had they supplied sufficient aid for Russia when Hitler stated his interest in conquering its land, then the sudden partnership might have been avoided. But Stalin felt that the Russian interests were ignored by Britain and France, and so finally on 24 August 1939, he formed an alliance with his arch-enemy. Stalin made Russia an allied country to Britain and America in 1941, when German troops invaded Russia. Though his contributions helped win the war, there was still a tense atmosphere between the leaders. Stalin had great uncertainties about the allied countries, remembering their previous negative response to his needs. The war ended with conferences to try and decide on the best reprimand for the aggressing countries. They were led by the Big Three; Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin (leaders of Britain, America

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Causes of World War Two.

The Causes of World War Two. The origins of World War Two have exercised the minds of historians and filled hundreds of thousands of pages, without tiring either the fascination of the subject or the energy of the reader. Many still remember the war like it was yesterday and were directly affected by it. Others, born after the war, barely know anything about it. Either way, we are still living in the shadows of it. Maybe the physical ruins in Europe were quickly repaired, but the destruction has left its mark in great cities and left forty to fifty million dead. One might ask why and how? Why and how can a war break out including at least eight major powers and kill over forty millions people? When looking at the causes of World War II it is not like looking at the causes of World War I. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungry declared war on Serbia, and within a week, five of the six European great powers were at war. One day Europe was at peace the next day at war. But with World War II it was totally different. It is even difficult to say when precisely the war began.1 Some say it started in 1936, with the Spanish Civil War. It is when a Nationalist, Francisco Franco took up arms against the republic and in a few weeks controlled half the country. Then the Soviet Union, Italy, and Germany came to help fight for three years and lost half a million lives there. While the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Why did Germany lose World War Two?

Why did Germany lose World War Two? There are many reasons why Germany lost World War Two, namely Hitler’s underestimation of the Red Army, America joining the war and in turn their ability to rearm and produce a viable army and Hitler’s obsessive campaign to invade the USSR. However the reason which I believe has the most weight is Hitler’s miscalculations of both America and the Red Army. Hitler was the supreme commander of Germany throughout the war so it seems inevitable that his decisions must be responsible for Germany losing the Second World War. He refused to listen to anyone else’s advice, not even his own officers’. He thought that he knew best in every situation when, of course, he did not. He over-stretched both himself and his armies. An examination of his decisions should therefore reveal why Germany lost. Hitler's approach to Operation Barbarossa illustrates how unrealistic his thinking was and his total lack of understanding of the value of lives. Although before the Operation the fighting had gone quite well and he had advanced quite far from the East, Operation Barbarossa went wrong. He refused to let his troops retreat from Russia after the Operation had almost definitely failed, as he thought his troops were being cowards, although it was almost inevitable that they would suffer large losses and a massive defeat. Hitler was misguided and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Hitler's Invasion of Russia in World War Two.

Hitler's Invasion of Russia in World War Two Introduction In the whole of history there has never been a war like it. In its scale of destruction, the war on the Eastern Front was unique; from Leningrad to the Crimea, from Kiev to Stalingrad, the Soviet Union was devastated - at least 25 million Soviet citizens died. And in the end what did the German aggressors have to show for it? A broken, divided country, which had lost much of its territory, and a people burdened with the knowledge that they had launched a racist war of annihilation and, in the process, spawned the cancer of the Holocaust. But at the time of the attack there were many people - and not just Germans - who thought that the decision to invade the Soviet Union was a rational act in pursuit of German self-interest and, moreover, that this was a war the Germans would win. In the summer of 1940 Adolf Hitler, despite his swift and dramatic victory over France, faced a major military and political problem. The British would not do what seemed logical and what the Führer expected - they would not make peace. Yet Hitler was frustrated by geography - in the shape of the English Channel - from following his immediate instincts and swiftly crushing the British just as he had the French. Hitler did in fact order preparations to be made for an invasion of England, but he was always half-hearted in his desire to

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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America's involvement in World War Two

America's involvement in World War Two When war broke out , there was no way the world could possibly know the severity of this guerre. Fortunately one country saw and understood that Germany and its allies would have to be stopped. America's Involvement in World War two not only contributed in the eventual downfall of the insane Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich, but also came at the precise time and moment. Had the united states entered the war any earlier the consequences might have been worse. Over the years it has been an often heated and debated issue on whether the united states could have entered the war sooner and thus have saved many lives. To try to understand this we must look both at the people's and government's point of view. Just after war broke out in Europe, President Roosevelt hurriedly called his cabinet and military advisors together. There it was agreed that the United states stay neutral in these affairs. One of the reasons given was that unless America was directly threatened they had no reason to be involved. This reason was a valid one because it was the American policy to stay neutral in any affairs not having to with them unless American soil was threatened directly. Thus the provisional neutrality act passed the senate by seventy-nine votes to two in 1935. On August 31, Roosevelt signed it into law. In 1936 the law was renewed, and in 1937 a

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Stalin (1927-1953) led the Soviet State through the challenges of World War II.

Soviet Union Joseph Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1927-1953) led the Soviet State through the challenges of World War II. Although the war was a terrible drain on the already impoverished and exhausted society, it resulted, paradoxically in strengthening the Soviet dictatorship. The war distracted the Soviet people from Stalin's excesses in previous years and generated patriotism and national unity. It also greatly strengthened the Soviet military. The Soviet Union emerged from the war as second in power only to the United States. (Dr. Minton F, Goldman) So what were the factors that contributed to the collapse of the super power and what is preventing Russia from re-entering the international community as a stabilized independent country. In the beginning, Communism seemed to be the utopian ideal for the people of Russia because it promised elimination of classes, guaranteed employment, and gave hope that "The creation of a comprehensive social security and welfare system for all citizens that would end the misery of workers once and for all." In 1917, when Lenin came to power the socialist dictatorship underwent radical changes in it's economic doctrines adopting the New Economic Policy giving control of the majority of means of production to the government. Lenin's government made many achievements and in fact throughout the majority of Communist rule, censorship

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Joseph Stalin: A Catalyst to the Cold War

Joseph Stalin: A Catalyst to the Cold War By Andrei Mascas-Iovu The blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on one person - it developed as a series of chain reactions as a struggle for supremacy. It can be argued that the Cold War was inevitable, and therefore it was no one's fault, due to the differences in the capitalist and communist ideologies. It was only the need for self-preservation that had caused the two countries to sink their differences temporarily during World War II. Yet many of the tensions that existed in the Cold War can be attributed to Stalin's policy of Soviet expansion. It is necessary, therefore, to examine the role of Stalin as a catalyst to the Cold War. Stalin's foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post- war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories in Poland, Romania, and Finland. To the western world, this success looked as if it were the beginning of serious Russian aggressions. The western view of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two things: either continuing the expansionist policies of the tsars that preceded him, or worse, spreading communism across the world now that his "one-state" notion had been fulfilled. It

  • Word count: 1654
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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