Essay/Term paper: World war 2

Essay, term paper, research paper:  World War

World War 2


War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder
that usually it comes around at least once in our lifetime. In the 20th century
alone we have already had two huge wars. These wars were call the World Wars
simply because they involved most of the big countries of the world. Many
people have died in these wars.. especially the second World War. That is my
focus for this essay.

The leader of Germany at the time of WW2 and the person who most think
started WW2 was a man named Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. By
the time that World War 1 started in 1914, he was living in Germany. He served
well in the German Army and for that he earned a medal for bravery. At the end
of the war Hitler decided to take up politics. By 1921 he was already the
founding leader of the Nazi party. Hitler was an incredibly racist man and he
had a great hate for Jews. By 1933, Hitler gained political power by winning
the election. Soon after he made himself absolute dictator, calling himself the
Fuhrer which means "Leader". By the end of the 30's he was already sending Jews
off too concentration camps to meet a horrible death.

I believe that Hitler was one of the greatest causes of World War 2.
Although there are many other reasons, he was definitely one of them. Another
reason was the Treaty of Versailles. This was the treaty that was signed at the
end of World War 1. This treaty outlined the rules that Germany must follow
because of their defeat by Britain and France. Many Germans were angered by the
treaty, for most of the rules in the treaty were unfair and Germany lost a great
amount of wealth. One of the cruelest reasons for the war was Hitler's racist
hate for Jews. He would send them off in cattle cars to places called
concentration camps were they would be slaughtered by the thousands.

World War 2 was huge and involved a lot of countries. There were thousands
of battlefronts and warsites. The two main battlefronts were the battle front
between Britain and Germany and the battlefront between the Japanese and the
Americans. These battlefronts were split up into smaller battlefronts even
still. Many lives were lost in the air, on land and in the sea. Some of the
most notable battles were: The Battle of Britain, The Battle of Midway and The
Battle of the Atlantic.

Since the US and Canada were at war with the Japanese, Japanese Canadians
were treated very poorly. The government had decided that all or most Japanese
Canadians, even if they were born in Canada had either go home or go and live in
one of the camps. These camps were made to keep all the Japanese Canadians
together in one location. But the fact was that these camps were very dirty and
not fair treatment. Also, the government took away all Japanese possessions and
without the Japanese knowing, they were auctioned off at a fraction of their
original value! This treatment went on for all of World War 2 and Japanese
Canadians were not treaty fairly for many years after. Just recently the
government of Canada has decided to pay compensation for their losses but most
agree that it doesn't even come close to what they lost.

One of the greatest outcomes of the war was the great world power shift.
For more than a century Great Britain had been the wealthiest and most powerful
nation in the world. But they used up too many resources in the wars and their
status greatly decreased. One person even wrote that it is not Great Britain
any more... it is just Britain. People all over the world suffered through this
war. Hundreds of thousands of people died. All for the sake of their countries.
And you know what? No one actually gained anything from it. The fact is that
all of the countries (excluding the US) lost much, much more than what they
gained. Britain lost their power, France lost lives and land, Germany lost
everything and Japan lost thousands of civilians in their suicidal attacks
called Kamikazes.

In my opinion the war was a total waste. Although some people will tell
you that we fought and gained the peace that we have today and have had for
almost fifty years. People fought for 5 years and lost more than 50 billion
dollars. Do think it was worth it? Now, maybe if governments use the past as a
guide to the future we won't have to fight such a bloody battle ever again.
Especially with nuclear weapons so easily obtainable.