World War 2 Dbq Essay

World War II was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved many major countries. The war began with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. It rapidly spread throughout Europe and progressed to outside countries. The thing that most angered Germany and could even be labeled as the origin of World War II was The Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. The treaty imposed heavy reparations on Germany, limited its military capacity, and forced it to give up territory to neighboring countries. Germany felt this was humiliating and unjust, and many believed their country had been unfairly punished. In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany, promising to restore the country's greatness and overturn

Still, during and after it, they were highly traumatized and hurt. Also, the use of various weapons such as tanks and rifles stayed generally the same. In Document 2, describing the battle of Verdun in 1916, a French soldier describes the types of weaponry used such as rifles and machine guns. He also highlights the large quantities of deaths by stating “Under the storm of machine gun, rifle, and artillery fire, the German columns are plowed into fields of death.” He also talks about the horrid orders they were expected to execute such as taking prisoners from piles of dead bodies. Similarly, The Excerpts from The Diary of William Hoffman describe the vile effects of World War II and the toll it had on soldiers. Hoffman was a soldier fighting for the Nazi Party. Originally, in his documents he has this excited innocence going into war. As his entries progress, we see his excitement fade away and turn into trauma, grief, and regret. Taken together, these two documents are a prime example of how similar weaponry continued to be used, and how that affected the number of deaths. Also, they depict pre-war militarism and how it quickly goes away once war unleashes its horrors upon the people. Overall, these two documents demonstrate continuity in the sense that deadly weapons caused severe casualties, and how

Document 4 is an image depicting the Battle of Stalingrad. Unlike in World War I where images of war took place in trenches, this photograph shows that these battles in World War II took place all over the cities. Also, in the text above the image, there are multiple experiences of innocent civilians being brutally murdered and attacked within the comfort of their own homes. Furthermore, In source three of the Blitzkrieg document, there are various photographs of civilians living in France while Germany was attacking. They look absolutely petrified and panicked. This demonstrates a significant change in warfare because originally in World War I, the battles were mostly fought in trenches and only consisted of soldiers. This new tactic of fighting in cities and including innocent bystanders in war added a new psychological element. For example, Blitzkrieg was both a psychological attack and a physical one. While the German Army did massacre many with PHYSICAL weapons such as tanks and guns, they also played with PSYCHOLOGICAL weapons. They implemented a feeling of terror and panic around the cities, causing civilians to flee in the hope of survival. This created a mental advantage as well as a militaristic