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World War II and the Cold War

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“Today, we rule Germany, tomorrow, the world”, proclaimed German leader, Adolf Hitler, as he managed to increase the size of the German Army by 1938 in hopes to win the war. Despite getting back what was taken from them during World War I, Hitler’s capability to rearm reflected on his attempts to reintegrate all Germans into a single homeland. Ultimately, Hitler wanted to resolve the wrongs in the Treaty of Versailles and unify Germany as a single state. France and Britain did nothing about it, allowing Hitler’s reputation in the military to enhance. After World War I, all the major nations decided they had enough of war and destruction, so they appeased Hitler and gave him what he wanted, in hopes to abolish war. Appeasement formulated during the Munich Conference, where the British and French governments set out a goal to keep peace in Europe. They put together a promise that Hitler would cease further initiations to expand Germany territory. However, Hitler refused to abide by the agreement and continued to threaten countries such as Czechoslovakia and Poland by complete occupation of his troops. Since the policy of appeasement was an obvious failure, Britain and France the idea and guaranteed the security of Poland. Since the German Army was undefeated in WWI, most of the soldiers carried into WWII, giving their army an advantage. Also, having the power of the blitzkrieg, which was the German style of attack through the use of armor and air power, gave the Germans an unbeatable title. The German Army was initially unbeatable due to better equipment, better training, and better tactics. In 1941, the German’s aim was Soviet Union land, where Jews, Slavs, and Bolsheviks could be killed to create more lebensraum for Germans who wished to settle. The “Winter War” impacted the German invasion of the Soviet Union by ending Germany’s advance in Russia. The Germans goal was to capture Stalingrad, but the Russians fought for every inch of land. However, when winter came, the lack of proper uniforms, weapons, and tools for winter rivalry slowed down the German army. This enabled the Soviet Union to win the war against Germany by circling their troops and capturing them. The German’s initial invasion was successful, however, because they attacked Russia despite having a peace treaty with them-equivalent to a massive surprise attack. The three myths surrounding the Russo-German war and why the Germans got defeated was the weather and how it was only cold on the German side, the importance of the battles such as Stalingrad and Moscow, and the importance of the tanks. The weather myth is inaccurate due to the fact that the Germans failed in good weather during the opera

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