This is a cause and effect paper I wrote for my history class

World War I brought with it about 11,016,000 casualties and 2,091.3 billion dollars spent for the United States. At the end of WWI Germany was fully expecting Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Point Plan to be put into action. This plan deemed “Peace with out Victors”, stating that there would be no punishment for Germany. On June 28, 1919 the Versailles Peace Treaty was signed. The treaty came as a surprise to the Germans forcing them to take full responsibility for starting the war, causing them to pay the cost of the war amounting to 132 billion marks leaving the country in debt and poverty, and implementing many military and territorial restrictions. The German High Command feared that the country would blame them for loosing the war. To avoid this they created the “Stab in the Back Myth”, announcing to Germany that they were right on the brink of winning the war when the cowardly communist, socialist, and Jews out of Berlin stabbed them in the back causing them to loose the war. They proclaimed throughout Germany that they had been betrayed by the enemies at home. This theory had become very popular among many Germans who couldn’t accept defeat.
One German soldier lay in a hospital bed recovering from temporary blindness caused by a British chlorine gas attack when the war ended became obsessed with this theory. Hitler described his reaction in Mein Kampf: "There followed terrible days and even worse nights - I knew that all was lost...in these nights hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed" (History Place.com). This was the beginning of a terrible chain of events as we all know this soldier who was left wounded and feeling betrayed gained power and left a trail of death, chaos, fear, and demolition in his path. Ultimately this reaction set us on a path to the Second World War
Adolf Hitler along with many other Germans wanted to see their nation throw off the “shackles” of the treaty and once again take its place in the world-the “rebirth” of Germany through a strong nationalist government, (history place.com). Germany was a nation in political and social chaos. In the year 1919 Adolf Hitler became the leader of the ‘Nazi Party’ a few years later on August 2, 1934 Hitler was made “Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor” putting him in the top spot. In the years to come Hitler spoke out endlessly against the treaty and gained much support. One short year later Hitler put his rage and racism in effect by passing the Nuremberg law. This law stated that Jews were no longer considered German Citizens and therefore had no legal rights. This was just the beginning Hitler’s hate crimes. Adolf Hitler formed a strong alliance with another Fascist leader, Mussolini. Hitler began to march his army into surrounding areas taking over power and leaving a trail of death and misery behind him. Hitler invaded Austria, provinces of Bohemia and Moravia but it wasn’t until he invaded Poland that World War Two began. During the war he invaded Yugoslavia and all of Western Europe forcing France to surrender.
During Hitler’s rule many people suffered and died. He was a hateful man with a mission to take over the world and to create a perfect race. Although the Jewish suffered gravely from Hitler’s hatred they were not the only ones to perish at his command. One half million Gypsies, 250,000 mentally and physically disabled persons and more than three million prisoners of war were slaughtered by the Nazis. Few were safe from Hitler’s hand. Other “undesirables” who were victims of his hatred included Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, social democrats, communists, partisans, trade unionists and Polish intelligentsia. No one was safe there was no mercy for Hitler and his Nazis truly believed they were riding the world of “pigs” less then human beings. The amount of murder’s committed by Hitler and his army is deplorable but none more in my eyes than the murder of children. The number of children killed during the Holocaust is unfathomable and the exact statistics will never be known. Estimates range about 1.5 million slaughtered children. This number includes about 1.2 million Jewish children, tens of thousands of Gypsy children, and thousands of institutionalized handicapped children were murdered under Nazi rule.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 the United States and Britain declared war on the Japanese, three days later Germany under the rule of Hitler, declared war on the United States. At the time the United States ranked 18th in the world concerning military strength and Germany held strong at number one. At the time the United States entered the war reluctantly as the underdog. World War II is by far the bloodiest war ever fought to date. An astounding 52,199,262 death occurred during this war and 2,091.3 billion dollars was spent funding it, blowing the First World War out of the water. After a failed assassination attempt in 1945 Adolf Hitler shot himself ending his life. Shortly after his death Germany surrendered to the Allies. Four months later the war ended and the Allies prevailed as the victors.
The signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty followed by the “Stab in the Back Theory” was inspiration for Hitler and began a chain of events ultimately leading us into World II. It is in my opinion that if these events had not taken place and if Wilson’s “War without Victors” had been instituted that the Second World War could have been completely avoided. It was the lies that the German High Command told its people, the lie that Hitler took to heart which was the onset of all the hatred and need for revenge. Six million lives were taken during this war for the United States alone, chaos and fear spread like disease. Could it all have been avoided? I guess we’ll never know. One thing we do know is that Hitler’s hatred and racism reigned down injustice on the innocent and caused turmoil wherever he chose.