by Brian Meskanen

Created on: July 08, 2007

The history of World War 2 is one of the most heavily documented and discussed topics of the 20th Century, and the whys and wherefores of Germany's fall from military superpower to defeated apologist state have been argued back and forth since 1945. One thing remains clear - despite a manufacturing juggernaut capable of producing some of the finest arms and equipment in the world, despite the leadership of well-educated and efficient majority in the upper echelons of the military hierarchy; the influence of a dictatorial megalomaniac with deteriorating mental faculties was the deciding factor in the outcome of WW2.

Adolph Hitler rose to prominence through one of the harshest times Germany has ever endured. He was a Corporal in WW1, was wounded and was well aware, by the time the first world war was over, of the influence the Jewish contingent in the United States had in bringing the USA into the conflict, helping to defeat Germany, and, in his mind, the responsibility the allies had in plunging Germany into severe economic depression. Many theories have been put forward to explain Hitler's obsession with the extermination of the Jewish people, but the part played in bringing about the end of WW1 and the loss of German territory and power cannot be dismissed.

Hitler brought Germany from the brink of economic and social collapse to the forefront of military and social development in the 1930's. His first moves were explained away diplomatically as those of a strong leader of an emerging power-state looking to consolidate the Germany of old. The world at the time was tired of war, and weary of conflict, and the annexation of Austria and the retaking of the Rhine lands was seen as an unnerving but potentially resolvable situation. At this juncture, outright global conflict could have been avoided, however, the "lebensraum" concept and the subsequent invasion of Poland forced Poland's allies (which included Great Britain) to enter the fray, and the situation declined rapidly from there.

Perhaps one of the first and most enduring mistakes of the Hitler dictatorship was the rounding up and decimation of the Jewish peoples within Hitler's scope of influence. The Jews of the time were the teachers, doctors, musicians and entrepreneurs of German society. Despite the efforts of "good" Germans and others in ferrying the Jewish refugees away to safety, many of the great German thinkers were of the Jewish faith. This culling of intelligence, not to mention the possibility that

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