Analyzing Germany's Influence in World War II: A Global History Essay

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Germany's role in World War II, examining the country's actions, motivations, and impact on global history. The essay begins by highlighting Germany's initial dominance under Hitler's leadership, including the invasion of Poland and the conquest of several European countries. It explores Hitler's ambitions to dominate Europe and eliminate communism, as well as the strategic decisions that ultimately led to Germany's defeat. The essay discusses key events such as the invasion of Russia, the Battle of Britain, and the involvement of the Allied Forces, emphasizing the consequences of Germany's actions, including the devastation of the country and the rise of the Nazi regime. The essay also references various scholarly sources to support its arguments and provides a detailed overview of the war's key events, the motivations of German leaders, and the long-term consequences of the conflict, including the establishment of the United Nations and the Nuremberg Trials. The essay concludes by highlighting the significant influence of Germany on the course of European history in the 20th century.

Running head: GLOBAL HISTORY
Global History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1GLOBAL HISTORY
World War II had been one of the most destructive battles in the world. This worldwide
began in the year 1939 and ended in 1945. The involvement of Germany is known to be one of
the major things in the context of this world war. Germany had high ambitions regarding the war
and they began brilliantly in terms of dominating their enemy countries. They took hold of
several smaller countries under the leadership of mighty Hitler. After that, Hitler aimed at
conquering Britain and France. They could not manage this and fell victim to Russia’ winter
after December. This clearly shows how Germany started as the dominant faction but could not
utilize on their rampant progress. In fact Germany can be considered as the main party entirely
responsible for invading into Poland. In this context, Germany’s high ambitions could not be
properly utilized by their leaders and lack of planned strategy had destroyed their dreams
completely.
The arguments lie in the fact that Germany’s role in the Second World War would shape
the world through the victory of Germany. Hitler actually wanted to prove his supremacy over
Europe and dominate the continent in the coming years. This argument has been cross
questioned several times. At the end of the war, Germany was completely devastated as the
Allied Forces ran mayhem on Germany and their partners of Axis Powers. When critics discuss
about the role and contribution of Germany in the Second War II, they definitely speak about
Hitler in this context. It is because Germany and Hitler were completely synonymous during
those times (Childs 2014). In the beginning two years of the battle, Germany was very
successful. The success of Germany in these years was indicating the fact Germany was going to
dominating the war after they were badly victimized First World War. The ultimate target of
Hitler was to dominate entire Europe and establish Germany the most superior country in Europe
(Kaiser 2015). However, it has been said that the early success in the first two years had

2GLOBAL HISTORY
motivated Germany to make more moves so they could secure their dominance. On the other
hand, it was very unfortunate for Germany to lose the ground as Hitler’s strategies were not
properly successful to lead them and give them the ever desired strategic advantage in the long
run (Schenderlein 2017).
The second argument lies in the fact that Germany wanted to get rid of communism of
Russia. Hitler’s anti-communism ideology was the outcome of the activities that Lenin and Stalin
did in Russia and getting rid of the Czar through Bolshevik revolution. The aspects of fascism
and Nazism were the reactions or responses towards the up rise of communist revolutions in
Europe. The mass killings and massacres done by Hitler’s Nazi party were aimed at persecuting
the Russian communists including the Red Army. The victory of Germany could have brought
some changes in the world order since Britain was the dominating power during that time and
they were very strict in not allowing any other power to dominate Europe. If Germany won the
war by implementing their strategies properly, they could have thrown a challenge towards
supreme dominance of Europe. Germany went on to attack the Western countries during the
spring time of 1940. This was definitely a very bold move regarding the German powers (Wells
2014). Germany went on to attack on different countries France, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Netherlands. This was also a very successful venture for the German army. Germany also got
very confident in this scenario. Three countries Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg had been
conquered by Germany within a very less time (Spielvogel 2016). This had been a very
motivating for Germany completely. France had also been neutralized in the month of June.
Now, Britain was the only country that stood in the way of Germany before they could conquer
the entire Western Europe and turn towards East again. The strategies of Germany were very
impactful but Hitler could not utilize on their plans. He was over ambitious and he was too much

3GLOBAL HISTORY
confidence of his strategy. Therefore, his plans were backfired because of proper back up plan
for their soldiers. If Germany managed the victory, Britain would have to free their colonies
earlier than they did. Germany was such a country that had the potential to be the supreme
leaders of Europe within a short span of time. The aim of Germany was to conquer Britain after
capturing their victory over most Western European countries. Hitler was aware that Britain was
then the most powerful naval force in the world and it was impossible to defeat them through the
sea (Lyons 2016). The example of their naval prowess was very clear in the Battle of Waterloo
when they defeated Napoleon. So, Hitler had planned he would take England out of the Second
World War by attacking them by German Air Force. In the August of 1940, German bombers
had begun their continuous attacks on British lands but British were desperate to be invincible
and they began to answer Hitler in their own ways. British Air Force also vowed not to give up
to Germany.
The third argument that will be focused in this section is regarding the fact that Hitler
wanted everyone to live his lifestyle. He loved money and he was one of the foremost
proponents of imperialism in the world. Hitler believed money would bring luxuries in his life
and money was loyal enough to meet all the needs for the common people. He also wanted to
ensure that all the men would live the lifestyles like him and conquer the world with money and
power. This was the manner through which Germany could shape the world. The victory of
Germany could also have challenged Russia since Russia was one of the most powerful countries
in Europe then. Soviet Union and United States already had differences of opinion from political
terms. The invasion of Soviet Union could have opined new hopes for Germany to dominate
Europe but their allied force Japan hurled bombs at US Naval base in Pearl Harbor. Germany
was so much motivated and inspired by their performance in the first phase of the Second World

4GLOBAL HISTORY
War that they did not think for the second time regarding their plans and its implementations
during the war. German forces invaded Russia in the month of June in 1941 and they ignored the
fact that they did not have British region under their belt. In this scenario, they had to manage
both the operations (Spengler 2018). It was completely a disregard for the Russian forces by
Germany that Hitler thought they would finish the war before winter would set in at Russia.
They were quite aware that winter was the most fearsome season in Russia for its chilling and
biting cold with snowfall. Still the British regions across the Mediterranean Sea and English
Channel were still not won by the Russian. They completely disregarded this threat as they were
quite over confident. Hitler had calculated his plans properly and went on to execute them as
well. Tremendous snowfall and biting cold had resisted German troops to move to Moscow and
halt at the outskirts of the city. In this scenario, Russian forces had rejuvenated themselves as
they got enough time (Bell 2014). In this context, they had launched a fierce counterattack on
Germany that was very troublesome for them to stop. They had tortured millions of people in
European continent and destroyed several regions there also. According to the statistics of war, it
has been estimated that more than 50 million people had been killed in the conflicts. Around six
million victims were Jews. In the month of May, German forces had surrendered in 1945 after
their supreme commander Hitler committed suicide on 30th April (Welch 2014). Though the
German motivations were very hopeful and promised the victory, this surrender of German
soldiers indicated the ending of the Nazi regime. This was truly something historic in terms of
European history. Around 12 million people in Germany belonging to Nazi regime were deemed
as refugees (Scheer 2014). They had no home of their own and they were completely under the
Soviet control then. This signifies Germany’s utter destruction in spite of their dominance in the
early years of the war. The Nuremberg Trials were arranged during these times. It was the time

5GLOBAL HISTORY
when all the culprits of Holocaust would be hardly punished (Scheer 2014). Therefore, Second
World War indicated the complete destruction of Germany and beginning of a new era after the
establishment of United Nations.
In the concluding part of the paper, it must be said that Germany was the most influential
name in the first half of European history in 20th century. Hitler and his policies made possible
for Germany to emerge as the single most dominating name in Europe. After the various events
that took place during the war, it had shaped the future of Germany. Despite showing dominance
in the early years of the battle, Germany could not get the upper hand over Britain and Russia die
to their wrong calculation of war strategies and its implementations. Germany was completely
destroyed and their motivations in the beginning of the war had completely disappeared.

6GLOBAL HISTORY
References
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