Were Germany's actions in WWII justified?
Evan Frangesh
Mr. Marshall & Ms. Kile
WHAP 4; English 2, 5
17 February 2014
Were Germany’s Actions in WWII Justified?
“War does not determine who is right- only who is left” (Russell). Bertrand Russell, a renowned philosopher, was, and still is, absolutely correct. Many perish after earth-shattering wars, such as the tragedy to humanity known as World War II. If we can take a lesson from this calamity, it is the making, not the breaking, of connections that will enable moral and educational lessons truly to be imparted. Germany became involved due to Axis allies aggression, and from there on, more stains have been made on Germany’s record than any one country should bear. War can rarely be justified. Germany’s actions in WWII cannot be justified because they disobeyed the defined rules of the Treaty of Versailles, Axis aggression was not initiated out of self-defense, and German leaders committed crimes against humanity as documented by the Nuremburg War Trials. Germany was defeated in World War I, and caused major damage to countries out of Axis allies’ aggression toward countries such as Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, which led to the Paris Peace Conference. At the Paris Peace Conference, the peace negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central powers, and Germany signed the Versailles treaty under protest. “Negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central powers: the United States, France, Italy, and Japan” (“Versailles”) Each of these countries had a separate treaty, but most importantly, Germany’s Treaty of Versailles placed many limitations on its military to prevent such disasters that happened during WWI from happening again, (because of their awful actions to not be justified) such as the limitation of their army to 100,000 men with no conscription, tanks, heavy artillery, poison gas supplies, and no aircraft or airships (“Versailles”). Germany grudgingly
Mr. Marshall & Ms. Kile
WHAP 4; English 2, 5
17 February 2014
Were Germany’s Actions in WWII Justified?
“War does not determine who is right- only who is left” (Russell). Bertrand Russell, a renowned philosopher, was, and still is, absolutely correct. Many perish after earth-shattering wars, such as the tragedy to humanity known as World War II. If we can take a lesson from this calamity, it is the making, not the breaking, of connections that will enable moral and educational lessons truly to be imparted. Germany became involved due to Axis allies aggression, and from there on, more stains have been made on Germany’s record than any one country should bear. War can rarely be justified. Germany’s actions in WWII cannot be justified because they disobeyed the defined rules of the Treaty of Versailles, Axis aggression was not initiated out of self-defense, and German leaders committed crimes against humanity as documented by the Nuremburg War Trials. Germany was defeated in World War I, and caused major damage to countries out of Axis allies’ aggression toward countries such as Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, which led to the Paris Peace Conference. At the Paris Peace Conference, the peace negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central powers, and Germany signed the Versailles treaty under protest. “Negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central powers: the United States, France, Italy, and Japan” (“Versailles”) Each of these countries had a separate treaty, but most importantly, Germany’s Treaty of Versailles placed many limitations on its military to prevent such disasters that happened during WWI from happening again, (because of their awful actions to not be justified) such as the limitation of their army to 100,000 men with no conscription, tanks, heavy artillery, poison gas supplies, and no aircraft or airships (“Versailles”). Germany grudgingly
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