ESSAY OUTLINE AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: GUIDE
Essay Question: Hitler bears primary responsibility for starting the Second World War. Argue for or against this proposition.
Argument: In this essay I will argue that Hitler is entirely responsible for starting the war. I will argue that he had intent to wage war on neighbouring countries shortly after coming to power, planned for war for a number of years, and that he took deliberate steps to provoke conflict. I will argue against the idea that it was the Treaty of Versailles and its harsh treatment of Germany that made war inevitable.
My essay will begin with an argument that the conditions in Germany after the end of the First World War did not make war inevitable. I will draw on Author A’s work in the area. Author A is one of the world’s leading historians on Nazi Germany, and he argues that Hitler had already intended to take Germany into war in 1934, five years before the invasion of Poland.
My essay will then outline the nature of Nazi ideology, and I will argue that Nazi ideology demanded war. My argument is supported principally by the work of Authors A and B. Author B is a historian of Fascism, and her book Fascism: A History suggests that Fascist regimes are inherently warlike in nature.
I will then show how Hitler instigated a massive rearmament of Germany to prepare the nation for war. Apart from the work of Author A, I will also draw on the work of Authors D and E, who present detailed statistical reports on the scale of Germany’s rearmament programme.
Finally, my essay will then demonstrate how Hitler deliberately exploited and sabotaged any attempts at peacemaking. Of particular relevance to my essay here is the work of Author F. Author F has written a number of books on the Second World War in Europe, and she argues that even within the Nazi party there were individuals who were trying to avoid war, and that Hitler marginalised those individuals to ensure that war was the final...