Germany, Hitler, and World War II: Essays in Modern German and World History PDF
Preview Germany, Hitler, and World War II: Essays in Modern German and World History
GERMANY, HITLER, AND WORLD WAR II GERHARD L. WEINBERG GERMANY, HITLER, AND WORLD WAR II ESSAYS IN MODERN GERMAN AND WORLD HISTORY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1995 First published 1995 Reprinted 1995 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Weinberg, Gerhard L. Germany, Hitler, and World War II / Gerhard L. Weinberg. p. cm. Slightly rev. collection of conference lectures, periodical articles, etc. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-521-47407-8 1. World War, 1939-1945 - Germany. 2. Hitler, Adolf, 1889-45. 3. Germany - History - 1918-1933. 4. Germany - History - 1933-1945. I. Title. D757-W384 1995 940.53'43 - dc2O 94-27076 CIP A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-521-47407-8 Hardback ISBN 0-521-56626-6 Paperback Transferred to digital printing 2004 CONTENTS Preface page vii Introduction 1 Part I Background 1 The defeat of Germany in 1918 and the European balance of power 11 2 National Socialist organization and foreign policy aims in 1927 23 3 The world through Hitler's eyes 30 Part II The Nazi system 4 The Nazi revolution: A war against human rights 57 5 Propaganda for peace and preparation for war 68 Part III Background for war 6 Hitler and England, 1933-1945: Pretense and reality 85 7 German foreign policy and Austria 95 8 Germany, Munich, and appeasement 109 9 A proposed compromise over Danzig in 1939? 121 10 The German generals and the outbreak of war, 1938-1939 129 11 Hitler's decision for war 146 Part IV World War II 12 German diplomacy toward the Soviet Union 153 13 The Nazi-Soviet pacts of 1939: A half century later 168 14 From confrontation to cooperation: Germany and the United States, 1917-1949 182 15 Pearl Harbor: The German perspective 194 16 Global conflict: The interaction between the European and Pacific theaters of war in World War II 205 vi Contents 17 The "Final Solution" and the war in 1943 217 18 July 20, 1944: The German resistance to Hitler 245 19 D-Day after fifty years: Assessments of costs and benefits 254 20 German plans for victory, 1944-1945 274 21 Reflections on running a war: Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Tojo 287 22 Some thoughts on World War II 307 23 A new Germany in a new world 318 Appendix: The end of Ranke's history? Reflections on the fate of history in the twentieth century 325 Index 337 PREFACE This collection presents in slightly revised form a selection of essays dealing with German history in the twentieth century and history's great- est war, which Germany initiated in 1939. One essay (Chapter 16) first appeared in German. It was scheduled to be included in a volume in honor of the eightieth birthday of Admiral Arleigh Burke, but I translated it when the Naval Institute declined to publish that book; the essay appears here on the basis of the original text. The appendix deals with fundamental problems in the writing of recent history. Originally given as a paper at the Ranke Conference in 1986, it was omitted from the conference volume at the insistence of Syracuse University Press. The issues it raises are, if anything, more pressing now than they were when I called attention to them a decade ago. Designed to illuminate specific aspects of German and world history, the texts, some originally given as talks, others written for periodicals, have been slightly revised to call attention to some recent literature which deals with their subject. All are reprinted with the permission of the prior publishers. More details on the background of World War II may be found in my two volumes dealing with that subject :The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany both now reprinted in paperback by Humanities Press with a new preface. The war itself is covered as a whole in my A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, published by Cambridge Univer- sity Press. I am very glad that the same publisher has now decided to issue this collection, which makes the scattered but related items avail- able in one volume, and I am grateful to Frank Smith for his support, encouragement, and advice on the project.
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