Interview from History

you are a German citizen in 1920 how did the treaty of Versailles and the massive reparations payments affect your view of the new government in Germany?

I would blame the new government for signing the treaty and for ruining our country by taking our land, ruining military and making us poor

In a time of economic chaos, why would a charismatic leader promising order? National pride be more appealing than a slow moving democratic government

Solutions that involve promising order pride and action altogether are better than a government that is going nowhere

what does totalitarianism mean? Which totalitarian leader like Mussolini Hitler Stalin in Hirohito best exemplifies totalitarianism?

It is when the government controls everything and you have no freedom and the leader that best exemplifies it is Hitler because his rule had total control fear everywhere and only freedom for himself.

you are advising both European and American leadership before World War II on how to respond to the totalitarian leaders and their demands in Europe which strategy appeasement or isolationism. Do you advise each continent to use?

Europe should not give in to demands and to stand firm or stay put early to stop any aggression before it grows. America shouldn’t stay isolated and they should keep alliances with people to help prevent the spread of tyranny.

how did the concept of Lebensraum (living space) drive the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and how did it deer from the war fought in western Europe

The Soviet Union invasion was about resources in taking control by force and in western Europe. They focused on a quick defeat so it was a brutal war with tons of destruction.

describe the strategic importance of island hopping. Why was it necessary to bypass certain Japanese held islands while attacking others?

The people is hopping wanted to only take out the key islands and head straight to Japan

Why did finding occur in the North African Theatre of World War II?

they were trying to control the Suez Canal and the oil fields and it also gave north Africa’s alliance a base to attack Europe

compare the experience of a soldier fighting in the frozen ruins of stalling grad in the European theater to one fighting in the human juggles of Guadalcanal in the Pacific Theatre

staling grad was incredibly cold many street battles and starvation and Guadalcanal. It was scorching hot hidden attacks in jungle diseases like malaria for mosquitoes.

what was the purpose of the Nazi Soviet pact? What was the outcome of the pact?

It was a deal to not go to war with one another to share Poland. The outcome was Germany betrayed the Soviets and invaded them.

you are a writer for a newspaper in the United States. What headline would you use to report Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union? The attack on Pearl Harbor?

everyone’s beefing let’s hope we aren’t next.

your radio announcer on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. How do you describe the immediate shift in the American attitude from isolationism to total mobilization?

America wants to stay out of war. That ended just today. We are now fighting, working, and united. Isolationism is dead.

what was the most important battle in the European theater and why?

Stalingrad because it stopped the German army for good by causing Germany to lose their best military and never get their strength back.

what was the most important battle in the Pacific Theatre and why?

Midway because it destroyed Japan’s military and Japan, lost four aircraft carriers and never went on the attack again.

what was the most important battle in the north African Theatre and why?

el alamein because it ended Germany’s hope of taking Suez Canal by causing them to lose a lot of of troops and machines used in battle.

what was the human cost of World War II?

Over 60 million dead, millions wounded, cities destroyed so overall death and destruction

you were a scientist working on the creation of the atomic bomb. What is your reaction when you realize that your discovery could both end the world and potentially and civilization

I would be in complete shock and would try to find another solution that wouldn’t cause as much harm to innocent people like threatening Japan with the bomb, but not actually dropping it.

how did World War II shape the future of ONE of the countries involved?

For the US, we had a big confident boost and became pretty much the leader of the world

the bulletin of the atomic scientist, set the doomsday clock to seven minutes to midnight in 1947. How did the events of World War II directly lead to the creation of the doomsday clock?

The atomic bomb proved how fast civilizations could be wiped out, so the clock was created to give us an estimate and warn us about when the world will end

how did the destruction of traditional European powers like Britain, France and Germany allow for the rise of the US and USSR as the world‘s only superpowers?

the European powers were exhausted and left defeat while the US and USSR had strong economies in military to keep them intact

looking at the doomsday clock today, do you believe the world learns the correct lessons from World War II?

I hope so, but you never know what is going through the people in charges heads.