Asked by ghiu
1Are you familiar with any of the events that led toWorld War 2? Any people or events that you knowcontributed to the war starting? 2Legend has it that on September 28, 1918, a woundedPrivate Adolf Hitler lay in the sights of Henry Tandey, aBritish soldier. Tandey supposedly took pity on thelimping German soldier, who nodded in gratitude andmade his escape. While historians believe thisincident was fabricated by Hitler himself.Do you think World War II would have been avoided itHitler was killed in that moment? Why or why not?Do you think that World War 1 influenced or affectedHitler?
All Answers 1
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Short answers up front
- Yes — I’m familiar with the main people, events, and structural causes that led to World War II.
- Would killing Hitler in 1918 have guaranteed that WWII never happened? Almost certainly not guaranteed. It might have made a large war less likely or different in timing and form, but the deeper forces that produced a major European conflagration would still have been at work.
- Did World War I influence Hitler? Yes — his war service and the political fallout of 1918–19 were crucial in shaping his politics, his grievances, and his rise.
More detail
1) Big causes, people, and events that helped produce WWII
- The aftermath of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles (1919): harsh reparations, territorial losses, and the “war guilt” clause produced resentment in Germany and a sense of humiliation that extremist politicians exploited.
- Economic instability: hyperinflation in the early 1920s and, most importantly, the Great Depression after 1929 created mass unemployment, social unrest, and fertile ground for radical movements.
- Weakness of democratic institutions: Germany’s Weimar Republic was politically fragmented and vulnerable to anti-democratic forces; other democracies also showed polarization and instability.
- Rise of extremist ideologies and leaders: Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, Benito Mussolini and fascists in Italy, militarist and expansionist elements in Japan. These leaders promoted aggressive nationalism, militarization, and territorial expansion.
- Failures of collective security and appeasement: the League of Nations was ineffective; Britain and France’s policy of appeasement (e.g., Munich Agreement, 1938) encouraged further German aggression.
- German rearmament and revisionist actions: remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936), Anschluss with Austria (1938), seizure of the Sudetenland and then Czechoslovakia, and finally the invasion of Poland (1 September 1939).
- Strategic decisions and diplomatic moves: the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (Nazi–Soviet non‑aggression pact, 1939) cleared the way for the invasion of Poland; delayed or inconsistent responses from other powers mattered.
- Other contributors: long-term rivalries, imperial ambitions (Japan in East Asia), and the interaction of local conflicts (Spanish Civil War as a testing ground).
2) The Tandey story and the counterfactual “If Hitler had been killed in 1918…”
- The Tandey tale (Private Henry Tandey allegedly sparing a wounded soldier who was later identified as Hitler) is almost certainly apocryphal. It surfaced later and is not well-supported by contemporary evidence.
- Would killing Hitler in 1918 have prevented WWII? Historians treat such counterfactuals cautiously. Two main lines of argument:
- Structuralist view: WWII resulted from broad structural problems (Treaty of Versailles, economic collapse, unstable politics, nationalism, militarism). Those conditions would likely have produced a major conflict or an aggressive German government even without Hitler. Other authoritarian or nationalist leaders could have pursued revisionist policies. So the probability of some large war remains significant.
- Great-man view: Hitler’s personality, political skills, mass appeal, and specific choices accelerated and shaped Nazi success and the timing and character of the war. Without him, the Nazi movement might have been weaker, less cohesive, or different, possibly delaying or reducing the scale of aggression (and almost certainly changing the Holocaust’s scope and character).
- My judgment: Killing Hitler in 1918 would have removed a uniquely effective driver of the specific, genocidal Nazi regime and might well have prevented or delayed a German-led continental war of the exact form we know. But it would not have eliminated the deep grievances and forces that made large-scale conflict likely in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. In short — it could have substantially changed outcomes, but it would not have guaranteed peace.
3) Did World War I influence Hitler?
- Yes, strongly:
- Personal experience: Hitler served on the Western Front (wounded at the Somme area and later temporarily blinded by a gas attack in 1918). He was decorated (Iron Cross) and identified strongly as a front-line veteran.
- Political formation: The shock of Germany’s defeat, the “stab-in-the-back” myth (Dolchstoßlegende), the collapse of imperial order, and the postwar chaos radicalized many veterans and conservatives. Hitler adopted and exploited these narratives — blaming socialists, communists, and Jews for Germany’s collapse.
- Career path: After the war he stayed in Munich, worked as an army political agent, and was introduced to right-wing circles; that path led him into the German Workers’ Party, which evolved into the Nazi Party.
- Ideology and rhetoric: The violence, camaraderie, and grievances of the war shaped Hitler’s nationalism, militarism, and willingness to use violence and mass mobilization in politics.
- So WWI was formative for Hitler personally and for the political environment that allowed him to rise.
If you want, I can:
- Outline a timeline from 1918–1939 highlighting the key steps to war.
- Summarize the main historiographical debates about how much responsibility lies with structural causes vs. individual leaders.
- Give a short reading list for deeper study.
- Yes — I’m familiar with the main people, events, and structural causes that led to World War II.
- Would killing Hitler in 1918 have guaranteed that WWII never happened? Almost certainly not guaranteed. It might have made a large war less likely or different in timing and form, but the deeper forces that produced a major European conflagration would still have been at work.
- Did World War I influence Hitler? Yes — his war service and the political fallout of 1918–19 were crucial in shaping his politics, his grievances, and his rise.
More detail
1) Big causes, people, and events that helped produce WWII
- The aftermath of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles (1919): harsh reparations, territorial losses, and the “war guilt” clause produced resentment in Germany and a sense of humiliation that extremist politicians exploited.
- Economic instability: hyperinflation in the early 1920s and, most importantly, the Great Depression after 1929 created mass unemployment, social unrest, and fertile ground for radical movements.
- Weakness of democratic institutions: Germany’s Weimar Republic was politically fragmented and vulnerable to anti-democratic forces; other democracies also showed polarization and instability.
- Rise of extremist ideologies and leaders: Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, Benito Mussolini and fascists in Italy, militarist and expansionist elements in Japan. These leaders promoted aggressive nationalism, militarization, and territorial expansion.
- Failures of collective security and appeasement: the League of Nations was ineffective; Britain and France’s policy of appeasement (e.g., Munich Agreement, 1938) encouraged further German aggression.
- German rearmament and revisionist actions: remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936), Anschluss with Austria (1938), seizure of the Sudetenland and then Czechoslovakia, and finally the invasion of Poland (1 September 1939).
- Strategic decisions and diplomatic moves: the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (Nazi–Soviet non‑aggression pact, 1939) cleared the way for the invasion of Poland; delayed or inconsistent responses from other powers mattered.
- Other contributors: long-term rivalries, imperial ambitions (Japan in East Asia), and the interaction of local conflicts (Spanish Civil War as a testing ground).
2) The Tandey story and the counterfactual “If Hitler had been killed in 1918…”
- The Tandey tale (Private Henry Tandey allegedly sparing a wounded soldier who was later identified as Hitler) is almost certainly apocryphal. It surfaced later and is not well-supported by contemporary evidence.
- Would killing Hitler in 1918 have prevented WWII? Historians treat such counterfactuals cautiously. Two main lines of argument:
- Structuralist view: WWII resulted from broad structural problems (Treaty of Versailles, economic collapse, unstable politics, nationalism, militarism). Those conditions would likely have produced a major conflict or an aggressive German government even without Hitler. Other authoritarian or nationalist leaders could have pursued revisionist policies. So the probability of some large war remains significant.
- Great-man view: Hitler’s personality, political skills, mass appeal, and specific choices accelerated and shaped Nazi success and the timing and character of the war. Without him, the Nazi movement might have been weaker, less cohesive, or different, possibly delaying or reducing the scale of aggression (and almost certainly changing the Holocaust’s scope and character).
- My judgment: Killing Hitler in 1918 would have removed a uniquely effective driver of the specific, genocidal Nazi regime and might well have prevented or delayed a German-led continental war of the exact form we know. But it would not have eliminated the deep grievances and forces that made large-scale conflict likely in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. In short — it could have substantially changed outcomes, but it would not have guaranteed peace.
3) Did World War I influence Hitler?
- Yes, strongly:
- Personal experience: Hitler served on the Western Front (wounded at the Somme area and later temporarily blinded by a gas attack in 1918). He was decorated (Iron Cross) and identified strongly as a front-line veteran.
- Political formation: The shock of Germany’s defeat, the “stab-in-the-back” myth (Dolchstoßlegende), the collapse of imperial order, and the postwar chaos radicalized many veterans and conservatives. Hitler adopted and exploited these narratives — blaming socialists, communists, and Jews for Germany’s collapse.
- Career path: After the war he stayed in Munich, worked as an army political agent, and was introduced to right-wing circles; that path led him into the German Workers’ Party, which evolved into the Nazi Party.
- Ideology and rhetoric: The violence, camaraderie, and grievances of the war shaped Hitler’s nationalism, militarism, and willingness to use violence and mass mobilization in politics.
- So WWI was formative for Hitler personally and for the political environment that allowed him to rise.
If you want, I can:
- Outline a timeline from 1918–1939 highlighting the key steps to war.
- Summarize the main historiographical debates about how much responsibility lies with structural causes vs. individual leaders.
- Give a short reading list for deeper study.
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