Homework 7; term 2

1. Read the introduction on page xvii and briefly discuss the origin and purpose of this book.
-The purpose of this book is to take a new look at the "age-old scourge" of war. The origin of this book is written by John G. Stoessinger, who has always been interested in the explanations of war ever since he was a student. The purpose of writing this book was also to give people a deeper understanding of the causes of wars, from his opinion. Specifically, the book talks about ten case studies of the major international wars fought in the twentieth century.

2. According to the book, who were Hitler's two main enemies? (28)
-the Communists and the Jews

3. What was contained in the "secret protocol" of the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact? (29-30)
-It would divide up Poland between two dictators.

4. According to the author, why did Hitler ally with Stalin? (30)
-Because he was going to invade Poland, and the only way that he could do this without risk was by allying with Stalin.

5. What territorial gains did Stalin make in 1939 and 40 that concerned Hitler? (31)
-Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

6. What two events accounted for a "crucial delay" of Hitler's attack on the USSR? (35-36)
-In October 1940, Mussolini decided to invade Greece in a surprise attack. Hitler ended up sending twelve divisions of German troops into Greece to help out Mussolini. The second event was called a "coup d'etat" which took place in Yugoslavia in March 1941. During this night, Prince Paul, who was becoming close to being "a puppet" of Hitler was overthrown. The Serbs made it clear that Yugoslavia's subservience to Germany had ended.

7. Please give a couple of examples of how Hitler and Goering intended to treat Russian Civilians and soldiers during the attack on Russia (36-38)
-He was going to make a fake lake, which would provide energy for an elecric power station. He planned on destroying the Russian culture so that it would no longer exist. He would banish books from being published, and kids would only be taught about obeying the German masters in their school.