WWII

World War II lasted six years and involved more than 56 nations. It left 53 million people dead. This number includes soldiers, mostly young men in their late teens and early twenties; civilians like Helmuth's mother and grandparents; and 11 million Holocaust victims. Millions more were crippled physically. Others suffered emotionally from combat experiences, whether as soldiers on the front lines or as survivors in bombed-out cities. The war's toll on humanity was staggering.
 * The Legacy of World War II**

What caused such a war? What forces were at work? How was something so cataclysmic able to overcome the world?

There is no one reason for World War II, although most historians point to the harsh terms imposed upon Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. These terms created a climate of despair and caused many Germans to look toward a leader who promised to build a greater Germany and to end unemployment, inflation, and poverty. That leader was Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party.

Historian Stephen Ambrose tells us that World War II was fought over political ideology or belief. The three main contenders, he says, were Fascism Communism Democracy
 * A War Over Ideology**

Fascism is often considered a totalitarian state. In a totalitarian state, a dictator or dictatorial caucus controls the public and private lives and actions of every individual and every enterprise. Both fascist and totalitarian states often rely on brutal force, but a totalitarian state uses terror to alter and subdue the population. For example, the Gestapo used fear to subdue the German people, and the Nazi concentration camps were an attempt to alter the population by eliminating Jews and other "undesirable" peoples.
 * Fascism**. The philosophy of fascism holds that the state is the supreme unit and that the individual is subordinate to the interest of the state, the party, or society as a whole. The individual has no rights that the state is bound to respect. An individual's freedom, property, and even life are privileges that the state can take away if the welfare of the state requires it. For example, consider the way that the Nazi government took away the freedoms of the German people - and even Helmuth's life, when the court decided that the state needed to be protected from an individual like Helmuth.

What countries in the world today are under fascist rule?


 * Communism**. Communism is marked by a one-party dictatorship in which the state owns all factories, mines, railways, banks, and farms. In theory, it's the vanguard of the working class. In the aftermath of World War I, many working-class Germans saw hope in the promises of communism as a way to end inflation, unemployment, and poverty.

What countries in the world today are under communist rule?

The United States president takes an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Preserving democracy is the president's most important job of the president's term in office. The United States Constitution sets out the principles, structures, and processes of the American government. It is also the body of laws that guarantees the basic rights and freedoms of the American people. It is important for American citizens to always be vigilant that our freedom is preserved.
 * Democracy**. Democracy describes a government in which the supreme political authority rests with the people, usually through elected representatives. In the United States, this is called a representative democracy. The government's power is shared three ways: the executive, legislature, and judicial branches. The three-branch system is intended to prevent any one branch - or any one person -- from gaining too much power.


 * Germany** **today**. Today, the Federal Republic of Germany is a thriving democracy with a federation of sixteen states. The first nineteen articles of its constitution - its Basic Law -- guarantee the inalienable rights of every German citizen. These rights include, among others, the protection of human dignity; freedom of faith, expression, assembly, association, and movement; parental rights; privacy; and the sanctity of the home. All Germans have the right to resist any person seeking to abolish the constitutional order, should no other remedy be possible. Article 102 of Germany's Basic Law, reads, simply: "The death penalty is abolished."