HW 3

Compare and Contrast the origins, purposes, values and limitations of Why Nations Go to War and Downfall.

Why Nations Go to War is a book written by John G. Stoessinger, who has a Ph.D. and is a "Distinguished Professor of Global Diplomacy" at the University of San Diego in California. Stoessinger claims to have written the book because of his experiences as someone who has lived through most of the major wars of the 20th century. He hopes to be able to share his insight about the role of people in causing wars with readers, and as such his writing seems to be primarily educational in intention.

Downfall is a movie directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The film depicts the final days of Germany's involvement in World War II, with a focus on portraying German perspective of the actions of Hitler and his inner circle. It is based on the writings of Joachim Fest, a well known historian who experienced World War II first hand in the German military. A number of personal accounts from some of the real people portrayed in the film are also used as sources.

Why Nations Go to War is a valuable source to people who are studying the role of Hitler during World War II. The author goes into detail comparing Hitler to other rulers, such as Stalin, in terms of both personality and methods of leadership. Depending on what is being studied, Stoessinger's psychological insight may be helpful or unnecessary for the reader. An extensive bibliography is used to support the author's claims.

Downfall is helpful for viewers in some ways, although its limitations must also be considered. The film effectively provides a visual and emotional idea of what Germany was like during the end of World War II. The Nazis are shown as being human, rather than monstrous and evil. However, it could be argued that this humanization is not entirely accurate. In addition to this, some of the personal accounts used as sources may be very twisted interpretations of the truth, as they were told by members of a regime that is still globally looked down on today.


Other notes about Why Nations Go to War:

• Published in 2005 – value or limitation? Events happened a long time ago, but that gave Stoessinger more time to look at newer sources
  
• Author spent boyhood fleeing from Nazis – possible that he had a negative view of the Nazis
• Written from a western point of view
• May be missing some historical context of Stoessinger's psychological analysis of Hitler