World War II: Origins, Resistance, and Post-War Justice

Prolegomena of War: The Road to Global Conflict

The League of Nations and democratic powers were largely ineffective against the annexations of imperialist countries and the totalitarian politics of appeasement. Key events leading to the Second World War include:

1. 1931-1932: Japan Invades Manchuria. Democracies did not respond effectively, which marked the beginning of Japan's invasion of China.
2. 1935-1936: Italian and German Expansion. Italy invaded Ethiopia, and Germany reoccupied the Rhineland. Again, democracies failed to respond decisively. Hitler allied with Fascist Italy, creating the Rome-Berlin Axis, which later expanded to include Japan, forming the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. Germany and Italy also lent their support to Franco's coup in Spain, aiding the fascist regime and testing their new weapons.
3. 1937: Hitler's Expansionist Ambitions. Hitler's Hossbach Protocol revealed his ideas of 'living space' (Lebensraum) and Pan-Germanism, aiming to conquer territories with German populations.
4. 1938: Further Annexations and Invasions. Germany annexed Austria and then Czechoslovakia. Italy invaded Albania.
5. 1939: The Non-Aggression Pact and War's Outbreak. The Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Pact was signed, including a secret protocol that outlined the division of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic countries into Soviet and German spheres of influence. On September 1, Hitler invaded Poland. Britain and France reacted, marking the start of the Second World War.

Operation Valkyrie: The Plot to Assassinate Hitler

A group of senior German military officers, coordinated by General Ludwig Beck and General Friedrich Olbricht, attempted to assassinate Hitler. Their aim was to end the disastrous war, especially on the Eastern Front against Russia, and sign a peace treaty with the Allies.

Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his assistant placed a bomb in the Wolf's Lair headquarters in East Prussia, but it failed to kill Hitler. The rebels, believing the assassination had succeeded, gathered at the Bendlerblock headquarters in Berlin.

Upon realizing the plot's failure, General Friedrich Fromm, who had initially been involved or aware, shot Olbricht, von Stauffenberg, and several associates to prevent them from implicating him. Approximately 200 soldiers and civilians linked to Operation Valkyrie were immediately executed, many hanged with piano wire. In the months following, the SS executed over 5,600 people. Many prestigious military figures were involved to varying degrees in the conspiracy.

The Nuremberg Trials: Justice for Nazi War Crimes

The city of Nuremberg was chosen to try Nazi leaders because it was where Hitler had staged his massive Nazi Party rallies and demonstrations of power. Nazis were tried for crimes against humanity, including the indiscriminate killing of civilians and the genocide of 6 million Jews, which they often denied.

However, photographic and documentary evidence proved their crimes. Among those sentenced to death were Marshal Hermann Göring and Alfred Rosenberg. Admiral Karl Dönitz and Albert Speer received prison sentences. Oswald Pohl, general manager of the concentration and extermination camps, denied the killings at his trial, despite overwhelming evidence. SS Chief Heinrich Himmler, for example, was known to have visited the Mauthausen concentration camp, demonstrating direct involvement of high-ranking officials in the atrocities.