His rage was motivated by something else, something more personal; indeed, from the point-of-view of Adolf Hitler, the Second World War was merely an extension of "Mein Kampf" (my struggle). No sane leader would have dared to take on the leader of the free world at that point in time. By declaring war on the United States of America at that point in the war, Hitler was effectively taking on the Soviet Union, the British Empire, and the United States all at once. The United States was the world's greatest industrial and financial power, the Brits claimed the world's largest empire at the time, and the Soviet Union boasted the world's largest army. There was no way Germany was prepared to fight for this war, as they were not even capable of providing their soldiers with adequate clothing and supplies against the harsh Russian climate. It is clear that Hitler had planned to go to war from the moment he seized power. Violent metaphors abound in his famous work, Mein Kampf. Few would have imagined that he would have been so destructive in the way he involved his country in the Second...

In trying to restore dignity to his country, Adolf Hitler completely destroyed Germany, effectively doing a lot more damage to it than the First World War had done. It is through studying the lessons of history - and the ruthless actions of such tyrants as Adolf Hitler - that we may learn from the mistakes of the past, and hopefully use those lessons to avoid the destructive impulses that lead to world war.
References

Bielenberg, C. (1972). The Past is Myself. London: Chatto & Windus.

Hitler, a. (1925). Mein Kampf. Retrieved 4 December 2007 at http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/mkv1ch01.html.

Lukacs, J. (2006). June 1941: Hitler and Stalin. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Neville, P. (2006). Hitler and Appeasement: The British Attempt to Prevent the Second World

War. New York: Hambledon Continuum.

Wilkinson, J. And Hughes, H.S. (2003). Contemporary Europe: A History. 10th ed. Upper…