Essential Question

World War II began with Hitler leading a conquest of the Jewish people of Europe in
(Date); when the Japanese army attacked Pearl Harbor in (Date), World War II continued, with
America joining the fight between the Germans, Jews, Americans, and Japanese showed itself.
Although World War II was under a veil of the idea of German Conquest and thoughts such as
the Holy Roman Empire, it was not the only thing that the war was about; "Racial/Cultural
Discrimination" also flourished in the war; from the Japanese mainland in east Asia, to the
United States and Canada in North America, to Germany and its territories, Racial/Cultural
Discrimination was everywhere.
Germany began a conquest of eradicating the Jews from the word in (Date), under the
lead of its Fuhrer Hitler. Hitler used the Jews as an object that he could place the blame from all
of Germany's misfortunes and losses, such as the loss of World War I and the Treaty of
Versailles. The Jews were reduced to impurities all throughout Germany and its occupied
territories. As a result of the ways the Jewish citizens in Europe were being treated they began to
get killed off in a final attempt to rid the world of their "poisonous" culture and traditions. This
was the first appearance of racial/cultural discrimination in World War II and it was merely the
beginning. Hitler's conquest of the Jews would continue all throughout the war until it ended in
(Date).
In (Date), the Japanese Air Force assaulted the United States' Navy Base Pearl Harbor in
a surprise attack under a veil of peace. As a consequence of this attack the United States declared
war on Japan, indirectly declaring war on Germany and Italy through Japans defense treaty with
the Germans and Italians. United States was brought into World War II for the first time. In the
United States racial/cultural discrimination began to flourish all throughout North America. The
United States and Canada created internment camps for the Japanese-American citizens, and the
Japanese-Canadian citizens. The respective governments of each country seized the assets of
each Japanese family during the times they were sent into the overpopulated internment camps,
in fear of Japanese spies on Allied soil. The government was not the only ones to look down
upon the Japanese. Citizens in both Canada and the United States began to take actions against
the Japanese whether it was through the use of media such as newspapers or just through
everyday actions, the Japanese in the respective countries were horribly mistreated, even if they
had lived in North America their entire life. The use of propaganda in Canada, the United States,
and even Japan looked down upon and discriminated against each other's countries and races.
World War II did not only take place in Europe and the Pacific, it also took place in
Africa. Similarly to the Jewish people, African citizens were also discriminated against. The
Germans believed that the Africans were brought into Germany as a fault of the Jews, and as a
result of this they placed black people on the social status of Jewish citizens in Germany and its
territories. The Allied forces did not have this issue with the African Americans, as they were a
part of its armies in colonial France and Britain; the African citizens and militants were more
than welcome to fight back against the oppressors.

Although the fact that the Germans were under the illusion they could conduct a massive
war consisting of hundreds of battles and millions of deaths, was a major part of why World War
II was started, the underlying cause of why World War II was started was "Racial/Cultural
Discrimination." Although it was more of a rampant idea in the past, we have still not learned
from our mistakes and racial/cultural discrimination still exists throughout the world today, such
as in the United States, and in Africa with cultural genocides still taking place today; further
pointing to the fact that racial and cultural discrimination is not only everywhere, but is also a
main cause of wars, such as World War II.