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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

“Hitler did not really want a world war. His intention was only a short war with Poland.” (A. J. P. Taylor). Comment.

  • UPSC 2009
  • Revolution and Counter-Revolution

A.J.P. Taylor's claim, made in his controversial 1961 work on the origins of the Second World War, reopened one of the sharpest debates in modern historiography: was Hitler executing a premeditated design, or reacting to circumstance without a fixed timetable?

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What the full answer covers

  • Taylor's Case: Hitler as Opportunist
  • The Intentionalist Counter-Case
  • A Reasoned Position
  • Conclusion

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