Up to a point the Second German War resembled the first. Each began with a German bid for power which almost succeeded in spite of the opposition of France and Great Britain. In each the United States came to the rescue after year of neutrality. Each ended with a German defeat. But the differences were easier to see than the resemblances. The powers were differently grouped: Italy and Japan were on the German side, Russia was neutral until the Germans attacked across what had been, to begin with, Poland and Baltic States. The second war lasted even longer than the other. It pressed harder on the civilian population. After a period of restraint, perhaps, intended to conciliate American opinion, both sides dropped bombs from the air, without respect for the nature of the targets, wherever the officers concerned expected to cause the greatest effect. In Great Britain 60,000 civilians were killed. Though the Island was not invaded, the population was more directly involved than it was in any former war. Children and others were evacuated from towns into the country. Food supplies ran so short that, at the worst, even potatoes were rationed. Of all the states opposed to Germany, Great Britain was the only one which fought throughout the war. The resources of the nation were concentrated in the war effort more completely than those of any other nation on either side. Labour for women as well as men, became compulsory. Nevertheless, once the war reached its full severity in the west, eight months after it was declared, there was less disunion between classes and interests than in any other five years within living memory. Fighting spread all over the world. The Pacific was as vital a theatre as Europe. Scientists, especially Physicists, made revolutionary discoveries during the war, not only in the fields of weapons and defence against them, but in supply, transport, and control in action. Strange to say the fight services suffered fewer casualties than in 1914-18: 300,000 of the armed forces and 35,000 of the navy were killed. There was nothing like the trench warfare of former war, though there was almost every other sort of warfare, from mechanized war of movement in the North African desert to hand to hand jungle fighting in Burma. Both sides experimented and built up stocks for gas warfare and biological warfare, but neither side used them. (George Clark: English History: a survey)


Original passage: 404 words
Precis:136
TITLE: GERMANY' WARS- A COMPARISON

Germany' two wars are somehow similar. In both wars Germany envied supremacy. Britain and France resented and US remained aloof but afterward she intervened as a savior. However, dissimilarities are more palpable. Italy and Japan were allied with Germany in second war. Russia didn't invade until Germans widened the sphere of battle. It was also more prolonged.After a lull, competitors dropped bombs, blindly.Civilians were killed, starved, and evacuated. Britain was Germany' arch-rival.It directed its resources towards war and both genders were obliged to do work.Nevertheless, war' savagery unified masses and undermined interests. But fighting became ubiquitous. Technological advancement materialized in the field of war and social-welfare. Surprisingly, a few soldiers died.Though trench warfare was not there but other forms, from mechanized to hand to hand jungle fighting were noticed.Although, rivals accumulated hazardous weapons but never deployed them.