The start of World War II, how Adolf Hitler came to power in the Weimar Republic, why the Nazis gained power and what motivated them to do what they did. I'm especially interested in the "unknowing participants" of the Nazi regime, like Wernher von Braun and Albert Speer. People who basically bought in to the ideal of a better German world and didn't really consider what that might cost in money, lives, and culture.
The parallels and precedents from other (mostly) European powers is also telling. England (Ireland, Boer Wars, China, India, Indians, Carribean), Belgium (Congo), United States (look up the history of the American Legion, or of the Los Angeles Times, just to mention two), make the history of Italian and German fascism all the more chilling. That wasn't a fluke.
